Dirk VanderHart Facing outraged citizens and the vexation of colleagues, Mayor Charlie Hales is pulling rein on recent changes that would likely mean clear sailing for the controversial 37th Street Apartments. The mayor sent out a press release at 5:40 pm indicating he’s instructed Portland’s Bureau of Development Services to stall its vetting of a […]
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
A Mammoth Parking-Free Apartment Building Is Skirting Further Public Scrutiny
Backers of a controversial apartment development at SE Division Street and 37th Avenue have filed a revised permit with the city — circumventing further public scrutiny on the project and possibly eliminating risks the building could fall under new parking requirements headed to city council. Beaverton developer Dennis Sackhoff’s 37th Street Apartments have been a […]
Posted inNews
Beth Ditto Pleaded No Contest This Morning
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office LAST UPDATE ON THIS 5:30 pm: Bystanders cheered when Ditto was taken into custody, according to the full police report on the incident. Read it here [PDF]. ORIGINAL STORY: Beth Ditto has been convicted of disorderly conduct, following an incident this weekend where the Gossip singer drunkenly held up traffic on Mississippi […]
Posted inNews
Mandatory Confusion?
Murky Outcomes for Proposed Parking Rules
No one knows what proposed parking limits for apartments would do, exactly.
Posted inNews
Waiting for the Dough
Why Bike Share Is Still a Year Away
All Portland’s tardy bike-share system needs is a few million dollars.
Posted inNews
The Streetcar Has Funding Issues. Big Ones.
Turns out the Portland Streetcar — plagued by lower-than-expected revenues — is looking at something like a $1 million annual funding hole in coming years. That news cropped up today in a city council work session, as commissioners questioned PBOT officials about the department’s budget. “It looks like it’s a problem on the horizon,” Commissioner […]
Posted inNews
No One Wants to Pay for Street Sweeping
Dean Marriott, the director of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), has a message for the city’s transportation workers: Don’t clean up on account of us. Marriott, struggling like all bureau heads to lop money from next year’s budget, is making the case BES shouldn’t have to help pay for street sweeping services. The bureau […]
Posted inBikes
One More Thing on Bike Share
In case you’re curious how the City of Portland arrived at the $4.7 million figure to get the city’s slightly tardy bike share system off the ground, the city’s contract with Alta Bicycle Share provides some helpful information. Here, for instance, is what the system’s components are projected by Alta to cost. So at least […]
Posted inBikes
Waiting on Bike Share? It’s at Least a Year Away, and Here’s Why
If you chanced visiting the website for Portland’s upcoming bike share program last year, you were greeted with a large proclamation: Coming Spring 2013. Yet here we are, a week shy of that gentle season, and no fleet of sturdy, plodding rental bikes has flooded the center city as planned. Now, the city’s bike share […]
Posted inBlogs
Dirk VanderHart: A Primer. By Dirk VanderHart
By the way, Blogtown, I’m Dirk VanderHart, the Mercury’s latest news reporter. It’s exciting! Andreas Gibson Tropical, the island breeze. Listen, I know people liked Sarah Mirk around here and you’re all probably remembering the good old days and change is rough. But think of me like the stepfather who’s moving in way too soon […]
Posted inCops
So Some Cops Took Time From Their Days for This
Be honest: You’ve made a Harlem Shake video by now and you watch it ALL THE TIME. Well the men and women who patrol our streets haven’t had the time, people. They are busy — depending on your outlook — protecting you while you sleep or stripping you of sundry inalienable rights. But it’s not […]
Posted inNews
Where the Sidewalk Ends?
Budget Committee Blindsided by City’s Transportation Overhaul
It’s a confounding budget switcheroo from the city’s transportation director.