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DoomsdaysCW @[email protected] · 2025-04-26 · 18:20 UTC

#PortlandME #ChildrensMuseum loses federal grant intended for #WabanakiHistory programs

by Gillian Graham, Portland Press Herald, Maine
Sat, April 12, 2025 at 4:06 AM EDT

"The Trump administration has terminated a nearly $250,000 grant the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine was using for programs about #Wabanaki culture and history.

"The Portland museum was awarded the money last year from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and was already deep in the process of developing a project that includes programs for schoolchildren and other visitors, curriculum support for teachers and a play adapted from a children's book.

"Then an email arrived late Wednesday night notifying Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino that the grant has been terminated, casting uncertainty on how the nonprofit organization will pay for the project.

" 'It sort of feels like the rug was pulled out from under us in the middle of an important project,' she said. 'It's pretty brutal. It's a big loss in promised funds for an organization like ours.'

"The children's museum is among the many #museums, #libraries and other organizations across the country that are now scrambling to deal with the loss of funding they depended on to operate.

"President Donald #Trump signed an executive order declaring the Institute of Museum and Library Services [#IMLS], the primary federal support for U.S. libraries and museums, 'unnecessary' and vowing to eliminate or nearly eliminate it. Weeks later, he placed the federal agency's entire staff on a 90-day leave.

"This week, the #MaineStateLibrary laid off 13 staff members — nearly one-third of its staff — and closed for two weeks to restructure its operations because its funding from #IMLS is indefinitely suspended, according to State Librarian #LoriFisher.

"Maine is among more than 20 states suing the federal government over its attempt to shutter IMLS. That suit also challenges Trump's targeting of the Minority Business Development Agency and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

"The IMLS last year awarded $266.7 million in grants, research and policy development to museums, libraries and related organizations.

"The children's museum was awarded the $224,143 Museums for America grant in August, the first time in two decades it had received a grant from the IMLS.

"The museum had already received a $40,000 reimbursement from the grant funding and had requested another $15,000 reimbursement. But that second reimbursement never came and with Trump's comments about eliminating the agency, the museum staff and board were worried about the funding even before it was canceled.

" 'We had some concerns and suspicions, given the news and the termination of all the staff members at IMLS,' Butcher Pezzino said. 'That didn't feel like it would bode well.'"

Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/childrens-museum-loses-federal-grant-080600799.html

#CulturalErasure #TrumpIsABully #USPol #NativeAmericanCulture #WabanakiConfederacy #MaineFirstNations #History #ErasingHistory
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #IndigenousPeoplesDay

#portlandme #childrensmuseum #wabanakihistory #wabanaki #museums #libraries

Steve's Place @[email protected] · 2025-08-05 · 09:44 UTC

PBOT will race into your wallet if you race down streets or screw up at intersections. New email:

(Aug. 4, 2025) The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) announced today its contract with NovoaGlobal to supply and operate Portland’s Speed and Intersection Safety Camera program.

The safety camera program is a critical component of Portland’s Vision Zero program, which aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Oregon state law allows cities to use speed and intersection safety cameras to improve traffic safety. The program is funded by the revenue from camera citations and traffic safety diversion class registration fees.

NovoaGlobal will be the City of Portland’s sole supplier and operator for the Speed and Intersection Safety Camera program, as well as PPB Traffic Division’s two mobile speed enforcement vans. The 32 cameras are composed of 15 speed safety cameras, which enforce only speeding; and 17 intersection safety cameras, which enforce both speeding and traffic signal compliance.

NovoaGlobal currently operates in the United States and South America, including Washington, D.C., Tacoma, and Beaverton. Their comprehensive traffic safety solutions—including red light, speed, and school zone speed enforcement—offer turnkey programs to help combat the ongoing crisis of traffic-related injuries and fatalities.

Work is underway to install its industry-leading technology at Portland’s 32 existing camera locations and two mobile vans. The new camera installation work is projected to be complete by November 1.

As part of this transition, the city will add three additional locations to its safety camera network:

SE Powell Boulevard at 34th Avenue (westbound)
NE 82nd Avenue at Fremont Street (southbound)
NE 82nd Avenue at Klickitat Street (northbound)

The city initiates a 30-day warning period before new cameras begin issuing citations.

In addition, the city will install two speed safety cameras on SE Powell Boulevard at or near 60th Avenue by January 2026. Two cameras to be installed on SW Barbur Boulevard in the 5900 to 6100 blocks are also in the design phase.

This fall, PBOT and PPB will undertake a camera expansion planning process to expand beyond the 40 existing and planned locations. New locations are selected based on traffic crash data and site suitability. All of Portland’s safety cameras are on Portland's High Crash Network which represents just 8% of Portland’s streets but accounted for 70% of deadly crashes in 2022.
Speeding is deadly

Speeding is a top contributing factor to deadly crashes across the Portland region. Even small increases in speed can significantly increase both the risk of crashing and the severity of injuries when a collision occurs. A pedestrian hit at 20 mph has a 20% chance of severe injury or death, while a pedestrian hit at 40 mph has an 80% chance of severe injury or death.

Speed and intersection safety cameras in Portland are an effective and popular way to reduce dangerous speeding. Since the first speed safety cameras were installed in 2016, speeding at all camera locations dropped 59% and top-end speeding (more than 10 mph over the speed limit) dropped 88%.

In addition to local success, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration completed an international survey of automated enforcement and found that speed safety camera enforcement reduces injury crashes by 20 to 25%. A more recent study from the public health network Cochrane found that speed safety cameras reduced total crashes by up to 49% and deadly and serious injury crashes by up to 44%.

In PBOT’s Nov. 2024 survey of nearly 2,000 Portlanders, 82% of surveyors expressed support for Portland’s intersection safety cameras, 76% supported Portland’s speed safety cameras, and 72% supported Portland Police’s mobile vans.

The cameras are part of PBOT's multipronged safety strategy with roadway redesign, speed limit reduction, and education. This integrated strategy has dramatically decreased both speeding (a primary cause of Portland traffic fatalities) at camera locations. The 85th percentile speed (also known as the prevailing speed) at Portland’s speed safety camera locations dropped by 10 mph or 22% between 2015 and 2024.

By leveraging the most advanced automated technology available, the city will continue its efforts to make Portland’s streets safer for all.

#Portland #PDX #PBOT #PPB #NovoaGlobal #SpeedCameras #TrafficCameras

#portland #pdx #pbot #ppb #novoaglobal #speedcameras