Downtown Portland coffee shop announces closure, cites safety concerns

Portland-based Coava Coffee is permanently closing its downtown cafe this week on three days’ notice after nearly six years of brewing locally roasted coffee there. The company cited safety concerns at the location, which opened in 2017 behind the Portland Art Museum at 1171 S.W. Jefferson St., but at least one employee at the cafe Tuesday called the company’s explanation mostly froth. Coava’s announcement came Monday via a Facebook post, saying the cafe’s team members have been on the “front line enduring extreme violence and criminal activity on an almost...