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CHALLENGER FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY DA GETS FREE OFFICE SPACE: Nathan Vasquez, the county prosecutor challenging Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt for his job next year, has received a sizable donation from a major Portland real estate developer. According to a filing with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, Vasquez received a $71,280 donation from Greg Goodman in the form of “office space rent” on July 22. Goodman has also given Vasquez a $25,000 check, he tells WW. (If this sounds familiar, discounted rent given by real estate owner Jordan Schnitzer to City Council candidate Rene Gonzalez became a contentious issue in the November 2022 election.) Goodman has been a longtime critic of Schmidt’s, blaming his policies for the rise in vandalism and property crime downtown. “Mike Schmidt is the single biggest problem we have,” Goodman says. “He’s not enforcing the laws.” Vasquez has been aggressively raising money in recent months, asking supporters to organize house parties to solicit contributions. In fundraising speeches, he criticizes Measure 110, the state ballot measure that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs, and accuses Schmidt of allowing crime in Portland to get out of control.
CAR THEFT HITS TWO-YEAR LOW: The monthly number of stolen vehicles in Portland has hit a two-year low after steadily decreasing this year. There were 607 in June, according to data published by the Portland Police Bureau earlier this month. It’s welcome news in a city that earlier this year ranked fifth in the nation in car thefts per capita. But it’s unclear what’s behind the decline. “I think our analysts would say it’s too soon and not enough data to analyze or speculate on any trend at this point,” says PPB spokeswoman Terri Wallo-Strauss. A variety of recent developments may be playing a role. The bureau has been conducting targeted stings over the past two years, but recently refined its methods with help from Oregon Health & Science University researchers. And just this month, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced it had dedicated a task force to prosecuting the crime. Kia and Hyundai models, both manufactured by the same South Korean conglomerate, remain the most popular targets, thanks to a defect that allows them to be easily started with nothing more than a USB dongle. The decline corresponds to the release of a software update by the manufacturer in February that fixed the bug by requiring that the key be inserted in the ignition for the car to start.
MOBILE LIBRARY STILL IMMOBILE: The Multnomah County Library announced lots of news last week about its ongoing renovation of existing libraries: Northwest (open house July 30), Belmont (open house Aug. 3) and the July 12 groundbreaking for the new, 95,000-square-foot East County Library. Those projects and the renovation of the Multnomah County Central Library are part of a $387 million bond voters approved in 2020. One sour note: To accommodate users inconvenienced by the serial renovations of existing branches, the library purchased a mobile library in June 2022 that it initially said would be rolling by the end of the year. Then, in March, a library spokesman told WW it would roll by April. It didn’t. The latest on the 38-foot RV, which cost $464,434, is more troubles. “The slideouts aren’t locking in place properly, and it’s not safe to drive in that condition,” library spokesman Shawn Cunningham says. “Other repairs have been completed, but we’re waiting on parts for the slideouts. Latest word is that they should arrive on Aug. 2. The team tentatively plans to resume service Aug. 4 if the repair can happen on schedule.”
STATE TRIES TO SHUT DOWN MUSHROOM CHURCH’S SCHOOL: Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against Myco-Method, one of the many programs in Oregon that train people to guide psychedelic mushroom trips. The order means Myco-Method must stop marketing its program and enrolling students until it gets a license or an exemption from licensure, HECC said. Myco-Method program director Shasta Winn says HECC has no authority because the program isn’t a school. “Myco-Method is only a written curriculum,” Winn said in an email. “It’s a training used by Saba Cooperative, our nonprofit interfaith religious cooperative, for teaching how to utilize psilocybin as a tool to access the source of nonhuman intelligence that heals and transforms.” At press time, Myco-Method’s website still advertised its program, saying students who take it can be licensed by the state as facilitators because the curriculum has been approved by the Oregon Health Authority, a claim an OHA spokesman confirms. But without HECC approval, students won’t be allowed to submit claims to the state for lost tuition if Myco-Method were to close, the commission said.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION: Willamette Week took home four first prizes at the 2023 AAN Awards, presented by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia on July 21 in Dallas. The four wins tied for the most by any paper, along with the Chicago Reader and Seven Days in Burlington, Vt. Nigel Jaquiss scored two first prizes: investigative reporting for his examination of real estate dealings by the R.B. Pamplin Corp. (“Trader Bob,” Feb. 23, 2022) and solutions journalism for a look at city efforts to return Black residents to Northeast Portland (“Comeback,” May 25, 2022). Lucas Manfield was recognized for health care reporting for several stories about a capacity shortage at Oregon State Hospital, while Sophie Peel won first prize in explanatory journalism for unpacking how dozens of seniors with disabilities were removed from their apartments (“The Mystery of the Taft Home,” July 27, 2022). “Peel had me from the headline,” a judge wrote. “The kicker quote gutted me.”