Oregon Legal Research Blog
Plots thicken. Yes, they do. The “little red house” saga in Portland, Oregon, is a perfect example.
One article by journalists working with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) summed up What We Know So Far, as of December 10, 2020, which, as you know if you continue to follow the story, had to be updated the next day and the next day and ….
The lesson to be learned here is always to listen, breathe, stop, read, research, listen, stop, sleep, read, and breathe again before you decide where you stand on an (or any) idea, news story, or shouted slogan.
The December 10th, 2020, OPB article (and yes, other local news stories are worth reading, too, e.g. in the Willamette Week, the Portland Mercury, Street Roots, the Oregonian, and the Portland Tribune.)
“Understanding the ongoing ‘eviction blockade’ in Portland,” by Jonathan Levinson (OPB), Ryan Haas (OPB) and Sergio Olmos (OPB), Dec. 10, 2020 5:25 p.m.
Excerpt:
“Protesters say they want to stop a Black and Indigenous family from being removed from their longtime home
Protesters are in a standoff with law enforcement over an eviction effort in North Portland. Barricades and improvised spike strips line the streets around a house on North Mississippi Avenue, and protesters have said they aren’t leaving until their demands are met.
Meanwhile, city officials and police have worried the barricaded zone could become an autonomous area without government rule, much like what happened this year in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
While the standoff has sparked significant attention, the events leading to the barricades around the so-called “Red House” are complex….” [Link to OPB article.]
December 11th update:
“Family at center of ‘Red House’ protests owns second Portland home,” by Jonathan Levinson (OPB) and Sergio Olmos (OPB), Dec. 11, 2020 11 a.m. Updated: Dec. 11, 2020 4:09 p.m.
Excerpt:
“As a protest over the eviction of a North Portland family enters its fourth day, OPB has learned the Kinney family owns a second home in the city.
The second home — located in Northeast Portland less than 2 miles from the house where protesters are camping — has been owned by the family since 1966, according to property records. OPB visited the home Friday morning and confirmed the family is currently living there.
The Kinneys’ son, Michael, answered the door at the second home and confirmed the family owned it, but he declined to answer questions, saying OPB would need to schedule an interview….” [Link to full article.]
You can be sure there will be even more follow up articles. Read them and other news sources before you decide where you stand or what you think one, anyone, should do to fix the problems, which are many, and require major repairs to local, state, and federal policy and law.