Eight rail cars holding liquid asphalt sustained heavy fire damage but did not rupture. Had they been carrying oil, the director of Portland Emergency Management, said, “It would have been a different story.” Photo by Thacher Schmid By Thacher Schmid … Continue reading Ominous message in truck-train fire
For a half-century, the Linnton Plywood Association mill was a model of worker ownership and democratic control of the workplace. Everyone, from the general manager to the guy who ran the Raimann patcher machine—what one former worker called “a … Continue reading Falling Apart
Tank farms Northwest of the St. Johns Bridge are above the Portland Hills Fault, a key reason Linnton would be hard hit by a major earthquake. Photo by Wesley Mahan ‘Perfect storm’ of hazards make Linnton the worst place to … Continue reading Earthquake Central
This article appeared in the July 2015 issue of the NW Examiner. If the Linnton neighborhood is to get its “village,” its “complete community,” as envisioned by its leaders for decades, it will need some help from City Hall. The … Continue reading Linnton’s Stubborn Dream
If you’re a big vegetable person like Amanda Munro, who gets enthusiastic about onions, spring salad, potatoes and zucchini, getting a new community garden is cause for celebration anywhere. But for Munro and other residents of Linnton, the promise embodied … Continue reading Community Garden to Knit Town Split by Highway
Writing in the Flat Keys: Thacher Schmid's Portfolio 