Blair Stenvick

Peggy Zebroski, shortly after having her nose broken by a police officer. JOHN RUDOFF A 68-year-old woman whose nose was broken by a Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officer at a 2017 protest—and who has been seeking damages from the City of Portland—will not receive a second trial. In April, Peggy Zebroski lost her civil court […]

GRIM GRAM / GETTY IMAGES Tenants-rights advocates clashed with landlords and property owners over potential new requirements for the rental screening process at a Portland City Council meeting Wednesday evening. One of two proposed city ordinances would require landlords to follow specific application screening rules—a process called “low-barrier” screening—to ensure their tenant selection process isn’t […]

Chris Warner CITY OF PORTLAND Chris Warner has been appointed the new director of the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Transportation Commissioner Chloe Eudaly announced Thursday morning. Warner has served as PBOT’s interim director since last July, but now will hold the position without that qualifier. “I chose Chris Warner because he shares my commitment […]

DAN COLE Oregon’s recreational cannabis inspections and tracking systems are more consistent and secure than they were this time last year, according to a report released Wednesday by Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno’s office. The report was a follow-up to an audit released in February of 2018, which found gaping holes in the Oregon […]

SE Foster, pictured here, will receive major safety upgrades under the Fixing Our Streets program. PBOT Portland’s city street repair program—funded by gas tax dollars—is behind schedule and needs better oversight, according to a city audit released Wednesday. In May 2016, Portland voters approved a 10-cent gas tax and a tax on heavy vehicles to […]

Getty images / Sasiistock When Tatyana divorced her now ex-husband in 2018, it was the culmination of a 12-year relationship that included repeatedly escalating instances of physical abuse. Tatyana, who asked the Mercury to not use her last name out of privacy concerns, compared her situation to the oft-used “frog in hot water” analogy—because the […]

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS Over one hundred students walked out of Wilson High School Friday afternoon in protest of their administration’s perceived mishandling of several racist incidents on campus. Synceire Bivens, president of the school’s Black Student Union (BSU) and a sophomore at Wilson, told the Mercury that the event was in response to three recent […]

CITY OF PORTLAND On Thursday, the Portland City Council unanimously approved a plan to make structural improvements to East 82nd Avenue. The move is seen as a first step to an ambitious goal of transforming 82nd and the neighborhoods surrounding it into a safer and more neighborhood-oriented road—but it’s one that will require the cooperation […]