Muerte de Mayo


The summer weather's here in Portland, and so is the tragedy. Our two biggest issues, gun violence and drug addiction, bloomed like Portland roses over the weekend.

Between 11:30 on Friday morning and 5:00 yesterday afternoon, eight people died of drug overdoses, probably fentanyl. Rumor has it that at least some of them thought they were doing cocaine.

The ages of the victims are not what I would have expected:

The deaths include a 38-year-old man inside an apartment on East Burnside; a 42-year-old man in a tent on SE Rhine; a 47-year-old man in a car in Sellwood Riverfront Park; an unidentified man in a grassy area at W. Burnside and NW 8th; a 69-year-old man in an apartment on NW Naito Parkway; a 49-year-old man and a 37-year-old man in an apartment on NE Sandy Boulevard; and an unidentified person on North Hartman Street.

The average of the six that are identified? I get 47 years old. Jeez.

Meanwhile, no fewer than nine people were shot in a string of incidents overnight Saturday night. One person is dead, eight were injured. 

Sadly, three of the injured were shot in the ill-fated Capitol Lounge at Northeast 15th and Broadway. That place is jinxed, it seems. But they're not the only bar down that way to have problems with the robbers and the gangsters. It's just not safe. The shooting at the Capitol went down just after midnight on Saturday night, which no doubt is its busiest time of the week.

The inept mayor will tell you that things are improving, and the lame local media will wheel out some stupid statistics and tell you that it's not as bad as last year. But all of that is total crap. It's as bad as ever.

Comments

  1. And I repeat myself: it ain't getting better anytime soon.

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  2. Portland used to be a nice pleasant unassuming little city. Now it’s a garbage dump! And as a Portland native I am sad about its downfall in my lifetime of 72 years.

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  3. When elected officials describe disruptive riots as legal protests, what are we to expect?

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    Replies
    1. I don't see a strong connection between the riots and these events. The bigger culprits are Measure 110 and defunding the police.

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    2. Loose law enforcement was my take

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  4. I do get the sense that Portlanders’ perpetual compassion has run out, especially after seeing the results of the last election. It will be interesting to see which politicians go and which ones stay in 2024. If there isn’t a complete restructuring, I think I’ll give up on Portland.

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