Good evening and we begin at
five with reaction to a new
plan from Multnomah County that is
being billed as part of the solution
to Portland's homeless crisis.
The initial goal to move at least 300 people
into housing over the next four months.
Thanks for joining us.
I'm David molko.
Since that announcement late last week,
there continue to be some questions around
funding and exactly how this all fits
in with Mayor Ted Wheeler's proposal.
We also wanted to check in with
advocates and those living on the street.
Their best has our top story.
It's the latest attempt at getting
people off the streets and into housing,
often on for the last like 15 years.
That's how long Diamond toward has
been homeless in Portland. It is crazy.
I've been on a list for 4 1/2 years now.
She's currently on four housing waitlists
so bad I can actually like taste it.
I dream of it having keep my
own keys to my own apartment.
People like diamonds are the
focus of housing Multnomah now the
counties latest plan to get 3.
100 people into housing over
the next four months.
There are apartments already
every day on the market.
Dennis Terry Alt at the Counties
Joint Office of Homeless Services
says they'll flood certain areas
of Portland with outreach workers.
The city's impact reduction team
will point those workers to
the areas with the most camps,
and the outreach workers are going to be
there day after day after day after day.
The plan has a price tag of $14
million for one year, which will
come from unused tax money from the
supportive housing services measure.
The County Board of Commissioners
allocated some of that funding for
rent assistance to prevent evictions,
but they left a large chunk of
it for this board this year.
New folks on the board,
new chair to decide how to spend.
They'll rely
on shelters, safe rest villages,
and even Mayor Ted Wheeler's
designated camping sites,
which have yet to open for where to place
people waiting for permanent housing.
Meanwhile, they'll offer landlord
incentives and rent assistance
to speed up the housing process.
You want a shelter bed?
Any of those sites,
including the city sites,
would be available for those folks.
So you say if they want a shelter bed.
But we've already run into problems
that people don't want a shelter
bed. That's why the end goal
is to get folks into housing.
Many living on the streets are skeptical.
They enjoy this whole roller
coaster and this whole.
Merry go round of ohh. We're
going to do this and end this
homeless situation. But yeah,
it never gets done. A part
of this plan will aim to stop
the cycle of moving people
from one location to the other,
one of the biggest concerns and setbacks
for people living on the street.
Then it seems like every time
I get my kids together and I
buy like a trailer, the city
ends up towing it and taking it from me.
So then I'm back to square one.
I think it's good for our community,
but most importantly, it's good
for our most vulnerable neighbors,
homeless advocates. Devon Pouncey are
optimistic for the plan, but believe
housing is just the first step.
And then I think also being able
to tack on services to be able
to assist them once they get the
housing is almost nearly as important
as the county is urging the state
legislature to pick up Governor
Tina Kotex $130,000,000 investment
package to address homelessness.
That package would help kickstart
what the county is trying to do.
Blair best KGW news.
Meanwhile, the mayor's office
issued a statement in response
to the county's plan saying,
quote, the mayor's plan to develop
temporary alternative shelter sites
is absolutely still moving forward.
We plan to announce sites
and service providers soon.
End Quote and of course we
will keep you posted.
Developing tonight,
police in Gresham and the community
are searching for a missing man.
Authorities say 22 year old Wesley Ash
left his home yesterday without his phone,
his wallet or ID and did not return.
His family says he is developmentally
disabled and needs his medication now.
Ash lives in the area of Northeast Davis St.
and 178th.
His family describes him as white,
about 5 foot 8 and 145 pounds
with light brown hair.
He was last seen wearing a dark
blue hoodie and black sweatpants.
Right now there is an ongoing search.
Covered for him in the community.
Anyone who sees Wesley Ash
should contact police.
Let's take you to Vancouver now,
where a viewer sent us this video
of the moments right after a car
crashed into a house, sparking flames.
Obviously,
police say a child inside that home
suffered minor injuries and it turns
out authorities had the vehicle was stolen.
Mike Penners in Vancouver
tonight following up on this.
Mike police say at the time of
the crash there were two teenagers
in that stolen vehicle.
Yeah, that's right, David,
a 14 year old and a 17 year old.
In fact, the 17 year old girl was booked
into the Juvenile detention center
behind me on on a number of charges
including driving under the influence
and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
I can tell you that people living in
the area where this all unfolded are
surprised by the ages of the individuals,
but not at all surprised that
the crash happened where it did.
This video obtained by KGW shows the
moments right after a car crashed into a
northeast Vancouver house Sunday night.
I was in my living room. And I heard.
I heard the noise when it hit
at park. Looked outside just in
time to see two people running
away from the wrecked car.
Troubling, for sure, but Ed's priority
was the family inside the home.
We got a hold of the.
Neighbor or the owner of the house
inside told him that the car you
better clear out the evacuate the home
and they did, but not unscathed.
We're told a 5 year old who was inside
the house suffered minor injuries few
hours or maybe an hour earlier than kids
would have been right there at that corner,
a corner that Ed says is problematic.
In the 20 years that he's lived at the
corner of NE 47th St. and 56th Ave.
Ed says he has seen a lot of wrecks.
It's just a fast corner and it's.
It should have more traffic control on it.
Even a sign saying dangerous corner,
a flashing sign saying caution,
dangerous corner would would help,
a sentiment echoed by others who
live in the area. It's not safe
over here and I just wish the sheriff's
will patrol it more because then that
would be a good deterrent from people
wanting to speed and do crazy stuff.
Crazy is certainly one way to
describe what happened Sunday night.
Authorities say the car that crashed
was stolen and the two people who bailed
out of it were just 14 and 17 years old.
Deputies managed to track them down,
much to the relief of neighbors.
It could have been very, very differently.
Yeah, this could have ended
much differently. For instance,
that house could have burned down.
But neighbors are applauding
just how fast both fire and
police arrived on scene. David.
Mike Penner in Vancouver.
Thank you, Mike. Tonight there is
a push in Salem to make one of the
best tools to prevent deaths from
opioids like fentanyl more available
in places like schools and businesses.
Now, these proposed laws would make
Narcan or naloxone legal to have
and to use without a prescription.
The state would purchase it in
bulk for a cheaper price and then
offer discounts to companies.
Schools, public agencies or really anyone
else that wanted to have it on hand,
teachers and school staff members
would be allowed to use Narcan
without parent permission if they
thought a student was overdosing.
Now State Representative Maxine
Dexter says the bill should
pass with bipartisan support.
Public health changes are
always too early or too late.
You're never exactly at the right time.
So sure, we could have done something sooner.
But really what this acknowledges it
is that we have a lot of work to do.
We're leaning in and we're going
to take care of our communities as
best as we can and and there's going
to be more that we should consider.
This is just a start.
And, Dexter adds, it is widely
understood that there is no danger in
administering treatments like naloxone,
which reverses the effects of an overdose,
even if a person turns out not to have.
Opioids in their body.
Meanwhile, a brand new drug treatment
facility is about to open in the Rose City.
It's run by the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Brian Clerkley is in The Newsroom tonight.
Brian, good to see you.
This is the second location they are opening.
It sounds like this one is a
little bit different though.
Well, yes. The first location
is in Salem and they both focus
on Native American culture,
using cultural activities to
help fight opioid addiction.
Health officials say inner healing can
happen while being creative, the facility.
It's called Great Circle recovery,
and this project has been in the
works for the past four years.
17 staff members have been hired,
including counselors, doctors,
administrative safety and security.
So if you're native,
you can use Indian health services to pay.
Medical director Jim Ladler says opioid
addiction is an issue in all communities,
but it's hitting the
indigenous community hard.
For the Native American communities
had a struggle with substance
use for probably decades,
probably possibly centuries at this point.
And a lot of that has to do with just,
again, the extreme poverty, despair, loss
of their culture.
This facility is not residential,
meaning clients don't stay the night.
Or a recent report says Oregon
needs 28 residential detox
facilities to fill the gap.
The tribe got funding for
this through several grants,
and the facility will
officially open in a week.
And the great circle recovery
location in Salem has served
500 people since it opened.
Two years ago, David,
just one of many that are badly needed.
Thank you, Bryant.
The Portland City Workers strike has now
come to an end with a tentative agreement.
That strike began on Thursday.
It ended early Sunday morning.
The Union representing about
600 workers say they have a new
collective bargaining agreement.
Terms here include a minimum 13%
salary increase by July of this year.
Portland City Council is still
in the need to approve this.
These workers handle everything from
wastewater treatment to pollution testing,
St. maintenance and Park Ranger.
Services.