🌱'Street Response' Expands + Portland Bar Fights, Overdoses Rise

It's the weekend, my friends! Time to rest and relax. Or not; I'm not the boss of you. But do let me tell you what's going on today.

First, today's weather:

Partly sunny today with a high of 52.

Here are the top five stories in Portland today:

1. A coalition of homeless service providers and advocacy groups gathered Thursday to make an ask of Portland’s elected leaders and property owners: help house 3,000 people by the end of the year. The call was a rebuke to plans bubbling up recently within Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s administration that prioritize large, temporary shelters — most notably, a proposal floated in January by mayoral aide Sam Adams to create three, 1,000-person shelters and require people move into them. The idea was panned by advocates and providers as both impractical and inhumane. (OPB)
2. After just over a year in operation, the City of Portland will be expanding the Portland Street Response program later this month. The program, which pairs EMT/Paramedics with mental health professionals to respond to non-emergency calls for service that have a behavioral health component, will add staff and grow from serving neighborhoods in East Portland to responding to calls city-wide. “We’re succeeding. We’re succeeding at diverting calls from first responders and we’re succeeding at a good, first-rate customer service experience for the individuals that we do interact with,” said Robyn Burek, Portland Street Response’s Program Director. (Fox 12 Oregon)
3. Over the past 12 months, KGW found there have been nearly a dozen fatal shootings in Portland involving the homeless or near encampments. Outreach workers and police suggest these shootings connected to people experiencing homelessness are a relatively new phenomenon which coincide with Portland’s rising gun violence. “I would say there are more shootings probably in more homeless areas and communities,” said Dr. Vernon Baker of Just Compassion, a Washington County based non-profit focused on services for those experiencing homelessness. (KGW.com)
4. In a tragic, historic year for drug overdose deaths, one southeast Portland bar is arming itself and its customers with an overdose prevention tool. Star Bar at the corner of Southeast 6th Avenue and Morrison Street is in the heart of a city-wide crisis, and its owner is not shying away from what he's seeing. He's giving out fentanyl test strips for free, anonymously, for anyone who wants them. The strips inside the packets are similar to little litmus tabs. (KOMO News)
5. For decades, Portland mayors and good-government wonks have complained that Portland’s “weak mayor” form of government leaves the top city official with few avenues for decisive action. One way to circumvent that roadblock: make emergency declarations that give you powers over the city’s bureaus that you wouldn’t otherwise have. Mike Lindberg, a former city commissioner, says he’s never seen emergency declarations used so liberally by a mayor. (Willamette Week)

Today in Portland:

• If First Thursday didn't quench your thirst for art, go to Gallery GoGo in downtown Portland for Sierra Rockett's Dream Vision. Featuring Event Cosmetics and Limited Edition Shimmer Launch. 1:00 - 7:00 PM.
• They're Back!!! Once again Portland Retro Gaming Expo and SideQuest Games have joined forces to bring you the 7th Video Game Swap Meet at the Double Tree Hotel in NE Portland. Vendor's will be bringing video games, toys, mixed media, swag, and other collectibles. We will once again be doing free raffles on the hour just for showing up. Tickets available online. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
• The Hellenic-American Cultural Center and Museum is proud to announce the grand opening of "In the Shadow of the Acropolis" at the Father Elias Stephanopoulos Community Center in NE Portland. Please join them in person for a champagne social, museum tour and special guest speaker Presvytera Theodora Nakou. Admission to this special event is free. It all starts at 5:30 PM.
• It's Punk Rock Night at Misdemeanor Meadows in SE Portland! Featuring Erik Anarchy, Lynard Nymoy and A.O.D. Vax card, ID and $5 required for entry. Showtime is 7:00 PM.
• The butcher's first show of the year is a fundraising performance to help our beloved Coffin Club in its continued expansion of the venue. It's been a pivotal part of the Portland community for a number of years and in the wake of so many places closing down, its managed to ride the storm and even expand! Performances by Dead Animal Assembly Plant and Photona Coffin Club. Tickets available online. 8:00 - 11:00 PM.

From my notebook:

• Portland Trail Blazers: "@drewdatower is making the most of this opportunity 💯" (Instagram)
• Portland Audubon: "📣Action Alert! Want to help protect nesting birds from drones in our State Parks and on our beaches? Oregon State Parks is accepting public comments to help inform where drone take-off and landings will be allowed within State Parks and..." (Instagram)
• Portland Art Museum: "The Film Center’s matinee series celebrating the 2022 Cinema Unbound Awards honorees wraps this weekend: Saturday, March 5, Noon: "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘷𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴" (2021) (@mitchellsvsmachines), dir. Michael Rianda..." (Instagram)
• Travel Portland: "Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the events in Ukraine. If you're looking to support the humanitarian efforts to help all those impacted on the ground, please see the link in our bio for a few resources and donation options. Pea..." (Instagram)
• During Trump's presidency, Portlanders used a number of coping methods to adapt to the new world we were living in. One of these was a comic called Decent Don. Decent Don is a Portland-produced web comic that portrays our former commander in chief as the type of person who wipes the peanut butter off the knife before sticking it in the jelly jar, sends handwritten Mother’s Day notes, and refills the Brita dispenser after taking the last glass. Small kindnesses, all—but in a year of giant injustices, they make us pine for a parallel world. (Portland Monthly)
• For some reason, Portland seems to have a fascination with tiki-themed establishments. One such establishment is Hale Pele in NE Portland. The YouTuber Tiki With Ray has posted a short video of the place so you can get a feel for what it's like from the comfort of your own home. (YouTube)

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That's your Saturday, Portland. Make the most of it. I've got my own weekend to enjoy, but I'll be back next week with more stories about Portland.

— Dominic Anaya

About me: Doctor, educator and now a writer/artist, I'm just chillin' in Portland, OR with my wife, our ferrets, our chickens and our goats.