LAST SEPTEMBER, Rev. James Martin—pastor of North Portland’s Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, one of the city’s oldest African American churches—attended a Portland School Board committee meeting to pitch his latest project: He wanted to start a small public charter high school, the Academy of Character and Ethics (ACE), to reach out to minority and low-income […]
Amy Jenniges
Posted inNews
Fur Fighters
Arrests Cap Saturday’s Anti-Fur Protest
EVERY SATURDAY afternoon for the past few months, activists with In Defense of Animals (IDA) have convened on the sidewalk outside of Schumacher Fur Company at SW 9th and Morrison for an anti-fur demonstration. This past Saturday, the protest turned into a skirmish with the cops that resulted in two arrests. Usually, the protests are […]
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Kicking and Screaming
New Kickball Leagues Spark Playground-Worthy Drama
The bustling online forums for NW Kickball—Portland’s very popular adult kickball league—are usually a space for good-natured shit-talking between opposing teams, or arranging weekend pick-up games. Last week, however, these same forums got nasty—brimming with gossip about breakaway factions and secret meetings. The feud started when the volunteer-run NW Kickball league restructured themselves into a […]
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The Fall of roe
What Will Happen to a Woman’s Right to Choose in Oregon If—or When— Roe v. Wade Falls?
The last day of January was a dark one for American women. Samuel Alito Jr.—a conservative, Republican, former appeals court judge—became the 110th Supreme Court justice, despite pro-choice activists’ efforts to keep him off the nation’s highest court. Alito has a frightening anti-choice background that has activists worried about Roe v. Wade‘s future: During the […]
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Sten Again
Commissioner Sten Kicks Off Campaign
Last summer, Commissioner Erik Sten was still on the fence about running for a fourth term on the city council. “I was reasonably close to not running,” he explained over a café au lait on a recent drizzly Monday afternoon. But two things prompted him to file: First, there’s a stack of projects he’s passionate […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Meta-Movie
A Film About a Film About a Novel
Okay, bear with me for a minute: This is a film about a real novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman—a 700-plus page behemoth written in the late 1700s. Seriously, pay attention: The novel—dubbed the first post-modern novel—is a bawdy English tale of the minor catastrophes that mark Tristram’s life (all of which […]
Posted inDestination Fun
Destination Fun
Mini Bike WinterPicks and Promises of PIFF
MINI BIKE WINTER PICKS Got cabin fever? Lucky for you, it’s Mini Bike Winter week! There’s a pile of events all over town, each one of them guaranteed to get your blood pumping and your adrenaline rushing. Are you ready? Pay attention: On Friday night, bring a 16″ bike—and a light—and meet at the Washington […]
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Hard Boyles
Candidate Emilie Boyles Takes Aim at Erik Sten
Emilie Boyles plans to turn in 1,000 $5 donations to the city this week, hoping to qualify for public financing in her campaign against incumbent Erik Sten. Once her signatures are approved—her volunteers have double-checked every one—Boyles, a 40-year-old nonprofit consultant, will become only the second candidate to qualify for Portland’s progressive “Voter-Owned Elections” (VOE) […]
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Marijuana Ignored by the Man?
New Initiative Would De-Prioritize Pot Busts
On Tuesday morning, February 7, Chris Iverson quietly filed a city initiative petition to de-prioritize pot arrests in Portland. If it passes, the new law would “make adult marijuana-related offenses the lowest law enforcement priority in the City of Portland,” and would establish a citizen’s oversight committee to ensure the directive is being followed by […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Why Do We Fight?
Apparently, Not for Freedom
Why We Fight is a film about the United States “military industrial complex” in the context of 9/11 and the Iraq War. Awww—another one? I expected yet one more tedious indie-media style documentary, or a semi-hysterical rant, á la Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. At the very least, I prepared to spend 98 minutes getting hit […]
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Walking the Legal Tightrope
Reforming Drug-Free Zones is Tricky Business
Last Wednesday morning, during the January 25 city council meeting, Mayor Tom Potter asked his colleagues to extend the expiration of the city’s Drug-Free and Prostitution-Free Zones (DFZ) until March 15. The mayor needed more time to reform the controversial ordinance—an ordinance that has had neighborhood associations, residents, and businesses tugging at Potter as he […]
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In Other News…
State of the Muck Filled with self-congratulations on its efforts to clean up the Willamette River, the city released a “State of the River Report” last week as an update on how well it is meeting the goals of the River Renaissance program. Much like the president’s State of the Union, the report is less […]