The Smith River Complex wildfire along the California-Oregon border had destroyed 40,000 acres and forced evacuations as of Tuesday, 22, 2023 afternoon. It began on August 15, 2023,  after 150 lightning bolts struck the Six Rivers National Forest, causing at least 27 fires. The fire has engulfed the Smith River National Recreation Area, a wilderness … Read more

Mayor Ted Wheeler has requested that almost 100 Oregon state troopers, one-fifth of the number statewide, be deployed in Portland to combat crimes that local police have stated are too difficult to handle. The recommendation is one of hundreds made by Wheeler at the first meeting of a task committee created by Oregon Gov. Tina … Read more

A person was hurt in a shooting at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland on Tuesday, 22 August 2023 night. Around 9:30 p.m., there was a large police presence between Southwest 5th and Morrison. Witnesses reported hearing one gunshot and seeing the shooter move down the street. They claimed they contacted 911, told dispatchers where … Read more

A 33-year-old Rikers Island convict was discovered dead in his cell after being arrested for back-to-back stabbings in Queens last year. He is the eighth city Correction Department detainee to die in custody or shortly after release in 2023. Donny Ubiera was unconscious in his Rikers Island cell at the George R. Vierno Center. He … Read more

In a recent data analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gun-related deaths among children in the United States reached a worrisome peak in 2021, claiming 4,752 innocent lives and exceeding the record figure established during the pandemic’s initial year. The worrying data plainly suggested that America’s gun violence problem had worsened. Over … Read more

Hundreds of spectators were kicked out of a Tennessee subcommittee meeting about a new law that would allow for more guns on school campuses, including grieving parents of children who were massacred at The Covenant School in March or whose children were forced to hide as the shooter smashed their way through. The tumultuous scenario … Read more

Mother Nature delivered a one-two punch to California, unleashing devastating record rainfall and flooding over Southern California. At the same time, an earthquake occurred near Ojai — all amid what has traditionally been the state’s wildfire season and the wild weekend spurred Gov. Gavin Newsom to go south, declaring a state of emergency even before … Read more

On Friday,18, 2023, more than two dozen persons were arrested during a Portland Police Bureau retail theft operation at Mall 205 and Gateway. During the mission, 25 arrests were made, and 16 felony and 15 misdemeanor warrants were issued. Authorities also stated that four stolen vehicles, three firearms, $24,237 in cash, and illegal narcotics were … Read more

Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Congresswoman Val Hoyle (D-Ore.) of Oregon’s 4th congressional district met with fire officials to discuss Oregon’s recent wildfires. The Flat, Bedrock, and Lookout fires have burned over 60,000 acres and forced widespread evacuations across the state. The current wildfires in Canada have allowed other legislators to witness what Oregon is … Read more

Tennessee’s Republican-led legislature is convening in a special session this week to debate a package of public safety initiatives, some of which are in response to a deadly shooting at a Nashville elementary school earlier this year. Though the session is unlikely to result in new weapons restrictions, it does underscore the drastically disparate response … Read more