This is KGW news at 5.
Welcome to KGW News at 5.
I'm Christelle Conway. We
begin this evening with
Portland's infrastructure.
You've probably noticed the
changes to city streets.
Pbot says it's all to
accommodate all the drivers,
cyclists and pedestrian.
But as Mike Benner reports,
some recent changes to his
street in downtown Portland are
in sitting well with everyone.
It's no secret that downtown
Portland is still trying to come
back from the pandemic and all of
that civil unrest back in 2020.
But there are business leaders,
one you're about to hear from,
who believe this new guarded bike lane
is not helping the cause one bit.
You'd be hard pressed to find a portlander,
or even a frequent visitor to the city who
is not familiar with the Heathman Hotel,
a fixture at the corner of Southwest
Salmon and Broadway since the late 1920s,
one of the first luxury boutique
hotels to go up. In the city, Marjorie
Walsh has been the general manager
of the Heathman for about a year.
She'll tell you for the last several months,
she's been stressing about what's
been happening right outside
the front doors of the hotel.
It's definitely been
operationally challenging for us.
Walsh is referring to what the
Portland Bureau of Transportation
did on Southwest Broadway as part
of what's called the Southwest
Broadway Bike Improvements Project.
Pbot put a bike lane right up against the
curb and street parking adjacent to that.
We've had a lot of really close
calls with guests coming out of
their vehicle and almost getting
hit by a bicycle coming up the lane.
We had an incident where a guest
door got hit by a bicyclist.
According to Walsh,
her own staffers have had
trouble just doing their job,
and she says the hotel's valet
zone has been cut in half due
to the facelift on Broadway.
Realistically, when loading
vehicles and unloading vehicles,
that gives you about two vehicles
that'll fit in your valet zone.
So obviously a hindrance to our.
Business operation as well.
Walsh's concerns are not lost
on the Transportation Bureau,
but PBOT spokesperson Hannah Schaefer
says the city continues to grow.
There are more and more drivers,
pedestrians and cyclists,
all with their own needs.
We do have to balance all the various
needs, and we need to make our
streets safer for all
our different users. And
prioritizing people on bikes and making
it safer for them is a priority for
us as we work to meet our climate
goals as a city.
But it won't come without hiccups.
As we saw while shooting
video near the Benson Hotel,
close calls like this one are
what bother Marjorie Walsh.
From a liability perspective,
it's something we're highly concerned about.
Again, both from guests coming
but our own employees as well.
Walsh tells us she plans to put
up cameras outside the Heathman
Hotel to keep an eye on what
she says has become a hazard.
Reporting in Downtown Portland,
I'm Mike Benner for KGW news.
All right, now to a traffic update out of
Yamhill County Highway 219 year Hash Rd.
Is back open tonight after
a crash in the area.
Earlier, Tualatin Valley Fire and
Rescue says two people were hurt and
one was taken to the hospital by
life flight with serious injuries.
The other person is expected to be OK,
but was still taken to the hospital.
Authorities have not said
what caused the crash.
Now to a big update for people planning
to go up the mountain this weekend.
Ski Bowl is now open.
Guests were welcomed in about four hours ago.
Now Ski Bowl is only opening the
lower and Upper bolt chair lift along
with the parking lot conveyor lift.
For now, you can head on to
skibowl.com for more details,
ticket information and much, much more.
Now, John, John Urinary,
you're joining us and we were just
talking about snow in the mountains,
but turns out we could potentially see slow.
Or.
Yeah, yes. Now it has to
line up just perfectly.
As you know, forecasting snow at
the lower elevations throughout
the valley can be kind of tricky
and that's the setup for later on
tonight and into tomorrow as well.
So here's a look at the satellite and radar.
We're just looking at basically clear
skies along the east side of the state.
But you do have some watches
and warnings throughout parts of
Eastern Oregon later on this week,
and I'll show you that in a second.
But this is that upper level low that's
going to be providing some of the
precipitation late tonight and into tomorrow.
It's been kind of just kind of.
Sold out along the Oregon northern
part of California border,
so it hasn't moved up as quickly,
but as we look at Futurecast,
here's what's expected to happen.
After midnight,
we'll start to see some of that
precipitation move through.
It's going to be just rain throughout the
southern part of the Willamette Valley,
but heading into tomorrow morning
after well after sunset,
right around 10:30 eleven,
we could be seeing some transition from
some rain showers to some snow showers.
Now the snow level is going to
drop down to about 500 feet.
I'm expecting most of the accumulation
to be throughout the West Hills.
And higher into SW Washington,
you'll see a little bit more of that snow
and Haggerty heading into the afternoon.
This model is showing that the
snow showers will still be over
parts of the the metro area and
you know this little pink line.
There's also a chance to see a
little bit of some freezing rain.
We also have that E wind that's
going to factor in this as well.
Yes, it's going to be keeping us cold,
but it could help evaporate some
of that precipitation move through
late tonight and into tomorrow
as we jump into Monday morning.
We are basically dry all day
Monday and into Tuesday as well,
but that cold air mass is going to be
sitting around for the next couple of days.
So this model is showing the potential for
some light amounts throughout the metro area.
Again,
it's not going to be a snowstorm
at all throughout the West Hills.
You could be looking at light
accumulation to maybe a little bit
more maybe 1 to 2 inches in a few of
the higher elevations above the city.
And coming up in my detail forecast,
I'll talk more about Woking expect
to see over the next couple of
days and just how long this cold
air is going to be with us.
Sounds good. Thanks, Joe.
The Portland Thorns needed a new head coach.
After just one year on the job,
coach Ryan Wilkinson
announced her resignation.
It all stems from her
relationship with a player.
Wilkinson released a statement on
social media saying she and a player
formed a friendship that turned into
more of a complex with emotions.
But she did emphasize it never
turned physical and investigation by
the league and Players Association
ultimately determined Wilkinson did
not violate any sort of policies.
But keeping her position as head
coach was a different story.
Essentially,
she has lost the the trust and
confidence of the rest of the team and
is unable to move
forward in the role.
Wilkinson's resignation comes just one
day after Thorns owner Merritt Paulson
announced he is selling the club.
That's due to a month long investigation
that revealed a toxic culture of sexual,
emotional and verbal abuse
within the Thorns organization.
The fate of organs landmark gun control
measure now sits in the hands of a judge.
Oregonians passed the measure
in November, but opponents,
who argue it violates the Constitution,
quickly found legal challenges.
A judge will run on a rule
on the case next week.
The plaintiffs in this case
say Measure 114 violates the
rights of people to bear arms.
The biggest point of contention is the ban
on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
The Oregon attorney.
Mineral's office defended the measure,
saying the Second Amendment is not
an absolute right and the state does
have the ability to regulate firearms.
Right now our ability to enforce
a magazine limits is none.
We cannot, we not only do we not have the
staffing to enforce magazine capacities,
but right now I believe
personally it's unconstitutional.
Supreme Court has recognized the
states retain some ability to make
regulations when there are new
social ills and and new technology.
Georgina is scheduled to go
into effect next Thursday.
The judge says she will make a
decision by Tuesday at the latest.
It's been two years since Oregon
voters passed Measure 109,
allowing for the use of magic mushrooms
in certain therapeutic settings.
It did not legalize retail sales,
but that did not stop sites like this.
On Friday, a line extended around
the block at a Portland business
illegally selling Cilo Cybin.
KGW's AMA McCarty has more
in downtown Portland.
News spread fast this week about a particular
business selling a particular product.
But signage inside the store and a
couple months back outside the building
indicated one could buy Silybin.
Here at Shroom house,
the owner of the business
declined to speak on camera,
as did the customers lining up down
the street and around the block.
But here's the thing,
retail silybin sales aren't exactly legal.
When measure 109 passed in 2020,
voters approved the use of
psilocybin in a licensed facility
with a licensed facilitator.
This after a 2 year rule development period.
I still think a lot of people have
reached out thinking that this is a
dispensary model or that people will
be able to go in and purchase the
lecithin and take it with them off site.
We also know. But that's not a
part of of what ORS 4758 created,
ORS 475A being the specific
psilocybin regulation law.
Angie Albee leads the team
putting the rules in place.
She explains that work isn't done.
Oregon Psilocybin Services,
a part of the Oregon Health Authority,
has until December 31st to finalize
the systems and processes for
licensing and regulation of the
Silybin products and services.
OH, confirms there are no.
Licensed facilitators or service
centers at this time in the state.
When January 2nd rolls around
they'll start accepting applications
for four types of licensure,
and even then it will take time to
get everything fully up and running.
You would need a licensed manufacturer to
cultivate or process silybin products.
You would need a license testing lab
to test those products according
to our requirements and rule.
You would have to have then
a licensed service center to
sell that silibin product to.
And then you would have to have
licensed facilitators to be able
to provide solicitan services,
which includes a preparation session,
administration session and
integration session.
Alma McCarty, KGW News,
not Alby, said we should expect to
see service centers up and running
around the second quarter of next year.
As for a Shroom house operating
outside the license system,
a spokesperson with OHA stated criminal
penalties or a law enforcement matter,
and Portland police tells us the
narcotics and organized crime.
Units are aware of the allegations.