And then there was one. Earlier this week, only two states were left with an unchallenged ban on same-sex marriages—North Dakota and South Dakota. That changed yesterday. Six couples from South Dakota have filed a lawsuit in the name of marriage equality, leaving North Dakota all by its lonesome. Same-sex marriage is legal in 19 […]
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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Good Morning, News!
McDonald’s has a long and cherished history of providing convenience, flavor, and fun for America’s harried homemakers and their families. It also employs hoards of impoverished people. That’s why convenience is so cheap! Yesterday, 2,000 workers and activists descended on the fast-food giant’s suburban Chicago campus (where waiters roam the tables, looking to refill your […]
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A Long Time Coming
Oregon’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban Was Slain in Forceful Style
Oregon’s same-sex marriage ban was slain in forceful style.
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Hall Monitor
The Road to Budget Peace?
Amanda Fritz has something Steve Novick and Charlie Hales want.
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Still Waters Prevail
Voters Douse Water District, Enthusiastically Embrace Incumbents
Voters douse the Portland Public Water District, enthusiastically embrace incumbents
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Their Candidate Lost. But the $15 Minimum Wage Fight’s Just Begun.
photographs by denis c. theriault Nick Caleb lost his council race. He’s still attending Living Wage Wednesdays outside Portland City Hall. Last night could have been dispiriting for Nick Caleb, the Concordia professor who ran to keep Dan Saltzman from a fifth term on the Portland City Council, after he managed only 18 percent of […]
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It’s the Mercury‘s Primary Election Live Blog!
Welcome to the Blogtown Election Vulture’s Lair! In this post? Everything you need to know—and a bunch of stuff you didn’t—about tonight’s May primary election results. Will the Portland Public Water District become a thing we actually have to deal with? Will Jim Francesconi and Deborah Kafoury find themselves in a fall runoff for Multnomah […]
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Also Paying Novick and Hales’ Street Fee? City Bureaus
The list of people or agencies expected to pitch in for a proposed (and controversial) Portland street fee is already pretty comprehensive: Homeowners, businesses, and other local governments—all of whom use the city’s roads and would face potentially big bills for the privilege of bringing those roads back up to snuff. But they’re not the […]
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Must-Read: Judge Michael McShane’s Gut-Punching Ruling on Marriage Equality
Today’s historic ruling on marriage equality by US District Court Judge Michael McShane might have been cautiously, optimistically expected—no judge anywhere has defended marriage bans since the Defense of Marriage Act was dismantled last year. But it still managed to pack a heartfelt wallop. Not only did McShane cannily eschew a “heightened scrutiny” standard for […]
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Good Morning, News!
Marriage equality in Oregon? Today? Seems likely. Seems very, very likely. A court decision on Oregon’s likely unconstitutional 2004 marriage ban is due out at noon—and waves of couples, if that’s the way Judge Michael McShane rules, are already standing by to take their place in history. For the third time, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin […]
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The Portland Business Alliance Is Back in Trouble Over Lobbying Reports
Months after the Mercury caught the Portland Business Alliance failing to report lobbying correspondence with Mayor Charlie Hales’ office, the group has earned a mild-but-serious rebuke from the city auditor’s office after getting caught in a fresh lapse. City Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade chided the downtown business association in a letter (pdf) dated May 13—after the […]
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Advocates: Ruling on Marriage Equality in Oregon Due at Noon Monday
Illustration by Leo Zarosinski Almost two weeks ago, the advocates pushing to legalize same-sex marriage in Oregon this year were glumly contemplating a worst-case scenario. A national group was trying to tangle a federal court case that’s expected give Oregonians the right to marry anyone they want—potentially forcing advocates to push ahead with an expensive […]