OREGON ROAD REPORT

Traffic news and road conditions

There are things - usually, simple, everyday things -- that remind me why I heart Portland. One of them: Encountering a bike move in progress.

Watching bands of cyclists haul furniture, boxes, lamps and anything else from one home to the next in the rain is not only great anthropology, but it makes me smile.

You can watch the Bike.TV-produced video of a bike move above to see how it's done. Or you can pedal to the uberrecycling headquarters of SCRAP, the School & Community Reuse Action Project, on Sunday to participate in one of the moves.

GoogleGoogle's London Tube transit layer.

Now, this is commuter cool: The brainiacs at Google have launched a handy-dandy "transit layer" that allows you to click on a bus or train stop in a city and get real-time arrival information.

Sure, Google Transit already exists. But that only provides schedule information for public transportation. The new transit layer, which works for Portland and 49 other cities around the globe, overlays interactive lines and stations on regular Google Maps.

xof1.comThe Power of One solar car during its stop at the North Pole.

If you see a shiny, flying saucer-shaped vehicle buzzing through the streets of Portland today, don't freak out. There's no need to grab your shotgun and push the family into the cellar

We're not being invaded by three-wheeled aliens from Rigel 7. We're getting a glimpse at the future of commuting. Well, one possible future anyway.

A wreck about 5:30 p.m. today on westbound U.S. 26 just west of the Vista Ridge tunnel in has delayed traffic as far back as Interstate 405 in Portland.

The wreck has been cleared, but tie-ups remain, even in downtown Portland streets leading to I-405, said Dave Thompson, an Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman.

It's been a messy day for traffic on Portland area roads. We're not saying the traffic jams and wrecks are a harbinger of bad things during the evening commute, but traffic cops and transportation crews have been busy.

Rory Almanza was heading home from work one evening, walking to a nearby bus stop, when he noticed a man run around him, chasing a woman, yelling obscenities. He saw the woman fall to the ground in the middle of Southeast Gladstone.

Almanza forgot about his bus, and went up to the woman to try to help her. Her attacker had run off, but then came back.