Barbecue Restaurant Reo’s Ribs Suffers Third Fire in Last Five Years

At around 2 a.m. Saturday, August 13, a fire damaged the Hollywood District restaurant Reo’s Ribs, KOIN reports. This is the third time the restaurant, which was famously founded by Snoop Dogg’s late uncle Reo Varnado, has been found ablaze since 2017.

No one was reported hurt in the fire, which was started near a side door of the building and quickly extinguished by fire crews. But the incident marks another bump in the road for the restaurant, which reopened following what was ruled an accidental fire in 2017 and again only a few months ago following repairs from a case of arson in November 2020. Portland Fire & Rescue is investigating the cause of the latest fire. KGW reports that the restaurant lost its insurance coverage following the last two fires and plans on reopening again within the next two to six months.

The Sports Bra is Partnering with a National Organization to Provide Their Staff With Bystander Training

The women’s sports bar Sports Bra is committing to create a safety-minded workplace culture by partnering with SAFE Bar Network, according to a press release. Sports Bra employees will participate in a bystander intervention training conducted by the nonprofit in the interest of harm reduction and increasing safety. The training is designed to teach skills like how to identify unsafe behaviors, how to help, and how to foster a safe and fun environment to the staff of alcohol-serving venues.

Study Finds That Portland is Among the Slowest Cities to Rebound From the Pandemic

A study conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, which examined pre-pandemic activity versus “recovery value,” ranked 62 U.S. cities on their economic recovery as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. Portland was ranked 60th with a recovery value of 41 percent; San Francisco, California and Cleveland, Ohio pulled up the rear of the list. The study looked specifically at the cities’ downtown areas using GPS data from smartphones to determine how many people have been returning to restaurants, bars, attractions, and other businesses. Read the full story here.