Dec. 11: Killed and imprisoned journalists named Person of the Year 2018
TIME has named a group of journalists targeted for their work as its person of the year for 2018. The honorees, collectively dubbed “the guardians of truth,” include Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in October at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul; the staff of the Annapolis, Md.-based Capital Gazette newspapers, five of whom were killed in a June 28 mass shooting; Maria Ressa, the CEO of Philippine news site Rappler who was recently charged with tax fraud in a move that many in the Philippines say amounts to retaliation for her criticisms of President Rodrigo Duterte; and U Wa Lone and U Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists imprisoned in Myanmar for their coverage of the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State. This will be the first year that TIME has honored someone posthumously as person of the year. The runners-up for the award were President Donald Trump and Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Dec. 12: Oregon public defense system in need of reform, report says
The United States Constitution requires that defendants who cannot afford legal representation be provided an attorney paid with public money. However, a report completed by the Sixth Amendment Center, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, has found that Oregon’s public defense system structurally flawed in ways that impede clients’ Constitutionally-guaranteed right to legal counsel. The report, authorized by the Oregon state legislature, found that the state lacks oversight of public defenders and has no system in place to ensure people prosecuted in lower-level courts receive adequate defense.
Dec. 13: Water Bureau seeks missing Benson Bubbler
Portland Water Bureau officials have announced one of the city’s iconic Benson Bubbler water fountains has gone missing from the corner of Southeast 65th Ave. and Southeast Foster Blvd. The Bureau is seeking tips to recover the missing bubbler and requests that anyone with knowledge about the theft call them at 503-823-3028.
Dec. 15: Merkley visits tent encampments near border
After visiting a tent encampment where approximately 2,700 migrant children are being held in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services custody for immigration violations, Sen. Jeff Merkley said the camps need “to be shut down.” Merkley, joined by Sens. Mazie Hirono, D–Hawaii and Tina Smith, D–Minn., and Reps. Beto O’Rourke, D–Texas and Judy Chu, D–Calif., traveled to the camp in Tornillo, Texas to inspect for potential mistreatment of child asylum seekers. “This is a child prison strategy that inflicts trauma on children,” Merkley said, according to an Oregon Public Broadcasting report. “It’s part of the broader strategy of the Trump administration to inflict trauma on children that began with the child separation policy, and it’s completely unacceptable.”