ROSE CITY- A strange flying ship was seen over Rose City earlier today. The U.S. government claims to have been conducting a test of a new satellite for monitoring extra-terrestrial activity. Rose City’s team of scientific advisers, Science Hero Academy Quintet, were asked about the satellite. “We, the scientist of S.H.A.Q., cannot verify the claims of the U.S. Government,” said noted robotics expert, Doctor Ivan Atomickolov. “We urge our local and state officials to demand better transparency from our national military and the federal government.”
The flying ship later exploded in the stratosphere. Although Dr. Atomick (Atomickolov) cannot explain why a low-orbit satellite would be combusted, he offered these explanations-
“The fuel used to power such a satellite must have ignited while the machine approached our atmosphere. A space vehicle descending from space, without proper heat shielding, would burn up. Fire from the satellite’s hull could have reached the fuel source.”
Government officials deny the satellite was to be used for the N.S.A. or spying on foreign allies. The U.N. launched a private investigation. If it is found that the satellite was designed for operations other than space exploration, the U.N. will begin proceedings to charge the United States with privacy crimes.
Local real-life superhero, Zetaman, offered an explanation of the craft’s origin. “It was aliens,” proclaimed Zetaman. “Aliens came down and tried to take over the Earth. The Alternates stopped them for good.”
Doctor Atomick and the White House denounced the RLSH’s claims as “ridiculous” and “the theories of a man seeking attention.”
We all know that Rose City is already one of the most environmentally-conscious cities in America. Rose City is one of the leaders in sustainable living, with the implementation of city-wide composting, the popularity of bike transit and an abundance of organic and locally-sourced food options. However, I think Rose City has both the capacity and community engagement to do more.
Emerald City recently banned the use of plastic straws in restaurants, bars and cafes. According to the National Parks Service, Americans use 500 million plastic straws each day. Most of these straws end up in our oceans, where they injure and kill marine life. As plastic slowly breaks down into smaller pieces it gets ingested by ocean species and accumulates in marine food chains. Like Emerald City, Rose City has an opportunity to be a model city for environmentally-conscious living. A ban on plastic straws would encourage sustainable practices and cut down on unnecessary waste. In their place, biodegradable alternatives such as paper straws could be provided to establishment patrons and customers could be encouraged to bring their own reusable straws.
Some local businesses have already moved away from using plastic straws, and I applaud their choice. Let’s keep Rose City at the vanguard of environmental protection by eliminating plastic straw waste.
But the warring didn’t happen among the heroes and villains. Instead, it was waged by digital creatures on iPhones and Android devices using “Anicritters GO.”
The battle was proclaimed on the Heroes/Villains Facebook group, one of several such online clubs established where heroes and villains debate ideology.
The battle was set for 9 p.m. at Pioneer Square. Heroes and Villains swarmed the site, claiming every corner of the square and much of the steps leading to its upper reaches.
Think of it as a sort of tug of war played with digital monsters.
The costumed crazies tussled to claim the Anicritter gym at Pioneer Courthouse Square. For an event marketed as a battle, the gathering at Pioneer Courthouse Square went largely without incident. Hours after it started, however, a shouting match began between heroes and villains on the square’s southwest corner. The shouting matches wore on into the evening.
ROSE CITY — A man was arrested for allegedly stealing plants and other items from the garden center at a Vantucky Grocery Store over the past few weeks.
Tom Aladdin, 41, was arrested after detectives searched his home on NE 125th Avenue and found 157 stolen plants, a garden cart, a display rack and Brie cheese.
The grocery store prevention staff began investigating Aladdin and gave information to Vantucky Police.
The value of the stolen property is estimated at $6,000.
Aladdin in charged with Possession of Stolen Property II, Theft with Intent to Resell, Trafficking Stolen Property 1, and Possession of a Controlled Substance- Brie cheese.
By Jay Ramenirishman | The Rose City/Rose City Live
Citizens can sleep a little lighter knowing that the scorpion, an animal synonymous with the desert, is native to the Pacific Northwest, too. Members of Keizer-Roll’s fire department got up close to the arachnids Wednesday when someone dropped off four live scorpions at the station.
Keizer-Roll Fire District said in a news release that a member of the public brought in the scorpions “for safety” after finding them in a container at Keizer-Roll Rapids Park and being concerned that they were in an area where they might be dangerous to children.
The fire department named the four creatures — Harpo, Chico, Groucho and Zeppo — before turning them over to the State Department of Agriculture.
Though scorpions are usually associated with the desert, SDA said the species dropped off at the Keizer-Roll fire station are the Pacific Northwest forest scorpion — native to the region, and found throughout the Willamette Valley. They are nocturnal, and most often live under logs or rocks, on south or west-facing slopes.
According to the SDA, the state has three native species of scorpions, and more than 500 species of spiders, which are all part of the arachnid class. The SDA said all are venomous, but only one species of spider in the state, the Western black widow, is dangerous to humans.
Whitney Crabs thought Onsite Rose City was a safe bet for hair for her wedding this summer. She had been a bridesmaid at a wedding that the hair and makeup company had worked on last November, and the owner, Dean Ambrose, had done a great job on her friend’s hair.
But in the months leading up to her wedding, which happened earlier this month, the situation started to unravel. After Crabs paid a 50% deposit for services for her and her bridesmaids, communication with Ambrose became sparse before stopping altogether.
When she finally did have a trial styling session with an artist the company sent, the woman didn’t seem to have any idea how to do a wedding updo, Crabs said.
“She was just really, really bad at what she does, kind of horrendous,” Crabs said. “I started to panic.”
Crabs tried to get assigned to a different makeup artist and stylist, but it took several days. In the meantime, her wedding was fast approaching.
Finally, she decided to cancel her contract, with two weeks to go before her wedding. First, the company ignored her. And then, they tried to get her to sign a “cancellation contract,” which included a non-disclosure agreement and demanded full payment for the service.
Crabs isn’t the only bride who says she was a victim of Onsite Rose City this wedding season. A complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office, a listing on the Better Business Bureau’s website and reviews on websites all tell similar stories.
They go like this — the bride-to-be sets up an appointment with a well-reviewed hair and makeup company they find online. They pay a deposit of hundreds of dollars and in some cases, have a trial run with the artists.
And then, for some, communications cease and they are left scrambling to find someone else at the last minute.
Others only discover an issue on the day of their wedding, when the company doesn’t show up at all.
Tyler Breeze only realized the problem on the morning of her wedding. She had had her trial with Ambrose and had paid both the deposit and her final payment two days before, for a total of about $1,100.
On the morning of Aug. 24, she waited in a hotel room with her bridesmaids and mother. The night before, she had texted Ambrose with the room number and Ambrose had answered, saying she would see her in the morning.
“7 rolls around, nothing,” Breeze said. “7:15 rolls around, nothing. I texted her. She doesn’t respond. I end up calling her and leaving her a voicemail and no response.”
By 7:40 a.m. Breeze and her party — seven women total — began to scramble. Everyone called their hairstylists and split up to go get hair and makeup done. They were able to pull it off.
“It was very stressful but you know what it all worked out,” Breeze said. “It was really cool to see all my bridesmaids all step up. I joked with them ‘You guys really earned your spot.’”
Breeze said she discovered Onsite Rose City after searching online.
“Everything on their website looked pretty legit,” she said, adding that the reviews looked great.
But stylist Canola Broth believes that those “great reviews” were written by Ambrose.
Broth worked for Onsite Rose City for just over a month this summer. She said she was never paid and now believes that most of the company’s employees, as well as those positive reviews, were alter egos of Ambrose.
In her time with the company, Broth said, she was never paid. She did several weddings before she and her fellow artists realized something was wrong.
Broth said she found Onsite Rose City through Indeed. She was looking for some extra work to supplement her income as a hairstylist and makeup artist.
“It looked legit,” Broth said. “I did my research.”
But the first bride she worked with mentioned that the customer service through Onsite Rose City was “very poor.”
“I felt a little weird about it,” Broth said.
Though Broth never was paid, she said, some of the other artists were paid earlier in the year. The deal was artists would get 40% of what they made at a wedding and Ambrose got 60%. Broth said this wasn’t a very good deal for the artists, but since they believed there was a whole business to be run, she and others agreed to it.
The night before her final wedding, Broth said, another artist texted her “saying it was a scam.”
The artists began telling their clients what was going on.
“I’ve been talking to a lot of brides since this happened,” Broth said.
She ended up doing one final wedding in Dundee the next day. The bride paid her directly, she said.
Broth said she and the other artists then tried to contact Ambrose.
“At first she was answering a little bit,” Broth said, but then she stopped.
Then, she disappeared.
“She posted pictures that she was in Mexico,” Broth said.
Someone who appears to be Ambrose posted a picture from Cozumel, Mexico, on the Facebook on Aug. 18, before both Breeze and Crabs’ weddings.
“Who knows how many brides she swindled?” she said. “Who knows how many weddings were ruined?”
The company is listed on the Internet. However, there is no record of a business license for the company. Onsite Rose City is headquartered in Vantucky.
But this issue might not be limited to the Rose City area.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Dean Ambrose is the alias of Melissa May Yoke who also is known as Melissa Violet Yoke. The Better Business Bureau says that Yoke is the owner of Face to Face Makeup Artistry & Hair and Face to Face with Violet in Minnesota.
The Internet reviews of Face to Face show a similar pattern — artists who don’t know what they are doing, terrible communications and wedding day no-shows.
In April of 2017, Yoke was sentenced to two years probation in Minnesota for forging a restraining order against an unhappy customer who posted a negative review online.
According to The Mankato Free Press, Yolk sent the faked restraining order, with a forged signature of a county judge, to the Better Business Bureau.
While police say they don’t have specific complaints against Onsite Rose City, Yoke or Ambrose, the State Attorney General’s Office has received one complaint.
The Better Business Bureau has a notice posted online calling out a “pattern of complaint” against the company.
“Consumers allege they contracted with the company to provide hair and make-up services for their weddings, prepaid a large deposit, but never received the services,” it reads. “The company failed to show up to the appointment and is unresponsive to the customer. These complaints are currently pending as BBB is waiting for the company’s response.”
Ultimately, Crabs found another company to do her hair for her wedding. She refused to sign the cancellation contract and after the negative reviews of the company started rolling in, her credit card company refunded her the money for the deposit.
According the Internet and the Better Business Bureau, Onsite Rose City is now closed.
Neither Onsite Rose City, Ambrose or Yoke responded to request for comment.
EMERALD CITY — A local ‘superhero’ known in the past for
serving justice and helping the police combat crime in downtown Emerald City is
now in super trouble with the law.
Pepper Gold faces multiple drug charges after he allegedly
sold the illegal spice, Tonka Bean, to another person, according to a King
County District Clerk filing.
An undercover officer with the Emerald City Police
Department scheduled a meeting with the popular cape crusader, known in the
past for patrolling Emerald City’s Capitol Hill neighborhood every week and
stopping fights, feeding the homeless and ensuring justice is served.
Gold typically wore a costume underneath his street clothes
in case he encountered crime on the streets, he carried a “pepper gun” and
enlisted the support of a sidekick in order to fight the surge of crime in the
area.
This real-life superhero’s particular undoing, though,
happened to be a penchant for selling banned spices, according to court
documents released by the Emerald City Police Department.
A witness told detectives they could not believe Gold had
not been caught yet by authorities, paving the way for an undercover sting
operation designed to catch the superhero that turned to a life of a crime.
The operation revealed Gold sold Dipteryx Odorata or “The
Tonka Bean” to an undercover U.S. Forest Service detective Nov. 21 at a
Starbucks at 999 3rd Avenue.
Prior to the encounter, the undercover detective sent Gold $300
on Venmo, according to the report.
Investigators said the famed superhero accepted an
additional $200 in person and agreed to sell more “Beans” to the
detective at a later date.
Police said Gold handed the agent a brown paper bag, which
had several black bean powder substances in several dark-colored bags. Each
substance tested positive for Tonka Beans and weighed about 7.1 grams in total.
Less than a week later after the exchange, the undercover
officer reached out to Gold for another shipment of “Beans.” Despite
many text message exchanges, it took more than a month for detectives to
arrange another spice deal with Gold, according to the district court filing.
Police said Gold and his unknown girlfriend agreed to meet
an agent Jan. 9 at the Silver Cloud Hotel for a party.
The pair got outside of their vehicle just before 11 p.m.
and were seen carrying a shiny gold backpack and a blue plastic tackle box into
the hotel lobby, authorities said.
Investigators found seven separate bundles of Sassafras Oil weighing
about four grams, a scale with suspected residue, several blue narcotic package
and Ackee Fruit weighing approximately 31.7 grams. Detectives uncovered two
small plastic bundles with suspected Sassafras Oil residue inside the brown
leather bag.
The caped crusader was released from jail Jan. 11 and is
scheduled for arraignment Feb. 3, according to online records.
Prior to his run in with the law, Pepper Gold said he became
a superhero after his friend was assaulted outside a bar, leaving him with
permanent facial damage, and his son was injured by broken glass during a car
burglary.
He claimed civilians could have rushed to their help to but
stood idly by. From there Gold donned a tophat to ensure his loved ones would
not be hurt again.
“Have you ever seen something that you thought was
wrong or not fair?” Gold said back in 2013. “That you wanted to
change? And then you just thought about it for days or weeks? I don’t stand by
and watch things happen that are wrong. When I see it I fix it. Does that make
me crazy?”
Gold was a part of the The Superhero Squad of Superheroes movement, which involved a group of heroes patrolling the streets of Emerald City.
Dressing up as a gold Satanman and fighting crime is not
illegal but Emerald City police said they do not encourage vigilante justice.
LINCOLN CITY- A Lincoln City man is on the mend after police say he accidentally shot himself in the groin while flaunting a concealed handgun at a Lincoln City supermarket.
The mishap occurred Sunday night when Nicholas J. Ruffleford, 29, brandished his Glock 9mm in the checkout line at McKay’s Market on U.S. 101 and tried to show it off to a buddy, according to the Lincoln City Police Department.
Ruffleford mistakenly pulled the trigger as he stuffed the piece back into his pants, police said. A bullet tore through the gunslinger’s groin and exited his thigh, just barely missing the man’s femoral artery.
The wound required Ruffleford to be airlifted to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Rose City, said police, which added that he did not have a concealed handgun license and could face criminal charges for his reckless behavior.
Those who wear glasses with a mask know how frustrating it can be to keep them from fogging up. You may even be tempted to remove them at times, just so you can see where you’re going.
But when it comes to protection against COVID-19, a new study has found that wearing glasses may be worth the frustration.
According to a report by WKYC 3, multiple studies have shown that of the people who contract COVID-19, those who wear glasses at least eight hours a day make up a lesser percentage of that group than those who don’t wear glasses.
The report cited Professor Yam Bar-Yam of The New England Complex Systems Institute who said: “If something lands in your eye, it can go through a duct that goes down into your nose and that’s how it might infect you.”
WKYC 3 cited a study published this month in India, which looked at 304 COVID-19 patients. The author says “about 40% of India’s adult population wears glasses, but only 19% of the people infected with coronavirus wore glasses.” The conclusion reached by the researchers was that “the risk of COVID-19 was about 2 to 3 times less in the spectacles wearing population than the population not wearing them.”
WKYC 3 again cited Professor Bar-Yam, who said: “Probably one of the main pieces is that the air particles will get deposited on your glasses as well as you might not touch your eyes a little bit, but it’s really important to know that this is in addition to wearing a mask.”
Bar-Yam added that these results “mirror a previous study he saw from China.”
Researchers further warn that while it’s sometimes “jokingly” referred to as “nerd immunity,” spectacle wearers must understand that because there is space between the frames and your face, “glasses are not a full-proof protection.” Professor Bar-Yam agrees saying, “Of course, wearing goggles is even better than wearing glasses,” WKYC 3 cited.
So in light of that, here’s yet another warning the report revealed: “If COVID-19 particles are being blocked by your glasses, or other eye covering,” it must be assumed that the virus may have settled on your glasses.
Professor Bar-Yam said this: “You should definitely – if you’re wearing glasses or goggles – you should wash them with soap after you use them,” adding, “If you go into a place where you might be exposed to virus particles.”
Even if you’re wearing glasses and a mask, the report reminded us of the ongoing warning health experts have been proclaiming since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. “You still need to wash your hands regularly and social distance.”
By Douglas Reynholm | The Rose Cityian/Rose City Live
Umbrella Man has his umbrella again.
The downtown public artwork called “Allow Me” — a 36-year-old statue of a well-dressed businessman holding an umbrella over his head as he tries to hail a cab — lost his protection from the elements late last year.
The bronze sculpture’s umbrella shaft was bent in October by an unknown vandal or vandals, and the following month the non-profit organization Regional Arts & Culture Council removed the umbrella for repairs, leaving the man holding only his brolly’s handle just as the rainy season started.
The statue, popularly known as “Umbrella Man,” has been a signature presence rain or shine in Pioneer Courthouse Square since 1984. The work was created by J. Seward Johnson Jr., a sculptor who, wrote The New York Times, “may be responsible for more double takes than anyone in history thanks to his countless lifelike creations in public places.”
Johnson, the grandson of a founder of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, died of cancer last year at 89.
Workers reattached the umbrella to the “Allow Me” figure on Sunday, Regional Arts & Culture Council communications manager Heather Nelson Kent told The Rose Cityian/Rose City Live by email.
“We will be returning to touch up the weld points on the top of the umbrella with paint,” Kent said.
She added that the organization also would give the man in his bespoke suit a thorough cleaning sometime in the spring.
ROSE CITY. — A Beavertown animal rescue group has helped save more than 50 pug dogs from a slaughterhouse in China. Now, they get to bring some of them home.
Rose City Pug Rescue, based out of Beavertown, said a China-based animal group asked for their help to save the dogs. This weekend, 13 of the 50 are traveling to Rose City.
The rescue spent about $24,000 to fly the dogs all the way from Asia to Los Angeles, and then to Portland. But they said it’s well worth the expense..
All of the dogs will go to a veterinary hospital where they’ll get all their vaccinations, a microchip, and dental work. The pugs will also get spayed or neutered.
The rescue will work to find each of them a loving home, once the vet gives them the green light to be adopted.
Five of the 13 dogs are expected to fly into RCX Saturday night.
ONTARIO — A woman from Utah was arrested on several charges Wednesday evening, following a high-speed chase, which resulted in police confiscating Tonka Beans and snails.
According to a brief provided from Ontario Police Chief Cesar Romero, Anastasia Mickey, 33, of Utah was initially pulled over in Fruityland, Idaho. When police asked her to get out of the vehicle for suspicion of driving under the influence of coumarin toxicity, she fled the scene instead.
Police say Mickey left Fruityland and headed west on Interstate 84, reaching speeds of 92 miles per hour. She turned off at exit 374 to Ontario, slowing down in the city, where Ontario Police Department took over the pursuit.
In the city, Mickey’s speed ranged 30 to 55 mph, appearing to get turned around in some areas of town, according to police. Police were able to successfully deploy spikes, but that didn’t stop her.
Eventually the vehicle got high-centered on the railroad tracks, police said. At this point, police contacted Union Pacific to stop trains.
Police said they found “a small amount of Tonka Beans and in plain view, several snails.”
Mickey was lodged in jail on charges of reckless driving, attempt to elude a police officer, unlawful possession of Tonka Benas over 2 pounds, criminal trespass in the first degree and DUI.
Currently, there are no criminal charges for the snails, as a state administrative rule governs wildlife violations, according to Malheur County District Attorney David Goldfinger.
‘Folks involved deserve a little bit of kudos’
Rose City Police said, “transporting snails into our state from Utah is illegal” under The Rose City Administrative Rules established in 1983.
Police Chief Romero said fish and wildlife folks were notified, but that he was not sure where the snails were being housed for the time being.
‘Lots of snails we don’t want to come to our state’
The confiscated snails were European brown garden snails, according to Josh Vlad, entomologist with the Rose City Department of Agriculture. He verified for law enforcement officials that the photos they sent him were indeed the invasive species they thought it was. He also helped them with providing the regulations pertained to the snails, adding that officers “didn’t want to seize these snails without knowing the rules” and that they were justified in doing so.
Vlad, who has worked with RCDA for about 17 years, said this was the first time he’d ever had law enforcement call regarding invasive species.
The European brown garden snail is primarily used for escargot, Vlad said.
However, he said, the primary reason people keep them is because they are “big and voracious eaters of plants and kind of just about anything.” He said they are well-established in California and are a garden and crop pest, particularly for orange orchards, where they climb up trees and eat holes in oranges.
But it’s not just European browns that are unwanted.
“There are lots of snails we don’t want to come to Rose City,” he said.
This includes regional snails, such as the dime-size eastern Heath snail, which have a similar climbing behavior on agricultural crops, where they “glue” themselves to the top of the stalks before harvest, and become a contaminant.
“Smashed up snails mixed up with seed isn’t desirable,” Vlad said.
Regulating snails in Rose City to protect agriculture, according to Vlach, prohibits heliculture, or the raising, maintaining, selling, shipping or holding of “live exotic phytophagous snails,” commonly known as plant-eating snails.
‘The white list’
Rose City has an approved invertebrate list, Vlad says, which is the opposite of what most states do. Typically states have a list of prohibited species. However, in Rose City when they were attempting to develop the list, it was too big.
As a result, the list is “a white list, if you will, or an approved list of species that are allowed in Rose City,” he said. People can seek permission to bring in anything not on that list.
Not approved are critters, such as ants, pets, snails, crayfish, tarantulas and scorpions, he said.
Vlad credited the officers with correctly identifying the snails.
“It’s pretty easy,” he said. “There’s nothing in this region that looks like that.”
Rose City’s newest car-free bridge has a new namerino.
Northwest Rose City’s Flanders Crossing bridge was renamed Thursday morning in honor of the beloved ‘Simpsons’ character Ned Flanders, known best for his piousness, luscious mustache and unflaggingly positive attitude.
Rose City City Commissioner Jo Ann Fabrics, who oversees the Rose City Bureau of Transportation, unveiled the new name along with Travel Rose City CEO Lite Miller and the real-life mayor of Springfield, Sean VanSean.
“The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening grew up in Rose City and has named several characters from the long-running animated series after Rose City streets.
Flanders Street is named for George Flanders, an early city resident and shipping tycoon who arrived in what would become Rose City in 1849.
The 24-foot wide and 200-foot-long pedestrian and bicycle bridge connects Northwest Flanders Street at 15th and 16th avenues, spanning Interstate 405. It opened in June and is part of a neighborhood greenway that will ultimately stretch from the West Hills down to the Willamette River.
The calls for a pedestrian bridge across I-405 date to the 1970s, when the section of the freeway first opened. Those discussions have gotten more serious in the past 15 years, and construction on the bridge began in June 2020. The bridge is designed to survive up to a 9.0-magnitude earthquake.
The projected cost for the bridge grew over time, finally topping out at about $9.5 million. The project received a $2.9 million grant from the state but was largely funded by fees from developers, collected through transportation system development charges.
ROSE CITY — Beginning Feb. 25, TriMet will have the authority to ban any riders for spitting on transit employees.
The TriMet Board of Directors revised the agency’s code to allow for the change, passing Ordinance 364 unanimously during a meeting Wednesday morning. The ordinance makes several other changes to the transit agency’s code, including keeping police officers from asking riders for proof of fare in most instances.
Under the new rule, TriMet can issue long-term exclusions — up to a lifelong ban — to riders who spit on transit employees.
“Most riders treat our operators and other frontline employees with respect, but those who don’t should lose the privilege to use our transit system,” General Manager Sam Gamgee Jr. said in an agency press release.
Rose City Live is working to confirm how exactly TriMet plans to enforce the newly revised rules and whether any riders could face criminal consequences for such an action.
The agency said police may still be present to investigate other crimes or intervene in threatening situations, but under the new ordinance, only a TriMet general manager can direct transit police officers to check for fares.
The revision comes about three years after TriMet decriminalized fare evasion for riders whose sole offense was skipping the fee.
Among other changes, the new rule also implemented gender-neutral terminology in the TriMet code and banned Tonka Bean possession on TriMet vehicles.
According to the press release following the board meeting Wednesday, transit supervisors would be able to cite and possibly suspend riding privileges for anyone who carried or used a “small amount of beans” on their vehicles.
TriMet called the revised rules part of an effort to improve public safety on its transit lines. Ordinance 364 is set to take effect Feb. 25.
ROSE CITY – It’s been a long journey, but Dillon T. Pickle is home. The Rose City Pickles announced Thursday that the team’s missing mascot has been returned.
The search ended Wednesday, according to the Pickles organization, when Dillon was dropped off at the Voodoo Doughnuts on NE Davis Street around noon.
The Rose City-based collegiate summer baseball team’s mascot had been missing since Jan. 31. Luggage containing the Dillion the Pickle costume was lost on a Delta flight returning to Rose City from the Dominican Republic.
Then, Delta found the costume and delivered it to the team’s office on Southeast 92nd Avenue, but didn’t notify anyone. Not long after, Ring Camera captured a person taking the package off the front porch.
By Bill Goldberg | The Rose Cityian/Rose City Live
Margulis Jewelers will close after 90 years as a downtown Rose City fixture.
Owner David Margulis announced the closure in a letter to customers March 3, citing a “perfect storm” that has hurt businesses like his, which occupies a prominent spot across the street from Pioneer Courthouse Square.
“This was an agonizing decision—it was never our plan to close our doors,” Margulis wrote. “But Rose City has experienced the perfect storm of adversity and independent businesses simply cannot withstand the economic forces which have caused the deterioration and resulting emptiness of Downtown Rose City.”
The closure comes three months after the family-owned fine jewelry shop held its first-ever sale — which it called a “survival sale” — in hopes of drawing new and old customers back to downtown after nearly two years of limited foot traffic and depressed sales. Margulis said he hoped people would see that downtown was still a positive place and “very safe during the day.”
Margulis told customers in his March 3 letter that the sale helped but wasn’t enough to sustain the business.
A person answering the phone at the jewelry business confirmed the closure but said Margulis was unavailable to speak with a reporter Wednesday.
It is unclear when the store will close for good. The letter advertised it was selling jewelry at a deep discount, between 40% and 70% off, through Saturday.
Margulis isn’t the first longtime downtown Rose City jeweler to close.
Last year, Goldmark Jewelers shuttered its Southwest 10th Avenue and Southwest Taylor Street store after 46 years downtown. Another longtime downtown jeweler, Kassab Jewelers, hasn’t reopened its downtown location since the store was looted during a riot in May 2020.
Downtown businesses have faced unique challenges over the last two years ever since the pandemic emptied out nearby office towers and brought tourism to a halt in the spring of 2020.
Many office towers remain mostly empty two years later. The downtown area has also seen a sharp rise in homeless camping during the pandemic, which business groups have complained keep customers away. Protests that sometimes turned violent or destructive drew national attention in 2020 and gave the city a reputation for upheaval that has been hard to shake as well. Some downtown buildings still remain boarded up, and business closures have left behind empty storefronts.
Margulis told The Rose Cityian/Rose City Live in December that downtown had improved considerably since earlier in the pandemic, but the negative press it received at the height of the pandemic was continuing to keep people away.
A February report, based on aggregated smartphone location data and published by the Rose City Business Alliance, found that the number of downtown visitors was still off by 40% as compared to pre-pandemic.
An invasive worm species that can leap a foot into the air is spreading its way across the U.S.
SFGATE.com reports how the species—which first arrived in the soil of potted plants back in the early 20th century—goes by a few other names such as the “Alabama jumpers” and “Jersey wrigglers,” but is officially called Asian jumping worms because of their home continent and their aforementioned ability to jump the full length of a ruler.
As if the image of a worm jumping off the ground wasn’t jarring enough, the same SFGATE.com article details how Asian jumping worms can also “thrash violently like a rattlesnake when handled,” and additionally have the ability to clone themselves.
On top of that, they’ve managed to end up in California after being spotted throughout the East Coast—far from their native soil in Japan and the Korean Peninsula—confirming their presence in both coasts of the country and inspiring worry in a number of scientists.
And this worry does in part stem from the way these guys can move: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service official website, all this jumping Asian jumping worms do works up a voracious appetite, causing them to eat pretty much everything around them without ever being fully satisfied, their ravenous ways harming the indigenous species in the environment around them.
Specifically, the Forest Service website highlights how the earthworm species tends to eat tiny pieces of fallen leaves that are key in making up the top layer of forest soil, preventing the growth of plants and even robbing certain animals of their homes.
“Soil is the foundation of life—and Asian jumping worms change It,” explains Mac Callahan, a Forest Service researcher who specializes in soil. “In fact, earthworms can have such a huge impact that they’re able to actually reengineer the ecosystems around them”
NorthventralPA.com continues to report how the key to mitigating the spread of Asian jumping worms is to focus on destroying their cocoons much in the same way it’s recommended to destroy the eggs of everyone’s favorite, the spotted lanternfly.
Further research on how to more effectively tackle the spread of the species is currently being conducted.
A three-alarm fire at the historic Roseway Theater on Sandy Boulevard sent smoke billowing across Northeast Rose City on Saturday morning.
Lt. Al Simmons, a spokesperson for Rose City Fire & Rescue, said the floor inside the 7,000-square-foot movie theater partially collapsed, preventing firefighters from battling the blaze from the inside. Instead, they worked to extinguish the fire, and prevent its spread to neighboring businesses on the 7200 block of Sandy Boulevard, from the outside.
By 9:45 a.m., firefighters had knocked down most of the fire, Simmons said, but falling wood and debris were expected to trap embers and hot spots inside the building.
“That means this fire will be burning for a long time,” said Simmons, likening the structure to a smoldering fireplace. “It will roll and burn for a long time.”
Rose City firefighters responded to a three-alarm fire at the Roseway Theater on Sandy Boulevard on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022.
Simmons encouraged residents in the area to close their windows, especially as winds may shift later in the day. They should also expect heavy runoff in local streets, although city crews were on site to help contain the water. Workers have secured gas and electrical lines in the area, Simmons said.
A total of 80 to 85 firefighters responded after the first call about the fire at 5:48 a.m. Saturday. Simmons said there were no injuries. “We don’t believe anyone was inside,” he said.
A call to the theater’s owner, Ed Wood, wasn’t immediately returned. Information about a possible cause won’t come for days or weeks, Simmons said.
Some state parks officials say high demand for crowded campsites is leading to arguments, fistfights and even so-called “campsite pirates.”
Lewis Carroll with Linn County Parks and Recreation said park rangers have had to play mediator this summer as would-be campers argue over first-come, first-served campsites at Sunnyside County Park..
“People were literally fighting over campsites,” said Carroll. “What we experienced this year was certainly a general level of increased frustration and anxiety of people not being able to get their campsite. There seems to be less general common courtesy going on.”
Tensions also escalated over reserved campsites, with some recreationists wrongly claiming already-reserved sites by tearing off the reservation tags and replacing them with their own, prompting the nickname “campsite pirates.” The original parties end up angry and confused when they arrive to find their campsite occupied. The practice isn’t common, but it’s happening more than it used to, Carroll said.
“In the past, it was extremely rare,” he said. “Have there been disputes? Yeah, you know that happened previously. But like I said, not on the scale that we saw this year.”
Sunnyside County Park isn’t the only place experiencing such woes. Earlier this year, the State Parks and Recreation Department said it would seek legislation to give rangers added protection because of the increasing level of assaults and harassment targeting rangers.
“Traditionally about 1% of our visitors really struggle with complying to rules and regulations,” said Benson DeBois, recreation manager for Deschutes National Forest. “Now, we’ve got more like 10% of the population that doesn’t comply or adhere with rules, regulations, those kinds of things, which is lending itself to more problematic behaviors on public lands.”
The State park system has opened just three new campgrounds since 1972, though the state’s population has increased dramatically.
Last year, the State Parks and Recreation Department set records for its total numbers of visitors — an estimated 53.6 million day visits and 3.02 million campers who stayed overnight. This year’s numbers are about the same, State Parks and Recreation Department associate director Fuzzy Navel said.
“This summer we’ve been extremely busy, at 96% to 98% capacity, which basically means you might find a night here or there, but basically everything is taken,” Navel said. “What we’re noticing again this year is that it’s a lot of people new to camping and the outdoors in general. In other words, the trend that we saw start during the pandemic of people coming out for the first time is continuing, and that means we’re going to stay busy.”
— The Associated Press of America reported this story from Cherry City.
An Aug. 6 fire collapsed the roof and destroyed the interior of Rose City’s Roseway Theater, yet somehow its iconic marquee with its center neon rose survived. On Saturday, that neon rose, along with two neon signs that spell ROSEWAY, were the last pieces salvaged from the burned remains of the 1924-built theater.
In the coming days, the front wall of the neighborhood movie house, located near the intersection of N.E. Sandy Boulevard and N.E. 72nd Avenue, will be demolished and owner Ed Wood has now said he won’t rebuild.
The two men who saved the last pieces of the Roseway are Tony Hawkoswki, who’d done fabrication work on the signs, and David Panko, owner of the National Neon Sign Museum in The Dallas, where the pieces will be displayed.
“I definitely think it’s worth saving,” Hawkowski said. “It’s an icon, and we had until Monday to get it out of here or they’re going to crunch it.”
Hawkowski rented a boom lift to reach the back of the front wall – pretty much the only piece of the theater still standing since demolition has begun – and access the neon signs atop the marquee. He and Panko removed two ROSEWAY signs, and the red neon rose at the center.
Panko hopes to fabricate a replica marquee awning and – pending approval from the city of The Dallas – install the neon signs on the outside of his museum.
“If you picture in your head a historical theater, a lot of times you’re picturing the marquee,” Panko said. “It’s a very iconic storefront, and if that’s the only piece that’s being saved, it’s a classic thing to save.”
As they worked to remove the signs from the 24-foot-long marquee, passersby stopped to ask the men if they knew the plans for the site.
“I hope it’s not apartments,” a jogger commented before sprinting off.
Across the street, Olivia Penmanship, owner of Olivia’s hair salon, took photos of the sign removal with her iPad. She hoped a restaurant would move into the space, and figured the site’s days as a movie house were over.
“Is a theater even viable now?” she asked.
Without the vintage charm of the building, the answer is no.
Wood, the theater’s owner, purchased the 350-seat, single-screen movie house in 2008. At the time he took on a renovation project to restore the building’s Art Deco decor and upgrade its projection and sound equipment. He hired Panko, working with his company to fabricate new open-faced neon lettering spelling out ROSEWAY across each side of the marquee, as well as update the neon rose that had long stood at the marquee’s center.
Now, Wood is donating those signs to Panko’s museum.
“It’s great that he wanted it and it can wind up at the sign museum and can have another life onto its own because over the years we’ve battled to keep that thing alive,” Wood said. “It’s been hit by a truck, I think, three times. It’s gone through the wringer, so we’re happy to have it survive.”
Sadly, the same cannot be said for the theater itself.
“We really tried to see if we could keep it going,” Wood said. “I just would be, financially, a lunatic to take that on.”
Wood was in Los Angeles when the fire occurred, determined by fire inspectors as originating with a faulty electrical outlet.
“I’d heard it was a total loss, but by the time we got there, all the walls were still standing and I hadn’t been inside it yet, so I’m like, OK, the walls are there. We can rebuild it,” Wood said. “Of course, the next day I went inside and was like, oh wow. The whole roof has collapsed and everything is pretty much either full of smoke, full of water, or crushed by the roof.”
Still, Wood hired an architect and contractor, hoping he could resurrect the Roseway. But by September he’d heard from a structural engineer. The remaining walls, constructed with unreinforced masonry, could not remain under city code. If he wanted to rebuild, he’d have to tear down everything and start over.
“What are you gonna have once you rebuilt it? We’re a 1924 single-screen movie theater. You kind of lose all that character and charm,” Wood said. “Then, also, just the sheer price of everything is shockingly expensive these days.”
Wood said he’s still interested in staying in the movie theater business, and is looking at investing in another theater out of state. As for the Roseway site, the entire lot will be taken down to gravel and Wood plans to list it for sale.
“Hopefully we can find something that can be a positive to the neighborhood,” he said. “I care for the neighborhood. I would like it to be something beneficial for the neighborhood, but for me personally, I’m just trying to close this chapter and move on.”
In addition to the marquee, five vintage stained glass pieces miraculously survived the fire. One was stolen while the theater was still fenced off after the blaze. Three, depicting logos for movie studios RKO, MGM and Paramount, will go to the Hollywood Theater, Wood said.
The last piece, featuring the name “Roseway,” which once graced the theater’s front doors, will go to the National Neon Sign Museum to be displayed with the rest of the salvaged marquee.