Your Daily Guide

Centennial Mills Warehouse Demolition Begins

It's been just over two weeks since a four-alarm fire broke out at the 116-year-old Centennial Mills warehouse building on the Northwest waterfront, collapsing all eight stories inside the building. Today, demolition efforts are scheduled to finally get underway with the demolition of the building's water tower. Here's the latest on what's to come and other related developments. [Oregonian]

• Demolition: Staton Companies, a Eugene-based contractor hired by the building owner, began mobilizing equipment at the site last Thursday in preparation for demolition. Experts recommended a slower demolition to avoid hazardous waste spreading. Contractors are scheduled to take down the water tower this afternoon using "a series of four controlled explosions." Text alerts and sirens will be used to notify nearby residents — the city is advising them to stay inside during the demolition to avoid inhaling possible hazardous material like lead and asbestos if the building collapses. [Portland.gov / KATU / Oregonian]
• City response: Last Monday, Mayor Keith Wilson declared a state of emergency for the area surrounding the warehouse to address ongoing risks and organize city resources. Due to safety concerns, contractors established a safety perimeter — no less than 1.5 times the building height — to protect the public from a potential collapse. [Oregonian / Portland.gov]
• Train activity: City officials warn that continued train activity on the nearby railway could risk the building's collapse. Amtrak has paused all passenger trains through the area indefinitely, while Union Pacific Railroad has continued moving rail cars through the collapse zone, some containing residual toxic chemicals. [KGW]
• Related: Democratic state Rep. Shannon Isadore — who represents Northwest Portland — announced that she's working on legislation to prevent further catastrophes from happening in other abandoned buildings across Portland. She aims to introduce her proposal in next year's legislative session. [KGW]

More Complaints Against Portland Police

A new report from the city's Independent Police Review shows a 19% increase in complaints from community members — and a roughly 42% increase in complaints from within the police bureau — against Portland police from 2024 to 2025. Despite the increase, use-of-force allegations dropped by 17% — the majority of the force allegations were initiated while "reviewing reports or body-camera footage," rather than being a part of citizen complaints about an incident. [KATU]

Portland Assists Newport in Fight Against ICE

Portland city leaders recently announced they have contributed $20,000 to support Newport's fight against the construction of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and processing facility at the Newport Municipal Airport. The contribution is a combination of funds from the offices of Mayor Keith Wilson and Councilor Steve Novick in response to a formal request from Newport Mayor Jan Kaplan. The Trump administration has already said it will no longer be moving forward with the plan, but Newport leaders are continuing with the lawsuit to "secure permanent restrictions on the property". [KPTV]

Another Celebrity Chef in Portland

Today on the podcast, we're looking into a former Oregon congresswoman’s new job lobbying for data centers. Plus, we’re talking about a new celebrity chef in Portland alongside next month’s Rose City Comic Con and Geek Week. [City Cast Portland 🎧]