A fascinating entry on the Stranger’s excellent blog this afternoon by reporter Erica C.Barnett, about homeless sweeps being done in Seattle. Barnett writes: The controversy over the sweeps, which the Times story breezes past in five short sentences consisting of an obligatory quote from a single homeless advocate, isn’t just about the fact that there […]
Matt Davis
Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.
Posted inNews
Good Mid-Morning News!!
Because sometimes, your intern goes to Miami. 1.SPIKE LEE SHOULD SHUT HIS FACE!!! Clint Eastwood takes a swipe at Spike Lee for accusing his film, Flags of The Fathers, of not including black troops. “Has he ever studied history?” Eastwood asks. Bitch-slapping contest! 2.CLIMBING THE NEW YORK TIMES BUILDING!!! French Climber Alain Robert climbed the […]
Posted inNews
Camp Out On The Rose Parade Route With The Mercury
Get your duct tape out of our face. We’re camping out tonight, aiming for the 5-700 block on SW Broadway, depending on who’s there first. SCHEDULE: Missing my “cigar appreciation hour,” between 1:30 and 2:30, but otherwise, comprehensive…
Posted inMedia
Trib Columnist: “But if you’re critical, you risk your access…you often lose your sources if you offend them.”
Tribune columnist Dwight Jaynes is brave enough to tackle the issue of blogging over there today. I was intrigued by his point about being nice to sources. In Portland, he says, “you often lose your sources if you offend them.” The problem being, the job he’s describing isn’t journalism, it’s public relations. And it’s a […]
Posted inPolitics
Swing ‘Em Home
“Playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal,” says George Bush. I DISAGREE. Fortunately a bunch of surly Americans are with me, and have formed the group Swing ‘Em Home, with the sole focus of playing golf as often as it takes to…well…”The bottom line is, we’re not going to stop playing golf […]
Posted inNews
Behind Open Doors
City U-Turns on Closed Racial Profiling Meeting
THE CITY BACKED DOWN this week in its efforts to hold a closed “retreat” meeting of the mayor’s racial profiling committee. On May 19, the Mercury emailed the mayor’s Public Safety Policy Director Maria Rubio asking for a copy of the agenda for the June 10 and 11 “retreat” slated for the Lloyd Center Doubletree […]
Posted inQueer
Double Entendres and the Second Amendment
Hanging out with Portland’s Gay Rights Gun Club
2008 Official Pride Guide
Posted inNews
Lunatics Running the Asylum
County Chair Wheeler Still Lacks Mental Health Plan
ON THEIR WAY INTO A MEETING in the basement cafeteria at Benson High School last Thursday evening, May 29, people had to walk past a blocked drinking fountain full of gray scummy water. The stagnation of the drinking fountain, remarked one passerby, was an appropriate metaphor for the subject up for discussion at the night’s […]
Posted inNews
Council Approves County’s Deadly Force Plan Quietly And WHOA….DREADS!!!
City council approved a deadly force plan produced by Multnomah County pretty quietly this afternoon, during a council session attended by precisely seven members of the public and JESUS CHRIST…LOOK AT THOSE DREADS!!! MIKE DEE: Activism, with HAIR… Activist Mike Dee has been showing up more often for council since the homeless protest outside city […]
Posted inNews
Judge Orders Chasse Trial Split In Two
A Federal Judge has ordered that the James Chasse jr. trial be split in two this morning, between the individual police officers and the training policies of the City of Portland, in a move that could drastically affect the outcome of the case. Chasse Family Attorney Tom Steenson: Determined before court today… Federal Judge Garr […]
Posted inMedia
Tribune Covers Sit/Lie Fight
The paper may have gone weekly, but the Trib‘s coverage of homeless issues is improving. Perhaps all the reporters over there are getting a taste of what it might be like to live without an income… “A lot of people recognize it as a civil rights issue. While it’s true that the laws impact homeless […]
Posted inNews
Cascadia in Crisis
Clients of County Mental Health Provider Speak Out
“LAST TIME Cascadia’s predecessor pulled something like this, I knew two people who committed suicide,” said mental health advocate Marian Drake, addressing Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler last Wednesday afternoon, May 21, during an emotional two-hour meeting concerning the financial collapse of the county’s giant mental health-care provider, Cascadia. There’s a public meeting to discuss […]