Reclaiming
the Dream
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVI • Number 3
Knocked Out by
Gentrification
Diverse march is
show of strength
amid fears
‘Left Hook,’
tells story of
displacement
See Local News, page 3
See A&E, page 13
Established in 1970
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • January 18, 2017
Committed to Cultural Diversity
photo by
M ark W ashington /t he p ortland o bserver
A passenger wades through a foot of snow to catch a TriMet bus on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at the beginning of a week of snow and ice
covered roads and walkways. A big melt was starting Tuesday with freezing rain and then just rain as more mild conditions move in for the rest of the week.
Ice and snow to
give way to rain
and more rain
by M ichael l eighton
p ortland o bserver e ditor
One of the largest snowfalls in
Portland history started to give way
to a big melt on Tuesday that brought
freezing rain. Heavy rain was in the
forecast overnight and into Wednes-
day to keep travel extremely hazard-
Big Melt Begins
ous before the big accumulation of ice
and snow could be expected to slowly
melt away.
More than a foot of snow covered
everything in Portland after the biggest
24 hour snowfall in decades hit the
city on Jan. 11. Freezing temperatures
over the next few days left the snow in
place, making travel extremely hazard-
ous. Schools were closed for the fifth
straight day on Tuesday because of the
adverse conditions.
The National Weather Service says
the Portland area should see warmer
temperatures Wednesday as milder
and wetter weather pushes in from the
Pacific Ocean and cold temperatures
are pushed out of the region. Heavy
rain through the rest of the week, com-
bined with snow melt, can be expected
to cause some localized flooding, offi-
cials said. The Portland Department
of Transportation urged residents to
clear street drains. At press time Tues-
day, flooding was not expected on ma-
jor rivers, but small streams will have
to be closely monitored, officials said.