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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.
This is one of many articles in the Mercury’s 2026 Climate Issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you’re feeling generous and want to keep these types of articles coming, support us here.—eds. When Willie Levenson moved to Portland three decades ago, he very quickly learned how locals related […]
It’s been a theme throughout this remarkable World Cup of 2026: football rewards bravery. Play with ambition, send players forward, try to score goals, and more often than not, you are rewarded. When England took the lead over Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon, they appeared set for their first World Cup final since 1966. […]
Just over two years ago, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adopted a policy designed to ensure that, after decades of uneven attention to conservation, the Bureau would center conservation and ecological concerns in its management of public lands. The Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, also known as the Public Lands Rule, explicitly stated that […]
The early days of a World Cup are often its happiest: teams and fans assemble and arrive in the host countries fresh-faced and full of hope, and play a group stage that includes second and third chances, opportunities to refine and redeem imperfect earlier performances. It is, for a while, a great big party. And […]
Paraguay, in footballing terms, is a small, often overlooked country. Landlocked, bordered by much more famous neighbors, the Paraguayans had, prior to this week, only ever won a single knockout round game at the World Cup—against Japan, a team that has never won a knockout game in its history. The ethos of the Paraguayan national […]
Two decades ago, when their nation hosted the World Cup, Germans enjoyed what they still call the sommermärchen: the summer fairytale, when the country fell back in love with its national soccer team as it embarked on a stirring run to the World Cup semifinal. The sommermärchen felt relevant last Friday in Seattle, when, on […]
The day before the World Cup kicked off in Mexico City, Pope Leo took to social media to weigh in on the tournament and the nature of life itself. “The World Cup begins tomorrow, and many will watch the matches,” he wrote. “Soccer reminds us of something we must not forget: life is not a […]
After years of heated debate and political wrangling, the new Live Nation-owned venue in the Central Eastside—the multinational entertainment giant’s first in Portland—is taking shape. Last month, Live Nation released renderings of the 3,500-seat venue expected to open next year. It also released a name: the venue will be called Steelhead, a nod to the […]
The biggest sporting event in the history of the world kicks off in Mexico City on Thursday afternoon (June 11), and before long, it will arrive in the Pacific Northwest. The 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the men’s tournament, will feature the largest field and most games in the competition’s illustrious history: […]
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 […]
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