It’s official. We just got word that the rumored City of Portland vs. Occupy Portland softball game is happening early next month. Check out the details! Portland City Park Rangers have challenged Occupy Portland to a friendly game of softball. Occupy Portland gladly accepted this invitation and in turn has invited all unions that represent […]
Occupy
Posted inOccupy
Update on Occupy’s Anti-Nuke Brigade
Last we heard from the Portland Anti-Nuke Occupy arm, they were wrapping up a trip out to Richland, Washington to Occupy the Hanford Nuclear Waste Facility. The relatively peaceful event encouraged out of town ralliers while ticking off more than a few locals. But, despite grumblings, it looks like the group is far from calling […]
Posted inOccupy
Reoccupation? Nope, Just a Hangout
Early last evening, a small group of Occupiers returned to their old home turf to commemorate the six-month anniversary of their eviction. Meeting in the recently reopened Lownsdale Square, the gathering acted more as a social hangout than a rally, the original idea behind the Facebook-planned event. Nothing to see here Organized by Occupier Liz […]
Posted inNews
Occupy Parks Reopen
It’s been six months (Really?!? Really) since Portland police pushed occupiers out of their Chapman and Lownsdale headquarters and set up a chain-link fence around both squares. This morning, city parks staff quietly took down the now-familiar barricade, allowing the public back onto the parks’ once-muddied, now gloriously green turf. By noon, a cautious trickle […]
Posted inEvents
May Day Happened—Now What?
Alicia Jackson in her reclaimed home on May Day Alright—so it’s been two weeks since Portland was hit with May Day madness. While much of the hoopla was put to bed with the last of the unpermitted dancing Monday evening, some of the action kick-started on May 1 is still rolling along. Remember Alicia Jackson, […]
Posted inCops
May Day Groups Decry Cops’ Tackling, Bashing of Marchers Over “Minor Traffic Violations”
Paul Cone—Portland Occupier Eugene Ryan says he was grabbed from the sidewalk by police and punched in the face. After a few days of poring over photos and sharing stories of rough arrests by Portland Police Bureau on May Day—reports of tackles, hair-pulling, punches, bikes used for things besides riding, etc.—organizers and other participants in […]
Posted inOccupy
Portland’s May Day, the Morning After
May Day started with such promise: a march by high school students that got city hall to lock its doors, and a powerful neighborhood rally that helped return a woman (for now, at least) to her foreclosed, locked home near Woodlawn Park. Then came an unpermitted march through downtown in the early afternoon that didn’t […]
Posted inOccupy
The (Unofficial) Downtown May Day March has Gotten… Interesting
Alex Zielinski May Day marchers try to shut down Pioneer Place mall. For the past couple of hours, a growing crowd of May Day marchers has led Portland’s bike cops and horse cops on an energetic (and unpermitted, as the cops like to point out) tour of downtown—a trip you should be following over at […]
Posted inOccupy
May Day Rally Reclaims Foreclosed House; Cops Make Arrests in Downtown March
Home Sweet Home This morning, a group of 150 or so NE neighbors, Occupy veterans, the Portland Liberation Organizing Council (PLOC), people facing foreclosure on their homes, and folks from a multitude of local community organizations rallied together in Northeast Portland to reclaim a previously foreclosed home on NE Bryant and 6th. The previously unknown […]
Posted inOccupy
What the Cops Are Telling Big Pink Tenants About May Day
Someone was kind enough to share what looks like a memo sent to tenants of US Bancorp Tower about today’s Occupy-related happenings, a memo shaped by feedback from the Portland Police Bureau. We’re sharing the memo (pdf) with you. The gist is that security guards will be ready to lock the skyscraper down—and that cops […]
Posted inEvents
May Day Madness
Occupy Portland Tomorrow, May 1, a variety of local groups have thrown together rallies/events each with slightly different focuses. Unfortunately, none of them involve a maypole. Here’s a handy rundown of what’s planned—whether you want to join in, gawk at or avoid the commotion. Stay turned for the Mercury‘s blog coverage tomorrow. WHAT: Student Strike […]
Posted inNews
Occupy Closes Army Recruiting Centers
Cobra challenges GI Joe Reports are coming in that Occupy Portland briefly shutdown at least four army recruiting centers in the metro area earlier today. The plan to close the facilities was announced just before noon at a protest outside city hall. The action and protest was in support of Private First Class Bradley Manning, […]