We’re creeping up on the deadline for the Mercury‘s True Tales of TriMet Terror contest—when one lucky unlucky I guess it depends on how you look at it reader will win $300 for sharing their most horrific amusing horrifically amusing tale of a TriMet expedition gone awry! We’ve received some pretty good entries so far […]
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Posted in$$$
Generation Screwed
Attention, Millennials: Newsweek is the latest publication to determine that you have been screwed. How has this generation been screwed? Let’s count the ways, starting with the economy. No generation has suffered more from the Great Recession than the young. Median net worth of people under 35, according to the U.S. Census, fell 37 percent […]
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Amanda Fritz, Forced into Runoff, Raises Donation Limit to $250
A tipster attending Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s Gilt Club campaign re-launch party last night shared some interesting news: Fritz—who was dramatically outraised by State Representative Mary Nolan while limiting contributions to $50—has decided to up her limit to $250. Fritz has confirmed that change, and her website has already been updated with the new number. Yesterday, […]
Posted inPuppy
Bret Michaels’ Mortify Your Pet Collection
Bret Michaels—he of Poison and “Every Rose Has its Thorn” fame—is introducing his new line of “rock inspired” dog items for PetSmart clumsily called “Bret Michaels Pets Rock Collection.” (HEAVY SIGH.) Here’s his commercial: And here’s his “doggie do-rag.” via Petsmart Holocaust victims are staring into that dog’s eyes and saying, “I’ve never seen anything […]
Posted inTransportation
TriMet Board Adopts New Budget
It’s official: After eight months of deliberations and negotiations, the TriMet board has formally adopted the 2012-2013 budget it released in the spring. No more fareless square, an across-the-board $2.50 fare, routes cuts, and more (PDF). Despite OPAL’s strong presence at today’s board meeting, as well as all other spring meetings, the board failed to […]
Posted inTransportation
Feds Dish Out $745.2 Million to the Light Rail
Today, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff officially signed an agreement to hand over $745.2 million in funding to the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project. Whoa! This is 50 percent of the total funding for the hefty project, meaning construction is soon to follow. The project, still slated to open in September 2015, has triggered serious head-butting […]
Posted inTransportation
TriMet Recieves $85 Million from Federal Grant
TriMet received $85 million in federal grant money today to aid in the completion of its pricey Portland-Milwaukie light rail line (the future Orange Line). This grant was handed over by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, transportation advocates, to TriMet as part of a $745 million full-funding agreement with the company. “As a […]
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Should Dollar Stores Be Illegal?
First, Vermont came for the Walmarts. I said nothing, because I hate Walmarts. Now, Vermont is coming for the dollar stores? Shawn Cunningham, a resident here in Chester who is fighting Dollar General’s plan to open down the street from the town common, said that since dollar stores tend to be much smaller than big-box […]
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Generation Debt
There was a time not too long ago when more than half of all Americans were able to pay for college without a loan. Now? Ninety-four percent of students who earn a bachelor’s degree borrow to pay for higher education—up from 45 percent in 1993, according to an analysis by The New York Times of […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Avengers? More Like Expensive-gers! I’m Sorry, This Headline Is Terrible
THE AVENGERS “What property damage?” I’m getting a way bigger kick out of this than I should, but The Hollywood Reporter decided to figure out how much damage, in dollars, the climactic battle in The Avengers would’ve caused. I guess I should say that the piece gives away who the bad guys are in the […]
Posted inGirls Only!
Today in American Ingenuity/Here Is a Thing That Exists
From the crack yardsale-scourers at YardSaleBloodbath comes this little amazement: Make friends with the Speculite on Facebook!
Posted inPolitics
“Go Get a Job!”
What Atrios said: I find distressing the number of non-self aware older people hating on the jobless younger people, imagining how tough they had it and how easy these things are for these spoiled pampered jobless indebted kids today. I’m not one to play the generational blame game, but once upon a time public universities […]