In mid-July, Alexandra (“Alex”) and Krista rushed home in order to prepare for a garage sale the next day. Rounding a corner one block from their home, they ran into a traffic jam in their residential neighborhood. Fire engines, squad cars, and a bulky hazardous material truck clogged the streets. It was about ten at […]
Phil Busse
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BUCKLE UP OR DIE HORRIBLY!
Fear and Hysteria in Seat Belt Class
I drive a big old truck. About a year ago, the driver’s seat belt broke. Years of dust and grime have gummed the springs to the point where the belt no longer coils back, and now it just sits there, hanging slack. At about the same time my belt kicked the bucket, unbeknownst to me, […]
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ROLLING THUNDER
Portland’s Wheelchair Rugby Team Burns Some Rubber
On wheelchairs made for the street, the wheels tilt inward only slightly. However, Will says that his wheels are slanted at a 15 degree pitch–this gives the chair more speed and a faster response time. A metal plate welded crudely across the front as a no-nonsense fender, and the dented hubcaps, add a certain, sneering […]
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Playing With Fire
Local Community College Tries To Snuff Out Eco-Terrorists
Over the past several months, the firebrand environmentalist group Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has snagged major-league national attention, from TIME to The New York Times. In June, ELF claimed responsibility for simultaneously firebombing a research lab at the University of Washington and logging trucks parked on the flank of Mt. Hood. These actions followed an […]
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The Visceral Princess
Twisting the Fairy Tale with Complexity
The Princess and the Warrior dir. Twyker Opens Fri July 20 Cinema 21 Early in The Princess and the Warrior, Sissi, an alluring but trouble-faced blonde, is slammed into by a truck. As she lies gasping for breath, Bodo, a would-be street punk, crawls under the truck to reach her. He grabs a straw and, […]
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Who Died and Made Them King?
State Legislature Wraps Up A Laissez-Faire Session
After six bumpy months, one of the oddest and least productive sessions of Oregon’s State Legislature wrapped up last week. Although few significant bills survived and became laws that will govern your life, the session was rife with nail-biting tension–sort of like a low-scoring, but emotionally charged, World Cup soccer game. The session began with […]
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UFO PIZZA
UFO PIZZA 6024 NE Glisan, 234-7654 I went to UFO Pizza for two reasons: I was told they bake up the best pizza in town, and the owner is allegedly The Hub of Information on flying saucers in Oregon. Stepping into a small, stripped-down hovel with a deep blue, star-and-constellation, plastered ceiling, I sensed that […]
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Bring The Noise
City Council Wants You to Shut Up!
Last Wednesday, City Council was scheduled to beef up Portland’s noise ordinance, making it easier for neighbors to complain to police about house parties and shut down rowdy music clubs. Concerned that the changes might silence some of the venues for up-and-coming bands around town, on Monday–two days before the city council’s vote–Mercury Arts Editrix […]
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Mercury Video Picks
Cub Reporter Bares All! Without scud missiles shelling Iraq and the absence of the O.J. trial, CNN ratings have slowly eroded over the past few years. In an effort to shore up primetime interest, the news network has hired the “star power” of Andrea Thompson–a former actress from a string of B-movies, Baywatch, and recently, […]
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Going Underground
Are Militia Groups Still A Threat in the Northwest?
Six years ago, two neo-Nazi skinheads beat an Ethopian man to death with a baseball bat, in southeast Portland. The violent attack was marked as an inevitable flare-up by the many militia and hate groups around Oregon that had begun to gather strength in the previous few years. In an effort to put a lid […]
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On My Soapbox
SHHH! Part of living in a city is noise: Car horns, neighbors talking on their front porch, the muted sounds of a hiphop crew at the club around the corner. At times, it may be annoying; other times, it is a comforting, urban symphony that reminds us that we don’t live alone, but in a […]
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Drug Courts’ Second Chance
Will Busted Drug Dealers Foot the Bill For Junkies’ Rehab?
Three years ago, Billy, a good-looking and sharply intelligent musician, was busted along the Willamette River for heroin possession. Only several months earlier, Billy had hopped a Greyhound bus to flee San Francisco and his overwhelming habit. Facing a Multnomah County judge, he was given an option: Trade in jail time for rehab, promise to […]