No surprises here: The City of Portland is still under a formal housing state of emergency declaration, and the city’s policy requiring landlords to pay relocation fees rides on. Well before an hours-long hearing on those two proposals this morning, it was clear Portland City Council would extend the housing emergency by 18 months—a move […]
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
Hall Monitor: The 10-Month Checkup
Three Takeaways as Mayor Ted Wheeler Extends Portland’s Housing Emergency
Three takeaways as Mayor Ted Wheeler extends Portland’s housing emergency.
Posted inCannabis
The City is Winning Authority to Drug Test Its Workers
It’s the First Time Managers Have Been Able to Test Many Employees, and It Could Lead to Problems
It’s the first time managers have been able to test many employees, and it could lead to problems.
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Tom Petty Leaves Too Soon, Las Vegas Will Happen Again, and Things Are Rough
People tend to the wounded outside the Route 91 Harvest Country music festival grounds after an apparent shooting on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are reports of an active shooter around the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) The numbers out of Las Vegas were difficult to believe […]
Posted inNews
Oregon’s Secretary of State Says Being Gay is Immoral—and That’s Not Remotely Surprising
Yup. Carolyn Campbell So we’re clear, it is not surprising that Dennis Richardson—Oregon’s secretary of state, first in line for the governor’s office if Kate Brown steps down, and the candidate of choice for Willamette Week and the Oregonian—doesn’t approve of LGBT citizens. Yes, it is certainly jarring that, in 2017 in Oregon, a statewide […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: ICE Cracks Down, Bizarre Cuba Attacks, and Trump Wants to Give Himself a Tax Cut
The city’s lawsuit against Monsanto, over the PCBs that are rife in the Willamette River, Columbia Slough, and Columbia River, can proceed. A judge ruled last week that the city has standing to sue the company over the chemicals it produced for around four decades—apparently with plenty of evidence they were toxic. Days after Attorney […]
Posted inNews
Better Naito Is Going Away for the Year. Go Celebrate Better Naito.
Dirk VanderHart The Portland Business Alliance will mop its dewy brow and breathe a ragged sigh of relief next week, when the “Better Naito” project comes to a close for 2017. The yearly conversion of a single north-bound traffic lane on Naito Parkway into a path for cyclists and pedestrians has caused unceasing whinging from […]
Posted inNews
Monsanto Tried to Kill a Lawsuit Over Portland River Contamination. It Failed.
Last year, Portland piled on to a group of West Coast cities who say a precursor of agribusiness giant Monsanto tainted their waterways. Monsanto promptly argued the city has no right to file suit. Monsanto was wrong. Late last week, a federal judge ruled that Portland has standing to sue the company (and two others) […]
Posted inNews
Portland Once Again Finds a Parasite in its Water Supply
Heavy rains returned to Portland last week. Now cryptosporidium has, too. The Portland Water Bureau announced this afternoon that it detected crypto—a parasitic microorganism that in some forms can lead to serious health problems in humans—in a water sample taken from the Bull Run watershed on September 24. “At this time, the bureau and public […]
Posted inHousing
Hall Monitor: Dibs!
Chloe Eudaly Wants to Give Tenants and City Officials the First Shot At Buying Rental Properties
Chloe Eudaly wants to give tenants and city officials the first shot at buying rental properties.
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Obamacare Survives, Trump’s People Use Private Emails, and Portland’s Still Got a Housing Emergency
Officials rely on the city’s formal housing emergency to operate a 200-bed shelter at the Hansen Building in East Portland. The shelter would face zoning challenges without the declaration. Multnomah County You know how Portland’s under a formal housing “state of emergency” that lets officials put homeless shelters on property that otherwise wouldn’t be zoned […]
Posted inHousing
Mayor Ted Wheeler Wants to Extend Portland’s Housing State of Emergency by 18 Months
Portland’s housing state of emergency might get its longest extension to-date, if a proposal Mayor Ted Wheeler is cooking up moves forward. Tomorrow, Wheeler’s office plans to submit an ordinance for council consideration that would push an expiration date for the city’s housing emergency status out 18 months, spokesperson Michael Cox says. The ordinance would […]