A Salute to
Young Black
Lives
Darrelll Grant’s
new CD inspired by
protests, health crisis
See Metro, page 7
Established in 1970
Jefferson
Rebuild
Proposed
School next in
line for bond
financing
See Local News,
page 3
PO QR code
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVIV • Number 18
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • August 5, 2020
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Adbi Noor examines a memorial on the downtown waterfront Friday for black lives lost at the hands of police. Nightly protests for racial justice have remained largely
peaceful between demonstrators and police following an agreement last week between Gov. Kate Brown and the Trump administration to reduce federal officers in the
city. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
New Police Oversight Gains Traction
Council sends measure to voters
by M iChael l eighton
P ortland o bserver e ditor
Portland’s City Council has voted to add a measure to
the ballot this November that would create a new indepen-
dent Community Police Oversight Board.
The panel of community members would have more
power to investigate complaints against police, compel
testimony by officers and impose discipline. The measure
would also provide funding to support the work of the new
police oversight panel by creating a budget pegged at five
percent of the Portland Police Bureau’s budget.
Unanimous approval to send the measure to voters was
TriMet Installs New Tracks
Four weeks of repair
bring disruptions
TriMet has embarked on its largest MAX
improvement project to date, a month long
closure of the Steel Bridge to allow crews
to make a series of major upgrades to the
MAX light rail system that will improve
resiliency, keep trains on time and create a
smoother ride.
On Sunday, the upper deck of the bridge
was closed to auto, bus, light rail trains, and
bicycle and pedestrian traffic to accom-
modate the work. All MAX lines—Blue,
Green, Orange, Red and Yellow—will be
disrupted for the next four weeks while the
construction is completed.
a major victory for Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, the
first black woman elected to serve on the City Council and
a long time police reform activist. Hardesty won over the
support of Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioners
Chloe Eudaly and Amanda Fritz to place the measure on
To move people around the disruption,
TriMet said shuttle buses will depart about
every two to five minutes, serving the Rose
Quarter, Union Station/Northwest Fifth
Avenue and Glisan and Old Town/China-
town stations.
Bus lines 4, 8, 35, 44, and 77, as well
as all auto traffic, will be detoured to other
bridges. Pedestrian and bicyclists will be
able to cross the Steel Bridge on the low-
er-deck pathway, which will remain open
during the entire project.
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TriMet says the improvement project
will have a positive effect for MAX rid-
ers system-wide, improving reliability and
keeping trains on time. Track and switch
improvements were made earlier in the
Rose Quarter area in preparation for this
work. This project will build upon those
upgrades, resulting in fewer issues that
slow or disrupt access across the bridge,
officials said.
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