Do not mess with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee: She’s got a posse of knitters, and those folks are armed with sharp, pointy sticks. Pearl-McPhee, of the blog yarnharlot.ca, has a devoted following—she regularly packs a few hundred knitters into her readings. Expect the same during this visit to Powell’s, for her book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The […]
Amy J. Ruiz
Posted inNews
High Alert
Benson Seniors + Car Horn Prank = Big Trouble
Just as Benson Polytechnic High School’s lunch hour wrapped up on Tuesday, May 22, four friends converged in a hall in the electronics wing of the school. One, Justin Kohl, had a lumpy bundle wrapped up in a hoodie. Kohl—a student in Benson’s automotive program—had recently found a car horn in the tool room. “We […]
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Towering Inferno
Downtown Neighbors Fired Up Over Proposed 35-Story Building
From his SW Morrison apartment, George Trinkaus has his eye on a few squat buildings across the street, buildings that are slated for demolition and replacement by a much taller, mixed-use structure that will take up the whole block. “It’s inconceivable that a structure of that bulk could be built,” says Trinkaus, adding that the […]
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Refer Madness
Gay Rights on the Ballot?
Just last week, Governor Ted Kulongoski signed two landmark bills into law: One would allow same-sex couples in Oregon to register as domestic partners, with all of the state rights and responsibilities usually reserved for married couples. The other outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. But if three men from Southern Oregon […]
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“No Bar in My Backyard!”
Neighbors Fight Neighborhood Bar
Reed Lamb, a bartender at Club 21 on NE Sandy, hopes to open a new bar called The Standard on NE 22nd, just off E Burnside. He’s applied for a liquor license, and is busy renovating the single-story space that’s tucked back from the street, hoping to open it later this summer. “I’m going for […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Man on Horse
Rather… Horse on Man in Zoo
It might just be the reporter in me, but I was frustrated by Zoo. The film—a different sort of documentary, one that uses reenactments with both the real-life characters and actors—centers on what happened on an Enunclaw, Washington, horse farm one evening in July 2005. A Seattle-area Boeing engineer went to the farm, as he […]
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How You Should Vote
Thinking for Yourself Is Overrated. Let the Mercury Editorial Board Make Difficult Decisions for You!
Any day now, you’ll be getting a ballot in the mail. Surprise! It’s an off-year springtime election, and there’s an awfully good chance you haven’t been paying as much attention to the issues as you usually do. And the issues on this oddly timed ballot are doozies—one measure could completely rearrange our entire form of […]
Posted inBooks
Will Shortz
Will Shortz— The New York Times crossword editor, NPR puzzle master, and affable subject of the crossword documentary Wordplay—is in town this week for a Portland Arts and Lectures gig. The Mercury caught up with him to pick that puzzling brain of his. MERCURY: While other people are spending their Sundays with The New York […]
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Labor Disagreement
Businesses and Day Laborers Meet Face to Face
Bob Wentworth—owner of Wentworth Chevrolet Subaru on SE Grand—pulled his Silverado pickup truck into the parking lot at SE 6th and Ankeny, flipped down the tailgate, and set up a portable sound system. Wentworth, along with nearly 50 day laborers—plus a handful of laborers’ advocates, a cop, and a rep from the mayor’s office—were meeting […]
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Art Movement
Disjecta Seeking a New Building… Again?
Bryan Suereth, executive director of Disjecta, the interdisciplinary arts space in the R.J. Templeton Building on the Burnside Bridgehead, sent out the organization’s monthly newsletter on Monday night, April 30. But before Suereth could tout May’s art events, he had more serious news to address: “We may say good-bye to the Templeton Building!” Suereth wrote. […]
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Labor Pains
Businesses and Day Laborers Face Off
Under the red neon sign of Wentworth Chevytown at E Burnside and Grand—near a Plaid Pantry and a Subaru dealership—day laborers congregate each morning, hoping an employer will pull up and offer them a job. Both the city and area businesses turn a blind eye to the immigration issue—many day laborers are in the country […]
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Sex in the City
Neighbors Fight Possible Porn Shop
At the corner of NE 95th and Sandy, a nondescript low-rise building is for sale; a sign out front boasts 5,200 square feet of space. An ad in a local adult entertainment magazine touts something else: “Adult-Friendly Retail Space… Great Location for Adult Night Club, Store, Etc. Don’t Miss This Opportunity!” Neighbors who live near […]