All across the country people are waking up to the issue of excessive use of force by police. Several instances of overt police violence have made headlines, with many encounters ending in preventable deaths. Although excessive use of force may violate the Fourth Amendment, victims of excessive police force may only pursue civil charges against…
While Oregonians welcomed rain in late September 2017, after the Columbia River Gorge Eagle Creek fire scorched large sections of forest, consuming 48,831 acres, destroying homes and forcing evacuations, landslides posed a new threat to the area. The Eagle Creek fire carried smoke and ash across the Portland area to the western boundaries of Washington…
Since an adolescent in the running for the 2017 Darwin Award ignited the Eagle Creek fire, tenacious firefighters have worked tirelessly to contain the flames that continue to destroy vast swaths of the Columbia River Gorge’s natural beauty. One landmark, in particular, was at risk of destruction and may not have survived the flames had…
Growing tired of a sweltering heat wave, Portland resident Liz FitzGerald was determined to cool off. She longed to be in water, so she journeyed to Punch Bowl Falls after recalling her friends’ account of splashing in the pool at the base of the falls the month before. On her way up the trail, she noticed a…
The Coos Bay Children’s Academy nearly escaped investigation and punitive fines for poisoning fifty people had it not been for investigative reporting by the state’s largest newspaper. Due to horrendous mismanagement, state authorities did not discover a serious incident involving the use of strong pesticides in the childcare center that put employees and several children…
For the second time in only a month a flagger was struck and killed in Happy Valley, Oregon. On June 23rd, a flagger directing traffic at a construction site off the intersection of Southeast 132nd Avenue and Rose Meadow Drive was accidentally run over by a dump truck. Both driver and flagger were with the crew…
In a span of just 4 weeks, those who rely on TriMet’s transportation services have endured considerable uneasiness while using Portland’s public transportation system. An incident in which three men stood up to a white supremacist bullying two teenagers on a Northeast Portland MAX train made national headlines after two of the men were tragically…
It is no secret that the Pearl District beams dog fever; it is not uncommon to see packs of dogs and their owners enjoying brunch at a local café any day of the week, or to see dog owners pacing up and down the aisles of health food grocery stores with their unlicensed “therapy dogs.”…
UCLA researchers have found a biological marker that can predict early on whether a child will experience further cognitive decline after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Children and adolescents who sustain traumatic brain injuries may either steadily progress toward normal, pre-injury functioning or suffer progressive cognitive decline. Nearly half of children who experience moderate to…
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a life-altering and costly event. Those who have had severe or repeated traumatic brain injuries may have long-lasting problems with movement, learning, or speaking, which require full initial and ongoing assessment and care. Due to the expense of obtaining assessment, evaluation, and ongoing treatment of these cases, high-dollar verdicts…