Beginning in January, Portland police will embark on a new strategy to rein in drug dealers downtown, but at least one prominent civil rights advocate is concerned it will lead to racial stereotyping by the public. On Tuesday morning, December 12, Central Precinct Commander Mike Reese met with local media at city hall, where he […]
Matt Davis
Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.
Posted inNews
Saved…For Now
City Ponies Up for Gang Outreach After County Pulls Out
After months of uncertainty, the city stepped in last week with $400,000 to save Portland’s gang outreach efforts—programs that seek to engage kids who are at risk of gang involvement and prevent them from going down that road. In July, Multnomah County announced it was scrapping its funding for outreach programs, in favor of an […]
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Chasing the Dragon
Arts Council May Remove “Offensive” Sculpture
In the month since a dragon sculpture was installed in Old Town—ostensibly to honor the neighborhood’s Chinese community—the piece has been vandalized, with chunks of the dragon’s mouth and left eye now missing. For those who’ve been tracking the controversy over the work of public art, the vandalism is not exactly surprising—members of Old Town’s […]
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Hired Gun
Private Attorney Sues and Shuts Down Meth Houses
In July, St. Johns attorney Greg Abbott sat down at the Starbucks on N Lombard with Neighborhood District Attorney Jim Hayden and North Precinct Officer Barry Hosier, to talk about an ongoing problem the neighborhood had been having with a meth house nearby. They were looking to Abbott to help them shut the place down, […]
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Furious
Anti-Fur Protesters Still Rallying, One Year Later
Outside Schumacher Fur last Friday, November 24, anti-fur protesters celebrated a year of weekly demonstrations with vegan cake, followed by a 200-strong march through downtown. Shortly before noon, the protesters—chaperoned by more than 20 bicycle cops—gathered outside Schumacher Fur at SW 9th and Morrison for a “Fur-Free Friday” rally, then marched to Nicholas Ungar Furs, […]
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By the Numbers
Cop Watchdogs Sound the Alarm
There were just seven people in the audience at a meeting of the Citizens Review Committee (CRC)—the group that hears appeals and monitors the work of the Independent Police Review (IPR)—on Tuesday, November 21. And two of them were there to take the committee to task for not drawing a larger crowd. Jason Dahl and […]
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Bad Review
Cop Complaint Kicked to Internal Affairs
On Wednesday morning, October 11, ezeji muYesu—a 60-year old portrait photographer and writer who moved to Portland last fall—stood on the corner of NW Broadway and Glisan behind the Federal Building, waiting for the #9 bus. He saw a police officer round the corner in pursuit of a man on a bicycle. The officer Tasered […]
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Lost in Translation
Police Say Cop “Accidentally Fell” on Chasse; Witness Statements Say Otherwise
The official police investigative reports into the in-custody death of James Philip Chasse Jr. on September 17 appear to have ignored—or at least heavily re-interpreted—the direct testimony of several independent witnesses. The police investigation found that Chasse was killed because Officer Christopher Humphreys “accidentally fell” on him, as Sergeant Kyle Nice and Sheriff Deputy Brett […]
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Worth His Salt
All Hail Portland’s First Selmelier
Pullout: The Mercury Food Issue 2006
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Blue Tuesday
Democrats Succeed Nationally, While Progressives Carry the Ballot in Oregon
The good news started rolling in shortly before 3 pm. Exit polls from 10 key states showed that Democrats were leading the Senate races in eight—even in places like Ohio and Missouri—while Republicans were only pulling through in Tennessee and Arizona. The trend held all night. Thanks to the Republicans’ bungling of the Iraq War, […]
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Lost in Translation
Police Say Cop “Accidentally Fell” on Chasse, Witness Statements Say Otherwise
The official police investigative reports into the in-custody death of James Philip Chasse Jr. on September 17 appear to have ignored—or at least heavily re-interpreted—the direct testimony of several independent witnesses. The police investigation found that Chasse was killed because Officer Christopher Humphreys “accidentally fell” on him, as Sergeant Kyle Nice and Sheriff Deputy Brett […]
Posted inNews
Mad House
NE Portland Home Draws Neighbors’ Complaints, Cops’ Investigation
Since the Howard family moved into a two-story house on NE Emerson Court in July, the cops estimate up to 16 of their neighbors on the small cul-de-sac have tried to move out. “They’re holding the neighborhood hostage,” says Northeast Precinct Commander Bret Smith. Before sunrise on Wednesday morning, November 1, more than 30 cops […]