The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! It’s supposed to be a little warmer and drier today […]
Taylor Griggs
Taylor Griggs is a news reporter for the Portland Mercury. She is interested in all of your ideas, comments and concerns, particularly those related to transportation, climate, labor, and Portland city government. Send Taylor an email at tgriggs@portlandmercury.com, and find her on Bluesky @taylorgriggs.
Posted inNews
Portland Freight Train Derailment Spotlights Transportation and Environmental Risks
A Union Pacific freight train derailed on the east end of Portland’s Steel Bridge Monday, halting traffic for several hours. Advocates say it could’ve been a lot worse.
A Union Pacific (UP) freight train derailed around 6 am Monday morning on the east end of the Steel Bridge, halting all travel across the bridge for more than four hours. While the bridge reopened to all modes of traffic after local transportation agencies conducted a safety inspection, some transportation and environmental advocates say the […]
Posted inNews
What Would You Do With $15 Million of City Money? Petition Would Give Portlanders a Say
If a participatory budgeting campaign gets off the ground, residents would be able to spend 2 percent—about $15 million—of the city’s budget each year on community projects.
If Portland residents were given access to a percentage of the city’s budget to work on projects most important to them, what would they choose? According to participatory budgeting (PB) advocates, the results could be much more reflective of community needs, and the process would get more people, from more walks of life, involved in […]
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: More Solar Power in Oregon, U.S. Senate Passes $96 Billion Foreign Aid Bill (Which Includes a TikTok Ban), and Who Pays for Space Junk Damage?
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! It was quite nice out yesterday, huh? Well, we’re back […]
Posted inNews
With Scant Evidence, City Commissioners Point to Fentanyl as Potential Contributor to Rise in Deadly Crashes
Transportation advocates say putting the blame on victims is a distraction from the real causes of traffic deaths.
On October 21, 2023, James Brian Fenimore was walking on the sidewalk on SE 82nd Avenue near Burnside Street, heading to run an errand, when a drunk driver veered off the street and struck him with a minivan. Fenimore died as a result of the crash. According to Montavilla News, Fenimore, 66, was an artist […]
Posted inNews
Despite Record-High Traffic Crash Deaths, PBOT Leaders Say Vision Zero Is Working
Advocates who have been tracking the city’s response to traffic fatalities aren’t so sure.
Nearly 10 years ago, the city of Portland first committed to a Vision Zero plan, setting a goal to eliminate all traffic crash fatalities and serious injuries on Portland’s streets by 2025. That year, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) reported 35 traffic crash deaths in Portland. City officials said at the time they didn’t […]
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: A New Plan for Southeast Portland, Women’s Sports Discourse, and Maybe We Can Control the Weather
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! The sun is (supposed to be) shining, tax season […]
Posted inNews
New Plan Seeks to Help Lower Southeast Portland “Rise”
The Lower Southeast Rising Plan would add transit access, infrastructure and more housing. Residents worry it could transform neighborhood affordability and character.
Juxtaposed with the nearby bustling commercial centers on SE Hawthorne Blvd and Division Street, Portland’s Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood feels quiet and residential, even suburban. Residents south of Foster Road between SE Cesar Chavez Boulevard and SE 92nd Avenue have enjoyed relatively low housing prices compared to parts of Portland closer to the city center. But the […]
Posted inBikes
Photo Essay: Biking in Circles at the Ladds 500
The seventh “First Annual” Ladds 500 attracted more than 1,000 people to Southeast Portland’s Ladd’s Addition for a non-competitive relay race.
The Ladds 500 is an annual bicycle relay race around a traffic circle in Southeast Portland’s Ladd’s Addition. But it’s really so much more than that: As the first big bike social of the year, the ride is a chance to come out of winter hibernation, see pals from last summer’s Pedalpalooza, and show off […]
Posted inSay Nice Things 2024
Say Nice Things About… Biking in Portland
Things have changed since the early 2000s (not to mention 1896), but biking in Portland is still magical.
[Welcome to our second annual “SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT PORTLAND” issue! Read it online here, or if you like physical, paper-y things, you can find it in more than 50 locations all around the city!—eds] Portland has been a bike city since the 1890s, just after the invention of the modern bicycle. By 1896, the […]
Posted inGood Morning, News!
Good Morning, News: R2DToo in Danger, Mountain Goat Rescue, and Lake Oswego: Oregon’s New Water Feature for the People?
The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! It’s set to warm up a bit today, with a […]
Posted inStreet View
STREET VIEW: Public Transit Safety Concerns Deserve a Thoughtful Response
We can’t just sweep violence under the rug. But a punitive approach to public safety isn’t the way, either.
Last Friday evening, Michael Brady boarded an eastbound MAX train downtown. Tragically, he wouldn’t make it off the train alive. After being stabbed on the train near the 82nd Avenue station, Brady succumbed to his injuries. The suspected killer, Shondel Larkin, told police he had been hearing voices and was apparently afraid that Brady was […]