“I didn’t piss in the fucking water.” The skateboarding teenager caught on security footage maybe peeing in the Mount Tabor Reservoir—giving rise to another international point-and-laugh session at Portland’s expense after officials decided to flush 38 million gallons of drinking water—has told the Oregonian‘s former night cops reporter his potty-mouthed side of the story. He […]
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
Attorneys Will Ask Council to Back Law Limiting Handcuffing of Young Children
illustration by levi greenacres Chris O’Connor, a public defender and outspoken advocate on mental health and civil rights issues, has begun building a coalition of lawyers who support changing city code to ban the handcuffing (with some exceptions) of children 12 and younger—an effort spurred by a story in this week’s Mercury about the 2013 […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Only “God knows”, apparently, why eastern Ukraine was so foolishly cut off from Russia almost a century ago, says Vladimir Putin—the pièce de resistance in remarks that saw him make nods to Tsarist might and count parliamentary approval for a potential military invasion of what he’s now calling “New Russia.” But Putin insists his soldiers […]
Posted inVideo
Watch Some Skateboarder Pee in the Mount Tabor Reservoir!
When this happened three years ago—some butthole peed in the Mount Tabor Reservoir, forcing the grossed-out city decided to dump the whole thing out—everyone lost their minds. Hate mail poured in. And the city’s water bureau found itself fielding calls from national comedic television programs. I guess Portland really has changed since 2011. Because the […]
Posted inNews
The Jack Graham Saga Just Got Worse: Tort Claim Includes Allegations of Racism
Portland’s fired chief administrative officer, Jack Graham, followed through with an implied threat that came along an awkward “name-clearing” hearing last month where he attempted to give his side of the story. His attorney has filed a formal notice (pdf) that Graham plans to sue the city over his dismissal—accusing officials of ignoring his due […]
Posted inCannabis
Driving High
Science Can’t Tell How Stoned You Are—But Cops Won’t Care
Science can’t tell how stoned you are. Maybe no one can. Except you.
Posted inNews
Arrested at Age Nine
Cops Insist Handcuffing a Girl—and Taking Her to Jail—Is Perfectly Okay
The police bureau says it’s perfectly fine to handcuff a young girl and take her to jail.
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor
A City Manager? Here?
A closed-door discussion on tweaking Portland’s government ought to be public.
Posted inNews
Scaling Back Urban Renewal is Worth Millions to the City, County, Schools, and Library
The argument for revamping a handful of Portland’s urban renewal districts—including putting much of the booming Pearl District back on the tax rolls and aborting the Sam Adams-created renewal area around Portland State—has always been about money. Let the city and Portland Development Commission make the changes, and watch city hall, Multnomah County, Portland Public […]
Posted inNews
Shootout with Cops Leads to Tense Manhunt in SW; One Officer Injured
The first reports, in the wee hours this morning, mentioned something about an armed man running through a neighborhood in Southwest Portland—around SW Capitol and Primrose—and police calling out their tactical unit. But the real story about what was happening while most of us slept didn’t spill out until a little after 7 this morning […]
Posted inArtsy
ATTENTION SCOFFLAWS: You Have Until Midnight to Pay the Arts Tax
Because our reader polls are super-duper scientific, it’s a proven fact that 35 percent of eligible Portlanders will refuse to pay the city’s $35 arts tax by midnight tonight. Based on population alone, that’s 200,000 people who’ve decided they can simply get away with not paying a tax approved by 62 percent of voters just […]
Posted inArtsy
Oh, Crap. It’s Time to Pay the Arts Tax! HAVE YOU DONE THAT YET?
Other papers in town (cough… the Oregonian… cough) seem to be making quite the splash these days with posts built around reader polls and/or comments plucked from previous stories. And now we want to play, too! So here’s a question: Have you paid the arts tax yet? It’s due next Tuesday, April 15. I have […]