Portland squatters took over an abandoned bar. It just went up in flames Squatters previously assaulted residents, threatened them with guns, neighbors say https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-squatters-took-abandoned-bar-went-flames
Things are going so well in Portland... John Mellencamp 'nailed it' with song for Portland, say residents: 'Land of plenty where nothing gets done' 'The Eyes of Portland' calls out city leaders for failing to help homeless https://www.foxnews.com/media/john-...tland-residents-land-plenty-nothing-gets-done Three Portland residents offered their take on the city's homeless and drug crisis after legendary musician John Mellencamp released a new song about the plight of the city's homeless population. "It is pretty bad, isn't it? The city of Portland and the state of Oregon are really in crisis at this time. And John Mellencamp has nailed it with a couple of these lines in the song. I think my favorite is one of the ones you just said, 'The land of the plenty where nothing gets done," resident Bridget Barton said on "Fox & Friends First" Tuesday. The singer-songwriter released ‘The Eyes of Portland,' which highlights the city's drastic uptick in homelessness and echoes the concerns of many residents. "As I saw through the eyes of Portland one day, there were so many homeless. They'd all gone astray. They slept on the corners during the day. All of these homeless, where do they come from? This land of plenty where nothing gets done," the song goes. "In Oregon, we only have 4 million plus people. In the last six or seven years, we've committed $4 billion to this crisis. And yet Portland's mayor freely admits that the problem is 50% worse, not better. It's 50% worse. That's a sad commentary on his leadership and on the state's leadership," Barton added. According to recent census data, Portland has lost 0.04% of its population after growing for 30 years straight. Though the general population has declined for three years in a row, Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office reported a 50% increase in homelessness from 2019 to 2022. The mayor, a Democrat, also revealed Portland's number of homeless encampments has topped 700. In a bid to ban camping on streets and encroachment by next year, Wheeler has sanctioned the first city-run outdoor homeless camp. It's expected to house up to 150 people, a far cry from the more than 3,000 people estimated to be homeless in the city. "We do have serious problems with the houseless and especially with the drugs in Portland," resident Tom Karwaki said. Karwaki lives behind a "safe rest village" where houseless individuals can stay in pods with heat pumps. He said the situation near his home has improved but said overall, the city still has a "problem" "A year ago, when I was on 'Fox & Friends,' it was gunshots and needles everywhere and hundreds of people living basically just behind my house. And so now today we have 60 people in 60 pods where people with heat pumps," Karwaki said. "It will be a nice restful place for them to get away from things, to be safe from the streets and the drugs if they want to turn their lives around. And so far, the city has about 50% getting people into housing right now through this program." Portland is also considering a Democrat-backed bill that would allow members of the homeless community to sue property owners if they as them to leave their residence. House Bill 3501, commonly known as the "Right to Rest Act," would allow "persons experiencing homelessness" to "use public spaces in the same manner as any other person without discrimination based on their housing status" with an "expectation of privacy." Another Portland resident unpacked his frustration with the local government for wanting to "administer" to the homeless instead of trying to alleviate underlying issues. "One of the problems we have here is the government wants to administer to the homeless and they've created a homeless industrial society, in my opinion, that doesn't really get to helping or to alleviating what the real issues are," Stue Peterson said. "The local and state governments want to monopolize the money, use it for these temporary shelters that [Karwaki] addressed there and not actually help people." Peterson also noted that despite having spent a tremendous amount of money in Portland alone, the city hasn't "been able to get anywhere close to solving this problem." Meanwhile, Mellencamp's lyrics were panned in The Oregonian newspaper, with the commentary writer pointing out that the music video contained shots of Los Angeles, not Portland.
This is the end result of defunding the police. Portland woman knocked out by attacker blames city for slow police response: ‘We did this to ourselves’ Portland woman says homeless man knocked her unconscious in unprovoked attack https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland...er-blames-city-slow-police-response-ourselves A Portland doctor said a homeless man knocked her unconscious while walking in the city, and then she waited more than 20 minutes without a police response. "I do not hold the police accountable for this at all — I hold our city accountable for defunding the police," Mary Costantino, a radiologist, told Fox News. "We don't have enough police force to protect our citizens, and we did this to ourselves." (More at above url)
Nike shutting a well-known large factory store in Portland due to endless theft. Nike is permanently closing this massive factory store for a scary reason The store, which subtly shut down in 2022, has decided to make the decision permanent as a wave of issues increase. https://www.thestreet.com/retailers...this-massive-factory-store-for-a-scary-reason Nike shuts its doors on a beloved site Pacific Northwest city Portland, Ore., has also seen petty theft and shoplifting affect stores' bottom line. Its very own Nike (NKE) - Get Free Report has decided to permanently close its large factory store as it sees theft cut into its profits. "Nike’s commitment to supporting and uplifting Portland’s North and Northeast community is unwavering," Nike said in a statement "We are reimagining Nike’s retail space, permanently closing our current location at 2650 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and considering future locations as part of this community’s long term revitalization plan. True to our roots, we will seek the input of local community organizations and leaders to determine the best new location." The store closed in 2022 after local news station KGW-TV reported "brazen" thefts had been "stealing armloads of Nike merchandise and walking out the front door with no fear of being stopped." The station said that the Nike store had the second-highest rate of reported shoplifting incidents since 2019 at 437 cases reported –behind a nearby Target (TGT) - Get Free Report store with 650 cases. Most stores, however, do not report shoplifting incidents. Nike security guards told the outlet that they are prohibited from stopping thieves and are instead there to symbolically offer safety for shoppers and employees. Chiefly unhappy about the news was John Washington, head of the local Soul District Business Association (SBDA). "This news has landed like a lead balloon in our district," Washington said. "We had all been holding our breath since last November when the store quietly shuttered its doors due to internal and external theft and safety issues. But, like so many of us riding out the fallout of the pandemic and protests, we held out hope that Nike, city officials and community leaders would recalibrate and realign order. But it looks like it's game over." The store had been open since 1984. The pre-existing webpage for its Portland Community Store now brings up an empty page on the Nike website. Always one for visionary innovation, Nike seems to have a plan for its retail woes and spaces. "Nike’s commitment to supporting and uplifting Portland’s North and Northeast community is unwavering. We are reimagining Nike’s retail space, permanently closing our current location at 2650 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and considering future locations as part of this community’s long term revitalization plan," it said in a statement. "True to our roots, we will seek the input of local community organizations and leaders to determine the best new location. As we plan ahead, we are keeping the best interest of our employees at heart, providing them options to continue to be part of the Nike family,"