The Columbia River Crossing Needs Clark County Voters

News The fate of the proposed $3.5 billion Columbia River Crossing might come down to Clark County voters in November.C-Tran, Clark County's transit system, is considering a 0.1 percentage sales tax increase, which would generate $4.5 million a year to pay for operations and maintenance of the light rail line that would cross the proposed bridge.On Monday, the idea got a big push from the Vancouver ...   More

 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012 by Cody Newton

The $2.5 Billion Bribe

Oregon’s Supreme Court says light-rail politics drove plans for a new I-5 bridge.

News The Oregon Supreme Court has succeeded in doing what scores of public meetings, thousands of pages of reports...   More

 

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 NIGEL JAQUISS

Still Big, Still Costly

CRC backers claim the $3.5 billion project is “downsizing.” That’s not true—not even close.

News Backers of the proposed $3.5 billion freeway bridge across the Columbia River say they’ve gotten the message: The project is too big and expensive. That’s why Gov. John Kitzhaber’s chief   More

 

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 NIGEL JAQUISS

2011: The Costume Party

You didn’t need a funny outfit to make news this year, but it sure helped.

Cover Story All Images WW Photo IllustrationsDavid Wu’s tiger suit was the tip-off that 2011 was going to be a strange one. The year opened with a sitting congressman posing in a child’s orange-and-black    More

 

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 WW Editorial Staff

Murmurs: Cat’s Rights, CRC Concerns and Blazertime!

The cats haven’t asked for their own lawyer.

Murmurs A Portland State University student is suing the school, claiming it violated her rights by trying to evict her cats—and then her—from student housing earlier this year. Jasmine Batiste, 24, s   More

 

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 WW Editorial Staff

Portland Business Alliance Endorses Eileen Brady for Mayor

News The city's largest business group, the Portland Business Alliance, has endorsed Eileen Brady to replace Mayor Sam Adams.J. Isaac, the chair of the PBA board of directors, said in a Tuesday press release that Brady supports the alliance’s jobs agenda and improving the economy by creating private-sector jobs.“Eileen Brady will bring a fresh perspective as well as a business perspective to City Hall,” ...   More

 

Tuesday, December 13, 2011 HANNAH HOFFMAN

Columbia River Crossing Officials Call State Land Use Ruling a Victory

News Officials running the project to build a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River say they see this week's ruling by a state land use review board as a victory for the project. The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) turned back 11 out of 12 challenges brought by opponents of the project, but sent the project back to Metro, the area's regional government. The reason: Metro granted land ...   More

 

Friday, October 28, 2011 WW Staff

Columbia River Crossing Project is Rejected By State Land Use Board

News The push to build the massive Columbia River Crossing project hit the wall Thursday when a state land use board said Metro failed to follow the law when it gave its blessing to the freeway bridge. The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) said Metro didn’t have the authority to grant its approval from the $3.5 billion freeway project when it used an obscure 1996 law aimed at siting light rail lines. Metro ...   More

 

Thursday, October 27, 2011 WW Staff

The Runaway Bridge Budget

State transportation officials stood by as planning costs for the Interstate 5 Columbia River Crossing ballooned.

News The freeway project Oregon and Washington want to build across the Columbia River has already cost taxpayers $136 million.   More

 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 NIGEL JAQUISS

Déjà Vu Voodoo

While recycling news about “savings,” the I-5 bridge project has hidden costs we’ll all have to pay.

News The people running the Columbia River Crossing project veered into Orwellian territory last week when they announced they had found $100 million in savings    More

 

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 NIGEL JAQUISS