The ongoing fight over Dan Saltzman’s plan to spend Airbnb cash on housing.
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.
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Fritz Forces Delay in Money for Downtown Marketing Initiative: She’d Rather Fund East Portland Traffic Crossing
Almost three months after Mayor Charlie Hales proposed a budget that cut nearly $1 million for one of the Portland Business Alliance’s cherished programs, the Downtown Marketing Initiative, the mayor this morning tried to get his colleagues to go along with a (fractional) change of heart. He’s getting his wish, pushing through a small restoration […]
Posted inNews
City to Pay Out $110,000 for Police Beating at Nightclub
Daniel Collins, a 21-year-old college student at the time, has always maintained he was merely trying to leave Old Town’s Barracuda nightclub soon after a melee broke out on Christmas Eve 2010, bringing in a bunch of cops who immediately set about trying to break things up. And Collins might have made it out if […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News!
The West Bank could be going the way of Gaza, first with restiveness among horrified Palestinians watching the warfare Israel’s waging against their kin, and then with a handful of shootings at the hands of soldiers and settlers. Unless, maybe, who knows, Secretary of State John Kerry can persuade both sides to bite on a […]
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One More Email in City Hall’s Dispute Over Old Town Redevelopment
Yesterday’s post revealing some of city hall’s internal deliberations over Mayor Charlie Hales’ push to revivify Old Town and Chinatown—by investing urban renewal money, but also by waiving development fees on new market-rate housing—was full of unusually frank and wonkish discussions among city commissioners and their staffs. Let’s recap briefly! Parks Director Mike Abbaté, in […]
Posted inWorst. Night. Ever.
It’s Wm. Steven Humphrey’s Worst. Night. Ever!
Welcome back to the Blogtown series we like to call “Worst. Night. Ever.” Every Wednesday when we’re discussing our event picks for the week, someone suggests an event which is the equivalent of throwing acid in our eyes—but we also realize a more enlightened person might love it! Hence, these “risky” events are often unfairly […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News!
Cruel and unusual much? Arizona’s attempt to neatly murder a death row prisoner with a secret concoction of murder drugs lasted something like two agonizing hours—with the inmate, Joseph Wood, “gasping,” “gulping,” and “snorting” for air as if he were slowly being suffocated. Yes, Joseph Wood was a convicted murderer. But we’re also not supposed […]
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Hall Monitor
The Buck Stops at the Top
Hales, unhappy over the Kruger deal, should look to Chief Mike Reese.
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Pressure Points
Police Union President’s Latest IPR Claim Hits Home
The police union’s latest complaint about the city’s Independent Police Review hits home.
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Old Town Development Plan Still Mired in Controversy, Still Likely to Advance
Portland Development Commission The immediate fate of an Old Town/Chinatown redevelopment plan that’s opened up a rift among Portland city commissioners—with Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish still steadfastly refusing to back one of its primary cash streams—is one of delay. After one last modification this morning, the council will now wait until August 6 before […]
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KOIN Films Steve Novick Attending a Meeting of People Trying to Recall Steve Novick
Last week’s best bit of political theater waited all the way until Saturday. Commissioner Steve Novick, making his weekend rounds, actually dropped in for a planning meeting of the very nascent recall campaign trying to boot him (and Mayor Charlie Hales) from office later this fall. The meeting—attended by some of the people angry over […]