Trouble the Water: Watching Hurricane Katrina through a survivor’s camcorder.
Posted inMovies & TV
Back to the Lower Ninth
Watching Hurricane Katrina through a survivor’s camcorder
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 inCrime
How Much Does Portland Heroin Cost?
Ask the Mercury readers! The article I wrote in last week’s paper about Portland having the purest heroin in the nation (we’re number one!) is attracting some interesting comments: I am a junkie, 14 months clean. I have done a lot of Portland heroin, and I can safely say that 90 percent of it pretty […]
Posted inNews
Oregon Teen Sex Report!
Every year, the Department of Human Services surveys all the Oregon public school 8th and 11th graders about a handful of personal questions. They use the results to monitor mental health and substance abuse but for everyone the data is a treasure trove of juicy details telling us what those kids these days are up […]
Posted inNews
“Submissive girl and obviously pimped.”
After residents along 82nd Ave began raising hell and organizing community discussions about the rampant prostitution problem in their area, Portland Police launched a crackdown in September, arresting prostitutes, johns and one pimp in a series of stings. The heat has led to a decrease in visible prostitution along the strip. But my question is: […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
Dow Dance: As the market “gyrates” and “swings” Bush and the British consider cooperation between countries for govts to partially take over banks. Plan B is… “flood banks with cash”? Plan C: Asian companies overtake Wall Street. Howard Zinn Says It: “Let’s face a historical truth: we have never had a free market.” War on […]
Posted inArtsy
Dude! Sweet Webcomic Tattoo!
So Achewood is a really popular webcomic about two alcoholic bears and some of their friends. Surprisingly, it’s actually super smart. And funny. Look! The comic was in The New Yorker! And this week it’s here in the Mercury, where artist Chris Onstad talks about being sad and being sad and funny. So for a […]
Posted inNews
Pins and Needles
As Heroin Overdoses Double, Some Addicts Turn to Acupuncture
As super pure heroin doubles Portland’s overdoses, some addicts swap syringes for acupuncture pins.
Posted inPortland
Monthly Drug Budget
Yesterday I was downtown at Central City Concern talking to their executive director, Ed Blackburn, about heroin and acupuncture and the recession and all sorts of hot topics when he handed me a fat stack of papers comprising a financial report waaay more interesting that the front page of the Wall Street Journal: the economics […]
Posted inPortland
Digging for Gold in Recession Era Trash
At the advice of everyone in the world (including the Pulitzer Prize committee) I’ve picked up Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. But reading that post-apocalyptic story at night and about The Great Recession during the day, my global outlook has turned grim. The banks will collapse. Sarah Palin will become president. The world will turn to […]
Posted inPortland
Hung Far Where?
Yesterday, the Mercury received a frantic email from Jerry of downtown marketing firm Leopold & Ketel. He attached an alarming photo: Somebody took down the Hung Far Low sign down and boy am I pissed. That sign kept Portland weird. Now Portland is just a little more normal. This has got to stop. Please find […]
Posted inNews
Good Morning News!
Three winks and a “heckuva”: while blogs left and right dissect Palin’s folsky phrases and Biden’s words on healthcare, the consensus is that neither screwed anything up. $700,000,000,000: The House begins debate on the bailout bill. “This may be the day America dies,” warns one Republican rep. So, uh, watch out? 159,000: American jobs cut […]
Posted inNews
Hot Houses
Density Is Portland’s Future. Some Smart, Young Architects Get it Right.
A group of young Portland architects pioneer cooperative condos.