At two jam-packed neighborhood association meetings last week, neighbors overwhelmingly voted against a proposal that would change Interstate Avenue to César E. Chávez Boulevard. “You cannot have the avenue,” one elderly woman told the Chávez committee, after they presented the idea to the Overlook Neighborhood Association on Tuesday, September 18. “It’s Interstate, and always will […]
Amy J. Ruiz
Posted inNews
The Dotted Line
Deadline Looms for Anti-Gay Campaign
Wednesday, September 26—after we go to press—is the deadline for two anti-gay referenda campaigns to turn in 55,179 valid signatures. If they succeed, Oregon’s two new gay rights laws—one that creates domestic partnerships, and another that protects against discrimination—head to the November 2008 ballot for a public vote. But in the days leading up to […]
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Name Dropping
Neighbors Weigh in on Renaming Interstate
Bill Mildenberger Jr., manager of the Nite Hawk Café & Lounge on N Interstate, was “completely shocked” when he first heard about the proposal to rename Interstate Avenue after César E. Chávez. Having first heard the idea less than two months ago, he called around the city, and found out that officials were “going to […]
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Stalking Corn
An Obsession with Dove Vivi’s Cornmeal Pizza
If you had told me a month ago that my next food obsession would be based on corn, I’d have argued with you. Corn’s not my thing, I’d have stubbornly said, regaling you with stories of my corn-overloaded past. Sweet corn was the only fresh veggie to grace my Midwestern family’s plates in the summer; […]
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Name Dropping
Neighbors Weigh in on Renaming Interstate
Bill Mildenberger Jr., manager of the Nite Hawk Café & Lounge on N Interstate, was “completely shocked” when he first heard about the proposal to rename Interstate Avenue after César E. Chávez. Having first heard the idea less than two months ago, he called around the city, and found out that officials were “going to […]
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Divisive Decision
Renaming Proposal Gets Council Nod
During Thursday, September 6th’s afternoon city council session, four representatives of the César E. Chávez Boulevard Committee made their pitch to the mayor and commissioners. They showed a video celebrating Chávez’s work organizing farm laborers, and outlined an idea to find private funds to open a cultural center in Chávez’s name. And, they asked the […]
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Campaign Attack
Complaint Filed Against Anti-Gay Groups
Last Tuesday, September 4, Ellen Lowe—a longtime watchdog of Oregon’s initiative process—filed a complaint with John Lindback, Oregon’s Director of Elections, accusing two anti-gay groups of violating state election and tax laws. The groups, Defense of Marriage and Family Again! as well as Concerned Oregonians, “have misrepresented their status as a political committee,” according to […]
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Welcome To PDX, Ira Glass
Anti-Gay Church Hosts Lefty Radio Star
Ira Glass, host of radio show This American Life, plans to visit Portland on October 7 to talk about his new book, The New Kings of Non-Fiction. But the event—hosted by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)—is being held at an unlikely location, given Glass’ liberal fan base: New Hope Community Church, a mega-church in Clackamas that […]
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Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
The Mercury Infiltrates “Marriage and Morality Sunday” to Check on the Anti-Gay Referendum Campaign. Are Oregon’s New Gay Rights Laws Doomed, or Has the Anti-Gay Christian Right Lost Momentum?
David Crowe, executive director of Restore America—one of a handful of groups united as Concerned Oregonians, an organization seeking to overturn two recently passed gay rights laws—went on local Christian talk radio on Thursday evening, August 16, to rally the troops. He urged people to email Concerned Oregonians immediately to request petitions, and implored them […]
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Welcome To PDX, Ira Glass
Anti-Gay Church Hosts Lefty Radio Star
Ira Glass, host of radio show This American Life, plans to visit Portland on October 7 to talk about his new book, The New Kings of Non-Fiction. But the event—hosted by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB)—is being held at an unlikely location, given Glass’ liberal fan base: New Hope Community Church, a mega-church in Clackamas that […]
Posted inNews
Know Thy Anti-Gay Neighbor
Grassroots Group Plans to Publish Petition Signers’ Names
As soon as the Defense of Marriage and Family Again (DOMFA) campaign rolls up to the secretary of state’s office in Salem carting referendum petitions—which they hope will have enough valid signatures to put two recently passed gay rights laws up for a public vote—teams of gay rights volunteers will mobilize. One group, organized by […]