Murmurs: Court Extends Restraining Order Against John Bradley

In other news: City will add needle drop sites at every Portland fire station.

(VR Rivera @winterteeth)

City Will Add Needle Drop Sites at Every Fire Station: Portland and Multnomah County officials will massively expand a program that last year placed two needle collection boxes near the waterfront downtown. According to government communications reviewed by WW, the city plans to eventually place a new box at each fire station in the city, creating 30 additional needle disposal locations. Multnomah County will buy five new boxes, one of which is earmarked for Southeast Water Avenue near the Hawthorne Bridge, says Adam Renon, a policy adviser to Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury. The city will add boxes at the St. Johns and Lents fire stations this spring, he adds. The expansion will cost $200,000.

Court Extends Restraining Order Against John Bradley: On April 16, a Multnomah County circuit judge extended a restraining order against John Bradley, former CEO of R+H Construction. Last year, WW reported how, for decades, Bradley mentally and physically abused his wife, Kim Bradley ("For More Than 30 Years, Kim Bradley Hid from Her Husband," WW, Nov. 15, 2017). In March, Kim Bradley asked the court to extend the restraining order against her now ex-husband for a year. John Bradley opposed that request. But after several days of testimony, during which Kim Bradley presented what the judge called "credible" accounts of "extensive and chronic" abuse and John Bradley "undermined" himself with some testimony "inconsistent with fact," the court found it "reasonable for a person in Ms. Bradley's position to fear further acts of abuse." (The ruling, which includes expert witness testimony and new allegations of animal abuse, is here.) Kim Bradley says she's "relieved" by the ruling. John Bradley's attorney, Robin DesCamp, says the order is unnecessary because her client "has no desire for any contact with his former wife."

Portland Struggles to Collect Business Taxes: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is considering a hike in the city's business license tax. But City Hall's rate of enforcing the current business license tax is at a 14-year low, according to data provided by the Revenue Division. The amount of money collected has soared with the strong economy, but the percentage of businesses actually paying the tax has declined. "This growth has spread our staff too thin to keep the compliance rate up," revenue director Thomas Lannom tells WW.

Tennis Player Kicked Off Pilots Team After Sexual Jokes: University of Portland officials removed senior player Goutham Sundaram from the men's tennis roster April 16 after sexual remarks he made Sunday night offended many in the crowd at the university's fifth annual athletics banquet, the Wally Awards. An account of the evening first appeared in The Beacon, the school's student newspaper, where a column termed the remarks "violent misogyny." Sundaram, a Lincoln High School graduate, told the audience his main goal in college was to get white women to sleep with him. The university's president, the Rev. Mark Poorman, sent a campuswide email after the newspaper column appeared. "These offensive statements do not reflect us," Poorman said, "and they do not reflect our mission."

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