Speed Ruling: As planned, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan steps down, opening the door for the country’s seventh prime minister in five years. Tragic News of the Day: A Syrian political cartoonist — who just recently compared Syria’s Bashar Assad to Moammar Gadhafi — was dragged from his car by masked gunmen who broke both […]
Alex Zielinski
Alex Zielinski is a former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She's here to tell stories about economic inequities, cops, civil rights, and weird city politics that you should probably be paying attention to.
Posted inMedia
NYT’s Take on PDX
The New York Times has a love affair with Portland. This week’s ode: 36 hours in the “West Coast urban cool” hub. Check out the photo spread, complete with the token mustachioed man: Over the past few years, the Times has written a handful of stories, mostly travel, on the splendors of PDX, drooling at […]
Posted inNews
Repaving the Way
Out with Old Pavement, In with Public Spaces
This summer, Portland is all about turning car spaces into people spaces.
Posted inNews
Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO
Steve Jobs has ended his 14-year-reign over Apple, the company he co-founded from his garage in the late 70s, without any reasoning. But he asked Apple, in his resignation letter, to reassign him to keep his position as board chairman. …What? Tim Cook, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, has taken his position. Cook has been […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
Libya Update: In a radio address from hiding, Gadhafi calls withdrawal from compound a “tactical move”. But looks like he left something important behind. Meanwhile: Libya’s foreign minister declares that Gadhafi’s “grip on power” is over. Irene vs. the Bahamas: Hurricane Irene gains strength with 115 mph winds, roughs up Bahamas. Follow her path here. […]
Posted inNews
Off-Duty PDX Police Captain Wields Pistol in Idaho Road Rage Incident
A Portland police captain has been temporarily removed from his position as of this morning due to his alleged involvement in a road rage incident while off-duty in Idaho earlier this month. According to Washington State Patrol troopers — who received a call about the incident from Idaho border town Post Falls — Capt. Todd […]
Posted inCrime
Stolen Goat: Found
Foiled again, goat snatchers. Police recovered a stolen goat from Southeast Portland in the wee hours of the morning. Found wandering near 18th and Hawthorne, the lone buck was safely whisked away in a police car. Hold that sigh of relief —mini-donkeys could be next. Catch the gripping conclusion (note the goat’s initial excitement):
Posted inArtsy
Disjecta Turns Parking Lot into Artsy Open Space
Contemporary art venue Disjecta has big plans for their boring parking lot. The artists who work in the North Portland warehouse space broke ground today on their Open Space project, a plan to transform their 8,000 square foot lot into an “outdoor performance and gathering space”. Disjecta moved from their SE 3rd Avenue location to […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
Mass Exodus: An international group plans to conduct a massive evacuation of foreigners from Tripoli now that the Libya capital has been cut off by rebels. The Chavez Touch: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez makes plan to nationalize the country’s gold sector — half of which cones from illegal mining — and sever ties with US […]
Posted inNews
The Mystery of the Sick Dogs
Portland’s Hillsdale Park on SW 27th and Hillsdale Hwy closed August 12th due to “mysterious illnesses of dogs” that visited the area over the past months. Portland Parks and Recreation investigators are in the process of testing soil samples to see if any unauthorized chemicals are bubbling under the park’s surface. The parks bureau says […]
Posted inNews
The $1 Million Twitter Fight
Blogger vs. Plastic Surgeon in the State’s First “Twitter Defamation” Suit
Portland blogger and Lake Oswego plastic surgeon fight the state’s first “Twitter defamation” suit.
Posted inNews
Portland Mother Gets Probation for DIY Circumcision
Yikes. 30-year-old Keemonta Peterson was sentenced to five years probation(following 25 days in jail) for attempting to circumcise her 3-month-old son last October. Going off of Old Testament readings and YouTube videos — a dangerous pair — Peterson botched the job, leaving her son in intense pain. Now healed, her son and three other children […]