News As the city ratcheted up pressure on Occupy Portland to move out of its camp in downtown parks, protesters made two conciliatory gestures Tuesday night: They pledged half of the $2,000 raised at a comedy show to restoring the parks, and they began re-hanging their plastic tarps 12 feet off the ground to meet fire marshal demands.---But any progress made in Occupy-City Hall relations was likely submarined ...   More

News A busload of Portland-area Tibetans traveled last week to Vancouver, B.C., to protest outside the Chinese consulate. The protests follow a series of self-immolations in Tibet, which the Dalai Lama has blamed on Chinese government repression."Seldom do we hear of such tragic issues at Occupy Wall Street or Occupy Portland," Jampa N. Lathsang, a Portland real estate agent and activist, writes in an email ...   More

News Occupy Portland activists say about $14,000 that supporters donated to their cause has been sent back to givers, leaving the camp essentially broke.---On top of that, activists say, thousands in cash donations has been stolen from the camp's information tent in small increments as it has come in. They say so little financial oversight exists, it’s impossible to tell if someone in or out of the camp ...   More

News Occupy Portland has a fundraiser planned for Tuesday evening, in part to make up for some of the $14,000 in donations that a former finance committee member refunded to donors.The “Occupy The Bagdad” fundraiser will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Bagdad Theatre on Hawthorne Blvd. with a silent auction, followed by four comedians and a movie, “The People Speak.”Tickets are $10 and proceeds go to ...   More

News Occupy Portland organizers are thinking about limiting who gets fed at the camps. They're trying to figure out how to respond to growing pressure from city officials that the camp deal with the problem of drugs and violence in Lownsdale and Chapman squares. ---Campers have complained for weeks that the homeless have flooded the camp, bringing problems the protesters aren’t equipped to deal with and ...   More

News City Commissioner Nick Fish has pulled his Parks and Recreation employees out of the Occupy Portland camp out of concern for their safety, leaving the Occupiers with no public toilets, no trash pickup and no park security.---Fish tells WW the damage to Chapman and Lownsdale squares has gone too far, and city employees have found that Occupy campers have cut down branches from the historic elms.  ...   More

News A sampling of written communication concerning Occupy Portland suggests that people's patience with the downtown tent city erected Oct. 6 is evaporating and that various groups are putting increasing pressure on Mayor Sam Adams to bring the occupation to an end.---Here's an email that Melinda Davison, a utility lawyer whose firm's offices are a couple of blocks from the Occupiers, wrote to Mayor Sam ...   More

News An Occupy Portland committee member has contacted a downtown property owner about the protest movement leasing two vacant floors above the Lotus Cardroom and Cafe.---Allen Cohen, president of the Eugene-based corporation, House of Gold, Inc., that owns the building at 223 SW Salmon Street, confirms he would consider renting the space to Occupy Portland. But he said today he hasn't received any solid ...   More

News Portland Police Chief Mike Reese released an internal memo Friday that calls for all sworn officers to carry batons, wear helmets and have other equipment that might be necessary to control unauthorized Occupy Portland marches.---Here's the text of the chief's memo. The key passages in are in bold belowDear Bureau members: I want to again thank you all for your patience and professionalism every day ...   More

News A man that Portland police initially said was stabbed at the Occupy Portland camp Thursday morning tells WW he isn't sure where he was when he was knifed, and Occupy leaders tell WW that they believe the attack happened away from the camp.---Police officials have now stepped back from their earlier account that the man, Zachary Todd Gray, 32, of Southeast Portland, was stabbed at or near the Occupy ...   More