Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today. What the eye worm looks like. Almost certainly. iStock / Getty Images Plus NOPE. JUST NOPE. An Oregon woman is the first American known to have had parasitic worms living between her eye […]
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 inUncategorized
The Aide Who Accused Sam Adams of Sexual Harassment Will Address City Council on Wednesday
The Sam Adams aide who last year accused the former mayor of sexual harassment and a wide variety of unprofessional conduct will speak publicly about those accusations this week. Cevero Gonzalez has signed up for one of the “communications” slots at the outset of Wednesday’s morning Portland City Council meeting. The free-form slots allow five […]
Posted inUncategorized
Good Morning, News: The Tiniest Government Shutdown, Oregon Senator Resigns over Creepiness, and a Crumbling Homeless Shelter
Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today. The Shortest Government Shutdown: It began just after midnight, and ended earlier this morning, after the Senate and House of Representatives passed a new $400 billion spending package that left members of both […]
Posted inNews
Quanice Hayes’ Family Brought a Notice They Intend to Sue to the Mayor’s Office. The Mayor Was Out.
Family members of Quanice Hayes meet Maurice Henderson, Ted Wheeler’s Chief of Staff, in City Hall, in this terribly shot photo. Dirk VanderHart In days to come, the family of Quanice Hayes will sue the city for their 17-year-old relative’s February 2017 death at the hands of police. They will name the officer who killed […]
Posted inHousing
A Crumbling Roof Has Closed the County’s Largest Homeless Shelter for Families
The building that houses Human Solutions Family Center, 16015 SE Stark, complete with a view of its weird roof. Google Roughly 110 people who’d been staying in the county’s largest family homeless shelter are being moved into motel rooms today, after collapsed sheetrock raised fresh concerns about the integrity of the roof on Wednesday. Multnomah […]
Posted inHousing
As the City Increases Camp Cleanups, It Wants Permission to Sweep State Land, Too
A Bill Before the Oregon Legislative Assembly Could Make That Happen
A bill before the Legislative Assembly could make that happen.
Posted inNews
Portland Cops Might Scrap Their New $12 Million Records System
RegJIN Was Supposed to Revolutionize Police Data. Instead, It Just Costs a Lot.
RegJIN was supposed to revolutionize police data. Instead, it just costs a lot.
Posted inNews
Hall Monitor: Wheeler’s War Chest
After a Year in Office, the Mayor Is Already on a Fundraising Spree
After a year in office, the mayor is already on a fundraising spree.
Posted inCity Hall
In Turnaround, Mayor Ted Wheeler Now Supports Ending a Loophole in Portland’s Strongest Tenant Protections
K. Marie Mayor Ted Wheeler has had a change of heart. Mere weeks after Wheeler announced he wouldn’t support doing away with a controversial exemption in Portland’s renter relocation ordinance, the Mayor’s office now says that’s no longer the case. When the relocation ordinance comes before council later this month, Wheeler will now support a […]
Posted inNewsblast!
Good Morning, News: Quanice Hayes’ Final Hours, Oregon’s Legislature Is in Session, and Wapato’s (Still) an Albatross
Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today. Police swarm the scene where 17-year-old Quanice Hayes was fatally shot by Officer Andrew Hearst on February 9, 2017 Dirk VanderHart First things first, read this outstanding piece by local journalist Leah Sottile […]
Posted inNews
Quanice Hayes’ Family Plans to Sue the City of Portland, Attorney Confirms
Venus Hayes, center, Quanice Hayes’ mother, addresses reporters at a press conference last March. Doug Brown It’s been almost a year since 17-year-old Quanice Hayes was shot and killed by Portland police, who had the teen on his knees, at gunpoint, in front of an East Portland home. Many details of the day Hayes died […]
Posted inNews
“Office of Beyoncé Involvement” and Other Great—and Ignored—Suggestions For Renaming ONI
Portland has spoken and—SURPRISE!—it doesn’t want change. The city’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement (ONI) earlier this month had a simple request. ONI’s thinking of changing its name to something not so redolent of the neighborhood association system, and it wants citizens to help. So the bureau created an online survey, accepting your best suggestions from […]