Rip Wheeler

‼️The Democratic Downfall of Portland and Oregon… -Second worst place in America to invest -6.5 million square feet of commercial vacancy -The top 20 office towers have lost 57% of their combined value in 5 years -6,700 jobs lost… 25,000 in population loss -Ranked 80 out of 81 in real estate attractiveness -Over 2000+ overdose deaths in the past few years -Homelessness grew from 4,500+ in 2020 to 11,400+ in 2024 -The overall crime rate is higher or nearly double on specific crimes than the national average -Portland’s combined tax rate for top earners is the second highest in the nation at 13.9% -Oregon’s current fifth graders posted bottom-of-the-barrel math scores that were measurably worse than those in 45 other states -CNBC reports Oregon is one of the worst states for business -Oregon is listed as the fourth-worst place to move to -Office buildings are 30% empty… The iconic U.S. Bancorp Tower just sold for $45 million—80% less than it sold for in 2015 -Major employers like Wells Fargo, Standard Insurance, and Unitus Community Credit Union have fled downtown or left entirely -Portland City Council was proposing defunding the police in favor of park funding just last year -The state’s economists say Oregon is in a growth recession or near-stagnation 👉🏻 Just a reminder that Oregon has a Democrat Supermajority and they have filed so many lawsuits against Trump that we have lost count, so any policies that have ruined this state or Portland should land squarely on them. But yet they still blame Trump?! 🤔😵‍💫

Police arrested 17-year-old Markel Lee on Friday for killing high school student Martha Odom at the Mall of Louisiana on Thursday during the mass shooting. Lee, along with his lawyer, turned himself in to police on Friday. Odom reportedly died from a gunshot wound to the chest. She had been at the mall celebrating “Senior Skip Day.” Lee faces one count of first-degree murder and will be charged with five counts of attempted first-degree murder for the other people shot. Baton Rouge Police are asking for help identifying another suspect who was caught on camera (00:08). If you recognize him, please contact the authorities. Police say nobody wants to talk about it but there is a gang problem in Baton Rouge. This mass shooting stemmed from a social media beef between two groups. After they found each other at the food court at the mall, shots rang out. Call them groups or call them gangs—it’s mass violence and it has no place in civil society. Lee deserves life in prison. Gov. Landry blamed his parents, saying, “The beginning of this failure was at home.” He also blamed the judicial system for being too soft on criminals. Lee had a long criminal history already at such a young age. He shouldn’t have been free to harm innocent people. Gov. Landry gave his solution for violent crimes like Thursday’s mass shooting: “People say we cannot arrest our way out of this problem, and they are right. We can sentence our way out of this problem.” Odom deserves to be alive. May she rest in peace and may stricter legal penalties for violent criminals be realized. Another victim from this mass shooting, 43-year-old Donnie Guillory, is in critical condition at a hospital. If he dies, another count of first-degree murder would be added to Lee’s charges. (wbrz on IG)