Letter from the editor: Greetings from Florida

Our little beach on Anna Maria Island.

Howdy folks. Hope all is well in Portland.

My girls and I are enjoying a bit of sun and fun on Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida (just south of Sarasota). It’s been way too long since I left the day-to-day rigors of making BikePortland happen and just enjoyed some time away. As a matter of fact, in the last three years of so of me doing the site full-time, I’ve never taken a real break (except during Christmas, when no one really reads the site anyways).

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“Bridge Cures Cancer,” announces CRC opposition group

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The grassroots group that is forming to oppose plans for a new 12-lane Columbia River Crossing (CRC) bridge project on I-5 has released the second in their series of mock sales pitches.

In the first episode, host (and local author) Joe Kurmaskie tackles the bridge’s cost (“…only one million easy payments of $4,000 each!”) and its potential impact on transportation spending and priorities in coming decades.

The second episode, titled “Bridge Cures Cancer,” focuses on the public health costs of highway projects.

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Suspect arrested in Pearl bike thefts

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Jason Charles Bush
(Photo: Portland Police)

We recently reported on a high-end bike theft from a Pearl District condo.

This theft occurred during a period in which there seem to have been an unusual number of break-ins to bike storage areas in the Pearl.

Police now have a suspect in the thefts. According to KGW, 28 year old Jason Charles Bush has been arrested on burglary charges. Bush is a suspect in three of the eleven reported thefts as well as another break-in.

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Local builders in global company in new “Custom Bicycles” book

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

A bike from Portland-based Vanilla
Bicycles graces the cover of
Custom Bicycles;
A passionate pursuit
.

With the publication later this spring of, Custom Bicycles: A passionate pursuit, the handmade bicycle renaissance in America seems to have taken another big step forward. And, as you might have expected, Portland’s reputation for bike building did not go unnoticed.

We received an advance copy of the book here at BikePortland headquarters earlier this week. With its 240 pages and 300 glossy color photos, the $60 book is definitely coffee-table ready. The book is published by Australia-based Images Publishing Group and features 5-8 page profiles of 39 builders (see photos below).

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Pedestrian advocacy group names new leader

Mult. County Bike Fair!

Routh married her bike at the
2006 Multnomah County
Bike Fair
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Willamette Pedestrian Coalition has chosen Stephanie Routh as their new Director. The WPC is a Portland-based non-profit that is, “dedicated to promoting walking and making the conditions for walking safe and attractive.”

Here’s the official statement:

Stephanie is highly regarded for her non-profit organizational development skills, her passion for promoting sustainability and interest in celebrating community diversity. The Portland native helped found local non-profit Umbrella organization and continues in her part-time role at Green Empowerment as Resource Development Coordinator.

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With new racks, finally some good news for PNCA

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
New bike parking at PNCA-7

This morning, crews worked to install
27 bike racks on NW 13th at Johnson.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Today, crews from the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation installed 27 new staple racks at the corner of NW 13th and NW Johnson in the Pearl District. The new racks — located adjacent to the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) — were drilled into place in the former location of three automobile parking spaces. When students return to class next week, there will be space for 54 bikes in this new parking area (not to mention many other racks nearby).

The project is being paid for out of PBOT’s bike parking fund, and it is one of four “bike corrals” Mayor Adams has promised to roll out in his first 100 days in office.

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Portland Police get criticism for handling of bike light case

Oregonian columnist
Steve Duin.

Oregonian columnist Steve Duin has published pointed criticisms directed at the Portland Police Bureau’s handling of the Freedom Child bike light case in his column today.

Freedom Child is the 57-year old St. Johns woman who was involved with an altercation with two Police officers back in 2003. Child claims she was walking her bike down the sidewalk when Officers Jeffrey Dorn and Jason Harris reportedly pulled up alongside her in an unmarked car and began questioning her. Those questions ultimately led to Child being followed and then, according to Duin, “dragged…out of her home” and then arrested.

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Crews remove bike racks from new transit mall

Portland Mall crews remove a bike
rack on NW 5th Ave. last Friday.
(Photo: Michael O’Leary)

Staffers at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance offices on NW 5th Avenue were surprised when they noticed work crews removing the bike racks outside their offices on Friday morning of last week.

When I rode by later that evening, all that was left of three staple racks were holes in the bricks (see photo below). With a lack of bike parking capacity already an issue on the new Portland Mall, why would existing racks be removed?

The answer has to do with design standards — the same standards that I reported on back in January.

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Mayor Adams’ office releases 100 day plan update video

Mayor Adams’ Transportation Policy Director
Catherine Ciarlo in screenshot from
new video.
-Watch it below-

Mayors Sam Adams’ office has just released a video address giving an update to Portlanders on his 100 day action plan as it pertains to his transportation agenda. The video (watch it below) is in the form of a monologue from his transportation policy director (and former executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance) Catherine Ciarlo.

In the video, Ciarlo says “Mayor Adams set out an ambitious agenda for transportation and we feel good about the progress we’ve made,” and it addresses the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project, the Portland Streetcar, the cycle track, and the new bike parking corral.

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Oregon Public Broadcasting focuses lens on biking

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

OPB’s Oregon Field Guide
has a major crush on biking.

Oregon Public Broadcasting’s (OPB) Oregon Field Guide program has begun to reflect our state’s decidedly bike-centric personality.

The program, which covers all of Oregon’s natural, artistic, and social splendor, has had several segments devoted to biking recently.

Back in February, the show featured Cascade Huts, the hut-to-hut mountain biking company based up on Mt. Hood that opened back in 2007. Watch that episode here.

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Kidical Massers bring message for more money to City Hall

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Kidical Mass-10

How can the city say no to
a face like this?
-Slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

Last Friday, about 100 people — most of them families with kids in tow — rode to City Hall as part of a special edition of the BTA’s monthly Kidical Mass ride. The goal was to raise awareness about the city’s budget that currently threatens to lop off about 40% of funding for Safe Routes to Schools programs and is non-committal in terms of funding for promised new bike boulevards.

Riders met up at three locations throughout the city before coming together for a rally and hot cocoa on the steps of City Hall.

At the rally, people held signs that said, “Safe Routes to School is Kids on Bikes”, “Funding Safe Routes = Healthy Families”, and “Portland Needs Safe Routes!”. The BTA’s Michelle Poyourow took to the mic and urged the crowd to keep tabs on upcoming opportunities to weigh in on the the budget (the Mayor releases his version on April 28th) and to contact City Commissioners and urge them to fund bike projects and programs.

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