4kodiak / Getty Images Blink and you may have missed it: It took less than 72 hours for the Oregon Legislature to begin and end its special legislative session last week. The whirlwind session was initially planned to address the immediate economic fallout from COVID-19. That focus was expanded, however, after the killing of George […]
Blair Stenvick
Blair Stenvick is a former news reporter and culture writer for the Portland Mercury.
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Commissioner Eudaly and Portland Racial Justice Group Pull Their Support for I-5 Freeway Expansion
MATT WONG Update, 1:45 pm Tuesday: Mayor Ted Wheeler has also withdrawn his support from the I-5 project: At every step, I have asked ODOT for specific goals to be met around climate, community, and economic development. Those goals have not been met. Therefore, I am withdrawing my support for the I-5 Rose Quarter Project. […]
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Good Morning, News: Police Oversight and Magic Mushrooms Head to November Ballot, and Oregon Masks Up
We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus has threatened our ability to keep producing the Mercury. If you’re able, please consider donating to the Mercury. blair Stenvick Good Morning, Portland! Today is the last day of Pride month—let’s go out by remembering the time HIV/AIDS activist group ACT UP put a giant […]
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Measure to Decriminalize Therapeutic Magic Mushrooms Heads to Oregon’s November Ballot
mrorange002 / Getty images Oregon voters will likely have a chance to legalize the therapeutic use of psilocybin—the hallucinogen found in magic mushrooms—this November. On Monday, supporters of a proposed statewide ballot measure, which would allow licensed facilitators to administer psilocybin to patients, announced they had gained enough signatures to make it onto the November […]
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Portlanders Denounce Violence from Demonstrators—and Police—Following Thursday Night Protest
Teresa Raiford of Don’t Shoot PDX After a night of intense protesting and a heavy police response in Northeast Portland, different groups are calling out what they see as senseless violence from both protesters and the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). On Thursday night, a couple hundred protesters gathered outside PPB’s North Precinct. While most of […]
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New TriMet Budget Reflects Economic Impact of COVID-19
trimet TriMet’s board of directors passed the transit agency’s $1.6 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2021, which begins in July, on Wednesday. Last-minute changes to the budget reflect the devastating impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on TriMet’s revenue—and how long-lasting that impact could be. Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March, […]
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Good Morning, News: Life Sentence for Jeremy Christian, UO Renaming Racist Building, and Supreme Court Rules Against Asylum Seekers
We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus has threatened our ability to keep producing the Mercury. If you’re able, please consider donating to the Mercury. Micah Fletcher gave his victim impact statement at Jeremy Christian’s sentencing hearing Wednesday. Fletcher was stabbed by Christian on a MAX train in 2017. Dave killen / […]
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Jeremy Christian Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole for 2017 MAX Stabbings
Jeremy Christian at his sentencing trial Tuesday. Dave killen / oregonian / pool photo Jeremy Christian has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for fatally stabbing Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, and wounding Micah Fletcher, on a MAX train in 2017. In February, Christian was found guilty of all 12 charges […]
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Good Morning, News: MAX Stabbing Sentencing, Teachers Aren’t Getting Their Money, and Wear a Mask With Your Friends!
We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus has threatened our ability to keep producing the Mercury. If you’re able, please consider donating to the Mercury. filadendron / Getty images Good morning, Portland! I’m returning from a four-day vacation that included a camping trip in Mt. Hood National Forest, and lots of TV-watching […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
The Portlanders Behind the Black Resilience Fund Are Young, Black, Queer—and Hopeful
This article is part of the Mercury’s 2020 all-digital Queer Week coverage. Salome Chimuku and Cameron Whitten Courtesy photos When queer Black Portlander Cameron Whitten first saw that the police killing of George Floyd was making national front-page news in late May and early June, he didn’t expect meaningful, lasting change to come from it. […]
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Good Morning, News: Multnomah County to Reopen, A Victory for DACA, and Portland Police Have Transparency Issues
We need your help. The economic fallout of the coronavirus has threatened our ability to keep producing the Mercury. If you’re able, please consider donating to the Mercury. Drew Angerer /getty images Good morning, Portland! And, once again, happy Queer Week! Here are the headlines. • Here’s your morning-after protest summary: One big crowd marched […]
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Multnomah County Will Enter Phase 1 of Reopening This Friday
OREGON PUBLIC HEALTH DIVISION Multnomah County will enter Phase 1 of Gov. Kate Brown’s three-phase reopening plan this Friday, June 19. That means restaurants, bars, salons, gyms, fitness centers and other public-facing businesses can reopen—with significant spacing and cleanliness precautions to protect against spreading the coronavirus. Brown announced she was approving the county’s request to […]