Commissioner Amanda Fritz—mourning the sudden death of her husband in a multi-vehicle crash in Salem on Wednesday morning—has announced plans for what she’s hoping will be a fun-loving, irreverent public memorial or Dr. Steven Fritz this Sunday afternoon in Terry D. Schrunk Plaza. The event’s planned for 5 pm, and there’s more than a gentle […]
Denis C. Theriault
Denis C. Theriault is the Portland Mercury's News Editor. He writes stories about City Hall and the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on issues like homelessness, police oversight, insider politics, and civil liberties. Before arriving in Portland, Denis wrote and edited for the San Jose Mercury News, covering the California Legislature and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as the city of San Jose—a real-live million-person town.
Posted inPortland
Here’s What Four Decades of Gentrification in North and Northeast Portland Looks Like
In this week’s Hall Monitor, I wrote about the first of four scheduled community forums meant to help city officials spend an extra $20 million on affordable housing in the Interstate Urban Renewal Area—a snaking swath of land (born in 2000) that’s done, by some measures, more harm than good to Portland’s traditional African American […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News!
Attorney General Eric Holder, the first African American to lead the nation’s justice system, has announced his resignation—giving a promise to stay on until a successor is found. (He’d kind of hinted this all might happen at some point this year.) Holder’s US Department of Justice has notably taken on the nation’s myriad police agencies […]
Posted inNews
A Different Lens
Police Union President Airs “Many Concerns” About Body Cameras
The Portland Police Association airs “many concerns” about talk of body cameras.
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor
A Promise to Keep? Or Break?
Is $20 million enough to meaningfully undo gentrification in North and Northeast Portland?
Posted inNews
Commissioner Fritz’s Husband Killed in Salem-Area Car Crash
Re-elect Amanda Fritz The Fritz family, on a vacation in Hawaii. City hall sources have confirmed reports of a tragedy in Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s office: Fritz’s husband, Steve Fritz, died in a multi-vehicle crash earlier this morning on Interstate 5 in Salem. Dana Haynes, a spokesman in Mayor Charlie Hales’ office, sent an alert earlier […]
Posted inNews
The Latest Estimate for Portland’s Latest Budget Surplus: $8.9 Million
For those of you following the money over at Portland City Hall—which could always use a little more, for top priorities including ramped-up street maintenance, parks fixes, an arts tax bailout, housing construction, investing in emergency preparedness, and police body cameras among so many more—here’s an interesting update. Andrew Scott, the city’s budget director, has […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News!
Great Britain is… still great enough? Scotland turned down independence (and the profound political and economic uncertainty that would have accompanied it) in a decisive, double-digit no vote much larger than polling had predicted. Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, joined with British Prime Minister in pledging unity and calling for enhanced autonomy, at the least, […]
Posted inNews
Police Union Has “Many Concerns” About Talk of Outfitting Cops with Body Cameras
Illustration by dylan goldberger The leader of the city’s rank-and-file police union has taken issue with Mayor Charlie Hales’ recently declared interest in outfitting patrol cops with body-mounted cameras—raising concerns about the overall usefulness of the cameras, questioning the police bureau’s diligence, and telling officers that any such program would first need to be hashed […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News!
Is Scotland independent yet? For now? No. But that’s partly because voting in a referendum that would undo the 300-year-old political union known as Great Britain isn’t over yet. A survey coming just before the polls opened suggested independence would fail—but in the face of historic turnout, with 97 percent of eligible Scots registered to […]
Posted inNews
From Can to Can’t
Recycling Center in North Portland Worries Homeless Can Collectors
New recycling center in North Portland worries homeless can and bottle collectors.
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor
The Cops Nod to Transparency
Reports and 911 calls in teen’s Tasering answer questions—raise more.