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Murmurs: Kotek Wants to Bolster DEQ’s Authority In other news: Vaccines for most by April 21. NW Metals in 2018. (Sam Gehrke) Updated March 10
KOTEK WANTS TO BOLSTER DEQ s AUTHORITY: House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) reacted strongly to the catastrophic 2018 fire at NW Metals, a car scrapping business located in her district. Now she wants to prevent the scrapper from operating at a new location. As
WW reported last week, ( Hell on Wheels, March 3, 2021), the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is on the cusp of issuing NW Metals an operating permit, in part because the agency believes current law does not allow it to hold previous bad actions against applicants. Kotek wants to close that loophole and will introduce a bill that would allow the agency to consider an applicant s compliance hi
COVID jail outbreak in Portland followed months of warnings February 09 2021
As 109 inmates test positive, critics blast jail safety, say Sheriff Reese needs to beef up response
For months, Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese s employees have told him and his managers he wasn t doing enough to fight COVID-19 in the jails he oversees.
Weeks after the outbreak at Inverness Jail in Northeast Portland began, Reese announced somewhat improved safeguards. But employee unions and inmate advocates say he still hasn t gone far enough.
Since the start of 2021, the outbreak has reached 109 inmates who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Reese spokesman Chris Liedle defended precautions at the jails and adds that the vast majority of the inmates who ve tested positive so far have not had major symptoms.
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The jail, like any congregate facility, is not built for a viral outbreak. With dorms comprised of single cells and dozens of beds separated by half-walls, an infected cough can quickly travel through the unit, which typically holds 40 people. The Multnomah County Sheriff s Office (MCSO), which oversees the county s two adult jails, had tried to avoid the transmission of COVID-19 by opening up an extra dorm in Inverness, holding incoming inmates 14 days in a quarantined dorm before transferring them into the jail s general population, and routinely checking inmates temperatures.
Multnomah County battles workplace outbreaks, complaints
Employees complain of notification failures and shortcuts. Management says they re doing their best.
At the headquarters of the Multnomah County Department of Health, nine workers at the county s HIV clinic tested positive for COVID-19, forcing numerous others to quarantine and the clinic to shutter its doors for a four-day stretch in mid-December.
At the county s Donald E. Long Detention Center for juveniles, nine workers and three youth tested positive since the end of November, and jails operated by the Multnomah County Sheriff s Office have seen outbreaks of their own, with 13 inmates and 30 employees infected.
Multnomah County battles workplace outbreaks, complaints
Employees complain of notification failures and shortcuts. Management says they re doing their best.
At the headquarters of the Multnomah County Department of Health, nine workers at the county s HIV clinic tested positive for COVID-19, forcing numerous others to quarantine and the clinic to shutter its doors for a four-day stretch in mid-December.
At the county s Donald E. Long Detention Center for juveniles, nine workers and three youth tested positive since the end of November, and jails operated by the Multnomah County Sheriff s Office have seen outbreaks of their own, with 13 inmates and 30 employees infected.