This week in NW Examiner comments
Voices that shaped the week. We write. You respond.
Trail Blazers: “Let my team go.”
Our Feb. 17 editorial argued against the Trail Blazers’ request for $600 million in public funding to renovate the Moda Center. The team’s future in Portland was tied to the upgrades. Nothing focuses the mind like a nine‑figure request from a winning‑averse basketball team.
Roger Sanders kept it simple.
“Amen. Amen. Amen. Let my team go.”
Jon Gramstad supplied the exit instructions.
“Don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out. The word for this is extortion.”
Roy Kissin asked the questions the city will eventually have to answer.
“If the Blazers leave, how many jobs will be lost? How much visitor revenue? What will happen to redevelopment plans?”
Mike Thelin, publisher of Food Cities, took issue with the premise.
“Maybe you should do a little reporting next time… It is also crucial to the future of the Visionary Albina Vision project… If your effort is to contribute to the decline of your city, well done.”
Pearl District shelter: “What exactly does an overnight shelter do?”
Our Feb. 14 report on conditions around the Northrup Shelter drew comments from neighbors, advocates, and one person who has actually stayed there.
Sean, who says he has used the shelter since it opened, offered the most direct description of its limits.
“We check in at 8 p.m. and have to leave at 6 a.m. seven days a week.”
Peter Michaelson questioned the city’s siting logic.
“Why do we put shelters in the most densely populated or visited areas where the social impact and the economic damage are the highest?”
Linda Witt, who leads the PDNA Shelter Advisory Committee, pointed to what’s been lost.
“The shuttle service… was a real lifeline for those most vulnerable folks.”
Thomas William Dodson, MD, argued the system is missing a tool it once relied on.
“Civil commitment in short term hospital care beds in local hospitals.”
Streetcar: “Almost every time I do…”
Ken Thrasher’s Feb. 16 column on issues with the Portland Streetcar produced a familiar split. For some, the streetcar feels like a daily gauntlet. For others, it’s just part of city life.
Bob Weinstein, former City Council candidate and periodic NW Examiner opinion columnist, wrote about his experience when he rides the streetcar.
“Almost every time I do, there is someone keeled over from drug use… many riders do not seem to pay fares.”
Katherine Howells echoed the frustration.
“The cars almost always reek of urine and serve to shelter the homeless and drug users.”
Ollie Parks zoomed out to the political basics.
“Most voters… are asking City Hall to make the streetcar safe, clean, and functional.”
Paul Douglas offered the counternarrative.
“I ride the streetcar frequently… I have never been threatened or feel uncomfortable.”
Your turn now
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