jarmitage

The alleged shooter is a 57-year-old white male; according to his ministry's website, he “sought out militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.”

The arrival of four DSA members on Portland City Council lined up with the announcement of a truly dire city budget crisis. As leaders mulled major cuts, DSA saw an opportunity. Katbi said she wanted to use this year’s city budget conversation as a chance to advance the DSA’s goals in Portland, recognizing the group might not get all their policy wins this year. 

“We're using the budget crisis as a vehicle to advance class consciousness,” Katbi told the Mercury. “We have to start putting our vision out there, because there’s going to be nothing left for us.”  

Proposed cuts to Portland Parks & Recreation proved to strike a particular nerve among many residents. Many Portlanders were especially outraged when several community centers were on the chopping block earlier in the budget season. (After substantial public backlash, city leaders have promised to keep the community centers open, but other parks services remain at significant risk.)  

At the District 2 budget listening session in early April, Katbi was met with cheers after she called on the City Council to “tax the rich, fund our families and our futures” during public testimony. 

“Do we want to have a nice city that families with children want to live in? Or do we just want to have a shell of a police state with shitty services and abandoned parks?” Katbi asked. “We need to present an alternative vision.”

Construction on a new entertainment venue at the Lloyd Center is set to begin this summer.

Portland-based concert promoter Monqui Presents and global live entertainment company AEG Presents will begin construction on a 68,000-square-foot entertainment venue that can hold between 2,000 and 4,250 attendees in June at the site of the former Nordstrom building along Northeast Multnomah Street.

“The light at the end of the Lloyd venue tunnel just got a lot brighter and closer - it’s full speed ahead,” Monqui Presents Founder Mike Quinn said in a statement.