In the NEWS

The Oregonian | By Elliot Njus | June 25, 2019 A tenant union organizer has sued the managers of a Northwest Portland low-income apartment building, saying they’re threatening him with eviction over his union activities. Brian Jackson says in the lawsuit that Portland-based Income Property Management owes him $1,672, or two months’ rent, in damages under Oregon statutes dealing with retaliatory eviction. The management firm operates the Yards at Union Station building, 945 N.W. Naito Parkway, for the county’s housing

The Oregonian | By Eder Campuzano | May 31, 2019 A woman is suing a security guard she says assaulted and tased her outside a Southeast Portland hookah bar and nightclub in mid-March. The suit was filed by Michael Fuller on behalf of Leala Nicholas in Multnomah County on Tuesday and names the guard, Francisco Swafford, his employer, Nomil Chandra and Bear Arms Security Services, as well as the club: Lux PDX. They’re seeking up to $250,000 in damages. The

Willamette Week | By Katie Shepherd | May 28, 2019 At first glance, the killing of Eugene Pharr Jr. outside the Dream On Saloon in January wasn’t surprising. The 42-year-old Pharr was unarmed when he walked up to a security guard sitting in his car outside the East Portland strip club on Jan. 15. But Pharr’s companion, Henry McCollum, 49, had a gun, police say. Francisco Swafford, who is certified by the state to carry a firearm as a private

KGW 8 News | By Lindsay Nadrich | May 23, 2019 A Portland family says DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital is to blame for the death of their beloved bulldog, Roscoe. Roscoe was admitted to DoveLewis last Sunday for bladder issues. Stephanie and Justin Ackley said they weren’t told Roscoe would be sedated for the procedure he needed. When Roscoe was under anesthesia, the doctor decided not to use a tracheal tube to help him breathe. Roscoe aspirated during the procedure,

The Daily Beast | By Tarpley Hitt | May 16, 2019 Ten days before Christmas, a man named Curtis Boomer walked into a Burger King. A FedEx worker, Boomer had been to the Portland, Oregon, franchise location many times before. He was a regular. But this visit was not, strictly speaking, regular—mostly because, before Boomer even sat down to his Whopper Jr. with heavy mustard and fries, he found himself locked in the facility’s windowless bathroom for a better part

The Oregonian | By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | May 3, 2019 A heartless landlord unlawfully entered a tenant’s home in Southeast Portland and nabbed the man’s best friend, a 3-year-old feline named Frank, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Joshua Smith is seeking up to $250,000 from the landlord and property owner for the alleged catnapping, court documents show. He is also offering $500 to anyone who finds his precious pet, who remains missing. “He

Willamette Week | By Sophie Peel | April 3, 2019 When visitors arrive in Portland seeking to sample food carts or hear ghost stories, many head to Pioneer Courthouse Square and look for the brightly colored polo shirts of Portland Walking Tours. Guides at the 15-year-old company lead up to 10 tours a day—of Portland’s food carts, of hidden chocolate delicacies and eclectic cocktails, and of the Shanghai Tunnels, the secret 19th-century tunnel system underneath Old Town. “We’ve always had

The Oregonian | By Aimee Green | March 18, 2019 A 7-year-old girl was allegedly beaten and sexually abused by two boys while she was inside a play structure at a McDonald’s restaurant in Albany, according to a $15 million lawsuit filed against the corporation Monday. The lawsuit, filed on the girl’s behalf, faults the restaurant chain for allegedly operating a play structure that has areas where children are hidden from the view of their parents. According to the suit,

The Oregonian | By Aimee Green | March 5, 2019 The mother of a Portland State University student who died in a campus apartment has filed a $25 million lawsuit against the university claiming PSU negligently prescribed her son the medication that killed him. Ty Murray Irving, 25, died on March 12, 2016, after he took Ambien that he was prescribed at PSU student health services to help with his trouble sleeping, according to the lawsuit filed Monday and the

The Oregonian | By Aimee Green | February 23, 2019 A Portland woman is suing her former employer, claiming the CEO of the company harassed her after she had a “menstruation accident” at the office. Lydia Groenendyk rushed home to change clothes, told the CEO of Trailhead Marketing in Northeast Portland why she was absent and then immediately was bombarded with inappropriate comments, according to her lawsuit and Portland attorney Michael Fuller. The suit claims that the CEO also told