Dr. Know

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

How come, three years after the completion of the South Portland addressing project, there are still street signs within the new South Portland sextant with the “SW” prefix on the street signs? —Annoyed Driver

After three weeks of listening to folks gripe about potholes, it’s refreshing to hear from someone whose biggest complaint about Portland’s streets is a small pocket of out-of-date signage. That said, there’s no way I can focus on your mote of a question in the face of the giant plank of controversy that is your use of the term “sextant.”

Just in case any retired clipper ship captains are reading this, the word “sextant” in this context does not refer to the navigational instrument that launched the Age of Sail, but rather to one of the compass-defined sections of Portland: North, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest and now South. Since one of four sections of an area is a quadrant, the reasoning goes, one of six sections should be called a sextant.

I admit, Annoyed, that at first I assumed you were just an insufferable pedant (my favorite kind!) story “A Michigan Nonprofit Is Blanketing Portland in Religious Literature” [wweek.com, May 13], the content managers of Christ in the story know about MailChimp, for sure. Adding to the landfill in the most liberal city in America may not be the sharpest marketing strategy, but it could be the dumbest yet, unless I compare it to the daily effort put in across Burnside from Powell’s Books, where “FREE BIBLE lessons” are offered off a stationary rack manned by a couple of salespersons. I do not see much difference. Those folks, like the mail-order proselytizers, are going for the win: the bloody red meat of fresh young Portland liberals coming out of Powell’s and/or the gays wandering past to shop at Buffalo Exchange, or the pub crawler secular professionals cruising towards drinks in the Pearl, who have left off any interest in a god who shames them or their friends. I find the book mailers and sidewalk promoters about as close to their desired catch as the I am to becoming an astronaut.

It seems a measurable offense when well-meaning “helpers” look straight past the faded spirits of the disenfranchised homeless and destitute (standing nearby and who have almost nothing except a thread of hope that things may turn around) and straight on to those who have found a happy city to love and thrive in. This is the problem with phoning it in. It’s a dial tone.

P. Moss, Southwest Portland

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author's street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: P.O. Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296

Email: mzusman@wweek.com showing off your command of Latin. It turns out, however, that city officials have actually been repping “sextant” as the official term since the creation of South Portland in 2020. (They acknowledge that some Portlanders may still prefer “quadrant,” which they say they’ll continue to “informally recognize.”)

It’s true that in geometry, where “quadrant” refers to a quarter of a circle, a sixth of a circle can be called a sextant. But “quadrant” has also come to mean one of four parts more generally; “sextant” hasn’t. Not even the Oxford English Dictionary— which has three citations for the word “zarf”—could find a precedent for a broader definition of “sextant.”

Moreover, where was this fetish for arithmetic precision for the 88 or so years we were blithely using the word “quadrant” to refer to our five—not four—addressing areas? By this model we should have called them “quintants” for that whole time. (Though I think it’s pretty obvious why we didn’t.)

This is not to say that “quadrant” doesn’t suck. We need a better word. Borough? Ward? Arrondissement? I’m open to suggestions. But the clock is ticking because charter reform is about to give us city council…districts? Zones? (Astrolabes?) They’ll need a name for them. We should grab a good one before they do, or we may find there’s nothing better than “sextant” extant.

Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.

WEED DISPENSARIES MUST PROVE THEY PAID TAXES: embattled cannabis dispensary chain La Mota, whose founders are the subject of $7 million in tax liens, Gov. Tina Kotek directed the Oregon Department of Revenue and the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission this week to require a certificate of tax compliance from dispensa ries before granting or renewing a license. “This will help ensure that all businesses are operat ing under the same rules and not getting any competitive advantage if they haven’t paid their taxes,” Kotek said in a statement. The OLCC, which regulates cannabis, already had statutory authority to penalize a licensee if it failed to pay marijuana taxes. But that power was seldom used, in part because it required coordination with the Department of Revenue. The OLCC will begin crafting rules for the new policy this year. According to the state, cannabis businesses have a 9% noncompliance rate compared with 3% across other industries.

OVERDOSE DEATHS UP NEARLY 50% THIS YEAR: The Portland Police Bureau released new data Tuesday morning showing a dramatic increase in drug overdose deaths. Last year, there were a record 158 overdose deaths in Portland. This year will almost certainly surpass that peak. There have already been 85, a 46% increase from this time last year, PPB spokesman Nathan Sheppard tells WW. “Keep in mind that the numbers for this year are actually only preliminary because the medical examiner will continue to process toxicology reports that will only increase the number of deaths considered overdoses,” Sheppard adds. Tuesday’s data release comes after a particularly lethal weekend on Portland’s streets in which police investigated eight suspected overdoses. Six of those were due to fentanyl, the potent, cheap opioid that has driven a massive rise in overdoses across Oregon in recent years. It’s easily mistaken for other powdered drugs, like cocaine, as police suspect happened in several of the recent cases. “Users are warned that there may be a batch of purported cocaine circulating on the street that is particularly dangerous to use,” the bureau said Sunday. See more on page 6.

Commission against House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, alleging the Prineville Republican used her elected office for personal gain. In his complaint, Layda notes facts that WW first reported last year (“All in the Family, Nov. 2, 2022): that after Breese-Iverson became the House Republican caucus leader, the caucus began spending large amounts of money with Iverson Media Group, which is owned by Breese-Iverson’s husband, Bryan Iverson. “She was always integrally involved in her husband’s political consulting company and has personally profited directly or by common property law,” Layda wrote in his complaint. Breese-Iverson says Layda is off-base: “Mr. Layda’s complaint before the OGEC is frivolous and without merit.

I look forward to OGEC’s swift and thorough examination of the complaint.” Layda may be familiar to readers as the 2022 primary opponent of state Rep. Brian Stout (R-Columbia City), who is now the subject of a five-year sexual abuse prevention order. Layda’s complaint also alleges Breese-Iverson conspired with Stout. Stout says he hasn’t seen the complaint but is aware Layda is pursuing what Stout termed a “strange conspiracy theory.”

FIND ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS ONLINE: The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and Portland Public Schools board will get new members in the May 16 special election. Voters will also decide the outcome of two tax measures. Check wweek.com for the latest results.