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Officers arrest a suspect and collect evidence (Photo Courtesy of Portland Police Bureau) Partnering to Improve Safety On March 23, North Precinct Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) officers, along with officers from Central and East NRT and members of the Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit, collaborated to enhance the safety and usability of the area surrounding Dawson Park. Partnering with local businesses and the Organized Retail Crime Association of Oregon, officers targeted individuals involved in retail theft and illegal drug activity. During the operation, 26 individuals were arrested, 100 criminal charges were filed, and 16 outstanding warrants were served. Stolen goods valued at hundreds of dollars were recovered and returned to nearby businesses, and several illegal drug transactions were disrupted. North Precinct personnel remained committed to improving safety in and around Dawson Park, continuing efforts to develop creative solutions in partnership with the city.

Continuation of refresh projects Rockwood Library will close to the public starting April 22 to start on a series of bond-funded improvements. Rockwood’s last day open to the public before construction is April 21. Project teams expect the work to last until fall 2025. Rockwood Library (Photo courtesy Multnomah County Library) Multnomah County Library is actively working to build, expand, and renovate library spaces for the public as part of the voter-approved 2020 Library building bond. This year marks a significant transformation for the library system, with the construction and expansion of five libraries and a series of Refresh projects across the system, leading to temporary library closures. The work at Rockwood Library is part of these Refresh projects, which focus on smaller but impactful upgrades at 11 libraries on a shorter timeline. Similar projects at other locations have typically taken about four months to complete. Updates at Rockwood Library will include improved shelf heights for better space utilization and sight lines, a welcoming children's area with new movable furniture, new reading room chairs with and without arms, additional table space, a Tech Bar for patrons to use copy machines, scanners, and computers, as well as fresh paint and new carpet for a refreshed look. While Rockwood Library is temporarily closed, community members are encouraged to visit alternate locations. Midland Library, located at 805 SE 122nd Avenue in Portland, will host Rockwood’s makerspace starting May 13 until Rockwood reopens. Other nearby options include Gresham Library at 385 NW Miller Avenue in Gresham and Troutdale Library at 2451 SW Cherry Park Road in Troutdale. These locations will continue to provide essential library services and resources to the community during Rockwood Library’s renovation.

Community members gather at Augustana Lutheran Church. Photo credit: M. Washington Oregon's Measure 114, a gun control law, was upheld by the Oregon Court of Appeals and will move forward despite potential appeals. The law includes restrictions on high-capacity magazines and requires gun purchase permits.

Jaliyah Elliott pays a visit to the Oregon Boys & Girls Club Get to Know Miss Black Oregon Jaliyah Elliott is a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment, a dedicated mentor, and a proud representative of Oregon in the Miss Black USA Pageant. As Miss Black Oregon USA, Jaliyah is making history—Oregon has not had a Miss Black Oregon USA since 1994. She is committed to using her platform, H.E.R Inner Strength, to support and uplift women on their personal and professional journeys. H.E.R Inner Strength is more than just a platform—it’s a movement dedicated to healing, empowerment, and resilience. Jaliyah believes that women, regardless of their background, deserve a safe space to grow, learn, and rise above adversity. Through workshops, mentorship programs, and community discussions, she provides women with the resources and support needed to overcome challenges, build self-confidence, and take control of their futures. She is particularly passionate about creating a support system for young women, and teenagers who often lack the guidance and community they need to thrive. Beyond her advocacy, Jaliyah wears many hats—she is a model, stylist, caregiver, and flight attendant who balances her career in service and fashion with her mission to inspire change. As a woman of faith who actively attends church, she is deeply committed to using her spirituality as a guiding force in her work and personal growth. She actively works with youth in her community, modeling the values of hard work, resilience, and self-belief. Miss Black Oregon, Jaliyah Elliott This summer, Jaliyah will proudly represent Oregon at the Miss Black USA National Pageant in Washington, D.C. As she prepares for this life-changing opportunity, she is calling on her community to help support her journey. Donations will not only contribute to essential expenses such as travel, wardrobe, and competition fees but will also help expand the outreach of H.E.R Inner Strength. Every contribution directly fuels mentorship programs, community workshops, and events designed to uplift and educate women. Supporting Jaliyah is about more than just a pageant—it’s about investing in the empowerment of women and the next generation of leaders. Donations can be made via Cash App ($JaliyahElliot), Gofund Me ( https://gofund.me/21a60b0b ), or Zelle ( jaliyahelliott8@gmail.com ). Sponsorship opportunities are also available, offering branding benefits for businesses that want to support her cause and be recognized for their commitment to social impact. For more information, follow her journey on Instagram at @MissBlackOregonUSA and @poshpageantproductions or connect with her via email: Jaliyahelliott8@gmail.com

Many Oregonians may be missing out on tax refunds and credits, but free filing assistance is available through community organizations for those who qualify. Claim Your Tax Refund You may think you don’t need to file a tax return, but you could be missing out on a significant refund. If you need help filing, free assistance is available through the Oregon Department of Human Services Tax Infrastructure Program, which funds community organizations across the state to provide tax filing support for those who qualify. Many working Oregonians are not required to file a tax return or haven’t filed in years, but filing can bring several financial benefits. You could receive a substantial refund if your employer withheld too much money from your paycheck, especially if you worked part-time or only part of the year. There are also numerous tax credits available, including the state and federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income workers, the Oregon Kids Credit for families with children, the Working Family Credit for childcare costs, the Retirement Savings Credit for those saving for retirement, and the American Opportunity Credit for college students. Many young people under 18 mistakenly believe their parents' tax return includes their earnings, but they may still be eligible for refunds on excess withholdings while being claimed as dependents. If you haven’t filed in years, including during the pandemic, free in-person tax filing assistance is available to help with prior year returns. Additionally, you may be required to file a state tax return in Oregon, where income thresholds for filing are lower than federal requirements. For example, a single person with no dependents in Oregon must file if they earn at least $7,710. Even if you missed the April 15 deadline, there is no penalty for late filing if you are owed a refund, and free tax help is available through mid-October. The Tax Infrastructure Grant Program supports culturally relevant and rural community organizations, Tribal governments, and other groups in providing free tax education and filing assistance for low-income individuals. Help is available in multiple languages, and funding also goes toward increasing the number of certified tax preparers in Oregon. For free tax filing assistance, you can contact 211Info by calling 2-1-1 or emailing help@211info.org . Additional resources are available at Oregon State University, Western Oregon University, CASH Oregon, the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), Centro de Servicios Para Campesinos, and the Latino Community Association.

The Quality Inn Motel on 82nd is reportedly plagued by numerous crimes. Photo credit: M. Washington According to two Portland media outlets, a local motel is under increased scrutiny by the Portland Police Bureau following three shooting deaths in less than two months.   KOIN-TV reported in early January that the Quality Inn Motel, located near the intersection of Northeast Sandy Blvd. and Northeast 82nd Avenue, has been the site of three separate deadly shootings there, one in November and two in December.   According to KOIN, police said it’s been a challenge to clean up the area and they’re looking to get the motel deemed “a chronic nuisance property” but said it’s a long process.   “Our concern level was raised in the beginning, when the first homicide happened,” said PPB spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen. “The fact that we’ve had these other two in December has only increased the urgency in that area.”   KOIN reported that people who live near the motel have noticed problems like garbage in the parking lot and broken fences, causing concerns, and one man, who wished to remain anonymous, said he witnessed one of the shootings.   “I feel very unsafe because some of these people look like they might be breaking into my house one of these days,” he said.   According to a January 4 article in the Oregonian, Choice Hotels, which owns the Quality Inn brand, said in an email that the hotel is independently owned. The paper reported that Oregon Secretary of State records show that the Quality Inn is registered to GSS Hospitality of Portland with Jun Hyuk Jo listed as president, who did not return a message left on his phone.   The Oregonian stated that police have said little publicly about the three shootings.   The first death was on Nov. 20 when police found 43-year-old Kimo Henriques, a Vancouver resident, in the parking lot with gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital where he died, according to the newspaper.   The next death was on Dec. 4, when Benjamin Walker, 45, of Hillsboro was shot and killed in the hotel parking lot.   And on Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, a third man was killed in the parking lot. Police have made no arrests and have not released his name.   Six other shootings, dating back to 2020, occurred in the same location as the motel, according to the Oregonian, including a shooting in 2022 when it was a Howard Johnson’s when Martre Oliver shot is twin brother, Martese Oliver, who died in the lobby.   According to the Oregonian, police said in court that the brothers had driven to Portland from Renton, Washington, with two women and had rented two rooms for alleged sex trafficking.   The newspaper also reported that the Police Bureau’s Human Trafficking Unit has conducted patrol missions in the area near Northeast 82nd Ave. and Sandy Blvd. to stem human trafficking and that officers had made nine arrests and towed two cars in the latest mission on Dec. 19.   Chrystal O’Day lives just a few blocks from the Quality Inn and another motel, Madison Suites, in the area where four homicides near 82nd Ave. and Milton Street occurred from August 2021 to March 2022, the article stated.   O’Day told the Oregonian that she has been awakened several times in the middle of the night by gunshots, and open drug use is rampant.   “I’d like to see more police presence and I feel like something needs to be done about these motels in these few blocks,” she said.

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Trump admin investigates school district over letting trans student compete in girls’ sports People listen as President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athlete from competing in women’s or girls sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb5, 2025, in Washington (AP Photo/ Alex Brandon) (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education said in a news release Tuesday that it has opened an investigation into Portland Public Schools, Oregon’s largest school district, over allowing a transgender athlete to compete on a high school girls’ track-and-field team. The federal agency said it was investigating whether this violated Title IX, a 1972 law barring sex discrimination in education. The Trump administration has been using the law to push against schools that provide accommodations for transgender students. President Donald Trump also signed an executive order last month intended to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. “We will not allow the Portland Public Schools District or any other educational entity that receives federal funds to trample on the antidiscrimination protections that women and girls are guaranteed under law,” Craig Trainor, the education department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in the news release. The department said it also sent a letter to the Oregon School Activities Association, or OSAA, notifying it of an investigation into its “gender identity participation” policy. The department said its investigation into the district was based on a complaint filed with its civil rights office. The complaint said the district and OSAA allowed a high school transgender athlete to compete in the girls’ track and field division over the last two seasons, according to the department’s news release. Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong said the district is in full compliance with Oregon state law, “which may differ from federal guidance,” and that it was working to “navigate this complex legal landscape.” “I want our community to know that I am aware of the complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and Portland Public Schools is fully cooperating with the investigation,” Armstrong said in a statement. “While I am limited in what I can share at this time due to the sensitive nature of the matter and our duty to protect student privacy, I want to be clear: my commitment — and our district’s commitment — to doing what’s right for all students, especially those most vulnerable, remains unwavering.” Elsewhere, the federal agency has also opened investigations into Denver public schools after an all-gender restroom replaced a girl’s restroom while leaving another exclusive to boys, as well as the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Yolanda Saldívar is serving a life sentence This combination of photos shows Yolanda Saldivar, who is serving a life sentence, left, and Tejano music star Selena posing in Corpus Christi, Texas. (AP photo) (AP) — The woman convicted of killing Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla-Perez has been denied parole after spending decades behind bars for fatally shooting the young singer at a Texas motel in 1995, the state’s parole board announced Thursday. Yolanda Saldívar is serving a life sentence at the Patrick L. O’Daniel prison unit in Gatesville, Texas. A three-member panel of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to not release her. The panel said her case will be eligible to be reviewed again for parole in 2030. The singer known to her fans as simply Selena was one of the first Mexican-Americans to make it into the mainstream music scene and was on the verge of crossing over into the English-language pop market when she was killed. Saldívar founded Selena’s fan club and had been the manager of the singer’s clothing boutiques, Selena Etc., until she was fired in early March 1995 after money was discovered missing. Selena a Corpus Christi native, was 23 years old when she was shot in the back with a .38-caliber revolver at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi on March 31, 1995. She was able to run to the motel lobby where she collapsed, and she was pronounced dead at a hospital an hour later. Motel employees testified that Selena named “Yolanda” in “room 158” as her attacker. “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean to kill anybody,” a sobbing Saldívar said during a nine-hour standoff with police. She told police she had bought the .38-caliber revolver to kill herself. More than 50,000 people lined up to view Selena’s body the day before she was laid to rest in Seaside Memorial Park on April 3, 1995, just 13 days before her 24th birthday. Saldívar’s trial was moved to Houston because of the publicity surrounding the case. Saldívar testified that she had intended to kill herself during the confrontation with Selena, but that the gun misfired. On October 23, 1995, a jury in Houston convicted Saldívar of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. While in prison, Saldívar — a former nurse — obtained her paralegal and associate degree in criminal justice and has filed several civil rights complaints alleging mistreatment by the state’s prison system, according to court records. She also helped other inmates to file petitions. In court documents filed in 2016, Saldívar said she was being held in protective custody — meaning she was segregated from other inmates — because prison officials were concerned for her safety due to the “high profile” nature of her case. She filed several appeals of her conviction but all were rejected. Selena — “the Queen of Tejano” — rose to stardom and won a Grammy during a Tejano music boom in the early 1990s. Her hits include “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “Como la Flor,” “Amor Prohibido,” “No Me Queda Mas” and “Tu Solo Tu.” “Dreaming of You,” her English-language crossover album released a few months after her death, topped the Billboard 200, and featured hits “I Could Fall in Love” and “Dreaming of You.” Jennifer Lopez played the singer in “Selena,” a 1997 biopic. The Grammys awarded Selena a posthumous lifetime achievement award in 2021.

New way for fans to support Beaver Nation fans have a fun new way to support Oregon State University. An OSU Beaver license plate will be available to the public beginning April 7. OSU Beaver plates cost an additional $40 to purchase the first time and with each renewal or replacement, in addition to regular registration renewal fees. You must pay the surcharge or redeem a pre-paid voucher. After deducting Oregon DMV’s administrative costs, Oregon Department of Transportation will deposit net proceeds from the surcharge into OSU’s account. The funds generated directly benefit Oregon State Athletics. “Your support will help maintain competitive success and scholastic excellence to not only support the holistic development of our student-athletes, but also bring joy to Beaver Nation,” said Director of University Marketing Carson Dunlap. OSU completed pre-sales of more than 3,000 vouchers to make the plate eligible for implementation. The license plate design was approved by ODOT in consultation with OSU, Oregon State Police and testing by the Washington State Tolling Division. The Beaver plate joins DMV’s lineup of other specialty registration plates, including Crater Lake, Cultural Trust, Gray Whale, Oregon Ducks, Pacific Wonderland, Pollinator Paradise, Salmon, Smokey Bear, Trail Blazers, Watch for Wildlife and Wine Country. The Beaver license plate can be obtained through the Oregon DMV by mail, at DMV locations, or through a licensed dealer. While you can apply for a Beaver plate online at DMV2U for renewal or as a stand-alone replacement, pre-paid vouchers cannot be redeemed online. To use a pre-paid voucher, you must apply in person at a DMV office or mail the transaction to DMV headquarters, where staff will verify the voucher using its unique number.

Portland hoop fans go all in with prep finals weekend Jefferson's players and coaches celebrate with their third-place trophy Saturday, the program's best finish at Class 6A. (Photo Credit: Cliff Pfenning) Portland basketball fans showed themselves off as being ready to celebrate story-lines during the weekend at the University of Portland’s Chiles Center.   In the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union Class 6A Boys and Girls Tournaments, not only did two programs win their first title, but the boys final featured a coach celebrating a title after guiding his team for 42 years, while the girls final featured a 19-point, second-half comeback Saturday . Barlow of Gresham had alums on hand from five decades of Tom Johnson’s coaching for the Bruins’ 61-55 victory over Jesuit in the boys final. Among the graduates were Freddie Jones, who helped the program to the ‘96 state final before playing at the University of Oregon and then in the NBA.   Tualatin rallied from behind 54-35 with 2:32 left in the third quarter to beat Clackamas, 63-58, in the girls final - the Timberwolves’ first trip to the championship game. The boys’ program, which played in the fourth-place game Saturday morning, won the title in 2022 and ‘23, and was ranked second in the playoffs this season.     North Portland’s Jefferson High celebrated a 60-48 girls victory over Willamette of Eugene Saturday to finish in third, it’s highest placing at Class 6A, and top finish since winning the 5A title in both 2008 and ‘10. Seniors Chauncey Andersen and Abrianna Lawrence were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Democrats.   Jefferson’s girls program played before numerous large crowds this season thanks to rivalry games with Benson and then the semifinals featuring Clackamas and USC-bound guard Jazzy Davidson. The Cavs won 77-57 Friday thanks in part to attempting 27 more free throws.   Jefferson’s win over Willamette put them at 28-2 with losses to just Clackamas and Tualatin in December.  “We got to end our careers here together on a win, that makes it really special,” said Andersen, one of six seniors on the roster. “Now it’s time to look toward college basketball and the pros. The pro game is becoming so much more exciting, 1,000-times more exciting in just the past couple years.”   Portland will join the WNBA in 2026 with an expansion franchise. Jefferson coach Andre Lawrence said the graduating seniors are leaving the program in fabulous shape after playing into the tournament the past two years, especially after claiming a trophy this year.   “This senior group is such a leadership group - they played their butts off to get here,” Lawrence said, “it’s amazing to see what they’ve accomplished. The sophomores and freshmen we have coming back have a lot to look up to.”   Tualatin has a lot to look up to as well. Timberwolves’ freshman guard Love Lei Best earned a unanimous selection to the all-tournament team, and was the top scorer in the final with 26 points.   The WNBA begins with preseason games on May 2. Regular-season games start on May 16.