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We are milkin’ this bad boy.

We posted HERE and HERE about the new BUSTED PAPER before.

FOX 12 Oregon stopped by to do a follow-up on BUSTED this morning.

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BUSTED website.

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A week ago I posted a few photos of the Park Avenue West progression.

Now I guess it will be a while before they start up again. Story HERE.

Our hearts go out to the construction crew who are losing their jobs because of this.

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I wanted to snap some photos of the progress on the Park Avenue West tower which is located one block east of Peterson’s on Morrison. After which I thought I’d share them with you…=)

Click Here for High-Resolution Image of above photo.

Click Here for High-Resolution Image of above photo.

Short Video above taken with my prehistoric digital camera.

Click Here for High-Resolution Image of above photo.

Following up on our previous post (Mug Shot Mania) we are adding a few more videos.

Thanks to the folks at Internet Archive for providing the base material for this video. A minute or two of footage from a creative commons movie called Gangsters Boy (1938) starring Jackie Cooper was used to create the following monstrosity . The full movie can be viewed HERE.

As you may already know, the press is having a field day with BUSTED, a small weekly newspaper containing mugshots of individuals who have been arrested for various local crimes. This video below is a report by local news station KATU.

And from KGW

And from WXSP

Completely Unrelated

We previously had posted a link to what was thought to be the BUSTED website, but soon found out that it was merely an imposter trying to cash in on the real BUSTED. The real BUSTED website can be viewed at http://bustedpaper.com/.

bustedpaper.com

As to whether or not BUSTED is beneficial to the community or is merely a sideshow act in print form, there is no doubt that BUSTED is making its mark here in Portland. It has been mentioned that there may be some individuals who will use BUSTED as a platform to garner fame. We hope this is not the case, but if law abiding citizens take the upper hand and use BUSTED as a tool to stay informed and to assist Law Enforcement, it could definitely be a huge asset in helping to fight crime.

A lot of Portland’s downtown retailers would surely all agree on the fact that there are some interesting characters that patronize their businesses. This is certainly true here at Peterson’s. We have customers from all walks of life, and the majority of them are cool peeps and we love em. There are however, a handful of people that have it in mind that they are above the laws of morality and exude behaviors that are less than desirable. 

To combat this, we put together a little notebook that we keep at each one of our stores. In it we have pictures of individuals who are notorious for stealing from us, or are known street drinkers, etc. This way our employees can stay informed on who to watch out for. The pictures we obtain of these individuals are from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office website.

So it was ironic when we got a visit today from a man who was selling copies of a new local rag called “Busted”.

Busted is a publication that plasters the mugshots of individuals who have been recently arrested and detained in Multnomah County. They sell for a dollar each and contain several pages of just plain ol’ mugshots with the persons name and charge located under their photo.

We decided to purchase a few to see how they might sell. We sold a couple of them right away, and as people walked through the front door they immediately saw the sales display and most couldn’t help but stop and read what it was all about. 

Completely unrelated.

Well, not surprisingly there is some controversy surrounding this publication. After some quick research, it was discovered that Portland is not the first city to have “Busted” lining it’s magazine and newspaper shelves.

Grand Rapids/Kent County Michigan is where it looks like this publication has its roots. Published by “Semi Valley Sound LLC” is owned by a guy named Dan O. from the Ocala, Florida area and is incorporated in Delaware. Wait, where have I heard that before? (Dan O. as in “book em Dan-O.”) *rimshot* ahem….

MUGS MONEY CARTOONS?

A Television station in the Michigan area did a short segment on the controversy surrounding this publication, which I have posted below.

“We’d have a lot of newspaper’s wouldn’t we?

The publication has a disclaimer on the front stating the following.

“All content provided in Busted is deemed to be in the public domain. Busted only compiles information form [sic] public records for public consumption. Busted assumes all records are accurate but does not guarantee accuracy.  Corrections or complaints should be made to the department or agency providing said records.

The data in this publication provides arrest and booking information and should not be relied upon to determine an individual’s actual criminal record. This data may not reflect charging decisions made by the State Attorney’s Office or the outcome of criminal trials. An acquittal or dismissal of a criminal charge does not necessarily negate the validity of an arrest. To obtain the final disposition of any criminal charges, contact the Clerk of the Court’s Office.”

PUBLISHED BY SEMI VALLEY SOUND LLC

(Update) Busted has just put up their website. bustedpaper.com

It will be interesting to see in the days and weeks that follow whether or not any controversy will arise out of “Busted” coming to town.

And now for something completely different, but still related in a matter of fashion.

We would like to send a GREAT BIG shout out to the Portland Police Dept. for their hard work and dedication on helping us SW Downtown Retailers reclaim our sidewalks back, which have been heavily occupied recently by a giant rash of crack dealers/users.

Personally I had made a call a couple months back to the non-emergency line of the P.P.D. I just HAD to speak with an officer about the ridiculously obvious nature of the massive crack dealing going on around the SW Wash./4th ave. area. The officer, who’s name escapes me at the moment, was very cordial and polite, and took note of my complaint. No doubt I wasn’t the only employee in the area who had made such a call. And I would like to think it was in part due to my whining that got the ball rolling on this particular endeavor by the P.P.D.

So again, to the Portland Police Department, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! If it wasn’t against departmental policy for the P.D. to accept gifts, I would buy you all something real nice to show my appreciation. So the least I can do is give you guys a GREAT BIG SHOUT OUT! (did I say that already?)

AND NOW, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Three, count em, Three Local Television News stations came by our Fourth avenue store today. Channel’s 2, 6, and 12 respectively. All 3 stations were doing a story on the Undercover Drug Sting Operation that has been taking place lately in the SW Downtown area. Some of those faces in the Busted rag were no doubt some of the unknowing participants in the drug sting. 

Our star employee Mr. C, is no stranger to being interviewed by the press.

MEDIA HAM

Video below of Fox 12 interview. Sorry about the poor sound quality. You will probably need to turn up the volume up all the way just to hear the audio, but don’t forget to turn it down afterwards. We don’t want you to blow your eardrums out later on the next video. I had just found out about the interviews and barely had time to set up the video camera when the story came on the news at 10 p.m. 

Below is another video clip, this one from Channel 2. The Audio is slightly better than the last one but still not that great, so you may have to turn the volume up to hear the sound. My video camera doesn’t pick up sound too well while I record the T.V. So I apologize for the lousy audio.

More Media Ham-mage. 

We are in the midst of revamping our website/blog here at Peterson’s, so please pardon the dust!

Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming coupon page, where you will be able to print out coupons for products sold at any Peterson’s location. Every penny saved is worth the effort in this crazy economy as of late.

Thanks for visiting!

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Choose locally-owned businesses!

THE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS NETWORK OF PORTLAND’S

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              LOCALLY-OWNED INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES

If you are are concerned about strengthening the quality of life in Portland’s neighborhoods and the economic vitality of the greater Portland area, you need to consider the positive impact you have when you buy from independent, locally owned businesses. Voting with your dollars does make a difference, and it is a positive step towards connecting with your community, reducing your impact on the earth, and becoming a more engaged citizen.

http://www.thinklocalportland.org/

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Despite all the nasty white stuff that obliterated our normal way of life, all three Peterson’s Convenience Store locations managed to stay open, even on Christmas. A special Thank You to all of our employees who braved the elements and sacrificed their holiday to make sure our Customers had a place to shop since so many other retailers were closed either for the holiday, or because of the weather.

Okay, here is a story that puts the 3 in 3-dimensional.

1. Newspaper runs historic cover story of Presidential win by Barack Obama. 

2. Local news station does story on said historic cover story of Presidential win.

3. Peterson’s runs story on blog about Local news station doing story on historic cover story, er..um, well, you get the picture.

Before the ink was even dry, the newspapers were flying off the racks at Peterson’s Convenience Stores in downtown Portland the morning after Barack Obama’s Presidential Victory.

This was an historic occasion, and many, many people wanted to have some kind of keepsake to add to their library of cherished memories. Only problem was, we had to turn many people away empty handed.

It became quite apparent that this situation was equally widespread across the entire globe. So much so, that local T.V. news outlets were running segments about the newspaper shortages covering the Obama win.

Here at Peterson’s we have our own claim to fame. KPTV Field Reporter Brent Weisberg, pictured below, was on scene at our Morrison store covering the situation.

 Brent took a few shots of the store, and then some shots of the newspaper racks.

After the exterior shots, he headed inside for the interview with star employee, Mr. C.

The actual news coverage can be seen in it’s entirety by clicking THIS LINK HERE.

Stay tuned, as we have more news worthy stories developing as we speak. And I have a hunch that KPTV will be back to cover these as well.

Now if you’ll exuse me, I have to go get a newspaper, and this one won’t be lining the bottom of a parrot cage. This one I’m keepin’ mint.

UPDATE: CLICK THIS LINK HERE to view several hundred newspaper front pages from around the world regarding the Obama win.