While spending most the weekend stationed on my sofa coaching my housemates through their ballots, I was horrified to discover that a good number of my friends weren’t voting at all because they hadn’t received their ballots in the mail. That’s one of the problems with mail-in voting: people who move around a lot (college […]
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 inElection 2008
Tagging Along with Trick or Vote!
Forget November 4th, for local political nonprofit The Bus Project the biggest night of the year was Halloween. By four in the afternoon yesterday, Bus workers and volunteers were squeezing among a chaotic crowd of 300 junior high, high school and college kids, handing out glow sticks and clip boards. After months of planning, YouTube […]
Posted inNeighborhoods
Trade Your Guns for Food or Money
This weekend, there will be hundreds of guns on a single street in Lents. The Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation, an anti-gun violence group, is hosting its 14th annual Gun Turn-In Day in Lents, where you can hand over your working handgun or other lethal device and receive a $75 gift certificate to Fred Meyer. Last […]
Posted inNeighborhoods
Grassroots Plans for Alberta Lot
Right in the middle of Alberta’s booming business stretch is an empty plot of land that’s conspicuously lined with weeds and fig trees while the rest of the street has sprouted condos, boutiques and bistros. It’s the Lot. And now, after lying vacant for 10 years, City Repair Project is starting to pull together a […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
It’s Halloween! Apparently it’s time to bust out the spooooky lynched effigies of Palin and Obama. Treat: Sarah Palin seems to be bringing down John McCain’s popularity – 59 percent of voters say she’s “unprepared for the job.” Trick: Suicide bombers in Afghanistan are using more complex tactics. Haunted Houses: Empty homes stripped of appliances […]
Posted inNews
Renting Stinks
Fixing a Rotten Rental Is Trouble
When an animal dies in a renter’s wall, the landlord tears down the wall and drives off.
Posted inNeighborhoods
The Gypsy Joker Clubhouse Compound
There’s a building on NE MLK that people driving by probably don’t notice at all. The fancy new development across the street with its bizarrely-named restaurant “Belly” probably steal their focus first. But when you happen to wander by on foot, this building’s curious, off-kilter details are far more interesting than its posh new neighbors. […]
Posted inBuild Out
Interstate’s New Gateway: The (Pretty Boring) Prescott Project
Big changes are planned for the corner of what’s now known as Interstate’s “liquor store block”: 155 apartment units and six storefronts are moving in as part of a development called The Prescott. This project is a big deal because it’s the first large mixed-use project on North Interstate, plus it’s the first development occurring […]
Posted inElection 2008
I Think I Am A Pro Abortion Extremist.
Wednesday’s debate raised several interesting theoretical questions that I haven’t had time to post about till now because, shortly after the debate, I was sucked into a seven-hour death spiral spent reading right-wing blogs (more on that later). Anyway, several interesting theoretical questions. Like: does clean coal even exist? And: What would more intimidate the […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
Great Depression II Update: Things still look bad on Wall Street. Housing construction is at its lowest since 1991. THIS HAPPENED: ‘merican families: With people losing jobs left and right, families struggle to pay college tuition. Got Melamine? Chinese milk and baby formula is tainted with the industrial chemical, revealing corruption among inspectors. Money CAN […]
Posted inBikes
Bike Parade Through the Rose Quarter
… in which no one got run over by a bus. The Rose Quarter’s legal opening to bikes was marked by the world’s shortest bike parade, about 50 people from BTA, Trimet and the city, headed up by Sam Adams who looked kind of awkward with a drop handlebar road bike and Pryme helmet. The […]
Posted inNews
Under Cover
Prostitution Decreases on 82nd. Where Has it Gone?
Crackdown on 82nd Avenue prostitution drives the business elsewhere.