Police Chief Danielle Outlaw Portland Police Bureau Since taking over earlier this month, Police Chief Danielle Outlaw hasn’t been willing to talk about leadership changes she might enact at the Portland Police Bureau, but at least one fairly large change could go into effect as early as next week. Outlaw, a former deputy chief at […]
Dirk VanderHart
I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters elsewhere.
I've been in Portland three years, love it and want to help make it better. Let's keep it amicable!
Posted inNews
Three Multnomah County Deputies Who Tipped Off ICE to Immigrants’ Whereabouts Won’t Face Discipline
JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES Three Multnomah County deputies who shared the whereabouts of undocumented immigrants with federal agents last year did not intentionally break office policy and won’t be disciplined, the sheriff’s office says. In an email this afternoon, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office says a months-long investigation into the deputies’ contact with US […]
Posted inNews
The City’s Planning a Lawsuit to Fight Releasing Public Records to an Anti-Union Group
ANOTHER BELIEVER / CC 3.0 The City of Portland is preparing a lawsuit in order to avoid releasing the names of members of a public-employee union to an anti-labor group, after District Attorney Rod Underhill’s office deemed those records are public. A resolution Portland City Council will vote on next week would give city attorneys […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Firework-Happy Teen Charged, New Homeless Restrooms, and a Strike!
Gracey Zhang STRIKE! (MAYBE!) Members of the DCTU, a conglomeration of six public-employee unions, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike yesterday. If the group and the city can’t iron out a contract by November 3, Portland could see its first employee strike in 16 years. News lots of people were waiting for: Oregon State Police […]
Posted inUncategorized
More than 1,000 City Employees Could Go On Strike Next Month
Gracey Zhang The city’s largest group of unionized employees is ready to walk off the job. In a vote tallied this evening, employees represented by the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) voted to potentially strike as early as November 3, if an ongoing contract dispute with the City of Portland hasn’t been resolved. According […]
Posted inHousing
Mayor Ted Wheeler is Looking to Buy Mobile Bathrooms for Southeast Portland’s Homeless
Here’s what restroom trailers look like in Denver. City and County of Denver Step aside food carts, public restrooms might become the latest Portland sensation on wheels. Backing up a hint he dropped in a recent press conference, Mayor Ted Wheeler is mulling spending nearly $160,000 to purchase and operate two mobile restroom trailers meant […]
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Chunks of a Portland Man’s Exploded Hand Struck a Federal Officer. He’s Charged With Assault.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office When he set off an explosion during a traffic stop, authorities say parts of Jason Schaefer’s mangled left hand struck a federal officer. Now, Shaefer faces a charge of assaulting that officer. The bizarre detail emerged today, in an unsealed probable cause statement filed along with federal charges against Schaefer, 26. […]
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A Thai Food Cart in SW Portland Caught Fire This Afternoon
The Lai Thai food cart in SW Portland caught fire this afternoon. Doug Brown A food cart in Southwest Portland went up in flames this afternoon, sending fire and huge plumes of smoke into the sky. Witnesses say the Lai Thai food cart at SW 1st and Columbia caught fire shortly after 3 pm. Bystanders […]
Posted inHousing
Portland is Plotting to Set Aside 2,000 Apartments For Its Hardest-to-Reach Homeless Residents
Bud Clark Commons—perhaps Portland’s best known permanent supportive housing development. Sometime in the next six months or so, local officials are going to present a case for how Portland can dramatically increase housing for its most down-and-out individuals. In a unanimous and long-portended vote this morning, the Portland City Council voted to order up a […]
Posted inNews
Portland’s Old Brick Buildings Will Kill You
But As the City Ponders New Safety Standards, a Group of Property Owners is Fighting Back—and Winning
But as the city ponders new safety standards, a group of property owners is fighting back—and winning.
Posted inNews
Mayoral Adviser Andrea Valderrama Is Running for Dan Saltzman’s Council Seat
This is an old photo. The race for Dan Saltzman’s soon-vacant city council seat has a new entrant. Andrea Valderrama—once a staffer for former Commissioner Steve Novick who currently works in Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office—announced today she’ll be running for Saltzman’s Position Three seat next May. She joins local NAACP president and former legislator Jo […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Exploding Stars, Easier RV Camping in Portland, and Trump’s Addiction-Abetting Drug Czar Pick
K. Marie On the housing emergency front, Mayor Ted Wheeler wants to use a theoretical $100 million from a theoretical transportation bond TriMet is considering, to pay for housing. TriMet says that’s not how these things work, in theory or otherwise. And Commissioner Chloe Eudaly is making it easier for private property owners to help […]