VanPortlander

Yes, again, someone has wrecked their car by driving through barricades at the closed Klineline Bridge over Salmon Creek.

Maybe I could setup some sort of automated job to keep posting this over and over again to the blog…

Not content to let Washingtonians get all the stupid driver news this week, last night a Canby, Oregon man must have decided it was payback time. He drove over to Vancouver to the Salmon Creek area and ignored the signs and barriers that have closed the Klineline Bridge over Salmon Creek. Instead, he drove past the road closed signs, through the standard barriers, and into a heavy concrete barrier at a high enough speed that it was displaced about 8 feet.

photo by Clark County Sheriff’s Office

According to the press release “Alcohol may have been a contributing factor…”

ODOT and the Port of Portland will be hosting an open house to discuss the issue of congestion at the Airport Way / I-205 interchange, specifically the long delays for travelers and commuters attempting to access I-205 northbound. The open house is on March 5th, and the announcement is sparse on the details of the plan but says the first step is a study looking at the current congestion.

I suppose it’s appropriate because it’s near the project site, but the open house is at the Airport Sheraton, which means if I attend, I’ll have to then go sit in a backup at the interchange. How apropos.

Police car with victim’s coat on the ground - click for more on Flickr

As mentioned in my last post, this evening I came across the scene of a bike vs. car hit and run accident in Southeast Portland at 11th and Oak. Fortunately the victim appeared not to have life-threatening injuries; she was talking and moving as she was treated and loaded into the ambulance.

I was surprised to only see one Portland Police car with two officers conducting the investigation. I guess with a hit and run with minor injuries and no real visible physical evidence (no debris in the road, no skid marks, etc) there wasn’t much on-scene investigation other than talking to the witness.

I’m curious to see if this gets much coverage either from mainstream media or from BikePortland. From what I can tell I was the only “journalist” on-scene.

I have a few more photos on Flickr.

A bicyclist was hit this evening around 5:15 at the intersection of Southeast 11th and Oak. When I walked by she was talking and moving as she was being treated by medical personnel. According to a witness, the cyclist rode through the stop sign without stopping, into the path of the car. So it was likely the cyclist’s fault, but the driver is still a giant asshole for leaving the scene.

More info and a few (tasteful) photos later this evening once I get home.

Apparently a postal carrier in Vancouver has admitted that he has been vandalizing trees in a residential neighborhood while on the job. The postal service has accepted responsibility. This really shouldn’t take a long, drawn-out investigation, should it?

I admit that I’m a big Kevin Smith fan, so when I saw this photo on Flickr yesterday I chuckled a bit, not realizing that we had a bit of Red Bank here in Portland, on the corner of NW 21st and Hoyt. Photo by Flickr user seventh.samurai, used by permission.

One of the great things about the Portland area is the number and quality of tech startup businesses. What if a bunch of those startups (in varying stages of development) got together to share ideas and talk about business, tech, and Portland? That’s the idea behind Startupalooza, a gathering on March 29th billed as “an interactive forum for the Portland tech startup community” in a “candid, no-BS environment.”

Meet local entrepreneurs, view panels and participate in discussions about startup life in the area. The event is free to attend. Head over to the website to find out more about who will be there, and if you’re going to attend be sure to RSVP on Upcoming.

A couple days ago John McCain called me personally (because I’m Just That Important) to chat about voting in Washington’s primary election, which is next Tuesday. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I already voted, and that it wasn’t for him. I’m not too sure if that would have changed his message, which seemed strangely prerecorded.

I figured that makes this as good a time as any to recap the situation with Washington’s role in the presidential process. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, if you’re a Democrat, the Washington primary is symbolic. Your party has chosen to completely ignore the primary and only use the caucuses, and your Democratic senators are going to ignore the will of the people as well. Despite the fact that Washington Democrats caucused solidly for Obama, both of Washington’s Senator Superdelegates have said they’re voting for Clinton. If you’re a Republican, the primary is halfway meaningful in that the Republican party will use the primary results to choose half of its delegates, which are probably all going to get behind McCain at this point anyway. But if you want to get your Republican ballot counted, get it in the mail by Tuesday.

The neon signs on Interstate Avenue are fun to see and there are a group of folks who want to see the signs preserved; dieselboi blogged about it a few months ago over at Metroblogging Portland.

Today I noticed that Patricia and Matt over at the orange door took a walk down Interstate, photographing all of the neon signs. Check out their great set of photos.