VanPortlander

What? Oregon isn’t officially the feel-good state? It should be. Ideas that sound good (but do nothing positive in reality) are really popular around here. Let’s ban trans fats. Let’s make laws about duct tape. And the latest feel-good measure? Let’s mandate ethanol in our fuel. I mean, who wouldn’t want cars which run a little cleaner. Even though it’s going to be harder for folks to buy food in 2008, at least the autos will be gulping down something yummy.

This seems totally counterintuitive if the goal is to get folks to drive less. That is the goal in Portland, right?

File this one in the “random things to perhaps bookmark in case you need it in the future” file.

As you wander Portland, you’ll find graffiti. It happens. Apparently Randy Leonard’s spray paint lockdown hasn’t entirely eliminated the issue.

The gateway to all things graffiti-related is the Graffiti Abatement page on the city’s website. From there you can link to graffiti information, the online graffiti reporting form, and an interesting graffiti map, which unfortunately is 2 years old.

In theory, while driving one is supposed to be paying attention to the road. In Washington, come 2008 we’ve got a couple new laws that in theory will keep us safer.

Beginning January 1 it’s illegal to read, write, or send a text message while operating a motor vehicle. However, it’s a secondary offense, won’t become part of your driving record, and won’t be reported to insurance companies.

Beginning July 1 it will be illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving without using a hands-free device. Yes, we all know that study after study has shown that hands-free devices don’t actually lower accident rates, but hey, the state legislature needed to do something to make themselves feel productive. Again, this is a secondary offense, won’t become part of your driving record, and won’t be reported to insurance companies.

Fortunately, I think it’s still legal to watch porn in the car.

Once again Portland’s old-school media is proving it just plain doesn’t understand the internet. In a rush to get something posted online, this afternoon they offered up this gem, which as of now says:

A serious snowboarding accident has been reported at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort, one that was possibly fatal.

Details are few at this time, but the accident happened sometime Thursday afternoon. 

So there was probably an accident, that maybe happened today, and might’ve killed someone. Could there be any less information?

Is there any good reason that KATU couldn’t have waited to post until they actually knew something?

Yesterday, it started snowing, hard, without having been predicted by anyone. Today, pretty much everyone is predicting a few inches of snow for the Portland area tomorrow.

Will it happen? I wonder. Generally, when it’s predicted, it doesn’t pan out. When nothing is predicted (yesterday, or last year’s snow event) we get some snow without warning. From a KATU article:

Rod Hill is watching the weather models closely because there is a concern that we could see more snow Thursday morning than expected.

I’d say that if the weather guy is saying we might see more snow than expected, I wonder who he’s relying on for the “expected” part of that equation. Apparently not himself…?

I give you the official VanPortlander weather forecast: I guarantee between 0-12″ of snow will probably likely mostly happen in downtown.

This would be a great occasion to break out my three rules of snow in Portland:

1. Your 4WD vehicle does not give you the ability to drive 60mph then stop in a normal distance on a sheet of ice
2. If you don’t have some society-sustaining critical job, and you’re not comfortable driving in bad weather, stay home. Please. We urge you.
3. Although it’s fun to watch, and we could use more variety in our snowtarded video clips, don’t be this guy:

I see there’s a new Portland blog called PDX Me. From the inaugural post:

Simply put, PDX Me is “progressive Portland blogged.”

Then, in the next paragraph:

there will be no apologies made for … irrational thinking

Sounds like Progressive Portland to me

I kid… sorta. Welcome to the Portland blogosphere…

Via the Columbian (who hopefully broke no laws in getting the story), I learned today that drivers in Vancouver and the rest of Clark County will again see the benefits (and potential hazards) of salt on the roads when things get snowy or icy.

Trust us, they say, this salt is different, and shouldn’t have the corrosive effect on vehicles. They think. But they still advise you wash your car. If you head down to the bottom of the article, you’ll see they’re considering adding cheese brine to the mixture. I probably don’t want to know what that is.

Yesterday, four people were shot in Vancouver, three of them fatally. The police kept quiet, refusing to release any information, but repeatedly stating that “Vancouver Police do not believe there is any danger to the general public.”

Tonight a murder warrant has been issued for Benjamin Vasquez-Salamanca as a suspect in the killings. The police press release states:

Vasquez-Salamanca is considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Benjamin Vasquez-Salamanca is asked to call 911.

Extremely dangerous? Should not be approached? That doesn’t sound much like “there shouldn’t be any danger” to me…

Today while reading some RSS feeds, I learned a couple things about Portland.

• Nobody has any clue how we’re going to pay for a much-needed mental health center. We have no idea when/if it might get put together. note: Mayor Chavez’s illegalday labor center is still on the fast track for site selection and construction
• Portland has the only streetcar in the United States! note: Daily Journal of Commerce - you might check your facts. You don’t even have to get outside of the Northwest to find streetcars in Seattle and Tacoma.

For the second time in two weeks, someone working for The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver has plead guilty in court to breaking the law while on the job for the newspaper.

First it was freelance photographer Kristina Wright who pleaded guilty to obstructing a law enforcement officer when she chose to duck under police line tape at the scene of an investigation.

In what strikes me as a much more serious offense, reporter Don Hamilton climbed inside an ambulance and tried to access a computer in the ambulance to find out information about a police officer who was wounded. He pleaded guilty to attempted computer trespass, a gross misdemeanor, rather than go to trial facing a felony charge. Allegedly Hamilton didn’t think that looking at the computer would be a problem; apparently he’s never heard of HIPAA. How does it make you feel to know the Columbian is going to go poking around, climbing into vehicles they don’t own, and poking around medical records in search of a scoop?