The number of murders in Portland, Oregon, has hit 70 this year and is on track to set what may be the highest total on record. This year is on track to set a new record, with the closest year being 1987, when 66 murders were recorded, a Portland Police Bureau spokeswoman told The Epoch Times in an email. Data for years before that are in archival form and were not immediately available. Cities across the United States have seen a surge in killings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but things have been particularly turbulent in Portland, a port city of approximately 662,000. Rioting, primarily by far-left activists, has consumed dwindling police resources, sometimes preventing officers from answering every 911 call when it comes in. Criminals have grown more emboldened with fewer officers on patrol, and crime has increased alongside shootings and murders. Arson, larceny, motor vehicle thefts, and …