Public defenders are making a strong case for better pay. It probably won’t matter.
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
Commuters Beware: Suspicious Packages EVERYWHERE
In case you missed it, the evening commute is insane today, with suspicious packages cropping up all over the place. The Steel Bridge was closed while a Portland Police Bureau bomb squad investigated a toolbox that was left on the upper deck. Commuters were shunted from the MAX onto buses on either side of the […]
Posted inNews
Signs of Life in the Enormous (but Shrunken) Lloyd “Superblock” Project
Not much has been said lately about the Lloyd District’s upcoming “superblock,” the mammoth mixed-use development announced by former Mayor Sam Adams in his 2012 State of the City address. But there are fresh signs the project’s moving forward. Portland’s Bureau of Development Services yesterday posted a public notice [PDF] of the development on its […]
Posted inNews
Portland Meadows’ Fate Perhaps Hinges on Tomorrow
Long-time North Portland institution Portland Meadows has been flagging now for a long time. The horse track reliably loses money each season. Its bid to draw fresh blood to the track this summer worked in part, but wasn’t remotely profitable, as I reported in the Oregonian earlier this year. And there’s now some question whether […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Despite some questionable reporting to the contrary, there are still no arrests in the twin bombings that shattered the Boston Marathon’s finish line exuberance yesterday. Authorities, promising a “worldwide” investigation, are seeking out any and all video footage of the area in the moments prior to the attack. The death toll from the bombings remains […]
Posted inNews
A Reliable Place for Boston Marathon Explosion Coverage
The Internet is seizing up because of two explosions at the finish line of today’s Boston Marathon. If you’re having trouble getting anything to load, the Associated Press is doing a good job updating this page with the latest news. A word of caution: There is a LOT of footage of this incident, and some […]
Posted inSports
Timbers 1, Earthquakes 0, Saab owner -1
San Jose Earthquake fans don’t yet have a legitimate stadium of their own to trash, so they’ve apparently taking to messing things up around here. The Portland Police Bureau is looking for a contingent of Earthquake fans who—while headed to watch their team’s defeat yesterday—decided to make a brief pit stop to wreck a Saab. […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning, News!
Sports! I don’t like it any better than you, but it’s Saturday morning and there’s all this interesting sports stuff happening. Bear with me. Nukes and disease and puppies coming up. BUT FIRST. A 14-year-old golfer from China keeps making history. He was the youngest player to qualify for The Masters, which is a big […]
Posted inDrunk
Joe’s Cellar Building Deemed Unsafe. Bar to Close Sunday.
Joe’s Cellar, one of the better dives/diners in the NW 21st area, will close its doors this weekend after city officials deemed the building too dangerous. According to an entry dated Thursday on the city’s Portland Maps website, “the building is leaning out and the roof joists have separated from the wall so that the […]
Posted inNews
In Washington State, Tough Questions on the CRC
Local critics of the embattled Columbia River Crossing—which breezily received Oregon’s stamp of approval in Salem earlier this year—will be heartened by questions coming out of Olympia. Nowhere have those been more clear than in a video, mistakenly posted online, of Washington lawmakers in closed session putting the screws to US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, […]
Posted inNews
The City Club STILL Likes Fluoride
The City Club of Portland has been trying to get fluoride into the city’s drinking water for almost 60 years. So the central conclusion of a report the club sent to media outlets Wednesday—with strict instructions it wasn’t to be reported on until this morning—comes as no surprise: the City Club still wants our water […]
Posted inNews
City Council Finally Passes Parking Minimums. No One Seems to Care.
The chambers of Portland’s city council were sleepy today, as commissioners formally enacted the most-controversial legislation it’s grappled with in recent months. In an expected 3-1 vote (Commissioner Steve Novick was absent), council established parking minimums for new apartment or condo buildings of 31 units or more. In doing so, the city rolled back decades […]