Homeless camp fire closes Steel Bridge onramp indefinitely, reveals makeshift living spaces. Does this story remind you of anything? Allow me to illustrate. How many people know what a nutria is? In the early twentieth century, somebody had an idea to import them from South America to harvest their fur for women’s fashions, like the popular mink. Long story short, the fur trade fell out of favor thanks to folks like PETA, so those that didn’t escape were released. Like the habits of the proverbial rabbit, these invasive critters multiplied out of control. They’re a HUGE problem in Louisiana and other southeastern states touched by the Mississippi River, where their prolific numbers burrow into flood control levees, causing them to fail. It would appear that Portland has been invaded by two-legged nutria, capable of destroying bridge abutments (no doubt using stolen tools). To anybody whose daily commute was torn asunder by the closure of this bridge: If you’re one of the Democrats who voted for the idiot politicians refusing to get rid of the two-legged nutria and instead keep feeding them, I hope you’re happy with the inconvenience, ’cause you voted for it. If your commute is disrupted, and you’re the rare commonsense voter in Portland, you have my deepest sympathies.
