Welcome to 1983! With 651,000 jobs lost in February, unemployment is the worst its been in 25 years! Obama <3 Cops! (and DVD box sets?): Obama travels to Illinois to tout the money for police in his stimulus, then gives British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a weird “special gift” — a bunch of DVDs you […]
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 inEvents
What’s the Budget Without Shovel Ready Grandparents & Stimulated Packages?
If you were wondering what crucial parts of the Oregon state budget will survive the projected $1 billion cuts this year, don’t look to Salem. Look to Backspace, where last night the Mercury and Bus Project held the first BrewHaha of 2009: March Sadness, a mock budget-cut throw down. Experts on eight pieces of the […]
Posted inNews
Hard Knocks
Hurt by Recession, Canvassers Organize
Hit hard by the recession, canvassers fight for their jobs.
Posted inNews
Greenwashing the Columbia
Sam’s Big Bridge Moves Forward… So Where Are the Environmental Activists?
Sam’s big bridge moves forward… so where are the green groups?
Posted inPolitics
Obama’s Harshest Critic in 2009: uh… Tonya Harding?
In a recent speech, Obama said that some “pundits and smart people” thought the only way he could catch up in the polls this summer was to “pull a Tonya Harding on the front runner.” And, oh man, Tonya Harding has taken a few minutes from her packed bang-curling, bat-polishing schedule to let Mr. Obama […]
Posted inSports
Brewhaha: March Sadness!
Instead of taking wild guesses at which college basketball team will make the cut during March Madness, why not take bets on something that hits a little closer to home? Like, you know, which part of the massively imperiled state budget will survive the slash and burn season? The Mercury and The Bus Project present […]
Posted inTransportation
Chris Smith: CRC May Be “Furnace” Not “Thermostat”
After Adams wrapped his State of the City speech today, there was only time for a handful of people to ask questions publicly. Luckily, transportation activist Chris Adams dashed to the microphone and was at the head of the queue. His question about Sustainable Sam’s vote yesterday approving the widest option for the $4.2 billion […]
Posted inBikes
Sam Promises to Save Bike Budget
City Club sold out today for Mayor Sam Adam’s State of the City speech. The crowd was a lot of city planners and gray haired types (actual fur coat spotted in the audience) and Matt will post later about how the speech went. But I wanted to get up real quickly one of the questions […]
Posted inPolitics
Who Cares About Terrorists if They’re White?
Two news reports that came out today about two different terrorists living in America highlight the crazy disparities between how the government treats foreign-born Muslim people involved in terrorist groups versus homegrown white Christian people involved in terrorist groups. The first news story is about Ali Al-Marri, a Qatari guy who was attending college in […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
AUGUST 31 2010 – The day American combat in Iraq will end, according to the big troop withdrawal plan Obama announced this morning. Surprise #1! Republicans, including war hero McCain, approve of the withdrawal plan. Surprise #2! America Follows Own Laws: In a huge change from the Bush Admin’s policy of indefinitely detaining terror suspects […]
Posted inNews
Green Critics Respond to 12-Lane Bridge
Last February, local economist and activist Joe Cortright submitted a Freedom of Information Act to the Columbia River Crossing task force, requesting any documents or analysis they had done on “traffic projections, tolls or financing of the CRC” since 2007. The reply? “They said they had no publications of that kind,” says Cortright. That’s unsettling, […]
Posted inTransportation
TriMet Bus Line Death Watch
Two weeks ago, TriMet announced its decision to axe 12 bus lines, scale back weekend service and rethink Fareless Square. Last night was the first open house getting public comment on the transit downsizing and apparently the public has a lot to say — TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch says she her mailbox has filled with […]