PBOT leaders say they’ve already addressed many of the auditor’s recommendations. They also say the scale of Portland’s traffic violence crisis is too big for just one bureau to address. by Taylor Griggs

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in December 2016, with the goal of eliminating traffic crash deaths and injuries in the city. But in recent years, Portland has seen its highest numbers of traffic injuries and fatalities in decades. Pedestrians have faced a heightened risk of traffic violence in recent years, and parts of Portland with higher low-income populations and communities of color are also disproportionately impacted. 

The daylight between PBOT’s stated Vision Zero goals and the increase in recent traffic crash deaths prompted scrutiny from the Portland Auditor’s Office. A new report from the Auditor’s Office, released Wednesday, says PBOT “partially completed” safety projects identified in its Vision Zero plan, but notes the bureau doesn’t adequately evaluate the outcomes of the safety projects it completes. 

The Auditor’s Office recommends PBOT create a plan to evaluate its projects “to determine which get the desired outcomes and where Vision Zero efforts are most needed.” The office also asks the bureau to install promised speed cameras to help with traffic safety enforcement and recommends PBOT “revisit its equity methodology to ensure it accounts for smaller scale improvements that could have positive equity impacts.” 

“These efforts to collect data, analyze, evaluate, and carefully track which safety projects have the most desired outcomes could help move toward Vision Zero’s goal of zero fatal and serious injury traffic crashes,” the audit report states. 

The audit report highlights concerns about the Vision Zero program that many transportation and safe streets activists have raised for years—though the Auditor’s Office didn’t issue as harsh an indictment of PBOT as some critics may want. Earlier this year, when PBOT leaders presented their 2023 Vision Zero report to City Council, some Portland advocates didn’t mince words about their thoughts on the city’s implementation of the program. 

“There is no question that Portland's Vision Zero Program has been an abject failure,” Sarah Risser, a local transportation safety activist, wrote in public testimony to City Council in April. “Given its abysmal track record, it is reasonable to conclude that it will continue to be a failure.”

The Portland Auditor’s Office didn’t mark PBOT’s Vision Zero plan as a failure in its report, and PBOT leaders ultimately agreed with its recommendations, some of which the bureau says it has already implemented on its own. 

PBOT, too, acknowledges that larger structural changes are needed to save lives on the streets. Bureau leaders say they will continue working on their Vision Zero plans, but they hope the city government transition will break down silos and encourage more involvement in solving the problem of traffic violence on Portland’s streets. 

The year PBOT adopted the Vision Zero plan, 42 people died in traffic crashes on Portland’s streets. In 2019, when the bureau updated the plan to emphasize transportation system safety and focus more on actions within PBOT’s control, 48 people were the victims of traffic violence. In the last three years, more than 60 people have died in traffic crashes in Portland each year, with 69 fatalities in 2023. 

When PBOT leaders presented the 2023 Vision Zero report to City Council earlier this year, they acknowledged the rise in traffic fatalities since the program was adopted. But they said the program is successful in areas PBOT has been able to invest in, and said the bureau’s budget woes have curtailed its progress. The audit report suggests PBOT could get more out of the projects it does complete by improving its evaluation processes, which have historically been lacking. 

“Without systemic evaluation of safety outcomes, the Bureau is missing the opportunity to create more alignment between the work they do on safety projects and the overall goal of Vision Zero,” the report states. “A more systematic approach would allow trends to be identified and analyzed to better understand the outcomes of completed projects, and which may need to be altered or dropped. As traffic deaths continue to increase it is vital that the Bureau consistently evaluate completed safety projects so they can see which are working best at shifting the trend towards the intended goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries.” 

The second major recommendation the audit report suggests is that PBOT “do more to enforce speed limits” by following through on its promise to install more speed cameras throughout the city. Despite research showing the effectiveness of enforcement cameras as a way to reduce speeds and increase traffic safety—without involving the police—PBOT has been slow to install them. The bureau has blamed its camera vendor for the lag in speed camera implementation, but says it now has 37 cameras in operation or construction, and current contracted cameras will be online early next year. (By March 2023, PBOT had only installed nine cameras in the prior eight years.) 

The report also states despite PBOT’s attempt to prioritize and fund safety projects equitably—based on both crash data and neighborhood demographics—it may be missing “smaller safety projects with possible equitable outcomes” if they aren’t located on high-crash corridors. The Auditor’s Office recommends PBOT use more qualitative data to determine the projects it carries out. 

In response to the auditor’s recommendations, Public Works Service Area Deputy City Administrator Priya Dhanapal and PBOT Director Millicent Williams said while they “largely agree with the recommendations in the audit,” it’s a bit outdated. Last year, PBOT issued a Vision Zero Action Plan update for 2024 and 2025, which addresses many of the issues outlined in the audit report. 

“Our current Vision Zero Action Plan includes priorities directly tied to evaluation, delivery of the camera program and speed management as well as equity objectives,” Dhanapal and Williams wrote. “The audit was conducted on work and commitments outlined 3-5 years ago and work that took place during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Dhanapal and Williams also said PBOT needs help from other city bureaus to solve the crisis of traffic violence. 

“Eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries in Portland is possible [and] PBOT can lead the way,” Dhanapal and Williams wrote in a letter responding to the auditor’s report. “However, Portland will not reach Vision Zero with street design alone…. A societal commitment to meet basic human needs and implement strategies to change current conditions are necessary to reach many of our shared goals, including Vision Zero. These changes require leadership, investment, and commitment from partners beyond PBOT.”

PBOT leaders say they hope that collaboration and commitment will be easier due to the upcoming changes in Portland’s government. 

“Eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries is a City commitment and goal, but as a City we have focused the discussion on what PBOT does to change streets,” Dhanapal and Williams wrote. “We believe the City transition provides an opportunity to reengage City bureaus in Portland’s Vision Zero commitment and integrate the Safe System approach to traffic safety as a comprehensive prevention strategy to save lives.” 

by Taylor Griggs

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! 

Good morning, Portland! There's rain on the menu for today, but you probably didn't need me to tell you that. Hopefully you know how to layer for November in Portland by now. Anddddd that's all the small talk we have time for this morning, so chop chop. It's news time. 

IN LOCAL NEWS: 

• Portland City Council is set to vote today on a five-year contract renewal for the Downtown Portland Clean & Safe district, as well as a major expansion of the service area it covers and a fee hike. A couple weeks ago, when this item was first brought to the council, many Portlanders testified against the contract renewal. Now, four incoming city councilors (Mitch Green, Sameer Kanal, Tiffany Koyama Lane and Angelita Morillo)—along with community organizations and dozens of residents, have penned a letter to the current City Council asking them to postpone the contract renewal. 

Why the negativity for Clean & Safe? Well, as an excellent new article from our Courtney Vaughn details, the Clean & Safe district is overseen by an organization that has significant overlap in its management with the Portland Metro Chamber, AKA the Portland Business Alliance. The new contract would funnel a good portion of the $58 million contract to the Metro Chamber, which they will spend on lobbying efforts for private business interests. The program is also convoluted and lacks oversight, and it contributes majorly to the criminalization of homeless people in downtown Portland. So there's a lot wrong with it. Read the article for more of the details, and stay tuned for City Council's decision today. 

• The Portland Auditor's Office has released a much-anticipated (by me, at least) report on the Portland Bureau of Transportation's (PBOT) Vision Zero Action Plan, which the city adopted in 2016 in an effort to eliminate traffic crash fatalities and serious injuries. But in the eight years since the Vision Zero plan was adopted (and been updated twice), traffic crash deaths have increased in Portland, especially in the last four years. In 2023, 69 people were killed in traffic crashes on Portland streets. Given the current reality, it's understandable that people are questioning how effective the Vision Zero program is. 

While the Auditor's Office isn't seeking an overhaul of the program, the report recommends PBOT makes several key changes to improve Vision Zero outcomes. The audit report says PBOT should create a better project evaluation system, install more speed cameras, and use more qualitative data to determine the most equitable safety projects. According to PBOT, most of the concerns expressed in the audit report have already been addressed in the most recent Vision Zero update.

PBOT leaders did say they are hopeful more traffic safety improvements will be possible when Portland finally (fully) transitions to its new, less-siloed form of government in January. The report just came out this morning, so there hasn't been much in the way of community response yet, but I'm sure it will spark some Thoughts, capital "T." 

•  On a related note, the World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims is this Sunday, an annual day to honor the many lives lost prematurely to traffic violence. Community organizations Families for Safe Streets, BikeLoud PDX, and Oregon Walks will join PBOT, elected leaders, and community members for a gathering at Portland City Hall. Find out more about the event here. 

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• Here's a painful fact, courtesy of a new investigation from OPB and ProPublica: Despite President Biden's repeated promises to save old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, the Bureau of Land Management is allowing timber companies to log such forests now more than in the last 10 years. Biden's BLM is on track to log 47,000 acres of public lands during his four years in office— about the same amount that Trump oversaw during his first term in office. And, get this: This is after Biden made an executive order to protect mature and old-growth forests in 2022! Considering the rare beauty of these forests—and, more importantly, their importance to ecosystems and ability to mitigate carbon emission—this is very unfortunate. The Biden administration hasn't answered for the BLM's actions, or if they're planning to take steps to further protect old growth forests in preparation for the next Trump administration. Let's hope he makes some changes while he still can, because we all know Trump will be a lot worse. 

• Rene Gonzalez, after losing his bid for mayor, is seeking donations of up to $579 because his campaign is in debt. I wonder if anyone will pay him. 

Stealing this from the other site because y’all need to see it. Anyone gonna donate $579 to Rene Gonzalez’s failed campaign for mayor??? @pradapdx.bsky.social

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— Taylor Griggs (@taylorgriggs.bsky.social) November 12, 2024 at 5:11 PM

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS: 

• President-elect Donald Trump (ouch) has asked Vivek Ramaswamy (ouch again) and Elon Musk (commentary unnecessary here) to lead a new government agency that he plans to create in order to regulate federal spending. The new agency will be called the Department of Government Efficiency, which just happens to create the acronym DOGE, a reference to the Shiba Inu meme of the mid-2010s and the joke cryptocurrency by the same name that Musk promoted. Apparently, a Department of Government Efficiency needs to be run by two people. I hope I am adequately conveying my tone of contempt here. 

As ridiculous as this all is, it's also extremely bad. Trump, Musk, and Ramaswamy's plan is to fire thousands of federal employees, cut necessary regulations, and ultimately destroy many of the most crucial components of the federal government. All we can do is hope that SOME Republicans in Congress (we don't need all of them!) will realize how idiotic this is and block Trump's attempt to create a new government agency, which he can't do without congressional approval. Or can he? The limit to this idiocy knows no bounds.

However, given these men's volatility—which is replicated in many others in Trump's sphere—it does seem pretty likely that they'll all be in a huge fight by the time Trump takes office. I do think there are some major catfights on the horizon, if that gives you any comfort in these trying times. 

fundamentally this is what Trump administrations are all about: the guys. there will be new guys every week. they will startle you, you'll be astounded by them, and then as quickly as they appeared they will fade into an indistinguishable mass, leaves on the forest floor.

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— Peter (@notalawyer.bsky.social) November 12, 2024 at 4:39 PM

• Here's something that will NOT give you comfort in these trying times: Despite the hope last year would mark a global carbon dioxide emissions peak, humans are burning more fossil fuels this year than we did last year. The world is on track to put 0.8 percent more carbon into the atmosphere than in 2023. Though this is not surprising, it IS actually crazy behavior from humanity (and let me be clear, it's a tiny minority of humans leading the charge on this, though a substantially larger minority are eagerly/mindlessly participating in burning fossil fuels at a rate incompatible with the future of life on this planet). Good thing we will have strong climate leadership in the White House come January. NOT!!!! 

• One way people are attempting to #resist Elon Musk after he helped Trump get into office and will now seemingly play a key role in his administration? Leaving Twitter, AKA X, the social media site he bought and ruined. Bluesky may be the place to be now. (I am finding it much more pleasant.) 

In the week since the U.S. presidential election, Elon Musk has used X, the social media platform he owns, to reiterate his support for President-elect Donald Trump. Some of X’s users have decided they want to post elsewhere. Among the largest beneficiaries of that desire is Bluesky. nyti.ms/48JtYAt

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— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) November 12, 2024 at 10:46 PM

• Okay, here's some actual good news: The U.S. House voted down a bill that would've helped Trump censor and persecute his political opponents. The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act had previously received bipartisan support, but after Trump was elected, some Democratic lawmakers (and The Intercept) raised alarm bells. The bill would give the U.S. Treasury Department complete authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits it deems are "terrorist supporting organizations," which Trump could use to enable the destruction of nonprofits that the future president doesn't politically align with. WHEW. 

• Finally, please watch this video of a little boy and his crow friend. ???????? Bye bye! 

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Brock Lesnar after losing his championship in the main event of Wrestlemania 31.; Credit: WWE

World Wrestling Entertainment held their annual Wrestlemania show last weekend in Northern California, the culmination of another year's worth of spectacle. According to the company, it was their highest grossing event of all-time, drawing $12.6 million, with an official attendance placing it fifth on their list of all-time crowds for the event. The show was headlined by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar going up against up-and-coming star (and a relative of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) Roman Reigns.

WWE Network

It comes at a time when the company has embarked on a new way of making money: their over-the-top online programming provider, the WWE Network, where fans can pay $9.99 a month to see programming including what formerly used to cost $45 for most shows and $60 for Wrestlemania. They're one year in now on gambling that enough fans will want the Network that it will ultimately make them more money in the long-term, despite losing that pay-per-view revenue. Wall Street doesn't appear to be buying it — after announcing the day after Wrestlemania that they'd hit 1.3 million subscribers, WWE's stock took a significant loss.

"The point is not whether it's real or if it's staged. The point is, are you entertained by it, or not?" former WWE announcer Jim Ross told KPCC in an interview. WWE is looking for more fans to be entertained enough to plunk down $9.99 for all the pro wrestling content they want.

NXT

They're also in a transitional period with their audiences. They've launched a new show that's only on the Network called "NXT," turning their minor league into a program targeting hardcore pro wrestling fans with a different style of show than the more family-targeted "Raw" and "Smackdown." It's also where they groom potential future stars, many of whom seem to break the mold of some of the traditional stars on WWE's main roster.

They're signing up talent that's been getting buzz on the independent circuits, trying to create their own underground movement that hopefully spells money, and taking the NXT brand on tour for the first time. On the Raw after Wrestlemania, several NXT stars made their debut on the main roster. That follows a sell-out crowd (albeit at a smaller 5,000 seat venue) on the Friday night before Wrestlemania for a non-televised NXT show.

Give Divas a chance

WWE also faces cultural forces pushing them in new directions, including a difference in how society deals with gender. When WWE executive Stephanie McMahon, daughter of the famed Vince McMahon, tweeted in support of Patricia Arquette's speech calling for greater equality for women at the Academy Awards, one of their own wrestlers, AJ Lee, responded by publicly calling Stephanie McMahon out on Twitter for not promoting the women in her own company equally and paying them less than the male stars.

AJ tweet 1

AJ tweet 2

Of course, the women in the company aren't given the same prominence as the men in part because it's felt that they won't make the company as much money. Still, it forced WWE's hand and Stephanie McMahon and the company as a whole publicly embraced the idea of giving the women (who WWE brands as "divas") a chance with the Give Divas A Chance movement (and accompanying trending hashtag).

What's next

The women have been promoted nearly equal to the men in that underground NXT league, but only time will tell if it continues to trickle upward. Wrestlemania didn't seem to show huge promise of that happening, with the one women's match of the show only getting a few minutes in the ring. However, the show also included a high-profile storyline with UFC female fighter and champion Ronda Rousey alongside the Rock, going up against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, so there appears to be the room for women in prominent positions when they have the right storyline.

Whether WWE is able to wade through these forces of change to make more money — and perhaps regain some of the cultural currency that they've lost since becoming a monopoly and purchasing their top competition in 2001 — remains to be seen. They've stayed relatively steady despite a challenge from UFC, which many see as being what pro wrestling would be like if WWE didn't present fictional  They'll have to hope that giving new stars, including "divas," a chance will take them to another level.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

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DUSHANBE, 29 July 2016 – The OSCE Office in Tajikistan today donated audio-visual equipment to the Police Academy of Tajikistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs with the aim of supporting the Academy’s lecturers to use interactive teaching techniques on the investigation of crimes related to the trafficking of human beings.

The equipment includes a computer, a projector, a screen, speakers, a printer, and an Uninterruptible Power Supply device (UPS). An external hard disk drive was also donated to allow for the storing of an electronic library of thematic video films and other informational resources in this field.

“This equipment will improve the teaching of the Course on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, and will therefore enable the police to more effectively address this serious social problem,” said Fabio Piana, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

Karim Soliev, the first Deputy Director of the Police Academy, thanked the OSCE for its continued support in building the capacity of future law enforcement staff and Police Academy cadets in combating human trafficking and domestic violence in Tajikistan. “This equipment is of great help to lecturers who will now be able to apply more interactive teaching techniques,” he said.

In previous years, the OSCE has provided expert support to the Police Academy, including the development of the Lecturer’s Guidelines on teaching this specialized and compulsory 20-hour course. The OSCE has also trained the team of lecturers on modern interactive teaching techniques and has recently updated the Course on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings with regard to new legislation in this field.

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Building capacities of Ukrainian gender equality advisors was the focus of the workshop Mainstreaming Gender into Communication, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Equal Opportunities Caucus of the Parliament of Ukraine in Lviv, western Ukraine, on 24 June 2016.

Twenty-five participants from government and civil society, representing seven regions of Ukraine, had the opportunity to learn about effective ways to include a gender perspective into their internal and external communication.

Oksana Yurynets, a Member of Ukrainian Parliament and the Equal Opportunities Caucus, said: "The workshop focused on enhancing the abilities of regional state-administration gender advisors to communicate clear, strong messages to general public. Such communication helps to create an environment where dialogue about gender equality is possible. Working on these issues is very important for Ukraine as a country where equality remains a strategic target."

Kateryna Ryabiko, Project Co-ordinator at ODIHR, said that in accordance with the 2004 OSCE Action Plan for the Promotion of Gender Equality, ODIHR is tasked to promote equality between women and men throughout the OSCE area, including through education in gender awareness. "Promoting gender mainstreaming is essential to recognizing gender equality as a vital element of democratization of society."

Participants also discussed findings of the recent report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that urged Ukraine to intensify its efforts to overcome persistent stereotypes that are discriminatory against women and to improve national capacity for promoting gender equality.

The event was organized as part of ODIHR’s project on “Strengthening dialogue among civil society and with key government stakeholders in Ukraine on human dimension issues”. It was launched in April 2015 with the aim of enhancing effective mechanisms for dialogue to address key human rights issues in Ukraine, in line with OSCE commitments and international standards.

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• OSCE/ODIHR event in Kyiv supports dialogue platform in Verkhovna Rada on parliamentary ethics
• Political party legislation in Ukraine, focus of OSCE/ODIHR expert workshop
• OSCE workshop in Kosovo focuses on improving the recording of hate crimes

Depending on which country you live in, the first Harry Potter movie features Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking about a different magical object.

Saudi Arabia 5G Technology Analysis Report 2024: Market to  GlobeNewswire

On Wednesday, King County Council Member Claudia Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Executive. Her announcement came the morning after current Executive Dow Constantine announced he would not seek reelection. by Ashley Nerbovig

On Wednesday, King County Council Member Claudia Balducci announced her candidacy for King County Executive. Her announcement came the morning after current Executive Dow Constantine announced he would not seek reelection.

Thirty-ish years ago, Balducci moved from New York into a house in Bellevue’s Lake Hills neighborhood with her then-boyfriend, now husband. She’s stayed right there ever since, not counting a brief return to New York for law school. 

Her political career began at the Bellevue City Council. She served as mayor of that mall town from 2014 to 2016. Voters elected her to the King County Council in 2016. Throughout that time, she advocated for more housing density, defended Sound Transit’s East Link extension, and pushed for improvements to the criminal legal system.

She considers housing, transit, and public safety the pillars of her campaign for King County Executive. Plus, she supports finding progressive revenue streams for the county. When we asked her if, as someone from the Eastside, she felt additional pressure from big business to oppose legislation such as a payroll tax, she responded: “No more so than somebody from Seattle.” Touche, Balducci.

Balducci views herself as a coalition-builder, someone who reaches across the aisle. The biggest difference she sees between herself and her would-be predecessor, Constantine, is her approach: Rather than solely focusing on rallying advocates to push an idea across the finish line, she believes in sitting down with people who disagree with her to reach consensus. 

“You might come out with something that's a little different than what you thought, but hopefully we start to build deeper and more lasting support, not just for that thing, but for all of government,” Balducci said.

If elected as County Executive, Balducci says her first four years in office would focus on addressing the human suffering and disorder in King County’s downtown cores without increasing the jail population. She wants to ensure that people have the services they need to help them address substance abuse, their mental health, and maintain housing. Though she headed up the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, she was not a “lock-them-up sort of person,” though she did say she’d like to see crime go down in city centers.

She also wants to focus on delivering light rail expansion projects in a reasonable amount of time. 

A Yimby Year One

Balducci found her YIMBY calling in the early 2000s, when the owners of her neighborhood shopping center, Lake Hills Village, sought to redevelop the mall due to a lack of business and businesses. But as the property owners pushed to change zoning requirements to allow a mixed-use, multistory complex Balducci says many of her neighbors came out to oppose the redevelopment. She readily supported the idea and said so in front of her neighbors. Standing up in those meetings almost two decades ago launched her political career, she says. 

On Tuesday ahead of her campaign launch, she showed The Stranger around the redeveloped lot. Shops now fill the storefronts, and the Village houses a branch of the King County Library along with a community space. The large apartments attached to the complex–many three or four bedrooms–are some of the largest in the area. None are “deeply affordable, but they're not outrageously expensive either.” Balducci’s only regret is that the property couldn’t also connect to the light rail. The complex’s large parking lot in the center makes it clear the Lake Hills community still has a car-centric, commuter mindset.

Lake Hills was the first stop on Balducci’s Bellevue Accomplishments Tour. As we drove to our next stop, she chatted about the County’s need to build more housing and Eastside developers’ need to build more townhomes on single lots instead of the giant homes she often sees built in her neighborhood. (She acknowledged those townhomes would be expensive.)

A Defender of Transit

From Lake Hills Village, Balducci whisked us off to Wilburton Station, which she reluctantly called her favorite while saying, “It’s like my children, I love them all equally.” Balducci came alive as she talked about the importance of light rail planning, and how building along the freeway can limit how much density can pop up around a station. She pointed out The Spring District, which happened to be at the end of a rainbow that appeared as the rain slowed to a drizzle. The Spring District is a sort of evolved version of what Balducci did for Lake Hill Village. A developer turned an area of Bellevue made up mostly of warehouses and parking lots and turned it into a housing, shopping, and business core, complete with a light rail station right in the center that had support from private investors. Again, Balducci acknowledged the housing in Spring District probably wouldn’t be something anyone could afford, with the cost of a cheap studio hovering around $1,994, but the project brought more housing and more jobs, all made possible because of the light rail.

Balducci explained how unlike in Seattle, many people in Bellevue vehemently opposed light rail. She fought for years to bring the option to the Eastside as a member of the Bellevue City Council, fighting not only against her fellow council members, but also those who challenged it in court. She came from a city where you could survive without a car and saw the benefit and importance of a reliable transportation system. She called building the Eastline a labor of love. 

As King County Executive, she’d have a huge say in how light rail expanded, because not only would she become a member of the Sound Transit Board, but she’d have the ability to appoint another nine members to the 18 member board. Much of her political life has been dedicated to the issue of improving and expanding transit, and as King County Executive, she says, she’d throw herself into delivering the light rail the county promised to voters as quickly and efficiently as she can.

Not Zero Youth Detention, but Less Youth Detention

Balducci has never styled herself as an abolitionist. She’s a reformer, someone who helped to change conditions at the King County Jail after the US Department of Justice found that the facility had violated people’s constitutional rights by failing to adequately protect them from harm. When the issue of the new youth jail came up, Balducci said she saw a need for an improved youth jail, a smaller one, that could be refitted as the county worked to reduce the number of kids in lock up. But she never saw the existence of the building as a problem, it's more about how the county manages the building and treats the people inside. She also stressed she supports diversion programs and upstream investments to help reduce the number of kids who find themselves on the path to prison. She said she believes in community-based diversion programs and has supported increasing funding to them.

Final Stop

Balducci ended the tour at Porchlight, a men’s shelter in Bellevue that she helped establish during her time as Mayor. The whole process involved a lot of planning, funding, and dealing with community pushback, but it resulted in a 100-bed shelter and the first permanent shelter for men in all of East King County. From there, Bellevue wanted to expand the site, eventually purchasing the property from the county and expanding it to create permanent supportive housing as well as 300 units of family housing, Balducci said. She acknowledged that this particular project may not be the best example of the coalition style governance she wants to represent as King County Executive — a lot of neighbors still had issues with the project — but in the end, many came around. 

Balducci sees herself as somebody who fights Nimby-ism wherever it sprouts. With the drop from her colleague King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay Tuesday night, announcing he also planned to “strongly consider” a run for King County Executive, Balducci probably won’t end up the most outwardly progressive candidate in the race. However, given Zahilay’s recent retreat on criminal legal system issues, Balducci may be able to style herself as a more consistent, left voice who delivers on her promises. Plus, she’d be the county’s first woman King County Executive in the position’s 56-year history. Wild we haven’t managed to elect one of those yet.

In the latest episode of The Convex Conversion, Olympic Gold medalist Dame Flora Duffy discussed her challenging journey to the Paris 2024 start line after a severe knee injury. The episode description says, “When reigning Olympic Gold triathlete Dame Flora Duffy takes her place on the pontoon on the Seine in Paris in three weeks’ […]

PlayList Management, LLC [PLM], a local talent management & development company, has joined forces with Scott Cooper, CEO & Founder of Talent Inc. and Evolution Management Company to host a Model and Talent Audition Workshop on Saturday, January 31st, 2015. PLM said, “Scott wants to see Bermuda’s talent and will offer industry insider advice on […]

Plus: "9-1-1" kicked off season eight with an action-packed three-episode story arc rising +156% in Total Viewers (12.64 million vs. 4.93 million) and +519% in Adults 18-49 (2.91 rating vs. 0.47 rating) over its initial Live+Same Day audience.

Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund sold part of its stake in the kingdom’s main mobile-phone operator for about $1 billion, the latest step in its efforts to raise cash for the government’s economic transformation plan. Most Read from Bloomberg The Public Investment Fund sold 100 million shares in Saudi…

Neom is scaling back its ambitious plans as costs swell. Neom Amid rising costs, Saudi Arabia is scaling back Neom plans to focus on sports venues. Neom's plans include a stadium for the 2034 World Cup and a winter sports resort. The new city faces financial challenges, leadership changes, and…

The authoritarian country is spending billions on international athletics, from Formula 1 to combat sports, to boost its bottom line and image.

Centre County’s pre-eminent classical ballet school’s annual production of "The Nutcracker" will transport audiences to a magical world where life-sized toy soldiers fight giant mice, snowflakes dance, and the Sugar Plum Fairy welcomes all to the Nutcracker’s Kingdom from the Land of Sweets. 

The updated Audi Q7 will launch in India by the end of this month, and the carmaker has started accepting bookings for the SUV.

Nadhmi Al-Nasr’s successor, Aiman al-Mudaifer, currently head of PIF's Local Real Estate Division, will serve as Neom’s acting CEO.  

RAWALPINDI: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Aviation was informed that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has not undergone a formal audit for the past decade, raising concerns about its regulatory compliance and safety oversight. Four aircraft accidents happened during this period, underscoring the need for improved operational protocols.

The fourth meeting of the Standing Committee on Aviation was held on Wednesday, chaired by MNA Nawabzada Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Babar.

The ministry concerned confirmed that the CAA has not undergone a formal audit for the past decade. The standing committee called for provision of all communications between the CAA and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to the committee regarding the lack of audits and their impact on the safety of passengers.

The committee was informed that the ongoing privatisation of PIA has led to suspension of staff transfers, postings, promotions, and the usual practice of rotating employees every three years.

Furthermore, financial constraints within the CAA have prevented necessary aircraft engine overhauls, reducing the operational fleet to just five aircraft and raising safety concerns.

The committee also expressed grave concern over the non-implementation of a National Assembly resolution passed on October 13, 2022, which called for renaming “Islamabad International Airport” to “Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Airport”.

Despite the resolution being passed nearly two years ago, no action has been taken to fulfil this directive, prompting widespread criticism from various quarters.

During the discussion of issues related to the Multan Flying Club, including the refund of student fees, resolution of employees’ concerns, and the submission of a report based on the audit and financial details of the club, the committee appointed a sub-committee for the refund of students’ fees from MFC and resolution of employees-related issues and sought a report based on the audit and financial details of the club.

The sub-committee consists of MNAs Dr Ramesh Lal (convener), Dr Darshan Choudhary Iftikhar Nazir and Dr Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Aqeel Malik, Rana Ibadat Sharif Khan, Dr Darshan, Choudhary Iftikhar Nazir, Nauman Islam Shaikh, Ramesh Lal, Munaza Hassan, Muhammad Saad Ullah and Dr Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2024

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, has arrived to hold talks with External Affairs Minister (EAM), S. Jaishankar.

The two countries are strengthening collaboration in new areas including technology, energy, renewable energy, connectivity, health and education

Infamous cult leader Charles Manson said he committed multiple murders in Mexico in the 1960s in audio used in the upcoming Peacock documentary series "Making Manson."

1. Al 21.000 arbeiders omgekomen bij bouw 170 kilometer lang appartementsblok in Saudi-Arabië, blijkt uit Britse docu  De Morgen
2. Al 21.000 arbeiders om het leven gekomen bij bouw van waanzinnig 170 kilometer lang appartementsblok in Saudi-Arabië  Het Laatste Nieuws

DeepIntent applies AI to data to identify medical and patient audiences for healthcare marketing, track them across devices, and deliver impactful messages

1. ‘India backs early ceasefire in Gaza’: S Jaishankar at meeting with Saudi Arabia  Hindustan Times
2. EAM Jaishankar: Situation in West Asia matter of deep concern  The Hindu
3. 'Saudi crucial for stability in Middle East': Jaishankar holds talks with counterpart  The Times of India
4. Video | S Jaishankar Holds Bilateral With Saudi Counterpart, Discuss Several Issues  NDTV
5. 'Matter of deep concern…': EAM S Jaishankar on Middle-East conflict at India-Saudi SPC meeting  The Economic Times

Following its Cannes-winning run, French director Jacques Audiard talks about how ‘Emilia Pérez’ reshapes the musical genre, with its lead star’s dazzling spectacle of contradiction and rebirth

EEPC expects the 12th edition of the International Engineering Sourcing Show (IESS) to held in Chennai between November 27 and 29, to attract over 300 delegates from over 40 countries

"Great Sermon!" This particular reading of the "greatest sermon ever preached on American soil", scared the hell out of me. Even as a regenerated Christian, I was trembling throughout the entire sermon. The actor who performed the reading of this certainly outdid himself. I would recommend this particular reading (produced by cloudaudio.com) over all the others.

Here you will find articles by or about George Muller, the man of faith, to encourage you to trust God for great things and to deepen your walk with God. We trust you will be encouraged to trust in the prayer-answering God for your needs. The Bible says "For all the promises of God in Him (Christ) are yea, and in Him (Christ) Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Cor. 1:20) and "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8).

Development of monastic communities: The small communities forming around the Desert Fathers were the beginning of Christian monasticism. Initially Anthony and others lived as hermits, sometimes forming groups of two or three. Small informal communities began developing, until the monk Pachomius, seeing the need for a more formal structure, established a monastery with rules and organization. His regulations included discipline, obedience, manual labor, silence, fasting, and long periods of prayer - some historians view the rules as being inspired by Pachomius' experiences as a soldier. -- The first fully organized monastery under Pachomius included men and women living in separate quarters, up to three in a room. They supported themselves by weaving cloth and baskets, along with other tasks. Each new monk or nun had a three year probationary period, concluding with admittance in full standing to the monastery. All property was held communally, meals were eaten together and in silence, twice a week they fasted, and they wore simple peasant clothing with a hood. Several times a day they came together for prayer and readings, and each person was expected to spend time alone meditating on the scriptures. Programs were created for educating those who came to the monastery unable to read. -- Pachomius also formalized the establishment of an abba (father) or amma (mother) in charge of the spiritual welfare of their monks and nuns, with the implication that those joining the monastery were also joining a new family. Members also formed smaller groups, with different tasks in the community and the responsibility of looking after each other's welfare. The new approach grew to the point that there were tens of thousands of monks and nuns in these organized communities within decades of Pachomius' death. One of the early pilgrims to the desert was Basil of Caesarea, who took the Rule of Pachomius into the eastern church. Basil expanded the idea of community by integrating the monks and nuns into the wider public community, with the monks and nuns under the authority of a bishop and serving the poor and needy. -- As more pilgrims began visiting the monks in the desert, the early literature coming from the monastic communities began spreading. Latin versions of the original Greek stories and sayings of the Desert Fathers, along with the earliest monastic rules coming out of the desert, guided the early monastic development in the Byzantine world and eventually in the western Christian world. The Rule of Saint Benedict was strongly influenced by the Desert Fathers, with Saint Benedict urging his monks to read the writings of John Cassian on the Desert Fathers. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers was also widely read in the early Benedictine monasteries. -- Withdrawal from society: The legalization of Christianity by the Roman Empire in 313 A.D. actually gave Anthony a greater resolve to go out into the desert. Anthony, who was nostalgic for the tradition of martyrdom, saw withdrawal and asceticism as an alternative. **When members of the {desert monastic} Church began finding ways to work with the Roman state, {a few of} the Desert Fathers saw that as a compromise between "the things of God and the things of Caesar." **The monastic communities were essentially **an alternate [heretical] Christian society. The {few early} hermits doubted that religion and politics could ever produce a truly Christian society. For them, the only Christian society was spiritual and not mundane. -- {Note: Where the early (heretics) Desert Monks failed to influence the early Christian Church via their false doctrine the Roman Government via Constantine would succeed in exerting a secular influence over the Christian Church. Then with a Roman secular influence over the Christian Church [starting from about 313 A.D - 325 A.D. the Desert Heretics were then able to leave behind the desert and [under the guise of the 313 A.D. edict of religious tolerance] once again entered the cities to work as scholars, faculty, administrators, and priests for avenues to continue to influence the true Christian Church with their destructive and very unchristian heresies.}

This has nothing to do with html or web design,
but some friends of mine have a cafe & they are
looking for musicians to provide their patrons
with entertainment. If you are a musician & live
in the area, click on either link for details.

World's slimmest and lightest high-fidelity active noise cancelling Bluetooth earphones, portable battery that supports both iPhone and Android devices with built-in turbo charge cables, ultra-mini Bluetooth speaker. All three of these can be magnetically attached, combining into one simple and convenient package. This was the core concept behind the product they have developed.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Duisburg, Germany, and Oslo, Norway - 1st July 2024

Most small businesses can perform a simple audit and improve their SEO considerably without involving an agency. Ten steps you can take to get started.

I am a big fan of getting the basics precisely dialed in for small business search engine optimization (SEO). Ensuring you lay a solid SEO foundation will typically deliver around 80 percent of the results, for only 20 percent of the effort, for small local businesses.

complete article

The Internal Revenue Service is planning to ramp up audits of smaller businesses and their investors by about 50 percent next year, following years of persistently low examination rates, an agency official said Tuesday.

The result could be a surge in audits of companies ranging from mom-and-pop retail stores and technology startups to investment funds that have historically faced only infrequent checks thanks to the time and effort required at the IRS.

In 9 days, on the 15th of July, Audible will release the first of the SANDMAN audio adaptations. These are, well, full cast audiobooks of the first three SANDMAN graphic novels: Dirk Maggs gave me the role of the narrator, and I gave him the original scripts, so often what I'm saying as narrator is what I asked the artists to draw, over thirty years ago.

These are very straightforward adaptations. For the upcoming Netflix TV series, we're starting from now, and doing it as if it was being written, for the first time, in 2020. The audio adaptations are much closer to the original graphic novels, each episode being a comic in the original. Eleven hours of drama. The cast is amazing. The production and the music are glorious. I'm not sure about the narrator, but everything else is sparkling and exciting. I hope you all enjoy it...

For people who need it in a more tangible form, it will also be for sale as CDs.

Click on this, and you will hear James McAvoy as Morpheus...

(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 01, 2024 ) The Europe Wireless Headphones market is experiencing substantial growth, driven by rising consumer preference for high-quality audio and seamless mobility. With advancements in noise-canceling technology, battery life, and Bluetooth connectivity, wireless headphones...

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As part of a general discussion with veteran Tulsa projectionist Scott Linder about Tulsa theaters and equipment, we see a photo of the webmaster as Audio Visual guy in 1967 or 8 at Lewis and Clark jr. high in GroupBlog 325.

To play RealAudio clips from this site, use the excellent and free VLC player. Works great on smartphones, too.

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Published at LXer: PipeWire 1.2.5 multimedia framework is out now, fixing critical bugs, enhances FreeBSD support, and improves JACK API memory management. Read More......

Published at LXer: The Audacious open-source audio player, a descendant of the XMMS media player, has been updated to version 4.4.1, a release that introduces several new features and improvements....