Love Our Arts & Culture Coverage?
You can help fund it!

Give now
Avatar photo

Abe Asher

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.
Posted inNews

With Portland Public Schools’ Budget in Peril, All Eyes Are on State Leaders

Oregon legislators say they need to see improved outcomes before schools get more funding. Parents and teachers say education funding levels are setting kids up to fail.
Avatar photo by Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inNews

Should Portlanders Pay Hundreds of Millions for a Refurbished Moda Center? City Councilors Say “Not So Fast”

With local budget cuts looming and Trail Blazers ownership committing to stay in Portland, some city leaders aren’t ready to pull out the checkbook.
Avatar photo by Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inNews

Deal Or No Deal?

If local money goes into the Moda Center renovation, labor advocates want a smooth employee unionization in return.
Avatar photo by Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inNews

Progressives Say Investments in People, Not Corporations, Can Jump Start City’s Struggling Economy

Despite broad agreement on the need for new revenue and jobs, ideological disagreement about how to accomplish economic growth still permeates Portland and Salem.
Avatar photo by Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inSpring Arts 2026

NEA Cuts: One Year Later

Five local arts organizations on coping with the chaos of cancelled National Endowment for the Arts grants.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inNews

Inside the Race for County Chair: Financial Woes, Homeless Services, and Capitulating to Trump

Two current commissioners are vying to lead Multnomah County in 2027, each promising a new governing style.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inNews

Legislators Temporarily Cut Data Centers From Oregon Tax Break Bill

An attempt to spur economic growth has budget and environmental watchdogs worried about unintended consequences. 
Avatar photo Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inNews

Oregon Democrats Want to Nix Trump’s Tax Cuts From State Code

A bill gaining traction in the Legislature would disconnect the state from key provisions of the federal tax code, netting more than $300 million in additional revenue.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

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 […]

Posted inSports

Timbers Preview: A Season of Questions

Ahead of their season opener this weekend, it’s not clear that the Timbers have done enough to rejoin the ranks of the elite in 2026.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

The Portland Timbers won their first playoff game in four years last fall, but the 2025 season was otherwise largely a disappointment.  After a relatively strong start, the Timbers won just two of their final 14 games—limping to a middling eighth place finish in the Western Conference and doing little to arrest the notion that […]

Posted inNews

Local Tavern Employee’s Detention Reflects Shifts in ICE Tactics in Portland

Immigration advocates say federal agents are mainly targeting people in their cars, rather than at their homes or job sites.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

For much of its nearly two year existence, Miguel Alvarado-Lopez has been a fixture behind the scenes at Moonshot Tavern on NE 28th Ave.  “He started off as a dishwasher, and then we realized we didn’t really need a dishwasher and he ended up quitting once he got his hours cut,” Josh Love, a partner […]

Posted inNews

Stopping the Slow Creep of ICE

Limited detention and transportation capacity have likely helped keep Oregon’s immigration detention rate among the nation’s lowest. But ICE may be trying to change that.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

The beginning of 2026 has seen another surge of violence from immigration enforcement officers—including in Portland, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers shot two people in East Portland on January 8.  In response to that shooting, which came just a day after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, […]

Posted inNews

Immigrant Rights Groups Allege Multnomah County Jail is Violating Sanctuary Laws

A lawsuit claims the US Marshals Service is using local jails to hold detainees for immigration enforcement.
Avatar photo Abe Asher

A group of immigrants rights organizations are suing Multnomah County, claiming the county and its sheriff’s office are violating Oregon’s sanctuary state law.  The suit, filed in circuit court earlier this month, claims that Multnomah County is unlawfully agreeing to hold individuals detained by the U.S. Marshals Service for violations of federal immigration law even […]

Gift this article