New Orleans has hosted the Super Bowl a record nine times. It’s world renowned for jazz, gumbo, and its month-long citywide Mardi Gras party. But within hours last week, those images crumbled as a Category Four hurricane whipped through the area and, in its wake, left one of America’s most colorful cities in lethal chaos. […]
Phil Busse
Posted inNews
What’s Up PBA’s Butt?
Don’t Sign Petitions To Repeal Publicly Funded Elections
Though some may say differently, it looks like the new Publicly Financed Elections plan actually has the merit and the guts to work. Under the plan, qualifying candidates will receive $100,000-plus to run their campaigns for city council. The goal is to limit the influence of big-money interests in local politics and to free politicians […]
Posted inNews
Bottled-Up Racism
OLCC Claims They’re NOT Racist!
Two weeks ago, it was reported that the club manager for The Vue had attributed a recent spate of downtown violence to African Americans. In a disturbing email that The Vue’s manager, Rami Makboul, sent to Mayor Tom Potter, he wrote “[African Americans] do belong to Northeast Portland and they need not to be encouraged […]
Posted inNews
Money Talks
Big Business Scrambles to Keep Its Influence in Local Politics
Next Wednesday, the race for city council begins in earnest. With terms expiring for the two most senior council members, there is potential for a major change at city hall. But most significantly, candidates will have the chance to have their campaigns financed by public dollars—the first such experiment in a major American city. That […]
Posted inNews
The Gang’s All Here
Mayor Declares Downtown Gang Violence as Really Not Okay
Last Thursday morning, Mayor Tom Potter stood side by side with Police Chief Derrick Foxworth to announce that the police force planned on getting tough on gang violence. But the real message seemed to be that downtown businesses would no longer tolerate the recent spate of shootings around SW Third Avenue. At the hurriedly arranged […]
Posted inNews
In Other News…
R.I.P. ELIOT MANION Portland lost a popular member of the local scene last Wednesday, August 10, when 27-year-old Eliot Manion drowned in the Pacific Ocean near Lincoln City. Eliot was well-loved, and involved in various local activities including coaching the Rose City Rollers Roller Derby Team, participating in Portland Organic Wrestling, and playing softball with […]
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Wal-Be-GONE!
Does Wal-Mart Have Any Friends?
As a Wal-Mart proposed for the Sellwood neighborhood inches closer to reality, the list and voices of opponents seems to be growing. Just last week, a few dozen parents, school children, and labor organizers gathered near SE Tacoma and McLoughlin. There were speeches from union workers, who complained about the corporation’s piss poor record on […]
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The High Price of Police Misconduct
Police Drives Portland to the Poorhouse
Two years ago, a Latina teenager was standing with a friend at a downtown bus stop when a Tri-Met officer approached and asked for her ID. The officer’s intention was to check whether the girl had been excluded from the downtown area under the city’s notorious and constitutionally shaky “exclusion zones.” She was returning home […]
Posted inFeature
Estacada: Why Aren’t You There Yet?
While every other newspaper and magazine in town are popping out “Best of Portland” issues like a Gresham teen makes babies, let’s be honest: How many times
The Best of Estacada
Posted inFeature
I WAS GAY BASHED (And by a Bunch of Kids!) (And I’m Not Even Gay)!
The Best of Estacada
Posted inNews
A Double Shot
Should Clubs Be Responsible for Recent Shootings?
Two weekends ago, just minutes after bar time on Saturday night, it was a normal scene. A few hundred club goers had flooded into the street and, in the warm July evening, there was the normal late-night confusion as friends were debating whether to keep partying, or wander home with their newfound bedmates. But what […]