News  Portland's City Council heard today from the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon and others on the question of whether the city should rejoin the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force.The council may decide the matter as soon as Feb. 24 (please be sure to read tomorrow's WW for our editorial position on whether Portland should rejoin the JTTF). And so the council held an ...   More

News One of the unknowns in the upcoming decision by Portland's City Council whether to rejoin the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force is how Mayor Sam Adams will vote. Adams, along with commissioners Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish, has not indicated which way they are leaning. Commissioner Randy Leonard opposes rejoining the JTTF, and Commissioner Dan Saltzman supports the idea of rejoining the JTTF, which ...   More

City Hall In 2005, led by then-Mayor Tom Potter, Portland became the only U.S. city to pull out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force over civil-liberties concerns. The City Council should not reverse that deci   More

News Portland City Council will hold a lengthy work session on Tues. Feb. 15 beginning at 9:30 am on the question of whether to rejoin the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Presenting their case at that meeting, will be interim U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton (above), who wants the city in the JTTF; and ACLU director Dave Dave Fidanque along with his allies opposed to the city rejoining the JTTF. The council will ...   More

News As Portland city officials consider whether to rejoin the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, it's worth noting not all federal terrorism stings end like the Nov. 26 arrest here of Mohamed Osman Mohamud. The Washington Post had an interesting piece on Sunday about an anti-terrorism operation in Irvine, Calif., that went considerably less smoothly after the FBI tried to use a convicted forger to ...   More

News Two weeks after federal law enforcement officials said they foiled a terrorist attack in downtown Portland, Mayor Sam Adams has responded to calls for re-evaluating Portland's relationship with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. In 2005, the City of Portland withdrew from the task force, and Adams, then a city commissioner, supported that move. His 2010 plan, released this afternoon, is ...   More

News Mayor Sam Adams has announced a location for Thursday's town hall-style meeting on the possibility of the city rejoining the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, a proposal that gained new urgency following the Nov. 26 arrest of Mohamed Mohamud for allegedly plotting to detonate a bomb in Pioneer Courthouse Square. That new location is Portland State University's Smith Ballroom, which suggests ...   More

News Portland City Council held its "good ol' fashioned town hall" meeting, as Mayor Sam Adams put it, last night to discuss the possibility of Portland renewing its membership with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. "Tonight is not about making decisions," Adams said. "Tonight is about making sure we're asking the right questions." The discussion whether to rejoin was prompted by the alleged ...   More

News Oregon Attorney General John Kroger jumped into the discussion today over whether Portland should rejoin the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. Kroger said this morning on OPB's Think Out Loud that it's better if "local police are at the table”when the feds are sorting through threats. The City Council is scheduled to decide on Feb. 24 whether to rejoin the task force, a question raised ...   More