John SextonPosted at 7:35 pm on December 18, 2020
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A significant portion of the border between Washington State and Oregon is the Columbia River. Recently, people entering Oregon on Interstate 5 would cross a bridge and immediately see a mess of vandalized boats tied up near Hayden Island in the center of the river.
At the base of the Interstate Bridge on Hayden Island are two old military vessels the Alert and the Sakarissa. Ownership issues have left the ships vulnerable. Within the past year both have been boarded, damaged and tagged by people living in a growing homeless camp on the shore next to the ships.
Top 20 most-viewed Oregon homes for sale: Remodels, mansions, farmhouses, floating homes
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In past years, the most viewed Oregon homes for sale online were over the top. In 2020, that changed, along with everything else.
This year, as people faced a pandemic health crisis, economic insecurity and a need for more space to be used as a home office, gym and virtual classroom, home shoppers got serious.
They searched for a well-priced home in the right location instead of spending time eyeing fantasy dwellings – although the fabled Blackberry Castle, famous for being for sale since 2015, is finally in escrow.
Popular online searches ranged from a midcentury modern in Portland’s Bridlemile neighborhood, which is listed at $2,195,000, to a 1950 Mount Hood cabin in Government Camp, which sold Dec. 3 for $245,000.
Crews clear Pirates of the Columbia encampment Joseph English
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People who live around Hayden Island near the Interstate Five Bridge have called the growing homeless population there the Pirates of the Columbia after the theft and vandalism they say they ve seen.
The vandalism can be seen from the bridge, on two old navy boats tied up near the southwest end of the bridge, covered in graffiti with broken and boarded up windows. Along the shore, there used to be a homeless camp and piles of garbage.
That is now being cleared and cleaned up by a crew contracted by the property owners. They removed the old gang-plank that let people get from ship to shore, loaded it onto a trailer, and hauled it away.