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Abe Asher covers city news, politics, and soccer for the Portland Mercury. His reporting has appeared in The Nation, VICE News, Sahan Journal, and other outlets.
Anne first began visiting Hawks PDX, one of the only queer bathhouses in Portland, for years, dating back to when it was located on SE Grand Avenue. Back then, they said, they were an outlier at the club. “When I was going there before, it was predominantly gay men—and once in a while you would […]
As an all-out war over redistricting upends voting rights law and a battle over congressional maps plays out across the country, Democrats are looking for opportunities to cancel out Republican gains—and they have their sights set on Oregon. Oregon, like all states, redraws its state legislative and congressional maps regularly following the release of each […]
For weeks, it had been a matter of not if, but when—and on Memorial Day morning, Phil Neville’s time as head coach of the Portland Timbers finally came to an end. Officially, Neville and the Timbers mutually agreed to part ways. But with the team sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference, on track […]
In February, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) filed a notice of intent to revise its resource management plan for the nearly 2.5 million acres of forest land it manages in Oregon—aiming to quadruple its annual timber harvest. If the revised plan goes into effect, it could represent a step back in time to an […]
Portland Public Schools (PPS) is dealing with a major budget crunch—a situation that, former school board member Andrew Scott says, shouldn’t come as a surprise. “We’ve known for a long time that costs for education are growing faster than the funding that school districts receive from the state, and that’s been something that, when I […]
On the heels of an intense lobbying campaign by the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oregon Legislature last month passed a $365 million funding package to renovate the Moda Center contingent on the Blazers remaining in Portland under new majority owner Tom Dundon. State leaders trumpeted the passage of the funding package as an economic boon […]
The state of Oregon and the city of Portland may be gearing up to give hundreds of millions of dollars of public money to help finance renovations to the 31-year-old Moda Center—and organized labor wants something in return. “About a year ago, we had outreach from workers at the Moda Center in a number of […]
If you’ve been following local political news over the last several months, you’ve likely heard a lot of talk about budget cuts. The state is making cuts, even though those cuts aren’t as dramatic as once feared. The city of Portland may have to make cuts too. Some of the pressure facing both the state […]
When Donald Trump reassumed the presidency in January of 2025, arts organizations around the country anticipated changes at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)—particularly those the president accused of having a “woke agenda.” But they were not prepared for the chaos that would quickly develop. Last spring, numerous organizations, including in Portland, received emails […]
The race for chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners has begun in earnest. Last month, Commissioner Shannon Singleton became the first major contender to declare her candidacy for the position being vacated by Jessica Vega Pederson. She was quickly joined by her fellow commissioner, Julia Brim-Edwards. Voters will decide in a ranked choice […]
Companies building data centers in Oregon already have a pretty good deal—and new economic development legislation pushed by Gov. Tina Kotek was poised to make that deal even better before an intervention of a legislative subcommittee this week. Kotek has in recent weeks been pushing a series of bills including HB 4084, legislation that would […]
When Donald Trump signed H.R. 1, coined “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act” on July 4 of last year, Oregon’s revenue forecast took a substantial hit. That’s because Oregon is one of the few states in the country that has a rolling reconnection to the federal tax code, meaning the state automatically replicates any changes […]
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