August 24th, 2009
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Author: Lucrative tribal casinos face controversy
[0:00:32] … to attract more gamblers. The — tribal to open a casino outside Portland Oregon. …
[0:00:40] … an economic standpoint because of that the market that’s available in the Portland metropolitan area. …
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The third day of a record-breaking, broiling heat wave in the Pacific Northwest will continue at least through today, as temperatures again are forecast to break the century mark.
Portland just missed tying its hottest day ever by 1 degree Wednesday, as the temperature hit 106 degrees at 5 p.m. at Portland International Airport.
The all-time record of 107 degrees was set July 30, 1965, and tied twice in 1981, on Aug. 8 and Aug. 10. Wednesday’s high in Portland broke the 100-degree record for the day, set in 2003.
The forecast high for Portland today is 102 degrees, which would tie the heat wave as the second-longest consecutive streak of 100-plus days since 1941.
The Pacific Northwest wasn’t just hotter than the East Coast (where temperatures were in the 70s and 80s Wednesday). It was hotter here than in Pecos, Texas (104); Panjour, Afghanistan (104); and Abu Khal, Syria (102).
Vancouver hit 107 degrees, breaking its all-time record high of 106, which occurred Tuesday. The previous record high was 105, set in 1942.
The big question now — sweaty, cranky, sleep-deprived hot people everywhere want to know — is when, oh when, is it going to end?
Even weather forecasters are tired of the heat. Or maybe they’re just tired of the question. …
“If I had wanted weather like this I would have moved to Las Vegas,” said National Weather Service forecaster Dan Keirns.
Keirns said the first hint at the gradual breakdown of the heat wave came early Wednesday morning when an east wind began blowing from the Columbia River Gorge. At first, as it usually does, the wind shot the temperature up. But as the day progressed, the stiff east wind actually put the brakes on the heat, Keirns said, keeping the all-time record intact. After today’s expected 100-plus day, an upper-level low-pressure system meandering off the coast will continue to slowly move our way.
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If it arrives on time (the forecast models say sometime late Saturday) the heat wave gradually will begin losing its grip as marine air begins to infiltrate up the Columbia River and through gaps in the Oregon Coast Range.
“Either way, it’s still hot when it’s 97 degrees like it is supposed to be Friday,” Keirns said. “For the people without air conditioning, it’s still going to be pretty annoying.”
Relief could be found on Oregon’s beaches, but coastal towns such as Astoria and Tillamook were well into the upper 80s and low 90s.”You had to get almost in the surf to find relief at the central and north coast,” Keirns said. “Some of that heat was from all the exhaust from people driving around trying to find a parking space.”
– Stuart Tomlinson; stuarttomlinson@news.oregonian.co
m; blog.oregonlive.com/weather
In case everyon hasn’t heard the NEWS in Portland, the price of parking in Portland jumps from $1.25 to $1.60 at street meters in downtown today.Also, say buh-bye to free parking on Sundays. And city-owned garages will start charging $1.50 for the first four hours. For a downtown worker who uses street parking, that means the monthly transportation budget will suck about $60 more out of your life. Still, we don’t know which is worse: City Hall nudging up street parking fees or the cramped private garage in downtown that hangs a sign proclaiming “Arlene Schnitzer Event Parking” and charges $8 whenever the concert hall has an event after 7 p.m. Any other time, eight bucks will get you a full day at the garage. Oh, and despite what the sign implies, the parking facility is not affiliated with the Schnitz in any way other than proximity.But we’ll get to that another day. Today, we want to know how you feel about the price of parking going up in public spaces. The new meter rates as of Monday: downtown $1.60 an hour, Lloyd District $1 an hour and OHSU District $1.35 an hour. At the SmartPark garages, it’ll be $1.50 an hour for the first four hours.
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A oil tanker in Portland had overturned on a bridge above McCord Creek along the eastbound Interstate 84 at around 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, this closed all the eastbound lanes just east of Warrendale in the Columbia River Gorge for many hours. Eastbound traffic was directed to take Exit 35 and use alternative routes.
One tanker had spilled approximately 3,000 gallons of hot paving asphalt onto the freeway, some of which had reportedly leaked right into the small creek below the bridge. The truck was said to be transporting a lot of hot asphalt. The driver of the truck was Serafin Lara, age 54, from Yakima, Washington. She stated that the truck pulled right and had struck a concrete barrier right along side the freeway shoulder. The tanker truck had overturned right onto its right side atop the east end of the bridge. The tanker trailer had not overturned, but two axles had separated from the tanker.
 PORTLAND – An oil tanker overturned on a bridge over McCord Creek along eastbound Interstate 84 at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, closing all eastbound lanes just east of Warrendale in the Columbia River Gorge - seven miles east of Multnomah Falls - for several hours. Eastbound traffic was directed to take Exit 35 and use alternative routes. One tanker spilled approximately 3,000 gallons of hot paving asphalt onto the freeway, some of which reportedly leaked into the small creek below the bridge. The truck was transporting hot asphalt. The driver was Serafin Lara, age 54, from Yakima, Washington. She says the truck pulled right and struck a concrete barrier along the freeway shoulder. The tanker truck overturned onto its right side onto the east end of the bridge. The tanker trailer did not overturn, but two axles separated from it. Lara was using safety restraints and was not injured. He was driving for Granite Northwest Inc. transporting approximately 67,000 lbs. of hot paving asphalt to Selah, Washington. The front overturned tanker was leaking after the crash. The company is assisting ODOT and NRC Environmental Services with coordinating cleanup efforts. ODOT is assessing the environmental impact. Oregon State Police troopers, with the assistance of Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, are investigating the crash. Gresham Fire and Emergency Services Haz Mat Team and Cascade Locks Fire Department also responded. ODOT said they were hoping to open at least one lane by 2 p.m., but no new information has been released as of 2:55 p.m. |