Apartment Choice

Opponents have organized against an effort to rein in rent increases in Maine’s largest city. A group calling itself Say No To Rent Control announced its formal opposition Tuesday to Fair Rent Portland ‘s initiative to adopt a rent stabilization ordinance by referendum in November. The announcement sets the stage for a vigorous fall campaign , which comes as longtime residents and low- wage renters worry that a steep rise in rents and the influx of luxury housing is leading to gentrification and a growing affordability gap between incomes and housing costs. The new group is casting the referendum effort as a rent control ordinance that would harm the city’s housing market, although the supporters say the plan meets the definition of modern rent stabilization efforts that have been successful in other states. Among other things, Fair Rent Portland ’s initiative would limit rent increases to the rate of inflation for landlords who own five or more apartments and establish a Rent...

by Lynda Carson Oakland – On March 3, the same day that Oakland tenant activists filed a ballot initiative to strengthen renter protections called the “Renters Upgrade,” the California Apartment Association (CAA) announced that they were keeping an eye on things and are coming up with their own plan to counter the tenant’s movement efforts somehow, including in Richmond and Alameda. Tenants fight gentrification as apartment buildings are flipped and rents raised in Highland Park, Los Angeles. – Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez , LA Times" /> Tenants fight gentrification as apartment buildings are flipped and rents raised in Highland Park, Los Angeles. – Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez , LA Times The CAA announced to its 13,000 members, affiliates and partners: “Tenant advocates in Richmond and Alameda have filed preliminary paperwork to place rent control initiatives on the November ballot. In both East Bay cities , the initiative efforts are in the early stages, and in...

On Aug. 9, 2007, Lansing police discovered the beaten body of 46-year-old Debra Renfors in her apartment in the 1000 block of North Washington Street . Renfors was the third woman to be bludgeoned to death in the city in two weeks, and a grim reality was beginning to set in. Det. Sgt. Joey Dionise confronted Captain Ray Hall , giving voice to a fear that had been bubbling for days. “Captain,” Dionise said, ”We have a serial killer. Years later, Hall still remembers the “sinking feeling” that accompanied that moment. Ten years ago this month, Lansing was in the grip of a killer who preyed on single women, using whatever was convenient to murder them, and, in some instances, sexually assaulting them. Before police caught him, he had killed five women in just over four weeks. A sixth woman would survive. Matthew Emmanuel Macon , then 27, was eventually convicted of two of the murders, and the assault of the surviving victim. When detectives got Macon in an interview room, it would take ...