Almost six hundred thousand people lost their jobs in January. National unemployment is at 7.9% and Oregon’s is even higher than that. Craigslist job ads are looking for a graphic designer to help with a “gangster-themed Facebook app” and Greenpeace canvassers. Times are grim. And right when so many people are out of work, the […]
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!
No One Has a Job: In January, 598,000 more people joined the 3.6 million who have lost their jobs in the last year. The NYT has some graphics that make you want to give up on reprinting your resume: So Make Us Some Jobs Already, Obama!: His speech at the Dem’s annual retreat at Kingsmill […]
Posted inPolitics
guantanamOBAMA
While Matt is busting his ass down at City Hall, I’m in his home country, eating fish and chips and reporting one part of a scandal far larger but far less salacious than Portland’s homegrown variety. I am “embedded reporter” with ex-Guantanamo Bay guard (and Portland Iraq Veterans Against the War Organizer) Chris Arendt and […]
Posted inPolitics
Roadtripping on Anti-Guantanamo Tour
I am sitting on the balcony of a Quaker meeting hall in Brighton, England, which packed with 200 absolutely silent people listening to former Portland resident Chris Arendt. Arendt grew up in a trailer in the middle of a corn field in rural Michigan and along the way of his life so far, he joined […]
Posted inNews
Candyland Unwrapped
The Not Completely Sweet Story Behind Sellwood’s Bizarre Candy-Coated Home
Finally, the story behind Portland’s bizarre candy-coated house. (A
story not quite as sweet as you may think.)
Posted inCity Hall
And So Sam Adam’s Tenure Begins With a Tap Dancing Saxophonist
Last night, City Hall was a circus. No, seriously. Clowns, stiltwalkers and acrobats navigated among the ample crowd that turned out for Sam Adam’s “Come Meet Your New Mayor and City Council” party. There was free beer, free cheese squares and (perhaps) more importantly, Adams and newly-elected councilwoman Fritz spent the whole two hour event […]
Posted inNews
Closing the Book
Grim Finances Imperil Portland’s Political Booksellers
Portland’s radical publishers are an endangered species.
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
It’s Snowing Money! Bush approves the $17.4 billion “emergency loans” to automakers. Truce on Ice: The six-month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has frayed and fallen apart amid increasing rocket attacks. Cold Shoulder: Rather than pushing the “change” image, Obama’s transition team is full of a lot of Washington regulars. Icy Hearts: Taliban fighters blow […]
Posted inNews
Fighting the Fighter Jets
Northeast Neighbors Irked at F-15 Flyovers
Northeast neighbors irked by F-15 flyovers.
Posted inNews
The Mercury: Getting Answers for YouTM
Last week we announced that the news team would sleuth any good questions you’ve got lying around. Immediately, tax-loving reader Zach brought up an issue that caught my eye, too: Who decides on the design for the envelopes that the ballots come in? Myenvelope has “CONTAINS VOTE ON PROPOSED TAX INCREASE” written on the front. […]
Posted inPortland
Holed Up in “Fang House”
Like many Portlanders, I have been stuck for the last 36 hours wherever I happened to be late Saturday night. Bizarrely, this means I have taken up temporary residence in “Fang House” — the Southeast flop of local underage punk band White Fang. I had never met anyone in White Fang before Saturday night but […]
Posted inPortland
Sellwood’s Crazy Candy House Has Even Crazier Plans (hint: pirate ship)
It was around 3AM the first time I saw the candy-covered house on SE Milwaukie Ave. I was riding my bike and sleepy and drunkish and thought the next day that maybe I’d made it up. I started asking around – had anyone else ever seen that house covered in lollipops and candycanes down around […]