I’m sure the Mercury Flickr account is going to be overflowing with pictures of this weekend’s Urban Iditarod, since the annual drunk costumed shopping cart race between bars is just a big “Keep Portland Weird!!!!” photoshoot, but I wanted to quickly post two good ones I took. Picture One: Day laborers – very confused by […]
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 inNews
Good Morning News!
Obama: Friend of the Gays? During his campaign, Obama said he would fight hard for rights of gay couples. Now he better pony up with insurance for partners of federal employees. High speed rail in California! In, uh, 50 to 100 years… “Long March” in Pakistan: Thousands of Pakistanis march to Islamabad to protest the […]
Posted inSports
Blazers Want “24 Hour Entertainment District” in Rose Quarter
“Water is magic.” That is the cringe-inducing motto of the development company the Blazers are partnering with to revision the Rose Quarter. According to an article in Portland’s Bizjournal, the Blazers and California-based developers Cordish Company are planning “to remake the 36-acre Rose Quarter as an entertainment-themed district alive with activity 24 hours a day, […]
Posted inBlogs
This Week’s Mercury Cover is 100% Real, Baby.
When I saw the cover of this week’s paper, I just assumed the whole thing was photshopped together. Sexy Scott was obviously photographed in one place (maybe in the cage at his go-go dancing job?), sexy Cassandra was snapped in another, that weird obese corgi was adorable clipart and it was all layered over with […]
Posted inNews
Signs They Are a Changin’
Will City Stop “Made in Oregon” Sign Makeover?
City considers buying “Made in Oregon” sign to avoid historic makeover.
Posted inPolitics
Worst Protest Ever.
I arrived at the Historic Landmark’s Commission Monday meeting about changing the “Made in Oregon” sign and squeezed into one of the few available chairs. On my seat was this yellow flier. “Oh! A helpful handout!” I thought naively. No! The flier turned out to be the most confusing and unnecessarily provocative protest flier ever […]
Posted inPortland
Punk Landmark to be Bulldozed
The cement industrial buildings on the edge of the river in North Portland have many names in Portland’s grittier circles: Pirate Town, the Creosote Factory, the SuperFun site. But the well-known, heavily lead-contaminated hangout for both good and ill-natured debauchery is about to be resigned to nostalgia. University of Portland purchased the contaminated site, known […]
Posted inPortland
Landmarks Commission Tables Controversial “Made in Oregon” Sign Change
After a packed two hour meeting today, Portland’s historic landmark’s commission voted to send the team planning to change downtown’s “Made in Oregon” sign to “University of Oregon” back to the drawing board to tweak the exact look of the slogan change — but did not object to changing the sign’s phrase itself. The debate […]
Posted inBikes
Alice Awards: Hot Bikes, Hot Glue.
Saturday night under the glaring lights of the Oregon Convention Center, Sprockettes rubbed shoulders with city bureaucrats at the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s annual dressy Alice B. Toeclips Awards fundraiser. During the night, TriMet announced it would spend $1 million from the stimulus on bike parking and the BTA handed out awards to several bike advocates, […]
Posted inMedia
Old People Can’t Handle the Twitter
That’s the conclusion I’ve come to from The Oregonian opinion section, which last week ran TWO (2!) editorials by middle aged men ranting about this newfangled, society-eroding Twitter device. I love articles which amount to a middle-aged person shaking their head in bemusement, making jokes straight out of Zits comic strip, as they look over […]
Posted inCity Hall
Today in $4.1 Billion Commuter Bridge News
Another official step in the march toward a 12 lane Columbia River Crossing: this morning, the Project Sponsors Council (the twelve regional transit and government leaders guiding the bridge) voted unanimously in favor of approving the 12 lane option Mayor Adams proposed to Portland’s City Council last week. The vote to go ahead with the […]