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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

New Oregon Law Requires Transparency From OHSU About Its Primate Research Center

After years of mishaps and notable animal deaths, new legislation aims to give the public more insight into a federally-funded testing site.
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When State Rep. David Gomberg was in his second term in the Oregon House of Representatives, a bill came to the floor to exempt workers at Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) National Primate Research Center in Hillsboro from any kind of public disclosure. Under the terms of the legislation, Oregonians couldn’t disclose the names […]

Posted inNews

Unionized Burgerville Workers Say Company is Illegally Retaliating Against Organizers

Union says contract negotiations with management have stalled, noting a recent one-day strike saw temporary workers hired at higher wages than permanent staff
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Members of the Burgerville Workers Union say their relationship with the local fast food company has broken down amid a contract negotiation that has seen the union file a number of complaints with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Burgerville workers became the first fast food workers in the nation to unionize more than five […]

Posted inSports

Portland Timbers Fire Head Coach Giovanni Savarese

Savarese leaves a club lacking both character and direction.
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When the Portland Timbers announced the firing of head coach Giovanni Savarese on Monday afternoon, it didn’t come as a surprise.  On Sunday night in the broiling heat in Houston, the Timbers put in one of the most pitiful performances of their entire MLS history: losing 5-0 to a team that was just a handful […]

Posted inNews

No Money, No Justice: How Oregon’s Refusal to Fairly Pay Court Experts Caused a Public Defense Crisis

Without public defense resources, attorneys say innocent people without financial means lack proper legal representation
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Rebecca Newman is a forensic accountant, and a good one: she runs Portland-based Forensic Accounting Services, the state’s oldest forensic accounting CPA firm.  For years, Newman has worked on cases for the lawyers at Oregon’s Office of Public Defense Services (OPDS)—the state office charged with providing “constitutionally competent and effective legal representation” to people in […]

Posted inNews

Nurses at OHSU Say Hospital Has Ignored Critical Safety Gaps

As threats, shootings at hospitals increase, workers at Oregon’s largest health organization cite spotty safety measures.
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It was a typical Saturday morning: Angeline Perla, a member of the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), was working as the charge nurse at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute on the Legacy Good Samaritan campus in Northwest Portland.  Around 11 a.m., the clinic stopped taking new patients for around an hour. Some of the nurses left […]

Posted inGood Morning, News!

Good Morning, News: City Council Sizes Up Police Oversight Board, Self-Serve Gas, and the End of the Pac-12

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The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! Good morning, Portland! We’re set have another lovely week of summer weather. […]

Posted inLGBTQIA+

Protests and Threats Cast a Pall Over Oregon Pride Celebrations

Some see Oregon as a haven for queer rights, but emboldened anti-LGBTQ+ harassment ruined quite a few Pride events in 2023.
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As cities across Oregon continue to celebrate Pride this year—Salem and Eugene in August, Newport and Seaside in September—they find themselves doing so at an ominous time for many in the LGBTQ+ community.  States have advanced and passed bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community in record numbers, limiting access to gender-affirming care, discussions of gender and […]

Posted inNews

As WNBA Eyes Expansion, Supporters Push For Portland To Be the New Face of Women’s Basketball

Portland’s previous WNBA team folded. Can the Rose City’s ardent sports fans convince the right buyer to take the leap?
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Jordan Dinwiddie is a creative director at Wieden + Kennedy, but she wasn’t working in her professional capacity on Nike’s account with the agency when she had the idea to design an eye-catching billboard with a simple message: Bring the WNBA to Portland.  Dinwiddie wanted to get to work on the billboard last year, but […]

Posted inNews

OHSU Nurses Prepare For Possible Labor Strike

Health care workers say hospitals have failed to address chronic staffing issues, leading to strikes not seen in decades.
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On the heels of a five-day strike by Providence nurses in June, 3,500 nurses at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) hospitals in Portland and Hillsboro could become the second group of nurses to strike this year. OHSU nurses, who are unionized with the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), are working on an expired contract and […]

Posted inNews

Providence Nurses Strike Over Low Pay, Benefits

During the first health care strike in more than 20 years, Portland and Seaside hospitals are relying on temporary and traveling staff.
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Nearly 2,000 Providence nurses in Portland and Seaside have launched the region’s first nurses’ strike in more than two decades. Nurses at Providence Portland Medical Center began their strike at 5 a.m. Monday. Two hours later, nurses from Providence Seaside on the coast and nurses working on a home health and hospice unit run by […]

Posted inNews

As Republican Lawmakers Continue to Skip Work, House Democrats Want Oregon’s Quorum Rules Changed

Resolution proposes changing state’s Constitution to require simple majority for legislative votes, as a previous measure to punish lawmakers for walkouts faces legal challenges.
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With summer fast approaching, Oregon once again does not have a functional state legislature.  The Republican Senate caucus has walked out over objections to bills on abortion rights, transgender rights, and gun safety, and while negotiations to bring the Republicans back are ongoing, the legislative session remains imperiled with less than two weeks to go […]

Posted inNews

Portland School District Considers Bringing Back Cops —At a Distance

Pilot program aims to restore Portland Public Schools’ relationship with police, after shootings near campuses earlier this year.
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In the summer of 2020, in the midst of a global protest movement against police violence, Portland Public Schools (PPS) Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero announced that he was effectively discontinuing the presence of Portland police officers in district schools.  “With new proposed investments in direct student supports (social workers, counselors, culturally-specific partnerships & more), I am […]

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