ILLUSTRATION BY FRANCOIS VIGNEAULT Commissioner Steve Novick’s promised “gut check” when it comes to the final form of his and Mayor Charlie Hales’ controversial $43.8 million street fund—will a scrapped “compromise” residential income tax either become more progressive or revert back to a user fee?—has apparently already arrived. Josh Alpert, Hales’ director of strategic initiatives, […]
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 inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: “Gut Check Time” on the Street Fee? Did China Help North Korea? DROP THAT CARAMEL APPLE NOW!
The likely outcome of this week’s sudden pause in the push for transportation funding? Commissioner Steve Novick appears to be steeling himself for a retreat from the progressive income tax he’d hoped would make up about half of the $43.8 million plan he and Mayor Charlie Hales are working up. And how come? Reverting to […]
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Good Morning, News: We’re Still Broke! We Cower in the Face of Hackers! But Maybe We’re Going to Venus?
How well would Oregon fare in the unlikely event something foul like Ebola a seriously virulent flu ever took hold and began spreading itself among us in a serious way? The answer is something akin to “comme-çi, comme-ça.” We’re in the middle of the pack when it comes to our likely ability to stem the […]
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Environmental Advocates Seize on Zoning Change in Bid to Squash Propane Terminal
Portland planners have crafted an elegant-seeming solution to an environmental zoning puzzle that threatened to stall construction of a ballyhooed, $500 million propane-export terminal on the Columbia River—a hiccup first reported by the Mercury in October. According to documents released last week, planners suggest narrowly amending the city’s environmental rules to let Canadian firm Pembina […]
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Hall Monitor
A Wakeup Call on Housing
Shocked advocates help reframe city hall’s changes to urban renewal.
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Novick, Hales Scrapping “Compromise” Version of Street Fund Income Tax
Commissioner Steve Novick and Mayor Charlie Hales just announced they’re scrapping half of their $43.8 million Portland Street Fund—a “compromise” residential income tax that was tweaked and tortured to win support from skeptics including the Portland Business Alliance but only earned, instead, deep opprobrium. Instead of the tax they unveiled November 10, which had a […]
Posted inMedia
Tribune Pulls Story Questioning Protests Over Police Conduct in Light of Gang Shootings
A front-page Portland Tribune story connecting last week’s gang-related shooting outside Rosemary Anderson High School to ongoing protests over police violence and fractured ties with Portland’s black community has been scrubbed online by the paper’s publisher amid concerns it wasn’t sufficiently developed. The short article—headlined “Who’s Doing the Shooting? In Portland, It’s Not the Police”—opened […]
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Police Watchdog Says Widespread “Belief” Cops Target Hip-Hop Shows, Black Patrons “Should Greatly Concern City Officials”
A long-awaited report by the city’s Independent Police Review faults hazy or non-existent protocols and incomplete record-keeping for its inability to definitively prove—or disprove—a widespread “belief in the hip-hop community” that Portland cops heap disparate scrutiny on “hip-hop shows or other events perceived to have a significant portion of black patrons.” But despite that lack […]
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Fill Out an Application If You Want to Help Oversee Federal Police Reform in Portland
Portland’s police reform agreement with the US Department of Justice cleared some major hurdles this year—finally winning approval from a federal judge (even if the city’s challenging a key part of his order) and then, this fall, gaining a compliance officer/community liaison. But the most important piece of the reform deal had still been left […]
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Housing Advocates Help Push Off Vote on Urban Renewal Changes
The final weeks of 2014 had loomed like a marathon of consequential votes for Portland City Hall: Airbnb and short-term rental enforcement, the Portland Street Fund, rethinking the city’s future with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, police body cameras, and major changes to some of the city’s urban renewal districts (pdf). A few hearings […]
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Cops: Two Victims in Shooting at North Portland Alternative High School
The Portland Police Bureau just sent word its starting up a “shooting investigation” at North Portland’s Rosemary Anderson High School—with at least two victims reported according to preliminary information. The bureau’s statement doesn’t say whether the victims are injured or slain. The shooting also doesn’t appear to fit the profile of a mass shooting. The […]
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Good Morning, News: Dead Dogs Have Souls! PSU Cops Will Have Guns! The Government Has Money!
All dogs DO go to HEAVEN! It’s not just some trite cartoon movie title from before most of the Millennials were born. It’s true. The new pinko pope said so! It’s as calm as fresh death outside right now. But last night’s windy antics knocked out power to thousands—and fouled up roads in Portland, but […]