Three-year old inaugurates Jamison Square Loo

The forth in a walkable chain of Portland Loos was inaugurated under sunny skies this week. The honors of the First Flush went to three-year old Clark Bradley, standing here with his Mom and City Commissioner Randy Leonard in front of Loo with its colorful door designed by graphic artist Sarah Fine.The Loo stands across the street from a streetcar stop on the southwest corner of Jamison Square. Hundreds of kids like Clark come to the popular Pearl District park in the summer to splash in its famous fountain. Now thanks to the efforts of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, the Portland Water Bureau and the Bureau of Transportation, all those kids have a safe, clean, convenient place to go.

This Fourth “First Flush” follows less than a month on the Third, when a new Loo was opened near the new Legacy Fountain in Old Town Chinatown on World Toilet Day. Each inaugural event seems to attract more people. Those with doubts about having one of the sleek but basic and fairly low tech toilets near their homes and businesses are quickly won over: the Loo works. What’s more, the facility meets PHLUSH Public Restroom Design Principles, which were adopted by the Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association nearly two years before the first Loo hit the streets. The goal of the Design Principles is cost effective public restrooms that provide maximum function in minimum space and are safe, accessible, available, attractive and easy to keep clean.

There’s plenty of toilet paper in the US – so why are people hoarding it?

Almost 150 U.S. companies make toilet paper. Studio Dagdagaz/Shutterstock.com Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University The other day I went into Costco to buy some toilet paper. It came as a small shock when I couldn’t find a single roll. The new coronavirus is inspiring panic buying of a variety of household products such as…

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