December 30, 2003
The Inevitable 'Communique' Year-In-Review, Part One
While the earliest post of any substance addressed the Burnside Transportation and Urban Design Plan (which essentially went unmentioned again here until recently, as part of a discussion on the Downtown Waterfront Urban Renewal Area, the first evidence of a truly continuing story was the proposal for a seasonal ice rink in Pioneer Courthouse Square -- which, of course, also recently resurfaced.
The ice rink story served as my formal introduction into the worlds of design, development, and public process. Shortly thereafter, a similarly-themed story found its way onto the site: the open reservoir replacement project. And that (still) ongoing story also served as my introduction to City Hall and its politics.
(That story also led to some my my early coverage of the Portland Business Alliance, such as picking up on the revelation that now-ex PBA president Kim Kimbrough pimped municipal ice rinks in each of the two jobs he held prior to his stint in Portland.)
Early items also demonstrated the beginnings of an interest in Portland history, with a pointer to the City Auditor's timeline, and a reference to a newspaper story about "Dottie Do-Good." Ultimately, this newly-found interest led to my current project to find and republish "lost" works about or from the City's past.
The OHSU aerial tram made its first appearance here in early January, with an item about the project's four design finalists. This, of course, is yet another story that continues today.
January also saw much activity on the reservoir and ice rink fronts, and featured the start of the battle over the ill-fated Measure 28. We also saw the first rumblings of a possible Mayoral bid by Congressman Earl Blumenauer (an item which only vaguely foreshadows the political campaign coverage to come much later in the year).
Not long after (mid-February, in fact), I managed to fall into covering the newly-created Public Involvement Task Force -- a "beat" (so to speak) I had to myself for some time. Interestingly, that initial post on the Task Force referenced my exposure to public process during my coverage of the tram, ice rink, and reservoir stories.
Meanwhile, Portland and Multnomah County began work on a local tax to make up for the failure of Measure 28, and "Doonesbury" weighed in on Oregon's budget woes.
And then in mid-March, of course, things changed. The national and international became local, as the United States prepared to invade -- and then invaded -- Iraq, and Little Beirut prepared for the inevitable wave of protests.
This period marked the most extensive ever use of photographs as part of PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE, as photographic coverage of the March 20 (the day after the war began) protests filled three separate posts -- including one covering the immediately-infamous takeover of the Burnside Bridge.
Such photographic-centric coverage continued for days, following the protests which continued for days -- including a staged die-in at the South Park Blocks (day three of protests), a protest arrest on SW Main Street (day six), and another die-in in Pioneer Courthouse Square (day seven).
On the eight day after the war began, I reported on an incident regarding an attempt to attend a Portland Police Bureau news conference (an unsuccessful attempt that ultimately turned out likely to be the result of poor timing and errors in communication) which eventually led to the creation of a PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE press badge to smooth things over in the future.
Photographic coverage of protests continued with women in black, a brief visit to the Portland Peace Encampment which once resided across SW 4th Avenue from City Hall, and a long series of posts about a protest led by the so-called Army of None.
War protests continued into April, with a bizarre counter-protest, and a look at the "faces of war."
April also brought the beginning of demonstrations against the detention of Mike Hawash, and the growing dispute between the Portland Police Encampment, City Hall, and the Portland Police Bureau.
As the frequency of war protests died off, April also saw the return of coverage of more truly local matters, as the Portland Mall Revitalization Project first surfaced (of which much more would be heard later in the year), further issues surrounding the ice rink arose, and coverage resumed of the Public Involvement Task Force.
Also that month, the first look at two other topics which would be covered again and again: an OLCC ban on underage performers, and the concept of so-called "young creatives."
And, of course, on the afternoon of April 24, we had an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale.
Before the month was out, another reference to Earl Blumenauer continued to hint of future political coverage, and Mike Hawash's story resurfaced as he was charged with "conspiring to provide material support."
In May, word surfaced that the Portland Business Alliance would lose its parking gragae contract, we first heard of plans for a lawnless Waterfront Park, early coverage of the upcoming Mayoral race continued, and I attended a court hearing on Oregon's "death with dignity" law.
Multnomah County in May approved Klingon as a language for which they might need an interpreter. I found myself beginning to cover a right-wing recall campaign against Mayor Katz. "Doonsebury" returned to Oregon. And this site received it's 10,000th reader.
Before the month was out, I was gearing up for deeper coverage of the Public Involvement Task Force, the fight over murals cropped up, I first mentioned the shooting death of Kendra James at the hands of a Portland Police officer, and the local tax levy passed and freed Portland and Multnomah County from the damage done by the statewide failure of Measure 28 earlier in the year.
And in the final days of May, "big box retail" was proposed for Memorial Coliseum, photographic coverage returned with a four-post series on a march for Kendra James, earthwuake-proof bocce came to downtown Portland, and a left-wing recall campaign joined the scene which already had a right-wing recall campaign.
Following the dividing line of the two volume set of this site's first year in book form, May will be the final month covered in this post. And so, like the first book, part one of this "year in review" tour concludes with an item which let all interested readers know that, if they so desired, they could purchase a Beach King Air 200 aircraft from the State of Oregon... via eBay.
Part two of the inevitable PORTLAND COMMUNIQUE year in review will appear later.