Latest news with #BlackPortlanders
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Heat wave, road closures, MAX delays: Portland weekend could be a mess
PORTLAND, Ore. () — A is set to bake the Portland metro area this weekend just as drivers and transit riders face a minefield of closures, delays and detours. Highs are expected to by Sunday, potentially tying a 70-year-old record. But it's not just the sun that could bring the burn. City to pay $7.5M to 'displaced' Black Portlanders Highway 217 southbound will be fully closed from Canyon Road to OR-99W starting Friday night through early Monday as part of a recurring summer construction project. At the same time, westbound I-84 will shut down between I-205 and I-5 from midnight Saturday until 4 p.m. Sunday. Crews will be doing maintenance and graffiti cleanup, forcing TriMet to pause MAX service in the area. Shuttle buses will fill the gaps. Expect another shutdown at Northeast 82nd Avenue, where TriMet crews are building a temporary MAX platform as part of a station overhaul set to last through the end of the year. 'A lot of safety improvements are going to be part of the refurbishment of the station,' said TriMet spokesperson Tyler Graf. 'Just to give it a fresher look to give our riders a better experience.' On Saturday morning, Southwest Naito Parkway and surrounding downtown streets will close for the Grand Floral Parade. Some neighbors are taking it in stride. 'I might go for a hike on Saturday and go to church on Sunday like normal,' said Portlander Bill Sweeney. Victims in Battle Ground double homicide identified Others, like visitor Zane McGee, are playing it safe. 'Staying inside, really,' McGee said. 'Especially being a redhead. I have to make sure to wear sunscreen when I go out.' And for drivers? The forecast isn't just hot—it's potentially heated. 'When it gets too hot, people get angry, disoriented… it's chaos,' said Sandra Kitanga. 'You've got to have patience.' Despite the heat, Multnomah County does not plan to open emergency cooling centers since temperatures aren't forecasted to reach the established threshold. Officials recommend visiting libraries, malls, or other public indoor spaces. Residents can call 2-1-1 for help finding a place to cool off. Kitanga's advice for the weekend? 'It's never that serious. You're gonna have more hot days this summer.' Grocer accused of deceptive prices in Oregon stores The Oregon Health Authority has about preventing heat-related illnesses, including staying hydrated, visiting air-conditioned places and using cool compresses and misting and taking cool showers or baths. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
City expected to settle with Black Portlanders alleging displacement from Albina district
PORTLAND, Ore. () — Public officials could soon finalize an agreement with Black Portlanders who alleged they were displaced from an area their community once called home. During a meeting on Thursday afternoon, Portland City Council is slated to reach a settlement involving the December 2022 lawsuit from Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2. The association, representing 26 plaintiffs who live in the Albina district or descend from relatives who did, accused the officials of destroying Black people's homes in the name of 'urban renewal' in the mid-20th century. Tillamook opens first owned-and-operated facility outside of Oregon About two and a half years ago, that several residents were displaced by the construction of Interstate 5 and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in the 1950s and 1960s. The following decade, about 188 properties were demolished to make way for the new Legacy Emanuel Hospital. About 158 of them were residential properties, Black people accounting for about 74% of residents. The displaced buildings also included 32 businesses and four churches or community organizations. The lawsuit claims residents were not adequately compensated, and some weren't compensated at all, after being intimidated by hospital representatives and told that the city would take their homes if they didn't leave willingly. In addition to the City of Portland, Prosper Portland and the hospital were all listed as defendants in the original complaint — but officials say Legacy Health settled their portion of the lawsuit late last year. Both the city and its economic development agency are still expected to dole out $1 million each to defendants. 'Portland's systemic discrimination and displacement harmed Black communities, by excluding them from homeownership and wealth-building opportunities; by denying them access to educational resources, jobs and healthy neighborhoods; and by perpetuating segregation, displacement, and harmful stereotypes through the zoning code, deeds and covenants, lending practices, public housing and urban renewal,' the agreement . FBI Portland addresses halted plan for mass shooting at Washington state mall Along with the payout, officials are Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2 a 'static display' in the Keller Auditorium if it is renovated. The namesake of the neighboring Ira Keller Fountain led the urban renewal projects that impacted Black Portlanders decades ago, according to the city. The settlement could also direct the music venue to give a '10-year hiring preference' to descendants of the Albina district and establish an annual 'Descendants' Day', among other terms. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘More than surreal': 5 years after George Floyd's murder and protests, Black Portlanders reflect
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The phrase 'Black Lives Matter' for many is a statement of fact, but for others, the phrase has become polarizing –forever synonymous with the images of the 2020 protests. Five years after the murder of George Floyd sparked more than in the Rose City, a 12-essay/interview piece curated by Donovan Scribes and presented by the offers a reflection on one of the most critical times in Portland's history. combines the voices of more than a dozen Black Portlanders to share what the movement meant for them, after a world — put on pause by a global pandemic — was forced to grapple with the deadly consequences of systemic racism. Scribes, owner of D Scribes Communication Firm, told KOIN 6 News the idea to create a peace-centering Black voice stemmed from a place of exasperation. 'There's been a pretty intentional rush to decenter Black existence and Black demands over the last five years,' Scribes said. 'As somebody who was born and raised in Portland and has seen that movement get turned into a talking point of 'what's wrong with the city,' I had a lot of frustration around that.' That's when Scribes said he got the idea to share his vision with the Portland Mercury of highlighting Black perspectives on the anniversary of George Floyd's death. 'It wasn't just the fact that George Floyd was murdered on camera for nine minutes, and we all got to see it,' Scribes said. 'It was also the fact that we were in a pandemic, and it forced a lot of people to see that.' 'And, so what does that mean when we have a bunch of anomalies that create the largest protest for our lives, but very quickly start to reset back into status quo? I don't know what that means for the future, but it is definitely concerning,' he added. More than 40,000 copies of the free issue are slated to be dispersed in businesses and gathering places throughout Portland this week. Clutching a copy, Scribes said, 'I wanted to make sure that there was an array of different voices so that we could have a different conversation. A conversation that was more in line with what 2020 was supposed to be -the reckoning.' Included in the issue are works of those who marched on the front lines of the 2020 protests, like photographer Sai Stone. His image which captured thousands of Portlanders in June, masked up and marching on MLK Boulevard is featured on the cover. 'The march itself, to be honest, was peaceful, and I wasn't expecting that,' Stone said. 'Part of me didn't even want that. I was just so angry, but it was a lot of love.' Weeks before his pictures were set to be displayed at the Black Gallery in the Pearl District, the photographer and author of the book 'Our Streets,' carefully laid the images out, as he recalled the fear that followed the death of Floyd and the deadly pandemic. 'When I took these shots, it was just to document what was going on. I had no intention of showing the world,' Stone said. 'I see bravery, because everybody in this picture was told to stay home…I felt like if they were willing to risk it — as you can see a lot of these folks don't look like me — then I should, too.' Stone's work is set to hang next to quotes from the Mercury paper as part of the Black Gallery's new exhibit starting June 5. The gallery is run by Don't Shoot Portland founder Teressa Raiford and sits just down the street from where her nephew, Andre Dupree Payton, was shot and killed in 2010. Raiford told KOIN 6 News she hopes the exhibition will not only highlight local artists' narratives but will offer the community an opportunity to use art and storytelling to address collective trauma and find a path forward. 'It's more than surreal to be in this position, five years later, and to know that a lot of the work to move forward is now being erased,' Raiford said, citing a recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump aimed at rolling back police reforms. Still, Raiford said gains made by the movement can be seen today, including improvements in how the media covers issues of officer-involved shootings and Portland Police no longer using tear gas as a means to control protests. Long after murals came down and streets were renamed, she said the movement has always been about more than signs and marches, but instead about educating the community to understand what affects one affects all. 'Having Donovan curate this exhibition so that we can bring people into this space, so they can feel those moments and reflect –I think that people's takeaway, like mine, is one of resolve,' Raiford said. Unsure of what the future holds, Scribes told KOIN 6 News he hopes the city begins to learn from the past. 'I want people to really sit with the weight of these things,' he said. 'The beauty of the words, even though the beauty comes from pain. And not just sit with it, think about how we can show up, continuously for Black lives.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
