Tag: okap

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — With the Portland Rose Festival now underway, it’s time to get ready for the bridge lifts during Fleet Week.

Fleet Week starts June 3 and U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and Canadian Ships will be docking along the Portland waterfront.

The ships arrive on June 5, with six ships expected to come in the afternoon.

Between 2:00 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., Multnomah County officials said that there will be several extended bridge lifts on the Broadway and Burnside bridges. The lifts could last up to 45 minutes at a time.

The ships will be leaving on June 10, and officials said to expect similar bridge lifts during that morning.

Portland Fire and Rescue will be providing real-time updates on social media.

Gustavo Torres-Mendez pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The leader of Portland’s “18th Street Gang” was sentenced to federal prison on Tuesday for his role in a conspiracy to traffic fentanyl, meth and cocaine into the metro area, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced.

Officials said 38-year-old Gustavo Torres-Mendez of Portland was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison with five years’ supervised release.

According to court documents, Torres-Mendez became the leader of the gang after his release from state prison in 2019 for first-degree robbery with a firearm.

Investigators were aware he “maintained a significant stature” with the gang while serving time in Oregon state prisons and during his time out of custody.

In late summer 2022, investigators had evidence that Torres-Mendez and a close associate were leading a criminal enterprise selling counterfeit Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, meth, and cocaine in the Portland metro area, authorities said.

In September, investigators discovered Torres-Mendez and several associates collected over $126,000 in cash within days to buy drugs.

Around that time, authorities stopped a vehicle connected to the group driving near Grants Pass and found more than 104 pounds of meth and eight pounds of cocaine inside, officials said.

A federal grand jury in Portland returned a seven-count indictment on Nov. 15, 2022, charging Torres-Mendez and six associates for conspiring with one another to distribute fentanyl, meth, and cocaine.

Two days later, authorities searched Torres-Mendez’s North Portland home, where they found a handgun, ammunition, tactical body armor, a small bag of “M30” fake Oxycodone pills, and more than $6,000 in cash.

That same day, investigators seized 10 more guns at another location in Portland used by the gang to store drugs and weapons.

On Sept. 6, 2023, Torres-Mendez pleaded guilty to conspiring with his associates to distribute fentanyl, meth, and cocaine. Three of his co-conspirators have also pleaded guilty and sentenced to federal prison.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The $10 million donation from Jordan Schnitzer to Portland State University for an art museum comes at the same time PSU is putting together a bid to replace Keller Auditorium.

There are 3 options to either replace the Keller Auditorium or renovate it where it stands.

University officials hope this donation could tilt things in their favor even though the group hoping to renovate the Keller in its current location is still in the game.

The Keller Auditorium, which opened in 1917, is outdated and needs seismic upgrades.

In February, the Halprin Landscape Conservancy, City of Portland, and Metro unveiled plans to the Metro Council for a new vision of the cultural landmark. It involves paving over Third Avenue to create a wider plaza connecting the auditorium to Keller Fountain.

The venue is critical to Portland’s arts scene since it it currently the only venue capable of hosting the traveling Broadway shows that bring millions of dollars into the city.

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.

SEATTLE, Wash. (AP) — Washington is finalizing a deal to hire Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle as its next men’s basketball coach, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school has not announced the hiring. Field of 68 and The Seattle Times first reported the expected hire.

The Huskies are hoping Sprinkle’s success at smaller schools and lineage to the university can revitalize the program as it moves into the Big Ten starting next season. His expected hiring comes one day after Utah State was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a second round loss to Purdue.

Sprinkle spent just one season at Utah State but it was a massively successful year. The Aggies won the Mountain West regular-season title after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll. Utah State reached the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament and won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2001 when it topped TCU in the first round.

Leaving Utah State after just one season probably wasn’t in the plans for Sprinkle, but turning down a chance to take over at Washington likely couldn’t be passed up, especially considering his family connection. Sprinkle’s father, Bill, played football for the Huskies in the 1960s.

Sprinkle will replace Mike Hopkins, who was let go with one year remaining on his contract. Hopkins spent seven seasons at Washington and made the NCAA Tournament only once.

Hopkins’ tenure was defined by a frustrating stretch of mediocre results, an inability to put Washington back into the elite of the Pac-12 and with the Huskies moving to the Big Ten starting next season. Washington went 17-14 overall this season and finished 9-11 in Pac-12 play. Hopkins was 118-106 overall, but just 62-72 in conference play during his time at Washington.

Sprinkle will be walking into an odd situation without a permanent sitting athletic director. Troy Dannen unexpectedly left Washington to take over at Nebraska last week, leaving a void as the Huskies attempted to complete the hiring for one of its most prominent positions.

Dannen conducted interviews and put together an offer that was waiting for Sprinkle once the Utah State season came to an end. The uncertainty was whether Sprinkle would accept it and take the job not knowing who his boss would be.

But the draw of coaching in a power conference was too much to turn down. Sprinkle spent four seasons as the head coach at his alma mater of Montana State before taking the head job in Logan. Sprinkle has coached in the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons, earning back-to-back bids his final two seasons at Montana State before guiding Utah State to an unexpected bid this season.

Sprinkle also has significant connections in southern California after spending a decade as an assistant at Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton.

Mayor Sara Bristol must sign the ordinance before it can go into effect

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Grants Pass could soon regulate organizations that serve unsheltered residents in the city’s public spaces.

In a 5-3 vote held on March 6, Grants Pass City Council approved the ordinance that requires nonprofits, organizations and private citizens to register with the city and police department before conducting “humanitarian service events” in parks and other public property.

This includes non-social events in which service providers hand out food, refer residents to navigational services or distribute clothing — which includes items such as sleeping bags and bedding.

The ordinance will prohibit organizations from replacing used needles and syringes with new items. It will also ban groups from handing out combustible materials.

The ordinance was a collaboration between City Attorney August Ogu, homeless services organization Mobile Integrative Navigation Team, and the HIV Alliance. According to the city attorney, who presented the ordinance in late February, the rule is less about regulation and more about oversight.

“We’re wanting to make it conform to the First Amendment because individuals have a right to give out food and clothing as part of their First-Amendment-protected activity,” Ogu said. “However, that doesn’t foreclose reasonable time, place and manner regulations.”

Under the new rule, organizations and private citizens who register with the city must pay an administrative fee of $25. The groups will also be required to collect data on their services, such as the number of individuals served or the number of items distributed during each event.

Those who violate the ordinance will receive a citation, and “part exclusion” for 30 days.

Even though Grants Pass City Council has voted in favor of the measure, Mayor Sara Bristol must sign it before it can go into effect.

The vote could be impacted by the upcoming Supreme Court case that will determine whether local governments can enforce camping bans in public spaces.

PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Oregon’s first bills dealing with artificial intelligence are on their way to Gov. Tina Kotek.

Senate Bill 1571 won final approval Wednesday, March 6, on a Senate vote of 24-5. The House cleared an amended version the previous day, 52-3. It requires disclosure of artificial intelligence, described as synthetic media, when used in campaign advertising and other communications.

The bill’s chief sponsor was Sen. Aaron Woods, a Democrat from Wilsonville and a former technology executive.

House Bill 4153 also won final legislative approval Wednesday on a Senate vote of 26-3. The House passed it 52-0 earlier in the week. Sponsored by Rep, Daniel Nguyen, D-Lake Oswego, it sets up a 14-member task force to look at its ramifications. A task force includes members other than legislators.

Disclosure of AI use would be enforced by the Oregon secretary of state, who is the state’s chief elections officer. If the secretary, a candidate for the job, or a supporting or opposing political committee were the subject of a complaint, the attorney general would be empowered to investigate it.

The AI disclosure bill got political momentum prior to the New Hampshire presidential primary Jan. 23, when a voice mimicking President Joe Biden urged voters not to cast ballots but await the Nov. 5 general election. Biden won the Democratic primary despite his name not being on the ballot, and his campaign said it did not initiate the robocalls to voters. A Democratic political operative, Steve Kramer, later identified himself as the originator of the robocalls.

Read more at PortlandTribune.com.

The Portland Tribune and its parent company Pamplin Media Group are KOIN 6 News media partners