I think about how I'm gonna start over.
Fire guts of Portland department
building leaving little hope
for what's left inside.
All I have is my phone,
the clothes I'm wearing.
Now. Tenants are questioning the
alarms they say never went off.
Plus a wildfire
warning that worked.
How Tech helped stop one of
the first fires of the season
from spreading out of control.
And some may
call it a special election surprise. And
they understood that the impacts we're
going to be outweighing the positives here.
The choice voters appeared to make tonight.
That's out of character for Multnomah
County and later the highway
to Mount Saint Helens,
now closed for the summer.
How long it could take to repair
the road wiped out by a landsli.
Good evening.
It is election night in Oregon.
Thanks so much for joining us.
I'm David Mulko. And
I'm Brittany Falkers.
Let's get right to the results n
this special election with the
most watched measure on the bal,
at least in Multnomah County.
According to the latest numbers
updated just an hour ago,
the capital gains tax that would
have funded legal support for
renters facing eviction is fail,
with 82% of people voting no.
That is a resounding rejection
of a measure that many elected
leaders came out against.
Multnomah County voters did not strike.
Down all taxes though,
it looks like they've approved
a renewal of the Portland
Children's Levy for the 4th tim.
Right now, 68% are saying yes.
And let's take a look at how the Multnomah
County Commissioners race is stacking up.
Former Nike executive Julia Brim Edwards
has a firm lead with 59% of thee
when it comes to the District 3 seat.
If she wins more than 50%,
she'll avoid a runoff in Novemb.
And in the race for Portland
School Board Zone 3,
retired elementary school teacher Patty.
Sullivan is in the lead with 54% of the vote.
You might remember Derek Peters,
who previously ran for
Multnomah County Sheriff,
withdrew from this race after
reports in national media tied .
To Christian nationalists, it was too late,
though to take his name off the ballot.
By the way, The proposed capital gains
tax is 1 of what you might calle
more interesting contests of this night.
It would have added yet another
tax in the county,
even as politicians like Portlas
mayor argue that right now couny
residents face too many taxes.
Yeah, voters rejected that tax
by a significant margin, too.
Catherine Cook has been following the
measure for us and joins us nowh
reaction from those who supportd
and oppose this new tax. Cather.
Brittany During the campaign we heard
people from both sides say thaty
agreed with the measures intents
the tax would have funded legal
defense for people facing evict.
They say this issue deserves
attention and funding,
but opponents don't think this
tax was the way to get it,
and it appears the majority of voters agreed.
Measure 26238 proposed establisg
an adjustable countywide capital
gains tax set at .75% to start.
Capital gains is the profit
someone makes when they
sell certain things like
property, a home or stocks.
Again, funds raised would have supported
free legal representation from Multnomah
County residents facing evictio.
One of the biggest sticking
points for opponents,
besides the county's already high tax burden,
is that they say this would
have impacted everyone the same,
from a senior citizen trying
to sell their home to pay for
care to small business owners.
The Portland Business Alliance
oppose the measure and says
they're relieved by the outcome.
I also checked in with supporters tonight.
I think
it should be sending a message t
now to policymakers and leadersn
the public that you have to work
with business in the community o
make sure that when you're increasing
costs and making investments tht
they've done in the right and
appropriate way because just adg
additional burden on households,
on businesses, on seniors.
Is probably not the right path right now.
Feelings are are are sad but
also you know the the coalition
feels really, really proud
of the work that we have put in.
You know our our goal has always
been to raise awareness and
bring an important and necessary
program to Multnomah County.
Moving forward, those behind Mee
26238 say nothing is off the ta,
but they likely won't pursue
another ballot measure.
They say there's not enough timd
their priority is securing fundg
for this program in other ways,
including through state and
local government. David.
Thank you, Catherine.
We appreciate it. A reminder,
all of these results are still unofficial.
The next batch is coming in from
Multnomah County around midnigh,
which we estimate is going to mn
about half of all the ballots ct
will have been counted at that point.
Yeah. And you can see the resuls
as they're published on kgw.com.
You will also see a QR code
at the right of your screen.
You can scan that anytime to be
directed straight to the results page
and the track on the bottom of r
screen to the scrolling bar the.
With all the updated results,
let's get to other headlines no,
including a month.
Of a fire in the row city that got it.
100 plus year old apartment building.
Incredible pictures here
while all residents escaped.
We understand some of them
rescued by fire crews on ladder.
No one was seriously hurt,
but many tell us they lost
absolutely everything,
including their pets.
It's just so hard to see the immediate
area around the apartment too.
In Southwest Portland still blod
off tonight, crews are worried
parts of the building could fal.
Alma McCarty brings us the latest. Portland
Fire transitioned to a fire
watch operation this evening.
Crews will rotate through the nt
to keep the flames reduced and p
eyes on a building likely to collapse,
billowing smoke that covered the roadway,
flames erupting from the roof ad
onlookers standing by in shock.
In and around the May apartments
on Southwest Taylor and 14.
We moved on to the third floor.
It looked like it was
coming out from there and.
It's pretty darn scary.
So we all evacuated the building
and then then we watched the
flames just burst open. Tenants
watched from below as Portland
firefighters battled the fire from above.
The crews went inside to both
suppress the flames and ensure
all tenants got out in total,
rescuing 4 people.
Several residents told KGW
they didn't hear a fire alarm.
Had the maintenance guy come
and Get Me Out of the house.
Out of my own apartment,
Casey Cook lives on the 2nd floor and
evacuated before he could retrie
his most precious belongings. Yu
can lose my phone.
I can lose my wallet.
I can lose all the plastic
stuff in my wallet.
But my cats were in there.
It's been in the building,
neglected for a very,
very long time.
Well, this is.
A long time overdue,
Portland's Bureau of Development Services
confirmed Tuesday they received complaints
about the building from residen,
and the city sent a letter to the owner
listing 10 violations as of Mon.
However, a city inspector found
most violations at the 113 year
old building had been corrected.
Unfortunately, they're quite a few people
displaced as a result of the fi,
while there's still no word on
just how many were displaced.
The Red Cross made overnight
shelter arrangements late Tuesd.
Tenants set up at Mailing Hall n
the University of Portland camp.
On Scene.
Volunteers connected people with the basics,
food and water while planning
ahead for their uncertain futur.
We are utilizing every resource
at our disposal, products,
you know, good services,
everything to make sure that the
folks can recover in the in the.
The smoothest way possible fire investigators
will be on scene Wednesday morn.
They are still working to
determine A cause of this fire.
A city engineer will also be on site.
They will be here to assess the condition
of the building in Southwest Portland.
Alma McCarty,
KGW News.
Just moments ago we got an
update from firefighters.
They say 60 units were impacted,
and they added that fire detection systems
in the building did sound an al,
but residents reported many fale
alarms had gone off recently and many
didn't think it was a real fire.
Well, Speaking of fires,
we have a good news story of sos
about an early season wildfire t
had the potential to spread qui,
but instead was caught early.
Officials say lightning sparkede
blaze last night in a wilderness
area southeast of Eugene.
Now, thanks to a system of came,
crews spotted a plume of smoke
shortly after that strike.
They launched a response immediately.
And had the fire under control
within 2 1/2 hours.
It only burned half an acre.
That is how it is supposed to w.
The Oregon Department of Foresty
has been adding cameras across
the state for the last two years
and now has 93 up and running.
Let's get you caught up on
tonight's other headlines,
now starting in Salem where
a fourth lawmaker.
Has been disqualified from reelection.
Republican state Senator Cedric Hayden
from Fall Creek reached 10 unexd
absences on day 11 of the walko.
Republicans initially said they
were protesting bill summaries.
They say we're not written in plain language,
but now indicate they're trying
to make a point that proposals
around gun reform and abortion e
what some call hyper partisan.
Six other Republican senators
currently have 8 unexcused abse.
In Olympia, Governor Jay Inslee
has signed a law that makes drug
possession and public use of drs
in Washington a gross misdemean.
That came after both chambers passed the
bill on the first day of a special session.
Lawmakers failed to agree on a
compromise during the regular session,
which meant without action,
drug possession would have becoe
legal statewide as of July 1st.
The new law also creates a systm
for a pretrial diversion program
to get people into treatment.
And new at 11, Portland's mayor
is working on a plan to ban
daytime camping on city propert.
That is, according to a spokesperson,
Willamette Week reporting tonig,
the proposal would require tents to be
dismantled between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM.
And would prohibit camping
anytime near schools,
daycare centers or other shelter sites.
The mayor reportedly plans to pt
the proposal before City Council
sometime in the next couple of weeks.
New tonight, Oregon's governor s
ordering a crackdown on pot shos
that aren't paying their taxes.
Governor Tina Kotak today direcd
the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis
Commission to deny licenses fory
cannabis retailer that owes back taxes.
Store owners will now have to
provide proof of paid taxes when
they apply for license renewals.
The state Department of Revenue
confirmed that most dispensaries
are paying their taxes,
but about 9% are not in complia,
according to the BLEM at Week.
That includes the large chain Lomota,
which has expanded across the
state despite having more than 5
million in unpaid state taxes.
That's also the business former
Secretary of State Shamia Fagan.
A
Hillsboro man is facing one
count of manslaughter after a
deadly crash on 99 W Tiger.
Police say 43 year old Grant Ths
was impaired last Thursday whene
drove his truck into oncoming traffic.
81 year old Louis Gina Elmer died in the
head on collision near the Costco and Tiger.
Four cars in a motorcycle were involved,
authorities say, and two people were taken
to the hospital with serious injuries.
Louis Gina's son Robert.
Was among them.
He was driving his mother at the
time and right now he is still
in the trauma unit at OHSU.
Louie, Gina's daughter,
said She took solace and her
mother saw those she loved most
one final time before the crash.
Believe it or not, they went too
clean off my dad's and her cemey
plots because my dad died 25 years ago
and they went to a movie and di.
And they were driving home and
she got they got hit. Well,
we appreciate her sharing that sentiment
by the way this family is connected to
Elmer's restaurants, Edson tell.
Her mother made it through 4
strokes and three kinds of canc.
We have new details
this evening in a really difficult story,
the family of a Beaverton teena,
presumed round off the Oregon coast says.
Their son was simply waiting ine
water near the shore at the time that
he was swept out to sea by a riptide.
Originally, firefighters had sad
that Jacob Stokes and his friens
were swimming in the ocean,
which really gives the impression that
they were further out in the wa.
In fact, his family says they were in
water about knee deep during low tide.
They want to make sure that peoe
understand the danger you face n
in shallow water off the coast.
Two of the teens made it on their own.
1/3 was rescued, but Stokes was never found.
Really a tragic reminder
there. You're watching.