January 6, 2016
The
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INSIDE
Week in Review
C ALENDAR
This page
Sponsored by:
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L OCAL N EWS
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O PINION
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M ETRO
photo by o livia o livia /t he p ortland o bserver
Freezing rain and snow that started on Sunday and covered roads in ice made travel extremely dan-
gerous on city streets and sidewalks, including West Burnside, downtown. Local schools, city offices
and many businesses closed on Monday, extending a long New Year’s holiday weekend for many
residents.
Icy Grip
Arts &
pages
8-13
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
O BITUARY
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by o livia o livia
t he p ortland o bserver
Winter has arrived in Portland
– and residents were treated to
a blanket of snow and freezing
rain to bookend the long New
Year’s holiday weekend. A win-
ter weather advisory on Monday
alerted residents that they should
avoid all travel that wasn’t “ab-
solutely necessary,” with ice en-
crusted streets delaying public
transit and deterring commuters.
The buildup of ice and snow
closed Portland Public Schools
Monday along with state and
city offices, Portland Communi-
ty College, Portland State Uni-
Freezing rain
disrupts work
and schools
versity, and classes at Oregon
Health and Science University.
Some schools managed to open
up on Tuesday, albeit with poor
attendance as commutes were
stagnant along iced over roads.
TriMet reported losing a
few buses Sunday night to the
ice, with some of them sliding
and becoming stuck in the bad
weather. Buses struggled with
the sleet and icy roads well into
Monday, when a bus spun out of
control on Northeast Fremont
and was shown in social media
photos stuck sideways across
traffic.
Trimet’s paratransit service
that provides door-to-door ser-
vices for seniors and the physi-
cally disabled also cut back ser-
vices Monday, saying they would
only be providing life-sustaining
trips until conditions were more
conducive to safe travel.
All the closures and delays
in travel didn’t stop some Port-
landers from appreciating a few
snow days, however, and doz-
ens of Portlander’s took to so-
cial media to share shots of their
backyards, pets, and children in
the snow. The forecast called for
clearer skies and daytime tem-
peratures above freezing for the
next few days.