You know, for all the clamor and angst and maddening reversals that comprised 2014’s street fee debate, Portland City Council never voted on any of the many proposals floated to close the city’s daunting shortfall in road funding. There was never enough consensus, and always too much trepidation over opposition. This afternoon was sort of […]
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Posted inNews
Here’s the 10-Cent Gas Tax You’ll Probably Be Voting On In May
Francois Vigneault Next Wednesday, Portland’s city commissioners will take up the question of whether you, the people, should have the option of voting on a 10-cent-per-gallon gas tax in the city. As we’ve reported, the tax would apply to vehicles that use gasoline, and diesel vehicles under 26,000 pounds—meaning big semi trucks wouldn’t have to […]
Posted inBikes
Uncle Phil’s Buying Portland Upgraded Bike Share Bikes
Dirk VanderHart Biketown! Weeks after announcing a hefty $10 million bike share sponsorship deal with Nike, the Portland Bureau of Transportation finally released documents that lay out the agreement this morning. Those include a revamped contract [pdf] with Motivate, the company that will procure and run the forthcoming Biketown system here, and an agreement with […]
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Gov. Kate Brown: Portland’s Minimum Wage Should Be $15.52
It’s not $15 Now, but Gov. Kate Brown is backing $15.52 by 2022. The governor this morning announced a proposal she’ll inject into the minimum wage debate that looks like it’ll have a starring role in the upcoming legislative session. Brown’s idea, suggested by many others, is to have two concurrent minimum wage hikes in […]
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Police Union Says Cops Have Little Faith In Chief Larry O’Dea, Demands More Officers
It’s hardly a controversial take these days that Portland has too few cops. Late last year, Mayor Charlie Hales convinced his city council colleagues to spend more than $500,000 hiring 11 new background checks investigators, which Hales said were needed to fill dozens of vacancies in the police bureau. Police Chief Larry O’Dea has been […]
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If You Win Saturday’s Powerball Jackpot, Here’s What You Could Buy with $800M
At 8 pm on Saturday, Jan 9 (that’s tomorrow), the magic numbers for the largest Powerball jackpot in history will be drawn. Lottery officials are estimating the jackpot will be $800 million. Your chances of winning are 1 in 292 million. Let’s pretend you’re really that lucky. First of all, you have a giant of […]
Posted inNews
Portlanders Just Showed Up For A Homeless Resident Who Wants to Be A Cabbie
Sean Martinez, maybe your next cabbie. In these days of slackened taxi business, it’s not cheap to become a Portland cabbie. It costs anywhere from $75 to $100 for the background check the City of Portland administers, depending on what kind of driving you’d like to do. Then there are fees for drug tests, and […]
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Meet the Other Folks Who Want to Snatch Public Lands from the Feds: A Group of Oregon Legislators
Mathew Foster / CC By WHEN A SMALL GROUP of gun-toting, anti-government zealots illegally occupied a collection of buildings on an Eastern Oregon wildlife refuge on Saturday, January 2, they set a dramatic stage for their demands. The militants, led by a Nevada ranching family that forced an armed standoff with the federal government in […]
Posted inNews
Uber Flouted Portland Lobbying Rules, Will Be Fined $2,000
Mark Markovich Mayor Charlie Hales, Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick, and ride-hailing juggernaut Uber all ran afoul of city disclosure rules when they met over Uber’s future in Portland in December 2014. Only Uber will have to pay for it. Portland City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero announced today that she’s levying a fine of $2,000 against […]
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Know Your City Now Says Accounting Errors Led To Skipped Tax Payments
A little more than a week after it sent up a vague alarm about troubled finances, Know Your City is sharing more about the scenario that had the six-year-old Portland nonprofit thinking about shutting down for good. The group’s executive director and board treasurer tell the Mercury that Know Your City changed accountants in 2014, […]
Posted inArtsy
Know Your City’s Former Director Outright Denies Any “Misdeeds,” And Says He’s Confused By the Suggestion
Know Your City Marc Moscato Marc Moscato says he’s no crook—and he’s confused why that seems to be the rumor. The co-founder of the Dill Pickle Club, which later became group Know Your City, says he was surprised and alarmed earlier this week, when his former organization issued a release saying its future is in […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Big Short Has All the Nuance of a Sledgehammer
THE BIG SHORT This will be Ryan Gosling’s most challenging seduction yet. There’s nothing subtle about The Big Short. Director Adam McKay (Anchorman) uses every trick in the Martin Scorsese handbook—freeze-frame, montage, fourth-wall-breaking narration—to tell the true story of a few investors who predicted the catastrophic financial crisis of 2008. Christian Bale, not exactly a […]