Oregon’s governor is creating a task force to fix Portland, the city widely regarded as a poster child for progressive policies.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek announced in a press release on Wednesday that her executive office will partner with the Oregon Business Council to create the Portland Central City Task Force (PCCTF). Kotek admitted that Portland had earned a notorious reputation, though she attributed the current state of the city to “growing pains” and COVID.

“It’s no secret that downtown Portland has faced an onslaught of challenges in recent years that have tarnished some of the characteristics that people love about Oregon’s largest city,” said Kotek. “Growing pains turned into crises, exacerbated by a global pandemic, and now concerns about Portland have become a statewide economic issue.”

Kotek added that social justice values would guide the PCCTF by collaborating with “diverse voices” for “equitable solutions.”

The task force will have five committees: Vision & Value, Clean Streets, Crime & Vandalism, Unsheltered Homelessness, and Tax Competitiveness. Members have yet to be announced.

Kotek and Dan McMillan — President and CEO of both StanCorp Financial and Standard Insurance Company — will co-chair the PCCTF. The task force will hold meetings once a month from August through October before presenting recommendations at the Oregon Business Plan Leadership Summit in December.

Last October, McMillan stated in an interview that his business hasn’t required relocation to Portland due to its poor reputation.

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“Frankly, the reputation through the last two-and-a-half years of the city make it very hard to bring people here,” said McMillan.

Portland Oregon
– September 2019
– September 2020
– September 2021
– September 2022

cc: @OregonGovBrown pic.twitter.com/owBxdYzEZu

— Portland, Oregon (@pdxccura) September 16, 2022

Portland’s population shrank for the first time in 30 years, according to census data released earlier this year. The exodus cost the county over $1 billion.

According to Portland crime statistics for 2022, there were nearly 10,200 violent offenses committed against people: about 9,300 assaults, 600 sex offenses, 100 homicides, 90 kidnappings or abductions, and 35 incidents of human trafficking. Property crimes totaled nearly 59,900. Society-related crimes — a vast majority concerning weapon law violations and drug offenses — totaled over 1,600.

The latest data available from January through June of this year reflects a slight decline in crime rates from the same time frame last year: about 100 fewer violent crimes against people (about 4,800 versus 4,900), about 3,900 fewer property crimes (about 26,600 versus 30,500), and about several dozen fewer society-related crimes (about 800 versus 830).

Although there’s been a slight decline in crime overall, the dangers of the city remain consistent. Last week, a female doctor went viral after blaming the city’s “defund the police” efforts for a random attack that left her bloodied and unconscious.

Citizens are also on high alert over a suspected serial killer — one of over a thousand prisoners granted a commuted sentence from former Oregon Governor Kate Brown during the pandemic.

Multnomah County’s homeless population increased by 20 percent from 2022 to 2023 per point in time counts: or, from about 5,200 to 6,300 people. About half of the county’s homeless population is estimated to live in Portland.

Last fall, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler reported a 50 percent increase in homelessness from 2019 to 2022, resulting in over 700 homeless encampments. That prompted Wheeler to announce last October that he would ban the encampments; a month later, the city council voted for the mayor’s plan.

It doesn’t appear that local leadership plans to enforce the ban anytime soon. Although the ban took effect last month, the mayor said he wouldn’t direct enforcement until after the city educated the homeless on the new ban.

In the meantime, homeless encampments remain and more have emerged since.

“Pedestrians who pass near a longtime #homeless camp in #Portland, #Oregon, are being threatened or even assaulted by those who live in the camp…” #pdx #crime #drugs #violence #MentalIllness #CriticalCriminology #multco #orpol https://t.co/JoFBLKi2Mi

— Oregon Tea Party 🇺🇲 (@OregonTeaParty) July 31, 2023

Leader of the iconic group The Band and cinematic composer Robbie Robertson died after a long illness on Wednesday in Los Angeles, California, his management company said. He was 80 years old.

“Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine, and Delphine’s partner Kenny,” Jared Levine, Robertson’s manager of 34 years, told Variety. “He is also survived by his grandchildren Angelica, Donovan, Dominic, Gabriel and Seraphina.”

Born Jaime Royal “Robbie” Robertson on July 5, 1943, the Grammy-nominated guitarist and singer-songwriter is best known for writing “The Weight,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” among many other hits released by The Band.

Robertson began learning guitar at 10 years old in Ontario, Canada, where he was born. After playing with several bands throughout his teen years, Robertson joined the American rockabilly group Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks in 1961, where he would meet future Band singer-songwriter members, drummer Levon Helm, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manuel, and organist Garth Hudson.

The group toured and recorded with Hawkins until the mid 1960s when The Hawks, except Helm, joined American folk singer-songwriter Bob Dylan’s controversial “Going Electric” tours in 1965 and 1966.

The following year, Robertson moved to Woodstock, New York, and recorded the “basement tapes” with Dylan, where they officially became known as The Band.

After the widespread popularity of the “basement tapes,” Capitol Records signed the group and released the group’s first two albums, “Music From Big Pink” and “The Band,” and performed at the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969.

Following their successful debut, the group later released “Stage Fright” in 1970, “Cahoots” the following year, which included “Life Is A Carnival,” and the double live set “Rock Of Ages” in 1972.”

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“I always thought, from the very beginning, that this music was born of the blues and country music, Southern stuff,” Robertson reportedly said. “The Mississippi Delta area, and the music came down from the river and from up the river and met, and it made something new. I always looked at that as kind of the source of the whole thing.”

As the group achieved stardom in the early-mid 1970s, Robertson broke the group up on account of reported substance abuse issues from some of the musicians. In 1976, The Band performed “The Last Waltz,” their farewell show in San Francisco that included several guest performances from music legends Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, and many others.

The performance was later turned into a documentary of the same title and directed by legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese. The documentary has been deemed one of the greatest concert films ever made.

Robertson began working as a composer for several of Scorsese’s films, including “Raging Bull,” “The Departed,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “The Irishman.”

Scorsese and Robertson had recently completed his fourteenth film music project, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” just before Robertson passed away.

“Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work,” Scorsese said in a statement to NBC News. “Long before we ever met, his music played a central role in my life—me and millions and millions of other people all over this world. The Band’s music, and Robbie’s own later solo music, seemed to come from the deepest place at the heart of this continent, its traditions and tragedies and joys.”

In 1987, Robertson recorded his first self-titled solo album. Four years later, he earned two Grammy nominations for his second solo album, “Storyville.”

Robertson was born on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, with the Mohawk community.

In his memory, the family of Robertson said, “In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the Six Nations of the Grand River to support a new Woodland Cultural Center.”