In the NEWS

The Oregonian | By Zane Sparling | November 03, 2023 A man left feline-less and forlorn when his landlord took his cat prevailed in court this week — and landed some major scratch. A Multnomah County Circuit Court jury spent less than two hours deliberating Thursday before awarding $1.375 million to Joshua Smith for the loss of his 3-year-old tabby, Frank. “The jury’s message should be loud and clear to landlords,” said attorney Michael Fuller, who won the case. “You

Willamette Week | By Anthony Effinger | October 19, 2023 Danielle Parham was at home with her three children at the Rockwood Station apartments in Gresham when, at about 10 pm on April 18, they heard drilling at their front door. In a legal complaint over the matter, Parham says she told her daughter to lock herself in the bathroom. She told her son to take her youngest child into the living room and to call 911. She grabbed her

Willamette Week | By Aaron Mesh | September 26, 2023 The Popeyes chicken sandwich is a deep-fried phenomenon that kicked off a national fast food war in 2019. Shane Vassell says his sandwich nearly killed him—because Popeyes forgot to hold the pickles. Vassell, 30, sued Popeyes in U.S. District Court on Sept. 25, alleging he was hospitalized after an allergic reaction to the pickles on his chicken sandwich. The Connecticut-based long-haul trucker says he visited the southernmost of two Popeyes

The Oregonian | By Maxine Bernstein | September 11, 2023 The family of a 69-year-old man beaten to death while riding a bus on the way to church in Eugene last year filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the Lane Transit District. The suit alleges Lane Transit failed to provide adequate security for passengers in the wake of complaints by drivers, riders and the drivers’ union about violence on the transit system. The district was notified before the beating

Portland Mercury | By Courtney Vaughn | August 22, 2023 Joe Angel never expected to get his belongings back, much less be paid for their value. Angel and his partner live out of a car and travel trailer in the St. Johns neighborhood. In 2020, several of their items were confiscated by Rapid Response Bio Clean–a city-contracted cleaning company that removes unhoused people’s items and tents from Portland’s public spaces. Rapid Response is supposed to store items in a warehouse

Rogue Valley Times | By Kevin Opsahl | August 18, 2023 A Central Point man who said last month he was shot at while driving on Interstate 5, chased in his SUV into Gold Hill and called racial slurs by a Tidewater man has lodged a civil lawsuit against the man seeking $1.1 million in damages. Bryan Sentell McLeod, 42, who is Black, wants a Jackson County Circuit Court jury to order Jered Cody Hayden, 35, who is white, to

KGW 8 News | By Kyle Iboshi | August 08, 2023 Michael Burns had never heard of a company called LVNV Funding, but after weeks of stress and a legal runaround, the Hillsboro man has become all too familiar with the debt collector. “They decided I was the bad person, so they came after me,” Burns said. The trouble started back in September when LVNV Funding filed a lawsuit against Burns in Multnomah County. The debt collection company claimed he

Portland Mercury | By Taylor Griggs | August 2, 2023 The real estate company co-owned by an NFL team owner was told to board up the outer Northeast Portland property. Now, the company faces a class action lawsuit. The site of a derelict Kmart building that went up in flames in the Parkrose neighborhood two weeks ago had an open code enforcement violation with the city. Records show the Portland Bureau of Development Services (BDS) sent RFC Joint Venture, the

KGW 8 News | By Blair Best | June 28, 2023 Below the Morrison Bridge on Portland’s Central Eastside are small homeless tent villages often reported to the city and targeted for camp removals. “I’m just trying to survive,” said Russell, 60, who lives in one of the tents there. “They follow you around and post on you, post on you, post on you, so you’re in a constant state of move,” said another homeless man named Dave. He’s referring

The Oregonian | By Nicole Hayden and Zane Sparling | May 19, 2023 Nick Wolf lost everything, including photos and jewelry belonging to his late mother, in a fire that destroyed The May apartments near downtown Portland on Tuesday, leaving the building unsavable and partially collapsed. For the second time in a decade, the 34-year-old is now starting over. “Ten years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I struggled with addiction and homelessness,” he told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “I’m