BLOGTOWN

Newsblast!

Good Morning, News: Impeachment Articles, Questioning Cash Bail, and 🌹Bus Lanes🌹

by Blair Stenvick • Thursday at 7:58 am

Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today.

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Portland Bureau of Transportation

Good morning, Portland! You better not pout, because John Waters is coming to town.

Here are the headlines!

Impeach Trump: Nancy Pelosi announced this morning that House Democrats plan to draft articles of impeachment—meaning the long, winding train of impeachment is pulling into the next station. Coincidentally, I am "drafting" the "article" of Good Morning, News right now!

Impeach Bush: The New York Times has published never-before-seen illustrations by a Guantanamo inmate, based on his recollections of the CIA's torture program. They're grim, but more than worth looking at.

Cash Bail's Cost:

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Sports

Blazers Recap: Beating the Kings on Pride Night

by Arthur Bradford • Thursday at 12:52 am

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Bruce Ely - Trailblazers.com

It was Pride Night at the Moda Center and the Blazers celebrated by taking down the Sacramento Kings, 127-116. CJ McCollum had the hot hand for the Blazers, leading all scorers with 33 points. Four out of five Blazers starters scored 20 points or more, including Carmelo Anthony, who enjoyed another good night. Kent Bazemore had breakout game as well, leading the charge off the bench with 15. The Blazers have now won four of their last five games, though each win has been against a sub-par team. Stiffer competition is on the way as the Lebron James Lakers show rolls into town Friday.

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Sponsored

All you want for Christmas is free parking? In Downtown Portland, your wish is granted!

When you head to Downtown Portland this month, count on saving money with the annual Free Parking Sundays. Simply grab a validation voucher for your SmartPark ticket at the PDX Pop-Up Shops in Pioneer Place or Boys Fort on SW Morrison.

You’ll save $5—and take paying for parking out of your holiday budget! What you spend that cash on instead (a chocolate-graham treat from 1927 S’mores, perhaps?) is completely up to you.

Visit downtownportland.org for holiday happenings!

Movies & TV

The True Horror of the Holidays: Check Out the Mercury’s December Picks at Movie Madness!

by Suzette Smith • Wednesday at 4:30 pm

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The holiday crevasse is upon us: a gauntlet of bad weather, dark days, reckoning with mortality, and familial control, all smeared over with a thick compote of forced cheerfulness. That’s why, this month, I chose films that speak to the true horror of the holidays. Let the catharsis begin!

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Theater & Performance • Books • Movies & TV • Comedy

John Waters Interview: Mr. Know-It-All Talks Tarnished Wisdom and Why He Stopped Making Films

by Robert Ham • Wednesday at 4:06 pm

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GREG GORMAN

John Waters doesn’t plan on making a movie any time soon, even if it’s been 15 years since his last feature, 2004’s A Dirty Shame. If the stories the 73-year-old cult filmmaker recounts in his latest book Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder are to be believed, Waters was fine with giving up negotiations with studios and producers.

While the back half of Waters’ memoir imparts that promised “tarnished wisdom” (music recommendations, how to deal with air travel and public speaking, drugs, etc.), the early chapters describe time spent making movies within the Hollywood system—after he scored a modest hit in 1988 with the surprisingly adaptable Hairspray—and watching his last three directorial efforts die at the box office. It’s dishy fun with plenty of behind-the-camera gossip and tales of screen legends like Tab Hunter, Traci Lords, Patricia Hearst, and Sam Waterston.

Waters has zero regrets. He’s made the campy, trashy films he wanted to make. He now makes a tidy living from his regular one-man shows. The biggest success on that front is his annual A John Waters Christmas, where he offers acerbic and naughty commentary on the holiday season.

In advance of his upcoming appearance at the Aladdin Theater on December 6, Waters spoke with the Mercury about his tour, his new book, and staying influential into your seventies.

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News

Cash Bail Comes With a Cost. Would Portland Be Better Off Without It?

by Blair Stenvick • Wednesday at 3:38 pm

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MEDESULDA / GETTY IMAGES

Sometimes it’s an upcoming job interview, or a work shift that can’t be missed, or rent that needs to be paid. Sometimes it’s caring for a child, or helping an elderly parent, or being home for the holidays. And sometimes, it’s every possession a person has.

Those are the kind of things that are often at stake when Amanda Trujillo and Gina Spencer help bail someone out of jail. As the co-founders of the Portland Freedom Fund, Trujillo and Spencer use community donations to pay the cash bail of Black and brown people who have been charged with crimes in Multnomah County and are in jail awaiting trial.

Trujillo recalls that one man they bailed out last year had already been in jail for about 90 days—long enough for his landlord to evict him for having missed rent payments and to get rid of all his belongings when he couldn’t show up to collect them.

“He literally lost everything by being in jail for three months,” Trujillo says.

Stories like this one aren’t uncommon, says Carl Macpherson, director of Metropolitan Public Defender (MPD), the largest public defense firm in Oregon. Macpherson is helping lead a local fight to eliminate the use of cash bail in Multnomah County’s court system. It’s a topic that has also become a central issue in the 2020 race for Multnomah County district attorney.

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Music

Local Musician Lauren K. Newman Dead at 41

by Robert Ham • Wednesday at 1:40 pm

Lauren K Newman
Lauren K. Newman courtesy of the artist

According to multiple reports from friends and collaborators on social media, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and recording engineer Lauren K .Newman has died at the age of 41.

A fixture of the Portland music scene since relocating here from Pensacola, Florida, Newman juggled multiple musical projects including her one-woman post-rock project LKN, the improvisational metal duo Palo Verde, and the experimental ensemble Painted Debris. Along the way, she also contributed articles to Larry Crane's Tape Op magazine, and handled the engineering, mixing, and mastering of both her own music and that of several other local bands.

The cause of Newman's death is not yet known, but according to people who knew her both here and in Florida, she had been battling health issues for some time, including Crohn's disease. And as her former bandmate and friend Conan Neutron posted on his Facebook page today, she apparently "had more serious health problems than she let on, but didn't want to be seen as a 'musician with a disability.'"

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Cannabis

Label Accuracy for CBD Products Is a Joke

by Josh Jardine • Wednesday at 11:12 am

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DMITRY TISHCHENKO / GETTY IMAGES

CBD products are all the rage, and so is the debate as to their effectiveness. Some believe it’s nothing more than modern day snake oil, predicated on baseless claims and promises. Others believe it can be a matter of the product using alcohol distillate versus full spectrum CBD. And don’t forget the people who believe that CBD is far more effective when used with more than the government appointed.3 percent THC. (Slowly raises hand....)

But left out of that conversation is the question “Does the CBD product I’m using actually contain the amount of CBD stated on the label?” Because it would be nutso if you bought something that had less CBD that listed, correct? Thank goodness we have a strong system in place to keep that from—

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

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Comedy

Tonight! It's the I, Anonymous Show! (With a Very Special Guest!)

by Wm. Steven Humphrey • Wednesday at 10:50 am

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HEAR YE! HEAR YE! If you're a fan of comedy and laughing your guts out, then you will not want to miss TONIGHT'S installment of the I, Anonymous Show! Based on the Mercury's non-award winning column where everyday folks submit their most secretive thoughts, rants, and confessions anonymously, the I, Anonymous Show takes the wildest and wackiest of these submissions and reads them LIVE ON STAGE. Your host is one of the 2018 Mercury Geniuses of Comedy, Kate Murphy, who will be joined by a fantastically hilarious panel of local and national comedians to discuss and dissect each one of these submissions, and let me tell you, IT IS SO FUN.

Tonight Kate will be joined by Mercury Genius of Comedy 2019 Tory Ward as well as the super funny Jake Silberman and Dylan Jenkins, as well as a verrrrry special fourth guest, former Portlander now making it big in LA, Simon Gibson! So what are you waiting for? Get your tickets NOW for tonight's WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 edition of the I, Anonymous Show playing at Curious Comedy Theater. It's gonna be a blast!

I, Anonymous Show, Wed Dec 4, 7:30 pm, Curious Comedy Theater, 5225 NE MLK, $10 advance at merctickets.com

Newsblast!

Good Morning, News: Kamala's Out, Trump's Pissed, and Meet Your New Feminist Impeachment Hero, Pamela Karlan

by Wm. Steven Humphrey • Wednesday at 8:58 am

Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today.

Law Professor Pamela Karlan gives zero fucks as she reads corrupt Republicans the riot act in todays impeachment hearing.
Law Professor Pamela Karlan gives zero fucks as she reads corrupt Republicans the riot act in today's impeachment hearing. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Every other word is "uh-huh," "yeah," "okay." Could it be that you are at the crib with another lady? LET'S GO TO PRESS.

Let's start the morning with some IMPEACHMENT NEWS: Today kicks off the House Judiciary Committee's first public hearing over whether or not the president should be impeached (he should and with vigor). The morning started with testimony from constitutional scholars who will talk about how Trump's presidential corruption is without equal. Expect a lot of idiotic bickering from Republicans, who are still reeling from the damning report issued yesterday by the House Intelligence Committee which provided solid proof that the president “placed his own personal and political interests above the national interests of the United States.”

Sick impeachment hearing burns thus far:


The House Intelligence report also clearly documented how Trump's crony lawyer Rudy Giuliani was up to his neck in corruption, constantly bypassing National Security Council and State Department aides to enact his own foreign policy.

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News

Portland Public Schools to Condemn ODOT For Rushing Through I-5 Widening Plan

by Blair Stenvick • Tuesday at 4:12 pm

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MATT WONG

Portland Public Schools (PPS) is increasing its resistance to a state plan to widen the Interstate 5 freeway in the Rose Quarter. On Tuesday evening, PPS’ board will vote on a resolution signaling its disapproval of how the Oregon Department of Transportation’s (ODOT) is moving forward with its plan for the I-5.

This isn’t the first time the board has taken a public stance against ODOT’s $500 million Rose Quarter Improvement Project, a plan to add two auxiliary lanes to a 1.7-mile stretch of the freeway in Northeast Portland. Back in March, PPS was one of several local stakeholders to issue a public comment expressing concerns about the project, particularly highlighting the environmental impact it could have on Harriet Tubman Middle School, a PPS school located along I-5. PPS and other agencies asked ODOT to slow the project’s planning phase down by conducting a full environmental impact statement (EIS), which would be a more in-depth and rigorous version of the environmental assessment ODOT released in February.

In August, Willamette Week reported that ODOT was planning to go forward with the EIS after meeting with local leaders over the summer—but those communications have since broken down.

"I would call it an about-face," said Scott Bailey, a PPS board member who attended the meetings with ODOT. "One meeting ODOT stated [that the EIS] was their intention. ... The next meeting, they said, not so much."

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Movies & TV

There Are Apparently Hundreds of Streaming Services. How Many Should We Care About?

by Chase Burns • Tuesday at 3:00 pm

The homepage for Hi-YAH!, a martial arts and Asian action movie streaming channel.
The homepage for Hi-YAH!, a martial arts and Asian action movie streaming channel.

Right now, there are "more than 300 streaming video services to choose from" in the United States, according to a digital media trends survey published earlier this year. The survey pulls its estimate from another report, which I'm unable to find, but my own list totals around ~110 services. (I've included that list at the bottom of this post.)

The market has bloated with services, but, while the media goes on about "streaming wars," the discussion has focused on just a fraction of the available streaming companies. Even critics, when interviewed about their viewing habits, confessed to primarily watching only a handful of platforms: Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO GO, Disney+, and Apple TV+. (They also, overwhelmingly, liked the Criterion Channel.) Ten or so services isn't really a war. It's more like a healthy competition.

So, what about these other ~290+ services? Are any of them good?

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Books

Ben Lerner's Genius Third Novel, The Topeka School, Tackles Toxic Masculinity

by Rich Smith • Tuesday at 1:02 pm

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PHOTO BY CATHERINE BARNETT

Ben Lerner again walks the outer edges of prose form and perspective in his third novel, The Topeka School, a book "about family and art and memory and meaning, how it's made and unmade," to borrow a line from one of its many extraordinary passages.

The obsession humming under the well-wrought, perfectly paced, at times riveting scenes about family and art and memory, etc. is the troubling (to say the least) rise in power of the man-child, the Large Adult Son, and his penchant for violence and tyranny. The gender-based expectations that many of us (often unconsciously) patrol and enforce keep America and its leaders in a state of "adolescence without end," to borrow another extraordinary line from the book, and they course through all the boys and men in this book.

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National Politics

Kamala Harris Drops Out of the Presidential Race

by Eli Sanders • Tuesday at 11:59 am

Senator Kamala Harris.
Senator Kamala Harris. Alex Wong / Getty Images

According to The New York Times, Senator Kamala Harris's campaign unraveled long ago (at least in political time) due to her own clumsy campaigning and florid dysfunction among the campaign staff she oversaw.

According to Harris today, she "simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue." But, also, she wants to be clear that she is "still very much in this fight."

Some people on the left found Harris stunning, while others griped that she's "a cop." (Harris was never a police officer, but she was Attorney General of California for a while, and in the presidential race that earned her the opposite of the Bob Ferguson treatment.)

With Harris out, next time the liberal contenders gather "Democrats may have an all-white debate stage," notes The New York Times—despite the party "beginning the primaries with the most racially diverse field in history."

Comedy

Win Tickets to Wednesday's I, Anonymous Show (the One with a Very Special Guest)!

by Wm. Steven Humphrey • Tuesday at 9:43 am

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HEY YOU! If you're a fan of comedy and laughing your guts out, then you will not want to miss the latest installment of the I, Anonymous Show! Based on the Mercury's non-award winning column where everyday folks submit their most secretive thoughts, rants, and confessions anonymously, the I, Anonymous Show takes the wildest and wackiest of these submissions and reads them LIVE ON STAGE. Your host is one of the 2018 Mercury Geniuses of Comedy, Kate Murphy, who will be joined by a fantastically hilarious panel of local and national comedians to discuss and dissect each one of these submissions, and let me tell you, IT IS SO FUN.

This month Kate will be joined by Mercury Genius of Comedy 2019 Tory Ward as well as the super funny Jake Silberman and Dylan Jenkins, as well as a verrrrry special fourth guest, former Portlander now making it big in LA, Simon Gibson! So what are you waiting for? Get your tickets NOW for the upcoming WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 edition of the I, Anonymous Show playing at Curious Comedy Theater. It's gonna be a blast!

FEELING LUCKY? Then enter to WIN TWO FREE TICKETS to this Wednesday's show by filling out the widget thingy below! But hurry, this contest ends at noon tomorrow, Wednesday December 4!

Newsblast!

Good Morning, News: DNA Evidence Overturns Manslaughter Charge, and the Never-Ending Story of Wapato Jail

by Blair Stenvick • Tuesday at 7:57 am

Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today.

Wapato Jail
Wapato Jail MULTNOMAH COUNTY

Good morning, Portland! I woke up in a bit of a funk—can we get a Baby Yoda drinking coffee in this blog for motivation?

Ah, that's nice. Okay, now we can go through the headlines.

Overturned: A man has spent nine years in prison after being convicted of killing his girlfriend—but he's just been exonerated thanks to DNA evidence that was previously withheld from the Oregon State Police crime lab. The Oregon Innocence Project and the Forensic Justice Project both worked on the case to exonerate.

Test, Prevent, Treat: Sunday was World AIDS Day, and the Oregon Health Authority released its annual progress report on HIV prevention and treatment efforts this week. Read about new progress in 2019—including new syringe exchange programs in rural Oregon counties.

The Never-Ending Story:

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