Welcome to the week. We are just three days away from the return of BikeCraft. It’s 3:00 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday, December 17th at Migration Brewing on N Williams Ave. I hope you can make it, and I hope you’ve told all your friends to come too. Our vendors have been working hard to offer lots of wonderful things. See you there!
And now for the weekly roundup of the most notable stories from around the web in the past seven days…
Traffic violence: A man (a noted musician) was walking his dog when he was hit and killed by a woman who has had over 100 previous arrests — 82 court warrants and 40 traffic citations. (CBS News)
Tariff trouble: Ex-Portlander Gabe Tiller figured he’d pay $300-$400 in fees to get his new MTB frame from a European brand. But the fee was over $4,000 and now he’s stuck in UPS/USA tariff policy hell. (Singletracks)
Hit and run organizing: There’s a new nonprofit whose mission is to raise awareness of, and battle the scourge of, hit-and-runs. They also have a fantastic name: Fighting HARD (Hit and Run Driving). I learned about them via Streetsblog. (FightingHard.org)
Price of admission: There’s an interesting conversation about whether or not there should be an admission fee to line the roads to cheer riders on major races like the Tour De France. (NY Times)
Overreach: This is what can happen if you let e-bike narratives and anti-bike discrimination run amok: A bill in New Jersey would require all e-bikes to be licensed and registered. (NJ.com)
Playing politics with roads: A Republican-led effort to defund ODOT took a major step forward when organizers turned in over 200,000 signatures to the Secretary of State. (Oregon Capitol Chronicle)
History lesson: Sit back and enjoy this tale of what cycling was like in and around the Montavilla area over 120 years ago! (Montavilla News)
Tale as old as time: Nearly half of the members of the board that oversees transit in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area don’t even use the service. (Star Tribune)
Carfree research: Surprising results from a nationwide survey presented in published research reveals that way more Americans than you probably thought — nearly one fifth! — are interested in living carfree and an additional 40% are open to the idea (Human Transit)
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
200,000+ Oregonians — Democrats, Republicans, Independents and NAV’s — signed to put the $4.3 Billion dollar tax increase before voters.
People feel overtaxed. Not every problem is solved by raising taxes when there are real efficiencies to be had without firing essential workers. Threatening layoffs to force a yes vote isn’t honest debate.
This isn’t partisan. It’s direct democracy. Let the people decide.
Two things can be true at once: Yes a lot of people are pissed about new taxes and don’t want to pay more to a government they don’t trust. Also, this entire effort is led by Republicans who are using it to catapult Drazan to office. They care more about political power than roads and transportation. Watch once this passes how quickly all these R leaders forget this issue and move on.