We start here at 5:00 o'clock.
With major changes in Portland's
effort to ease its homeless cri,
the city's controversial
daytime camping ban ordinance
officially went into effect tod.
Thank you for joining us on
this Friday. I'm Laurel Porter.
And I'm David Mulko.
People living on the streets are
now required to pack up tents ad
belongings during the day and cn
only set them up again after 8.
Thomas Schultz joins us
now in Southwest Portland.
Thomas, we should clarify.
The mayor's office says no enforcement yet,
but what's the reaction
been like on day one?
That's right, David.
No enforcement yet.
But some people that are homeles
that we spoke with today say the
just learning about the ordinan.
Others say that they expected pe
officers to come to their tent s
morning to remove them from the property,
regardless of whether they had
just heard about it or not.
Everybody that we spoke with who
lives on the streets says this l
make their life more challengin.
Well, right now it's breaking me down.
Claude Little has lived on the
streets of Portland for 10 year9
have been spent in this vicinit.
Soon he could be forced to move daily. Is going to just keep tearing me up, Little
says. He broke his leg months ao
and is going to physical therapy now.
He packs a bag of belongings whenever
he leaves, in case his tint is removed.
My life is just falling apart slowly,
but I'm trying to put it back
together. It's really hard.
The ordinance is one of the
biggest moves Portland has
taken to address homelessness.
It bans homeless camping on
public property from 8:00 in
the morning until 8:00 at night.
People living on the street can
be prohibited from camping if
they declined shelter or housin.
They can be warned to move their tents
and belongings twice before faca
fine up to $100 or 30 days in j.
We don't
have money. That's why I like that's why
we're out here in tents already,
like, this thing of fine is unrealistic.
City commissioner say the intention of the
ordinance is to move people into shelter or
public housing if people say no to services.
That that we've actually heard they want,
then we'll have to deal with that as well.
Representatives from Mayor Ted
Wheeler's office say enforcement of the
ordinance would not begin immediately.
Instead, the city is working with nonprofits,
the Street Services Coordination Center
and the Joint Office of Homeless Services
to educate people about the cha.
It's complicated,
but our community safety team,
our first responders,
need clarification and directio,
Ryan says.
Friday is just the beginning of
dialogue taking place with peope
living on the streets.
He says commissioners need to discuss the
education phase of the ordinance in more
depth at the next City Council meeting.
Prominent business and property owner
Jordan Schnitzer says the ordine
is a step in the right directio,
and many of them don't want to e
down because they're afraid of
being attacked by the homeless .
Impacted by them.
We need people back downtown.
We need the workers back downto.
We need the shops to open up
services like the Blanche houser
collecting suitcases with wheels
for people living on the streets
to quickly move belongings. Now
they're survivors, right?
That's that's sort of the thing
about them that impresses us,
is just their instinct for surv.
Still, those like Little are concerned.
He says he's already been ticketed in St.
Sweeps and had his belongings thrown in
the garbage. He had to get a ne,
Social Security card and birth certificate.
I'm trying and every
time I get a step ahead,
they kicked me two steps back.
But it's not their fault, you k,
They're just following procedur,
you know what I'm saying?
They're following the mayor,
you know, and so.
Camping within 250 feet of scho,
child care centers and shelters
run by the city is prohibited,
as is camping in city parks
from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Now,
there was also a legal challenge
filed against the daytime camping ban.
And in response to that challen,
Portland Commissioner Dan Ryan ,
quote, I think there's legal ris
and challenges going on all over
the city by not providing servi,
by not making our public right of ways safe.
David Laurel,
thanks, Thomas. Appreciate that update.
Community needs and community visions
will define and drive the bulk f
the work that we're doing. Well,
that is a familiar face the US
Transportation secretary laying
out his approach on getting big
projects done with federal doll.
During a visit to the Pacific Northwest,
one that included stops on
both sides of the Columbia,
Tim Gordon's in The Newsroom.
Tim, you took a bus tour with the secretary.
David, I did, along with a busload of
people riding on Portland's 82nd Ave.
Yeah, we weren't alone in there.
That's where there is a push for major
improvements for safety and livability.
Before that, Buttigieg was north of the
river to see how a big federal t
will help transportation problems there.
A busy day for US Secretary of Transportation
Pete Buttigieg first to Washoug,
to highlight an intersection the
federal government is putting
$40 million toward fixing.
It's where 40 trains a day cause gridlock
for drivers coming in and out of town.
That's why we're so glad to be ,
to formally celebrate the $40 million that
are going to help reconstruct that 32nd St.
underpass and make for a better life and
a better routine all across this area.
Also, I have to
tell you, then,
it was across the river to Portd
Community College's southeast campus,
flanked by some of Oregon's congressional
delegation and Governor Tina Ko.
Representative Earl Blumenauer arranged
the visit to talk about 80 2nd .
an old State Thruway now under y
control and in need of a lot of help,
Blumenauer says.
It's one of Oregon's orphaned highways,
7 miles of opportunity and challenge,
and we're poised now to
finally take advantage of that,
poised for improvements becausef
more than $100 million committey
the state and the City of Portl.
Buttigieg says it's something te
federal government can get behi.
Ultimately, so much of what we'e
doing with the federal dollars t
are going out is actually going to be
decided at the state and local level.
We're consciously trying to
empower state and local governmt
to get big things done. Leaving
PCCA bus tour on an all electric TriMet bus,
a chance to show and tell the
top transportation official
in the country all about it.
The dangers of the roadway,
the improvements to come,
and how federal dollars are
needed as well to create safety,
livability and equity.
Buttigieg liked what he heard.
And seeing everything from this great
green bus that we're buying mord
more of for transit agencies ard
the country to the the corridort
is going to benefit from good py
choices and good investment in the future.
This is why transportation matt.
And of course transportation mas
crossing the Columbia River.
So I had to ask Buttigieg.
About the federal commitment
for a new Interstate bridge,
he said he couldn't talk specif,
but that both states showing a
billion dollar commitment makese
case for federal funding strongr
in the grant application proces.
So more on that coming. Yes,
a lot of people interested in ws
happening with the I5 bridge is
talking, Tim, about infrastructe
and traffic. We have a traffic alert for
you on I-5 starting tonight.
Oh dot crews are doing maintenae
on the Markham Bridge.
The southbound lanes of I5 wille
closed from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM tonight,
tomorrow and Sunday.
Drivers will need to use I-405
to get around that closure.
Meanwhile, a judge has denied bl
for the man accused of causing a
crash on I-5 that killed 7 peop.
Authorities say 52 year old Linn
Smiths with driving a semi back
on May 18th near Albany when it
veered off the road and hit a
passenger van carrying eleven people.
The seven people who died.
Were all farm workers At a
bail hearing on Thursday,
two family members and the victims employer
asked that Smith be kept behind bars.
His next court hearing is
scheduled for the end of July.
He faces seven counts of manslaughter
plus reckless driving and DUII.
In Cowlitz County.
A fire destroyed a home and sent
a firefighter to the hospital.
This happened late last night in Kalama.
The fire was at an old
Victorian house built in 1900.
Crews were searching inside
when the roof collapsed.
Luckily, the homeowner was
not there at the time.
The injured firefighter was tred
and later released from the hospital.
The cause is under investigation
to an update this evening on tht
massive fire that ripped through
a Portland apartment complex.
Two months later,
neighbors in the building next r
who were also displaced are finy
getting their belongings back.
Kyla Boshi joins us along SW 14th Ave.
where the street is still blocked off Kyle.
Yeah, David, the the damage
is still quite visible.
You can see this fence is
intended to keep people back.
There's concerns it's unstable.
At some point,
the May apartments will be demolished.
According to the city,
the building owner hired a contractor,
but no permits have been filed .
On May 16th, a huge fire ripped through
the Southwest Portland apartment building.
Everyone survived.
A guy who lived here was arrestd
and charged with starting the f.
Not only were residents of the y
apartments forced out after the blaze,
but so are people living in the
nearby Maxwell Hall building to.
Those residents who've been living next
door were able to get their belongings.
Contractors box things up for t.
Many of the residents have since
moved to other apartments around town.
They say the past two months have been
difficult, first surviving a fi,
then trying to get life back on track.
I didn't have insurance renter's insurance,
and I should have,
and I do now.
And anybody who doesn't,
I recommend you get it immediaty
because you never know when
something like this will happen.
One big question that remains wn
will this building be torn down?
The city admits there's no firm timeline yet.
It's up to the building owner
and contractor. In the meantime,
this section of SW 14th Ave.
will remain closed.