Mayor Sam Adams crafts new sit-lie law, doesn’t know if it’ll be ruled
unconstitutional again in 18 more months.
Matt Davis
Matt Davis was news editor of the Mercury from 2009 to May 2010.
BDS Staff Ask City To Save Their Jobs
About fifty staff from the city’s Bureau of Development Services packed the council chamber this morning to beg council to use general fund dollars to save their jobs. BDS commissioner Randy Leonard announced plans to lay off 150 staff from the bureau in June, but was absent from the chamber this morning because of a […]
Sit/Lieโ104 In Opposition Facebook Group, Editorial Cites Downtown “Stress”
So far there are 104 people in the Facebook group against the renewal of the city’s sit/lie law since the mayor’s office announced yesterday that it plans to have another crack at it. Meanwhile there’s a guest opinion in this morning’s Oregonian on the issue by Katie Gordon and Dennise Keitges. “One in their 50s, […]
State Politics Shakeup
State Senator Margaret Carter plans to resign her seat at the end of August to become the deputy director of the state’s department for human services. Carter, one of only two African American state senators in Oregon, has been in the legislature since 1984, and delivered staunch remarks at the launch of the Urban League’s […]
Mayor Contemplating New Sit/Lie Law: Office Declines Bet That New Law Will Be Unconstitutional
Mayor Sam Adams is understood to be contemplating a replacement for the city’s defunct sit/lie ordinance, to be placed on the council agenda as early as next week, according to police commissioner Dan Saltzman this afternoon. The Mercury was talking to Saltzman for a story on the aggressive police missions in Pioneer Square recently, when […]
Good Morning, News!!
1.GUESS WHO I bumped into at Chicago airport last night, getting the 8:43 United flight back to Portland? The mayor himself was returning from a conference in Toronto on how to attract more conference traffic to your town. (I didn’t ask whether there was a seminar on “building a huge white elephant hotel near the […]
BREAKING: Judge Annihilates Sit/Lie Law
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Bushong unexpectedly annihilated the city’s sit/lie law at a special session this afternoon, after the city asked him to “clarify” his late June ruling that the law is unconstitutional. City Commissioner Nick Fish was there to watch the verdict, along with representatives from the Portland Business Allianceโwhich has pushed […]
Joe Anybody’s Big Screening
JOE ANYBODY: NOBODY’S FOOL… Portland videographer Joe Anybody, who has worked for some time here in town to document the activities of law enforcement and the peace and justice movement, is screening a selection of his footage tomorrow at the Portland Art Museum. Miller Room, 4pm. The 70 minute video features local anti-war, military resistance, […]
Help Bail Lee Perlman Out Of Jail
The Mercury is taking up donations to bail Lee Perlman out of jail. We will match donations one for one up to $500, to cover the Hollywood Star News reporter’s $1000 bail, and if he gets out before this weekend, all the money will be donated to Perlman’s legal defense. If for some reason Perlman […]
Go Read This Week’s Mercury News Section
768 Signatures A Day Or the recall Sam Adams effort is toast. Breathing Wheezy “Green” Portland’s toxic schools: ILLUSTRATION BY MARK SEARCY Town Brawls In Oregon. God help us. Think Twice Signature gatherers’ criminal histories exposed. Hard Times Downtown Portland’s affordable housing down 23%. Although as an update, City Commissioner Nick Fish says he’s working […]
Hall Monitor
Oregon health care town halls expect right-wing hijack attempts.
