imminent concern to collapse.
There's a heavy concern or a
significant concern we could
lose this building at anytime.
Good evening.
We begin at 5:00 with continuing
coverage of that massive fire tt
tore through a Southwest Portlad
apartment building and as you h,
keeping a close eye on what is
left of a crumbling structure wh
concerns about a sudden collaps.
Thanks for joining us.
I'm David Molko.
And I'm Brittany Falkers.
Mike Benner is live by the apart
on SW 14th and Taylor, Mike,
more debris fell off the buildig
just in the last 90 minutes.
So what are you seeing now?
Yeah. Hey there, Brittany.
I'm seeing a lot of bricks,
and I mean a lot of bricks littering,
littering the street and sidewa.
Let me get out of the way.
And give you a live look
here at this intersection.
A security guard watching over this property
said it happened around 3:30 this afternoon.
It was quick and loud.
He said he went to check on some
homeless folks camping nearby.
They're all good and safe,
but all of this is exactly why
the building has been red tagge,
meaning no civilians inside of .
All of this,
the aftermath of a massive fire.
Wednesday morning in Southwest Portland.
That group you see there
is assessing the structural
integrity of the May apartments.
Turns out what they discovered s
troubling to the point the more
than 100 year old building coule
demolished if it doesn't collapse first.
This is an unreinforced masonry
building that was effectively
being held together by the floo.
These floors are now extremely
damaged and affected by both fi,
flame and water. So.
There's a heavy concern or a
significant concern we could loe
this building at any time. On
Tuesday morning, the multistory
apartment building went up in flames,
and as you can tell,
this was no small fire.
For some residents,
the only way out was the fire escape,
and even that was dicey.
Those residents had to be
rescued by firefighters,
all while the inferno shut down
streets as well as I Four O 5 do
in large part to the thick smok.
We had a lot of smoke and smelled it and
looked out our window and could could
see it from the early get go. Wy
Rahm will be the first to say.
Her frustration over the smoke
that filled her home pales in
comparison to the dozens of residents
who lost theirs. It's really
tough so I don't know what
those people are going to do.
Those people are among the reasons we
wanted to speak with the building owner.
But he had very little to say
before somebody ushered him awa.
Listen, no, I don't know what happened.
There was a fire here. But I me,
unfortunate for your residence. I mean
any fires unfortunate for the residents,
Residents of a building that's now at
the center of a forensics investigation.
We're told on Friday a Fire Chif
in Scappoose who's licensed to a
drone in Portland will fly a dre
around and maybe into the buildg
to determine what sparked this .
He has a smaller drone.
That we're going to take into
the area of believed fire.
Start incipient C, if you will,
and they're going to fly the drone around
and see if we can determine anyg
from the imagery that is gather.
In that process,
He will be able to put together
3D3D images of the room as it s.
So we'll be able to come back and really
look at a good model on the computer,
have it rotated around in color.
All right, back out here live.
If this drone doesn't do the tr,
one fire investigator can go in.
But here's the deal.
This building could collapse,
as we're starting to see this afternoon,
so Specialist will be on hand in case
that happens and a rescue is necessary.
Needless to say,
a very fluid situation out here.
Once all of this is complete,
this forensics investigation,
the building will be turned
back over to its owner,
who will work with city officias
to determine next steps.
In all likelihood, a complete demolition.
Again, if this building does not collapse.
First back to you.
I got to say it is looking pretty precarious.
Mike, appreciate that update.
Let's get the Portland's gun violence
now with officers investigating
a downtown shooting early this morning.
Police say the ME building that's at SW
5th and Washington was hit around 5:30.
Though nobody was shot.
Officers say the shooter
was gone when they arrived.
In our homeless crisis,
Portland's mayor is reportedly planning
to ban daytime camping on city property.
That would, according to Willamette Week,
require people to pack up
tents they pitch overnight.
In places like parks and sidewa,
our Blair Best is here.
So, Blair,
what is the official line from e
mayor's office on all of this?
Well, David, the mayor's office
tells us they're planning to adt
protocols for homeless camping.
It's their latest attempt to cut down on
the number of people sleeping outside now.
This ban, however, would target homeless
people staying on city property.
That includes sidewalks and par.
Now, the Blem It Week reports that Mayor
Ted Wheeler is now proposing a ban on
city property from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM,
leaving many homeless people wondering
where they'll go during the day.
Nobody's going to go pack up thr
tents and 8:00 AM every day,
and it's just not.
It's not going to happen,
I guess. What would be the altee
place to go besides shelter,
which doesn't work for some peo?
Now, we also talked with the
Lents Neighborhood Association.
That's an area in Southeast Pord
where homeless people flock to.
And while they say this
proposal looks good on paper,
they don't have faith that the
city will be able to enforce it.
Now, we are expecting more
details on the daytime,
daytime camping band to
come out sometime next week.
Ready. We know you'll be followg
that for us. Thanks so much, Bl.
Let's get you caught up now on results
coming in from yesterday's special election.
And if you scan that QR code that's at
the bottom right hand side of your screen,
it'll bring you right to even me
results that are posted up on kgw.com.
Okay first up the proposed capital gains
tax in Multnomah County that is failing.
It would have helped renters par
a lawyer when they're facing eviction.
So far, 82% of voters are sayin.
Voters renewed the Portland Children's
Levy that happened for the 4th time and in
the race for Portland School Board Zone 3,
retired elementary school teachr
Patty Sullivan is in the lead wh
56% of the vote in the Multnomah
County Commissioner's Race.
Former Nike executive Julia Brim
Edwards has a firm lead in distt
three with 58% support.
Brim Edwards will represent District 3,
which includes much of Southeast
Portland and parts of Northeast.
She grew up in the area
and went to school there.
Our Daisy Caballero caught up wh
her today about her plans for
this new position
in Walks County Commissioner
Elect Julia Brim Edwards.
Julia Brim Edwards made a specil
appearance during Wednesday's
Portland City Council meeting,
where Mayor Ted Wheeler and commissioners
congratulated her presumed victory for
District 3's commissioner posit,
replacing Jessica Vega Peterson after
she was elected chair last fall.
I'm excited by the results, andm
excited to get to work on behalf
East Portland and District 3, Bm
Edwards says. She ran for this
position to better a district she grew
up in and plans to help thrive y
addressing a number. Number of issues
this particular role working wih
the other county commissioners
will be able to end St.
camping humanely,
provide greater access to mental
health services and drug treatmt
and also the county has a critil
role to play with public safety
with both the Sheriff and the
district Attorney's office from
Edwards is currently a small
business owner who also served
on the Portland Public School
Board for the last nine years.
So she says she understands all
the issues Portland is facing,
but her number one priority ters
of ending St. camping humanely.
The county working with the city has the
ability to create a lot more shelter.
So we need to be able to provide
shelter so people can humanely
transition off out of St.
Camping into a place that they're safe
and have access to basic servic.
So that's the number one priori.
RIM Edwards has plans to
stay on the school board for
the remainder of her term.
That's up in June of 2025.
She'll be sworn in on June 8th.
DC Caballero, KGW News.
One of the more interesting elen
night contests that proposed
capital gains tax in Multnomah County and
the overwhelming rejection by voters,
perhaps because of the high proe
opposition, perhaps because it s
yet another tax, or maybe both.
But Speaking of your tax dollar,
there may be more of them headed
back to your bank account becaue
of Oregon's kicker rebate.
Tim Gordon's in The Newsroom.
Tim, we are talking about billions with a B
David the kicker fund up to 5.5
billion to be returned to taxpa.
And there's almost.
2 billion more for the state but
being worked on this session.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek
talked today about how she would
spend those additional dollars.
They say money makes the world go round
and in Oregon it keeps government running.
The latest forecast from state
economists gives revenue a big boost.
Experts say it's mostly due to a
better than expected rebound frm
the pandemic and inflation raisg
incomes and tax brackets. Now
everybody knows. What the levelf
resources we have to do a good budget.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek met h
reporters in her offices at the Capitol
with a spending plan for the 1.6
million in additional state rev.
And we have a lot of work to do,
but this forecast provides the
resources we need to get there
and it's an opportunity for bold
leadership from the legislature look.
Legislative leaders and I are vy
aligned on these top three priorities,
the priorities laid out with numbers.
The governor wants 316,000,000 to expand
the state's response to the homeless crisis,
280,000,000 to address what she
called the behavioral health
crisis playing out across Orego,
and 120 million more for educatn
and early literacy programs for
all school districts in the sta.
Beyond that, the governor wants 207,000,000
to improve the wildfire protection system.
64 million for urgent water quay
and infrastructure projects,
and 6.3 million to train more
police officers.
The other big part of the forect
equation is good news connected
to next year's kicker rebate.
In March it looked like a $4 billion total,
and now it's a record,
shattering 5.5 billion that will
go back to Oregon taxpayers.
Senate Republican leader Tim
Konope commented on that writin.
Oregon families are on track
to receive the largest kicker
return they have ever received.
Republicans trust Oregonians
with their tax refund,
their children and their famili.
Meanwhile,
Democrats want government to spd
your money and parent your chil.
But remember,
Republicans have walked off the
job and shut down the Senate.
The governor again urged them to come
back so they can finish their business,
including the budget.
I'm treating
people with respect. Get back to work.
I don't need to chase you down.
Get back to work. The deadline o
get the budget done is June 30t.
The new two year cycle begins July 1st,
although the governor and legislature
have already signed off on a
continuing resolution that would
keep government services running
until September 1st if needed.
Brittany. All
right, Tim, thank you.
Now to news from around the Northwest.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee
signed a law that makes drug
possession and public use of drs
in the state a gross misdemeano.
Washington lawmakers in the House and
Senate passed the bill yesterda,
the first day of their special session,
to address this issue.
If they didn't come to an agree,
drug possession would have becoe
legal in Washington statewide af
July 1st because of an expiring rule.