REAL QUICK: Your court date is delayed today, your inspiring civic engagement aims stymied. The power outage that began over the weekend is still affecting the business of government in our fair city. The Multnomah County Courthouse, Portland City Hall and the Portland Building are all closed. In a driving rain, thousands gathered in Johannesburg […]
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
Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton: Lawbreaker
Sheriff Dan Staton—elected to apprehend and watch over lawbreakers—became one himself earlier this year. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, perpetually in the hot seat for millions in overtime expenditures, overshot its budget last fiscal year by more than half a million dollars, a breach of Oregon law. That overspending amounts to a sliver of the […]
Posted inNews
Same-Sex Marriage Group Says It’s Got The Signatures It Needs. Sign Anyway.
Here’s some good news that won’t surprise you. The group angling to land a same-sex marriage initiative on the November 2014 ballot has announced it’s got the signatures to do so—with seven months left until they’re due. Oregon United for Marriage began the signature gathering effort a little more than four months ago, and this […]
Posted inBikes
Novick: City Has “Significant Commitments” for Bike Share
Portland’s tardy, apparently cash-strapped bike share system has “some pretty significant commitments” from potential sponsors, transportation Commissioner Steve Novick tells the Mercury, in what may be the strongest statement on the state of the project to date. “On the money side, I feel much better about it than I did three months ago,” Novick said. […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
You ever take comfort, in all your meandering paranoias, that even if the government wanted to watch what you were up to via your laptop camera, the little green light would let you know something was up? Not true. They’re probably watching you right now. Nelson Mandela just passed away. What better time to examine […]
Posted inNews
Money Keeps Flowing into the Race to Replace Jeff Cogen
It’s no secret Jim Francesconi can raise a lot of cash. The former city commissioner partly credits the gobs of money he accepted from downtown businesses for his loss in a 2004 mayoral bid. He wasn’t beholden to those interest, he says, but it looked bad. And while Francesconi says he won’t make the same […]
Posted inBikes
Wanna Increase Cycling? Mere Bike Lanes Are No Longer Enough
Matthew Billington When the City Club of Portland released a report on bicycling in late May, much of the coverage—ours included— centered around some of the more sensational findings. For instance, the report’s suggestion than an excise tax be levied on new bike purchases. I actually found most of the report sort of predictable at […]
Posted inNews
Fire Bureau Retirees Say They’re Being Shortchanged
Earlier this year, Portland’s police and fire retirement fund settled a case in which it overpaid nearly more than 900 pensioners. Now, the fund faces a massive suit claiming that it’s also underpaying retirees. Two former Portland Fire Bureau employees filed a class-action lawsuit in Multnomah Circuit Court yesterday, claiming the city’s Fire and Police […]
Posted inNews
City Equity Official Speaks Out Against Cop’s Use of Racial Slur
The city’s equity office is calling on cops to redouble racial sensitivity efforts, after video emerged of a patrol officer using the word “nigger” while interacting with a group of black men recently. First posted by the Mercury, the 27-second video shows Officers Michael Hall and Heather Martley attempting to clear out the sidewalk in […]
Posted inNews
Down the Drain?
Why Did the City Spend Sewer Money on Jazz? Efficiency.
Why did the city spend sewer money on a jazz concert? Efficiency!
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
In opaque North Korean governance, a question: Did mercurial leader Kim Jong-un merely fire his uncle—stripping the man of titles and executing his top aides—or did he imprison him? Just what the hell is going on in North Korea, anyway? China’s still insisting that an air defense zone it dreamed up over the East China […]
Posted inNews
Teachers Union Alleges Illegal Tactics by PPS
Portland’s largest teacher’s union—locked in prolonged and nasty contract negotiations with Portland Public Schools—now says the district has engaged in unfair negotiation tactics for refusing to take up language that would increase teacher pay for larger class sizes. The Portland Association of Teachers today announced it’s filed a formal complaint with the Oregon Employment Relations […]