The “living building” is dead. RIP, $64.6 million “living building” in the center of Portland. The tumultuous life of the Oregon Sustainability Center seems to have come to a conclusion today with a press release Mayor Sam Adams’ office sent out this afternoon: “The proposed Oregon Sustainability Center was set to be a laboratory for […]
Sarah Shay Mirk
Sarah Shay Mirk reported on transportation, sex and gender issues, and politics at the Mercury from 2008-2013. They have gone on to make many things, including countless comics and several books.
Posted inBikes
Three Reasons You Should Care About Swan Island
I didn’t ever really give a thought to Swan Island—you know, the not-even-really-an-island business park that’s at the base of North Portland’s Willamette Bluffs?—until a couple weeks ago when people started telling me about the big issues going on with North Portland Greenway down there. I finally spent some time on Swan Island in past […]
Posted inNews
Portland Activist Charged With 72 Felonies Gets Plea Deal
A Portland activist arrested and charged with 72 counts of criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit criminal mischief for a series of window-smashings has reached a plea deal with prosecutors. Bryan Michael Weideman was arrested in March and accused of smashing windows at Portland Community College in July 2010 and at Key Bank and US […]
Posted inElection 2012
What Was NOT Said During Last Night’s Debate?
Thanks to everyone who turned out to watch the presidential debate last night at the Back Stage—and sorry to everyone who was turned away when the space reached capacity. The people who couldn’t watch the debate were really the lucky ones in the end, though. The debate, moderated by a 100-year-old mop, was rather insufferable. […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
via That Debate. UGH. The first presidential debate last night was insufferable. Polls say voters liked Romney better, but I thought it was a lose-lose situation. Here’s a roundup of candidates’ lies and some of the funniest tweets (though you should really just go read Patton Oswalt‘s stream). Oh, and By the Way: PBS isn’t […]
Posted inNews
Swan Drive
Truck Company Employees Want to Bike Safely to Swan Island—Will the City Leave Them in the Lurch?
Swan Island: Home to scenic beaches, 10,000 jobs, and no way to bike there safely.
Posted inNews
Car-Free = Care-Free?
Out with Traffic on NW 3rd, In with Drunks!
Out with cars, in with drunken people in Old Town!
Posted inTransportation
And Now a Terrifying Tale from TriMet
A 19-year-old is in jail today after allegedly stabbing a TriMet driver on the 33 bus line to Oregon City last night. According to the Oregon City police, the suspect, Austin William Vanhagen, was talking on his cell phone on the bus at around 11pm and then began randomly shouting loud racial slurs. The bus […]
Posted inElection 2012
Come Watch the Presidential Debate in Three Hours!
In case you’ve spent all week in a reasonably-priced sensory deprivation tank and therefore don’t know, tonight is the first debate between Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and that other guy. We’re sponsoring a screening of the debate at the Back Stage Bar—doors at 5pm, debate is at 6pm. I made these special buzzword-bingo cards […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
GOOD MORNING MITT NEWS #1: Documents show references to dozens of offshore accounts that helped Romney evade taxes. GMMN #2: A new study shows that his healthcare plan would leave 72 million people uninsured. GMMN #3: When is anyone going to ask whether he supports the Mormon church’s treatment of women? Abandoning Afghanistan: The US […]
Posted inSexual Politics
Yes, Women Make Less Money Than Men—Even in Portland, Even Without Kids
Unless you’re a Republican strategist, you understand the sad reality that women in this country make less money than men. There are a bunch of reasons for this, none of which make me feel any better about the world. There’s taking time off to raise kids, there’s entering fields that pay less, there’s being offered […]
Posted inNews
Two Unsafe-Streets Deaths on Sunday
Two “vulnerable road users” were killed in Portland this weekend in fatal car crashes. At 2:34 am, police responded to the middle of the Burnside Bridge on reports that a woman on foot had been hit by a car and left in the road. Police found the woman, in her twenties, lying injured in the […]