A couple of hours after Commissioner Dan Saltzman said Portland should rejoin the federal government’s Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force, calling for city council vote on the controversial issue next week, December 8, Mayor Sam Adams poured all kinds of cold water on the idea. When asked outside the federal courthouse if he supported Saltzman’s […]
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 inNews
Good Morning, News!
Hear the one about the guy who wanted to set off a bomb in Pioneer Courthouse Square? The local channels last night devoted half their 11 pm broadcasts to the story, and it was the lead story in today’s New York Times. Scroll down to see our coverage yesterday if you missed it. And click […]
Posted inNews
Familiar Script Emerges in Stories About Terror Stings
If it feels like you’ve been reading more and more stories about government-assisted terrorism plots—notwithstanding the one close to home that we’re all talking about—that’s because you really have been. (Update, 11:30 am Sunday: If you’re reading this because the Oregonian linked to it, thanks for visiting. Now be sure to stay awhile and read […]
Posted inNews
Fox News on Portland Bomb Plot: “Can You Imagine the Psychic Damage?”
Three Saturday morning anchors mix in a splash of righteousness and fear-mongering—they totally play up that it was at a CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING—with rare heaps of praise for the federal authorities who were with Mohamed Mohamud every step of the way. (Which also means that, maybe, if they hadn’t been with him every step of […]
Posted inNews
Why Was the FBI Interested in Mohamed Mohamud?
Among the big questions surrounding the FBI’s Pioneer Square bombing sting is how Mohamed Osman Mohamud even got on their radar in the first place. They may have gotten a nudge, some are reporting. The undercover operation took off after Mohamud wasn’t allowed to board a plane to Alaska in June—prompting an interview with agents […]
Posted inNews
FBI Sting: Man Arrested in Plot to Blow Up Pioneer Square
A Corvallis man who parked what he believed was a van full of explosives outside Pioneer Courthouse Square—with a plan to blow the place sky high during the city’s people-packed annual tree lighting ceremony—was arrested by federal and local authorities last night just before the event was scheduled to begin. Authorities say no one was […]
Posted inPortland
Repeating Our Warning From Earlier This Month: Parking Isn’t Free Today
It was only 23 days ago, but for all intents and purposes, November 3 really was a lifetime ago. Bristol Palin hadn’t been bounced from Dancing With The Stars. Tom Hughes, not yet the Metro president, was waiting for the vote count to bear out the obvious math. Greg Oden still had an NBA future […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Ducking an invitation? Yes, but it’s okay. Amanda Fritz, it seems, has declined Randy Leonard’s offer to light the new Portland, Oregon sign. Turns out the hot-and-heavy Oregon Ducks are playing their last home game of the season, and Fritz is a season ticket-holder. And the Ducks are contending for a national title. We now […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
More information came in last night about the 22-year-old man found dead of hypothermia Tuesday morning in Waterfront Park. Mike Ellis was kicked out of a club the night before because he took off his shirt, and his friends are outraged he was booted into the street partially undressed. It was smoke, not bullets. A […]
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Hall Monitor
A River of Compromises
After a series of compromises, is the River Plan still viable?
Posted inNews
Shocking Questions
Advocates Raise Concerns About City Audit on Taser Use
Did a new city audit on Taser use in Portland ask the right questions?
Posted inFood and Drink
If the Romans Had Celebrated Thanksgiving…
Holy shit, I can already feel the hot, sour bile inching its way past my epiglottis and into the back of my salty, spit-filled mouth! This isn’t just gluttony. This is 79,000 calories of beautiful, cardinal sin: A quail stuffed in a Cornish hen stuffed in a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a […]