Remember to tune in tomorrow morning, Thursday, September 27th, for LIVE COVERAGE of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.
0926 INT Mexican Army Disarms Acapulco Police
Mexican authorities on Tuesday took over law enforcement duties in the city of Acapulco.
Federal and state agencies took guns and radios away from the local police and are running background checks on all officers.
Additionally, two Acapulco police commanders have been accused of murder, with warrants issued for their arrest.
Officials were acting on concerns that the Acapulco police had been entirely corrupted by drug traffickers.
The U-S Embassy in Mexico issued a warning to U-S citizens against traveling to Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, saying that “violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery, is widespread.”
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0926 OR Cannabis Conference
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
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What do Jim Belushi, Cypress Hill’s DJ Muggs, State Senator Floyd Prozanski, and U-S Senator Jeff Merkley have in common?
They’re all scheduled to appear at the International Cannabis Business Conference later this week here in Portland.
To find out more, KBOO reporter Doug McVay spoke to Senator Prozanski.
<play audio>
That was State Senator Floyd Prozanski speaking with KBOO reporter Doug McVay about Prozanski’s appearance this Friday at the International Cannabis Business Conference here in Portland.
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0926 OR Springfield Eugene Overdoses
There were ten heroin overdoses in Eugene-Springfield between Saturday and Monday.
During an eight hour stretch on Saturday, five people overdosed in Springfield.
All five were saved by Narcan, a drug that cancels the effects of heroin overdose.
This led Springfield police to warn the community of an exceptionally strong heroin—potentially laced with fentanyl-- currently on the streets.
Five more heroin overdoses were reported on Monday in Eugene and Springfield.
Yesterday Lane County Public Health reported 21 emergency room visits related to heroin overdose during the weekend, triple the average.
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0926 US FBI Uniform Crime Report Released
The F-B-I released its annual Uniform Crime Report on Monday.
According to the feds, there were fewer reported violent and property crimes in 2017 compared with 2016.
More than one-point-two million violent crimes were reported to law enforcement in 2017, a decrease of just two tenths of a percent from the previous year and a more than ten percent decrease from 2008.
Nearly seven-point-seven million property crimes were reported to law enforcement in 2017, a drop of three percent from 2016 and more than twenty percent lower than the figure from 2008.
Authorities were only able to clear less than half of those violent offenses and less than a fifth of the reported property crimes.
Clearing a crime does not mean that someone has been found guilty, only that a person has been arrested, charged, and turned over for prosecution.
Justice Department surveys of crime victims show that less than half of the violent crimes committed each year, and less than forty percent of property offenses, are ever reported to law enforcement.
Altogether, law enforcement in the U-S made more than ten and a half million arrests in 2017.
Of those, just over half a million arrests were for violent crime and nearly one-and-a-quarter million arrests were for property crimes.
Drug offenses represented the biggest category of arrests, with more than one-point-six million of those.
That’s the largest number of drug arrests since 2010.
More than eighty-five percent of those arrests were for simple possession of a controlled substance.
In spite of the growing number of states that have legalized or decriminalized marijuana in the past few years, there were almost six-hundred-thousand arrests for simple possession of marijuana in 2017, an increase from the previous two years.
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0926 US Kavanaugh hearing on KBOO
Tune in tomorrow morning on KBOO, when we’ll be running the live coverage by Pacifica Radio of the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Doctor Christine Blasey-Ford [Blah-zee Ford] will be present at the hearing to present her accusation of attempted rape.
The hearing begins at seven A-M Pacific time, and we will be broadcasting from then until eleven, or until the top of the hour after the hearing ends, whichever comes first.
Coverage will be hosted by Pacifica’s Antonia Juhasz and Mitch Jeserich.
So once again, tune in to ninety-point-seven-F-M, at seven A-M tomorrow morning, or go to k-b-o-o-dot-f-m, to listen to live coverage of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing.
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0926 US More Kavanaugh
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley filed a federal lawsuit today to delay the confirmation of Brett kavanaugh to the supreme court.
The complaint alleges that the level of interference and obstruction with the Senate’s efforts to review Kavanaugh’s record violates the Constitution’s Advice and Consent Clause.
Merkley is asking for an injunction to stop the process until the Senate receives thousands of documents from the National Archive that relate to Judge kavanaugh.
Those documents may not be ready until late October.
Also today, New York Senator Chuck Schumer Asked Kavanagh to withdraw his nomination, in light of the sexual allegations against him.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is still scheduled to appear before the Senate judicial committee tomorrow, but Republican senators won’t be questioning her—they’re bringing in Rachel Mitchell, a sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona, to do their grilling.
Regardless of the testimony they hear on Thursday, Republicans have already scheduled a committee vote on the Kavanaugh nomination Friday morning.
A second Kavanaugh accuser, Deborah Ramirez, has not changed the Senate’s schedule, nor did today’s affidavit filed by a Julie Swetnik.
Swetnik is represented by Michael Avenatti, who is also Stormy Daniels’ attorney.
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0926 US Prisons restore tampons
Visitors to Virginia state prisons will not have to remove tampons or menstrual cups when visiting inmates--at least not yet.
The recent policy was suspended last night, after a national wave of protest.
Under the policy, prisons had planned to offer pads as an alternative to visitors who were wearing tampons, or would have been permitted to instead wear a pad brought from home.
Visitors would then have received a body scan for potential contraband.
The policy was aimed at reducing smuggling of drugs and other items into the prisons.
This regulation “implies that only menstruating women are likely smugglers,” said Kaye Korey, a state legislator who had introduced the bill that now requires prisons to provide free feminine hygiene products to female inmates.
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0926 OR City Council
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
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City Council today formally appointed the thirteen members of the city’s newest civilian police oversight board.
A number of KBOO reporters were at council today.
Sam Bouman has this report, with additional reporting by Carlye Meisburger, Jasmin Moneymaker, and John Reinmiller.
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(Sam:) City council covered a small clutch of business this morning, with their main focus falling on 2 items: amending marijuana business regulations, and appointing 13 community members to the new Portland committee on community engaged policing or P. sep. The changes to pot business regulations included implementing the city's social equity program; practically speaking, the changes mean that licensing fees will be lowered for smaller cannabis retailers and producers, as well as some revenue from those fees and taxes being directed into a record-expungement program for individuals with minor pot infractions in their background. However, the topic that hovered over and ran beneath the morning session, was policing --more specifically, community policing. What does it mean, what does it look like, what do the people expect? During "communications," when community members can speak to counsel on any topic for 3 minutes, 3 members of these Portland's Park Rose neighborhood said that they wanted more cops to respond to issues with crime and people living outdoors in their area. In this exchange, Park Rose business association president Andrew Jenkins expresses her exasperation with the limited police response in their area and prompts a response from mayor Ted Wheeler:
(Speaker:) said iris after watching we are not. Sources. Resources we have. Hey here's somebody. Issues. How in the world. And they say oh. A little bit here. You will for sure. Using her is against the law. From the police officer. Ever tell you. Hands. Said this the other day Asian. Yeah officer tells you to.
(Sam:) For today's purposes we should move on to the piece at KBOO. We'll be covering the ongoing roll out of the city's newest civilian police oversight body over the coming months, so today we will mostly limit ourselves to introducing the new members. Seven of the 13 appointees were present in the council chambers this morning, and were introduced by the mayor's senior policy adviser Nicole Grant.
(Speaker:) Of the 106 applications we received, the mayor has chosen to appoint the following outstanding individuals to the peace out for anyone interested we have published on the mayor's website under public records the demographic breakdown of peace that applicants we've also included a full description of the selection process along with descriptions of the may oral adult and youth interview structures individual demographic information about the candidates was not disclosed to selection by 3 committee during the selection process the mayor has also selected for adult all trance and to use alternates who are welcome to attend all peace at meetings and orientation as was pointed out by Portland cop watches Dan Handelman and again this morning by commissioner Clowe you daily the previous civilian oversight board ran through all of it 6 alternates in a matter of months before ceasing to function as a public body early last year. Mayor Wheeler expressed that he did not expect that the peace up would need to quote go too deep into the pool of alternates on quote though he did not elaborate on this except to say that the city had consulted with members of the previous board about what went wrong. So now let's hear from the new members of the P. sep or at least the 7 in attendance starting with lucky on a jury the director of a non profit that seeks to build positive relationships between African American man and law enforcement black unitary executive director of word is bond and teacher at Rosemary Anderson high school we're very excited to be a part of this project I think it's very important work and we look forward to engaging the community and particularly for me engaging the use and making sure their voices heard and this process collide you Williams junior a PO I see and member word is bond yeah I'm excited to get my hands dirty make a change in the address all the issues going on was far as institutional racism all the issues P. 7 is going to be participate in a. Sebastian chevalier I'm a senior at Lincoln High School in a member what is mine I join this work simply because I was born and raised in Portland and I wanted to give back to the community that wanted me and I'm very excited but I also recognize that it's not gonna be easy work and now I'm ready for it tough bumpy road. My name is like he should know mass born and raised in Portland Oregon Kevin attic and I suffer from mental health challenges mental illness my higher power let me to be at more tables to be the voice and advocate for change in this community. Regional relationships between policing community I've been on both sides good morning good morning I am Robert or Bob dying general manager of Lloyd center I've got broad resume working with various police agencies across the country just and and my career but I think what drives me more than anything is I had an older brother who was a product of the prison system also had mental mental health issues and what I'm hoping to see come from my work with the P. 7 is really just strengthening bringing the community together good morning my uncle my commissioners funny tandem calc my folks for public school teachers who are dedicated to public service put that at the heart of our family life and the way that's manifested in my career has been seeking justice for all manner of folks in all manner of situations whether it was representing incarcerated folks in law school in in house disciplinary proceedings are trying to fight for social security benefits or unemployment insurance for for people it should also be said that Mr Kalach is currently the America's policy manager whatever that means for Airbnb in Portland and the last of the 7 piece that members to testify today was Sam sacks I'm humbled to be here today as a citizen of Portland as a community member whose family has been here since the 19 forties currently I am the founder of nonprofit to know he's only focused on ending hate racism in our community through education community engagement and advocacy one of the comedian gauge my pieces that we do some of you know as we have breaking read breaking barriers once a month where we bring specifically focus on communities of color police together to have dinner and sit down have conversations 6 members not present are you Landa clay. Support specialist in the mental health community Sharon Gerry Smith the chair of metro's committee on racial equity and a long time activist a non profit leader in Portland out in house on a board member of cool Islam a southwest Portland program for disadvantaged Muslim youth Michelle Lang director of campus ministries at Warner Pacific university and founder of the quote art of tough talks multimedia project. Patrick Nolan a board member of sisters of the road and empowerment initiatives and an Advisory Council member with the mental health association of Portland and finally Zachary Thornhill an adjunct instructor at PS you and a county social worker stay tuned to the K. B. O. O. evening news in the coming weeks and months as we follow the continuing roll out of the peace sap and other issues around policing and justice in Portland for K. B. O. O. in Portland I'm Sam Bowman.