An initiative that would have made marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority in Portland failed to make the ballot this week, after a Multnomah County analysis of the initiative's signatures showed that the petition's backers, Citizens for a Safer Portland, didn't submit 26,691 valid signatures. The initiative--largely funded by the Washington, DC-based Marijuana Policy Project, which gave the campaign over $120,000 to date--collected a little over 40,000 signatures. But the campaign scrubbed duplicates, the city tossed another 5,000 due to "circulator error"--a decision the campaign is not happy about--and only 62 percent of the remaining 27,000 signatures were valid, according to Multnomah County Elections' calculations. The campaign spent over $94,000 on petition circulators, according to the July 24 campaign finance filings. [continues 258 words]
Rumored SPD Arrest Throws Spotlight On Coke In Seattle's Bars And Clubs Early last week, when music scenesters seeking cocaine dialed their dealers' cell phones, they didn't get an answer. Instead, according to several sources, they got recorded messages: "I'm on vacation," said one, while another blurted, "Don't leave a message." The dealers had suddenly gone underground. Word quickly spread that the Seattle Police Department had busted someone for supplying cocaine to Seattle's rock hipsters. The police are staying mum. On the record, the SPD would neither confirm nor deny an arrest of a music scene coke dealer. [continues 1084 words]
Capitol Hill is nearing rock bottom, plagued by public drug use and drug dealing, a problematic park, a dearth of social services, a short-staffed police precinct, and a mayor who apparently couldn't care less. Before the rainy season began in earnest earlier this month, Capitol Hill's Cal Anderson Park was literally awash in human crap. And used needles. And beer bottles, condoms, and tiny drug baggies. While the park is currently disguised as a playground for small kids, a soccer field for big kids, and a construction site--the city is currently working on capping the reservoir--neighbors know what the park is really being used for. [continues 3195 words]
