The gorge you knew is gone.
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
Hundreds Gather in Downtown Portland to Rally Against Trump’s DACA Decision
Doug Brown Hundreds of people amassed in downtown’s Terry Schrunk Plaza this evening to voice outrage and concern over Donald Trump’s announcement he’ll end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program begun by former President Barack Obama. With Trump’s decision, roughly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who’d been brought to the US as children have […]
Posted inNews
A Portland Woman Says She Saw Teens Start the Gorge Wildfire. This is Her Story.
It’s entirely possible one Portland woman saw the exact moment the Eagle Creek Fire began. Liz FitzGerald reached out to several media organizations on Monday, saying she’d seen a group of teenagers light a firework and toss if off the Eagle Creek Trail on Saturday afternoon. A short while later, she saw the area filled […]
Posted inNews
Want to Donate to People Fighting and Fleeing the Columbia Gorge Fire? Here Are Some Resources
whereinthegorge.com Wildfire continues to rip westward through the Columbia River Gorge, spanning something like 4,800 acres (and leaping the Columbia River), turning the sun into a crimson stain, and even obscuring the site of Multnomah Falls from their own parking lot. You’d usually be able to see Multnomah Falls from the parking lot. Today? Lots […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good(?) Morning, News: The Gorge Fire Keeps Spreading, the Air Is Acrid and Filled with Ash, and Trump is About to Kill DACA
Fires burn unchecked in the Columbia River Gorge on Monday. whereinthegorge.com The Gorge Is On Fire: Lots of it. Overnight, winds continued to push the Eagle Creek fire west. There are fires near Crown Point, and encroaching on Multnomah Falls. I-84 is closed from Troutdale to just west of Hood River. The fire has crossed […]
Posted inHousing
Nearly 70 Low-Income Portlanders Aren’t Being Evicted, After All
Residents of the Stewart Apartments can stay put. For weeks, 66 tenants of the decrepit, ultra-low-income apartments above Mary’s Club have been wondering if they’d be tossed out on the streets, as an agreement between the building’s owners and their longtime apartment management company ticked toward expiration. But that didn’t happen. The building’s part owner, […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Houston Chem Plant Explosions, OSU’s Racist Names, and Your Hot, Fiery Future
The latest death toll, as the extent of Harvey’s mayhem is sussed out, is 46. And there are plenty of hazards, though the storm has moved on. Officials are still bracing for possibly more explosions at a chemical plant outside of Houston, which the NYT reports ” has been identified as one of the most […]
Posted inNews
The City’s Now Using “No Camping” Signs to Deter Campers from Parks
And It Might Be Working?
And it might be working?
Posted inNews
County Commissioner Lori Stegmann Got a Controversial Flag Removed from the Courthouse
Here’s Why
Here’s why.
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor: Back on Hoyt Street
Officials Are Eyeing an Old Town Warehouse for Shelter Space. Will This Time Be Different?
Officials are eying an Old Town warehouse for shelter space. Will this time be different?
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Harvey’s Not Done, North Korea Fires Over Japan, and Melania’s Hurricane Shoes
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) The latest official death toll from now-Tropical Storm Harvey is 10, but there’s no telling what rescuers—including some from Oregon—will find when the rivers and lakes that have replaced much of the Houston area subside. The storm has moved back over the Gulf of Mexico, “meaning it could gain strength,” […]
Posted in?!?!?
Joey Gibson, Whose Rallies Attract Extremists, Cancels San Francisco Rally Because of Extremists
Right-wing vlogger Joey Gibson tends to his MAGA-behatted flock in Portland on August 6 Doug Brown Fisticuffs in Portland and Seattle are one thing, but an impending showdown in San Francisco proved too dicey for Vancouver-based right-wing blogger Joey GIbson. Gibson announced this afternoon his Patriot Prayer organization is canceling a planned “Freedom Rally” at […]