The brief life of Camp Cascadia.
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
Good Morning, News!
On the very, very off chance you missed my twitter play-by-play, something like 25 riot-gear-clad cops made four arrests at Mount Tabor Park last night, after the bulk of Camp Cascadia protestors opted to step outside the park rather than be charged with trespassing. Cops say one of those arrested, 21-year-old Jonilka Calcano, had been […]
Posted inNews
Portland’s “Street Kids” Aren’t Gonna Win Friends Like This
A number of the city’s street kids — a group already in the sights of Mayor Charlie Hales and the Portland business community for aggressive panhandling tactics—added unfortunate fuel to that fire today. According to a release from the Portland Police Bureau, a “large group of transient ‘street kids’” assaulted a 70-year-old employee of the […]
Posted inNews
Camp Cascadia Once Again Threatening Civil Disobedience
This time, Camp Cascadia organizer Jessie Sponberg says, he means it. After rallying peaceably—and in almost-full cooperation with park rangers—in its protests at Mount Tabor Park over the weekend, Sponberg tells the Mercury it’s time to escalate. “We’re not gonna leave at midnight tonight,” he said. “We want something real out of city hall and […]
Posted inNews
In Case You Missed Yesterday’s Trayvon Martin Rally
Dirk VanderHart Demonstrations in larger and more-diverse cities clogged one of the country’s most-infamous freeways and the “Crossroads of the World.” Portland’s rally decrying George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin stuck to a couple blocks of North Portland. That’s not to take anything away from the event that played out […]
Posted inNews
Rally Planned Today for Trayvon Martin
theportlandalliance.org Another beautiful day, another option for you to demonstrate in a Portland park. The flummoxing, enraging, disheartening acquittal of George Zimmerman yesterday has spurred calls for a rally this afternoon at North Portland’s Peninsula Park. The event’s being organized, apparently, by The Portland Alliance and by a group called Campaign to End the New […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
The Texas Senate yesterday finally succeeded in passing the strict anti-abortion legislation that had been stymied by filibuster last month. The filibuster, as we know from Washington, can be something of a dirty trick. This law, which Gov. Rick Perry will sign, is dirtier. ‘ Opponents of the law aren’t giving up. Weekends aren’t free […]
Posted inBlogs
Tonight in Potential Mayhem
Kate Summer It’s anybody’s guess what’ll happen on Mount Tabor this weekend. Organizers protesting the city’s decision to drain the landmark’s open-air reservoirs aren’t ruling out serious confrontation. The city’s parks department sent out a release this morning saying it anticipates a “peaceful, unpermitted demonstration.” For now, all that’s certain is Mount Tabor Park’s sort […]
Posted inPortland
The Atlantic is Sort of Breathless Over Portland’s Economy
In Portland, we’ve been battered with tales about our downed economy for years. On message boards, locals ceaselessly warn prospective Portlanders from moving to town unless they have a job lined up (good advice—trust me—but certainly not mandatory). The rapidly tiring joke the city’s a place where young people go to retire, it turns out, […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect killed in a shootout with police, is also suspected of carrying out another killing—the bizarre, and as-yet unsolved, case of three men found with their throats slashed and corpses “sprinkled” with marijuana. Tsarnaev’s brother Dzhokhar pleaded not guilty to the 30 charges against him Wednesday. You know how […]
Posted inNews
The Doctor Is In
How Steve Novick Is Preaching the Gospel of Health Care Reform
Steve Novick is busy. But he still wants to make you healthier.
Posted inNews
Storm the Gates
A Fight’s Brewing in Colonel Summers Park
A fight’s brewing in Colonel Summers Park.