Half of property crime reports in Portland are filed using the Portland Police Bureau's online system. But with little regular follow-up, victim satisfaction is low.

Why it matters: Like most large cities, Portland uses online reporting for certain crimes to save resources and as an alternative to calling police. But when victims feel that the reports go nowhere, it increases frustration with the city overall.

Driving the news: New research found that 62% of people who filed crime reports online said it was easy, but just over 16% were satisfied with the department's response.

• "People expect when they make a report, there's gonna be a follow-up," says lead researcher Kris Henning of Portland State University.
• Having an officer call or email to follow up even more than three weeks later more than doubled victims' satisfaction.

What they did: In 14 mostly northeast Portland neighborhoods, PSU researchers paid off-duty officers to call people who filed online crime reports, leaving messages and sending emails if no one picked up.

• Officers made more than 3,000 calls or emails over 15 months, using specific scripts.
• Six nearby control neighborhoods got no special follow-up calls.

What they found: 16.7% of crime victims in the control neighborhoods got some follow-up anyway, through routine officer assignment. But victims who got called as part of the research expressed more satisfaction.

• 10.1% more said that the officer took the incident seriously.
• 12.8% more said the officer showed concern for their welfare.

Context: The email and call scripts were designed with procedural justice elements, like treating people respectfully and making them feel that their concerns were heard.

Of note: This research has nothing to do with solving property crimes; it is focused on increasing trust and sharing information.

• Portland and Multnomah County officials are expected to announce today new enforcement efforts against property crime.

What's next: Henning is seeking funding to do expanded research citywide.

• The police bureau plans to add a welcome video to the online crime reporting portal this month, with Chief Chuck Lovell expressing empathy and offering tips on using the system.

What’s your experience? Hit reply and let us know.

Portland's months of gloom and near-constant drizzle have at least one payoff: wildflower season.

Driving the news: Our region's wildflowers are breaking through wet soil and illuminating mountainsides in vibrant yellow, blue, purple and pink.

Here's where, and when, to find peak bloom.

Tryon Creek

Home to the annual Trillium Festival, Tryon Creek is the perfect place to spot the vivid white, three-petaled "unofficial harbinger of spring" without ever leaving the city.

Peak bloom: Late April, early May

Length: Paved 3-mile bike trail, fully accessible 0.35-mile Trillium Trail and other trails of varying lengths

Difficulty: Easy

Camassia Natural Area

Travel down the Willamette to West Linn to find the park's namesake star-shaped flower: the common camas. The park's wetlands and meadows also make perfect grounds for the powder-pink rosy plectritis and western saxifrage rosettes.

Peak bloom: Mid-March to early June

Length: 1-mile loop

Difficulty: Easy

Three more

Fred Meyer — known by many around here as Freddy's — wins the popularity contest among Portland grocery shoppers, with 29.9% of the market as of last year.

• Safeway is a distant second and Walmart third, according to new data from Chain Store Guide, which tracks the retail and food service industries.

Why it matters: There's a big grocery store merger looming that would shuffle this chart significantly. Albertsons, which owns Safeway, wants to combine with Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer and QFC.

• That could give the combined company a 52.2% market share in Portland.

Of note: Oregon's Department of Justice joined a failed lawsuit to stop Albertsons from giving a $4 billion payout to shareholders as part of the proposal.

• A spokesperson says the department is continuing to investigate "the competitive effects of the proposed transaction" around the state.

The intrigue: While the proposed merger could have a dramatic effect here, the parent companies are focused on battling national giant Walmart, with a 25% market share, and Amazon, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick and Erin Davis report.

Stop talking and eat! Portland's local markets fall in the "other" category that takes 8.1% of the market. Some special spots:

• Providore: High-end local
• Kaah Market: Latin American specialties
• Alberta Co-op: You too can be an owner
• Good Neighbor Market: Frozen pelmeni and candy by the pound

🛣️ Bipartisan support for a planned two-year pause on tolling I-205 is gaining momentum. (Willamette Week)

🏫 It's been two years since students returned to school in person, but attendance for the class of 2025 across Oregon still remains below pre-pandemic levels. (OPB)

🙄 The other Portland tried to pick a fight with us by posting banners around their city with obviously incorrect information, like saying we're not in fact a port … ?? Mutiny ensued. (OregonLive)

💼 See who's hiring around the city.

1. Director, Growth Marketing at Addepar.
2. Urban Mobility Office Deputy Policy Director at Oregon Department of Transportation.
3. President and Chief Executive Officer at Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a job.

Before we go, we want to introduce ourselves! Despite Portland's current challenges, we love this city and bet you do, too. We hope to bring you news that matters in your day-to-day life.

Meira joined Axios after freelancing for The Oregonian, Willamette Week, Digital Trends and others. She immediately fell in love with the Pacific Northwest when she moved here in 2019 and can't imagine living anywhere else.

• Find her online, or watching "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," or hanging out with her husband, Julian, her whippet named Joby, and Piggy, a kitty with no tail.

Emily bounced between Portland and the rest of the world doing mostly public radio journalism for many years, returning in 2016 to work remotely before remote work was a thing.

• Her favorite weekend involves doing things she's never done before.