On Tuesday afternoon, October 17, the seven-member Multnomah County Grand Jury “voted unanimously not to return criminal charges against any individual in connection with the death of James Chasse [Jr.],” Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk wrote in a statement. Chasse died in police custody on September 17, after police arrested him in the Pearl […]
Amy Jenniges
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Block Party
Neighbors Sick of Student Revelry
Every September, it’s the same story: A new wave of Lewis and Clark College students move into rental houses in the Collins View neighborhood of SW Portland. Some of them throw rowdy parties, neighbors call the cops, and relations between students and longtime residents sour. On September 2 this year, there was a big party […]
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Wake Up and Smell the Condos
Taking on New Buckman Development
For the last few years, as construction cranes have sprouted around Portland, the Buckman neighborhood—despite its prime location in inner Southeast Portland—has been largely skipped over by developers. The neighborhood association’s land-use committee didn’t even bother holding a regular meeting. “We’d have [meetings] when issues came up,” says Susan Lindsay, chair of the Buckman Community […]
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Smoke-Free—Naturally?
With More of Portland’s Bars Going Non-Smoking Voluntarily, Is a Legislated Ban on Smoking Even Necessary?
When I moved to Portland from Seattle last year—just days after Washington State had passed its strictest-in-the-nation smoking ban—I was eager to see a smoking ban pass in Oregon, too. Though I wouldn’t clamor for a ban that includes Washington’s restrictive 25-foot provision (which effectively killed smoking on Seattle bars’ outdoor patios, makes it tough […]
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Quiet Riot
Noisy Neighbor, Quiet Bar
Linda Moles steps outside the Ship Ahoy Tavern on SE Gladstone and 29th—a few blocks south of Powell—to prove a point. Her mother owns the cozy, longtime neighborhood bar, and inside, patrons are watching Monday Night Football. It’s a little too loud for an interview inside. However, out on the sidewalk—just outside the bar’s front […]
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Passing Notes
The Mercury’s Annual Back-to-School Issue!
Pullout: Passing Notes: The Mercury’s Back to School Issue
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Garage Days Revisited
Neighbors Try to Block Parking Garage
Last Friday morning, August 25, in the lobby of the CoHo Theater on NW Raleigh, neighbors gathered around a folding table to pore over a just-released city staff report on a proposed parking garage. The following Monday, the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission (HLC) would consider the garage proposal, slated for NW Irving, just west of […]
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Tour of the Town
Visiting Relatives? Get Rid of ‘Em Quick by Shipping Them Off to the Best (and Worst) Sightseeing Attractions in Stumptown
Did you know Portland is the 10th most-haunted city in America? And there’s a spot downtown to plug in your electric car? Even more interesting, did you know inmates at the Inverness Jail distill canned fruit to make a contraband alcohol—and they call it Pruno? We didn’t know any of that, either, until we spent […]
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Pay to Park
Hawthorne Merchants Say Parking Meters Don’t Pay
Every day for the past two weeks, John Chassaing has taken an hour-long break from running his SE Hawthorne and 34th music shop, Showcase Music & Sound, to chat with other businesses along the street. He brings along a folder full of posters he designed—”Say No to Parking Meters!” they declare—and asks shops if they’d […]
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Family Values
Former Oregon Christian Coalition Leader Confesses to Molesting Relatives
Lou Beres, former executive director of the Oregon Christian Coalition and former chair of the Multnomah County Republican Party, confessed to police that he has sexually touched underage girls—including a young sister-in-law, according to a Gresham Police report dated September 13, 2005, and first obtained by gayrightswatch.com on Monday, August 14. Allegations against Beres surfaced […]
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Family Values
Former Oregon Christian Coalition Leader Confesses to Molesting Relatives
Lou Beres, former executive director of the Oregon Christian Coalition and former chair of the Multnomah County Republican Party, confessed to police that he has sexually touched underage girls—including a young sister-in-law, according to a Gresham Police report dated September 13, 2005, and first obtained by gayrightswatch.com on Monday, August 14. Allegations against Beres surfaced […]
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Taking the Initiative
The Mercury News Team Picks Apart this Fall’s Ballot Measures
On August 4, the Oregon Secretary of State finished wallowing through thousands of voter signatures for a dozen ballot initiatives, and ended up certifying an even 10 measures for the November ballot. For the next three months, you’ll be hearing plenty about the measures that made it—like proposals to limit the state’s budget, slapping term […]