The city’s water bureau released the security report from early Saturday morning, when two skinny dippers were busted. First, meet Ashley and Ryan, who–according to the report–did not object to Portland Water Bureau security officer (or “water security specialist”) Steven G. Swan taking their photo “for identification purposes.” I have a feeling they might have […]
Amy J. Ruiz
Posted inBikes
Gas-Free Fridays
Forget those occasional chain-email suggestions to boycott buying gas for a day–those one-day boycotts don’t do any good, especially if you’re still driving that day, and buying gas to refill your tank the next day. Here’s an idea that really can have an impact, via the Bicycle Transportation Alliance: Gas-Free Fridays! In cooperation with groups […]
Posted inPuppy
A (Former) Mercury Pug Goes Missing
If you happened to attend the Mercury’s Association of Alternative Newsweeklies party last year at the Ace Hotel’s Cleaners space, you’ve met Morning, the little black pug co-owned by our former promotions coordinator Catherine Cole. Morning and our other office pups battled it out in a licking/butt-sniffing/ear-tugging doggie “fight” that we filmed and broadcast on […]
Posted inPortland
Naked People in the Mt. Tabor Reservoir
I wish all of Portland’s city bureaus were as eager to disseminate information as the Water Bureau is. Last week, we got the news about a missing plaque. Today, news of skinny dipping in the Mt. Tabor Reservoir! Portland Water Bureau finds skinny dippers in Mt. Tabor reservoir PORTLAND, Ore–Portland Water Bureau discovered two people […]
Posted inPortland
Tonight: Follow-up Meeting Between City and Chavez Street Rename Committee
Tonight in city hall’s Rose Room, members of the Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Committee will be meeting up with city staffers, to follow up on their June 12 meeting that re-launched the rename effort, which I wrote about this week. Unfortunately, tonight’s meeting is a closed session. But committee co-chair Marta Guembes has previously told […]
Posted inPortland
What’s Greener: Saving a Tree, or Saving a House?
We got this in our inbox over the weekend: I was on my way to work Sunday morning, when I noticed a house was being moved along NE MLK Jr. Blvd and Tillamook. To my surprise, 3 blocks of trees that line the center of NE MLK Jr. Blvd were being cut down to move […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Via FOX, which wrote “butt” instead of “ass” in their headline: “As Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were kissing and making up last Friday, Bill Clinton might have had other ideas, according to a report in The (London) Telegraph. The paper reports that even as the former president and the current presumptive Democratic nominee prepare […]
Posted inPolitics
Bizarro Letter of the Day
Note the subject line: From: C.K. HoltonSubject: cesar chavez Ave. Madame: I cannot, for the life of me see how you can condone ANYTHING these ILLEGAL ALIENS do while they are in this country ILLEGALLY. What has happened to OBEYING THE LAW??. The fact is these people are in this country ILLEGALLY has been swept […]
Posted inBikes
Riding with Sam Adams
I wish I were more proficient in taking photos while riding a bike–I would have snapped a photo of the massive crowd of folks on bikes, following Commissioner Sam Adams on his commute home to Kenton, part of Pedalpalooza. Luckily Aaron Tarfman is more proficient, and snapped this one at city hall before we left: […]
Posted inPolitics
Rumble! It’s the City Club Forum on the Columbia River Crossing
[Edit: Here’s the audio!] “I believe that spending $4 billion dollars on a freeway bridge is a huge mistake,” says economist Joe Cortright, in his opening statement at today’s City Club forum on the Columbia River Crossing. Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder just finished his intro, making the case for the project–in part by referencing the […]
Posted inPolitics
The City’s CRC Dog and Pony Show Work Session
This is truly adorable. The entire city council is holding a work session this afternoon, on the Columbia River Crossing project. This, despite the fact that they already sent a letter to the CRC outlining what they want in a new I-5 bridge, and this despite the fact that the momentum around a 12-lane sprawl-enabling […]
Posted inNews
Si, Se Puede (Eventually)
César Chávez Rename Effort Re-emerges
TWO WEEKS AGO, Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioner Sam Adams quietly convened a meeting with top-level city staff. On the agenda: Reviving the effort to name a street for civil rights and labor leader César E. Chávez—a project that took several contentious turns last year, after members of Portland’s Latino community initiated the project. The […]