FIRST LOOK INTERNATIONAL Happy April 20, Portland! Holy observers who plan to get baked as hell today know that one of life’s simple joys is pairing pot with a trippy movie, hilarious TV show, or weird podcast. But in a cruel twist of irony, actually selecting something to watch or listen to can be a […]
Blair Stenvick
Blair Stenvick is a former news reporter and culture writer for the Portland Mercury.
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News: New Audio From Lents Police Killing, Good News for Portland Train Nerds, and a Helicopter on Mars
NASA Good morning, Portland! Happy 4/20 to all who celebrate—may I suggest pairing a $2 pizza slice with a stoner short film festival, as God intended? Here are the headlines. • The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) released audio from its radio dispatches related to the fatal police shooting of Portlander Robert Delgado in Lents Park […]
Posted inFeature
How a Newly Opened, Queer-Owned Indoor Skatepark Survived the Pandemic
Owner AJ Waters skating at Stronger Skatepark in Milwaukie. Blair Stenvick AJ Waters found skateboarding as a 12-year-old living in rural Illinois, after happening upon the X Games on television. “I saw it and was just like, ‘That is amazing, and I am obsessed,’” Waters tells the Mercury on a recent Wednesday morning while sitting […]
Posted inNews
Updated: Portland Police Fatally Shoot Person at Lents Park
The scene at Lents Park on Friday morning. Alex Zielinski Update, 4:50 pm: According to the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), officers have concluded their crime scene investigation at Lents Park and have left the area. There are still few answers coming from PPB regarding the deceased victim’s identity, the actions leading up to his killing, […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News: Oregon Fire Warning, Adam Toledo Didn’t Deserve to Die, and Vaccine Booster Planning
I’m not ready for this again. NATHAN HOWARD / GETTY NEWS Good morning, Portland! Here’s some fresh music to kick off your Friday. And here are the headlines. • Newly released police body cam footage shows the tragic and infuriating reality of 13-year-old Adam Toledo’s recent death in Chicago: The boy wasn’t holding a gun, […]
Posted inVisual Art
Portland Art Museum Reopens With Upcoming Ansel Adams Exhibit, Kahlo and Rivera in 2022, and More
Frida Kahlo, Diego on my Mind, 1943. After a rocky pandemic year, the Portland Art Museum (PAM) is reopening with a vengeance. The museum reopened to limited-capacity visitors last week—and today, PAM shared new details on a stacked lineup of programs and exhibits from now through the the first half of 2022. On May 5, […]
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Good Morning, News: Portland Cop Sued For Retaliatory Arrest, J&J Pause Fuels Conspiracy Theorists, and Another Naked Zoom Incident
DOUG BROWN Good morning, Portland! PSST: Have you bought your tickets to SPLIFF, the Mercury’s own short stoner film festival which premieres this weekend, yet? Here are the headlines. • Hannah Ahern was arrested on August 17, 2019, on the outskirts of an anti-fascist protest taking place at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, for the very […]
Posted inNews
Good Afternoon, News: Minnesota Cop Charged With Manslaughter, Biden Ends Forever War, and a Gay Bachelor
SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES Here’s your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin’!) In local news: • In case you missed it: Protesters against police brutality and racial injustice set the Portland Police Association’s building […]
Posted inVisual Art
Q&A: After 18 Years, Matt Bors Is Retiring His Weekly Political Cartoons
A Matt Bors comic strip from an old print edition of the Mercury. Blair Stenvick Cartoonist Matt Bors announced last week that he’ll no longer be creating and publishing weekly political cartoons—18 years and over 1,600 cartoons after the former Portlander and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist first started making them. Bors is very much staying […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News: Protests in Portland and Brooklyn Center, US Pauses J&J Shot, and the Droughts Continue
Michael Ciaglo / Getty images Good morning, Portland! Friendly reminder to drink your veggies today. And here are the headlines. • Portlanders gathered Monday evening to remember Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday. The demonstration signaled the start of Portland’s fair-weather protest […]
Posted inNews
Good Afternoon, News: RIP DMX, Portland Once Again “High Risk,” and John Legend Supports Oregon Inmate Voting Bill
DMX at Coachella in 2015. Mark Davis / Getty images Here’s your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin’!) In local news: • The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that the Oregon Legislature can take more […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News: Jail Inmates Sue County Over COVID-19, a Setback for Amazon Unionization, and Oregon Prepping for April 19
A group of current and former inmates at Multnomah County’s Iverness Jail are suing the county for failing to keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. MULTNOMAH COUNTY Good morning, Portland! Time to crank up the music and settle into your Friday. Here are the headlines. • An expert medical witness in the trial against […]