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FIGHT OVER PROLOGIS WAREHOUSE INTENSIFIES: Citizen opponents of a 260,000-square-foot Prologis freight warehouse planned for the Argay Terrace neighborhood in East Portland were scheduled to testify before the Portland City Council on Wednesday. Prologis plans to knock down the old Kmart on Northeast Sandy Boulevard that’s controlled by real estate mogul Zygmunt Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings, and build the warehouse to move merchandise for companies like Amazon and Home Depot. Opponents say the project would pump more diesel exhaust into a neighborhood that’s already choking on it, and that truck traffic would endanger students at nearby schools. Elizabeth Durant, chair of the Parkrose School Board, planned to read a statement from students, who are busy taking exams. “Our students are worried about the air they breathe,” Durant tells WW. The main permit for the warehouse is still under review, says Portland Bureau of Development Services spokesman Ken Ray. The demolition permit for the old Kmart is “approved to issue,” and BDS is waiting for payment on it, Ray adds.
STATE STRIKES NEW DEAL WITH ROSS ISLAND SAND & GRAVEL: Ross Island Sand & Gravel, the company that mined the Willamette River bottom around its namesake island for 76 years, ending in 2001, has struck a new deal with the Oregon Department of State Lands to refill the hole it left behind. RISG and the state renegotiated a 2002 fill permit and have agreed on a completion date of 2033 and a much larger performance bond—increased from $500,000 to $6 million. That’s a big deal because, as WW has reported, RISG owner Dr. Robert Pamplin’s financial situation has grown precarious. The new permit also calls for increased shallow-water habitat enhancement. Bob Sallinger, conservation director of Willamette Riverkeeper and a longtime participant in talks over the island’s future, says his group is satisfied with the new permit but still wants to see the island become public land some day. “We are pleased that DSL was able to secure a hard end date for the reclamation work, interim benchmarks to measure progress, and a much higher bond to help ensure that the work will get completed,” Sallinger says. “It has already taken far too long, but this helps ensure that the restoration work will finally be completed by 2034.”
PROSECUTORS REQUEST CASH TO ANALYZE FOOTAGE FROM NEW BODY CAMS: Body cameras are coming to Portland cops—and that means more work for Multnomah County prosecutors. They’ve asked for additional funding to fill five positions to help sift through the new evidence, “in order to more completely fulfill MCDA’s constitutional and ethical obligation,” the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office noted in its latest budget request. The office currently has two investigators and one assistant sifting through footage—but still hasn’t enough eyes to view it all. Last week, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson obliged, earmarking $1 million from the county’s contingency fund for the DA’s body-worn camera program. “Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Portland Police Bureau, and [Oregon Health & Science University] Public Safety are all working to incorporate body-worn cameras,” notes DA spokeswoman Elizabeth Merah. That’s 400 to 500 new cameras, she estimates. “We expect to see a significant increase in our office’s workload.” This budgetary line item joins those for the office’s new shoplifting and car theft task forces, which were announced in a splashy press conference on Monday.
STOUT AWAITS FATE IN COLUMBIA COUNTY: State Rep. Brian Stout (R–Columbia City), the freshman lawmaker accused of sexually assaulting a campaign volunteer, is awaiting a decision whether a five-year protective order against him should stay in place. After a third day of testimony April 25, Columbia County Circuit Judge Cathleen B. Callahan told the courtroom she would issue a written ruling on the matter. Stout denies charges that he sexually assaulted the woman and threatened to push her off a cliff at Multnomah Falls if she told anyone about what began as a consensual affair. (It is WW’s policy not to name victims is sexual assault cases.) Stout, who is married, was stripped of his House committee assignments at the Capitol in January.