UPDATE, 3:30pm: I should stress that in no way am I implying that these students had been bought off financially, to make their film about Milepost 5 a certain way. I do feel, politically, that by lending credibility to the students’ efforts by being on the board of the institute, Sam Adams must have been […]
Politics
Posted inPortland
Overwhelming Majority of Public Speak Out Against Sit/Lie Ordinance
It’s official: Almost everybody hates the sit/lie law. As predicted, the mayor’s Street Access for Everyone oversight committee listening session this afternoon was separated into ten groups, each attended by a facilitator who presented back to the larger group at the end. This made it difficult for me, as a reporter, to listen to all […]
Posted inPortland
Portland: The City That Pays People to Pretend To Listen While The Mayor’s On Vacation
In a city where people are paid to listen, but the real power brokers never have to show up, let alone open their ears, you have the illusion of public involvement. It’s an insult to all of us, and we should all speak out. Mayor Tom Potter can talk all he likes about “involving the […]
Posted inPolitics
Street(s) Renaming Update
Commissioner Sam Adams just called, to clarify a few things around street renames. He’s about to file a resolution for next week’s city council meeting, appointing a panel of three historians who will vet street rename proposals–both the ones for Cesar Chavez and Douglas Adams–and re-committing the city to following the rename process outlined in […]
Posted inNews
KKK Makes Election Invite
The Ku Klux Klan just sent us a press release. And boy, it’s a doozy.Filled with ambiguous incitement and race hate. But bloody bizarre. And I thought you might be interested. On August 7th, Pastor Thomas Robb, National Director of The Knights Party (aka Knights of the Ku Klux Klan) issued an invitation to presidential […]
Posted inMedia
Generation Y-Bother: I’m Bothered
There’s a great little unsigned editorial in today’s Oregonian replicated on the newspaper’s blog with Bob Caldwell’s byline, that you might have an opinion about. It’s focused, using the somewhat desperate example of Wayne’s World, on “Generation Y-Bother Getting My Own Place.” But rather than focusing on what Caldwell describes as a “striking new social […]
Posted inPolitics
Mannix Writes On Mandatory Minimums
Republican Senator Kevin Mannix has blogged today about the topic of last week’s Brewhaha, his controversial mandatory minimum sentencing ballot measure that could mean harsh sentences for first time offenders, without the probability of drug treatment. His post is remarkable, if only for its Miltonian logic: But, what taxpayers want is to save their own […]
Posted inPolitics
Portland City Government Caption Contest
Amy’s off being on the radio this morning, so I thought I’d muse on City Government more widely by posting this image, and asking you to suggest who the individuals depicted might be. Don’t all rush at once.
Posted inPolitics
Paris Hilton Hits Back At McCain
…with a celebrity presidential ad of her own: “I’m Paris Hilton and I approve this message, because I think it’s totally hot.”
Posted inPortland
What Does Sam Adams Think About Peterson’s?
Sam Adams has the power to save Peterson’s convenience store, but he’s not going to do it. Commissioner Dan Saltzman, as you may be aware, is trying to save Peterson’s convenience store from eviction. But it appears he’s getting the cold shoulder from our “business friendly” mayor-elect, Sam Adams. Commissioner Saltzman is understood to be […]
Posted inPolitics
Anti-Columbia River Crossing Protest on the Waterfront
I’m on the scene, keep checking back for updates! 1:17 pm. I’m huddled with a few reporters at Waterfront Park, waiting for the crew from Convergence for Climate Action to set up some street theater–something involving long bamboo poles, cutouts of cars, and lots of anti-bridge posters–and to pull the trigger on a bigger act […]
Posted inPolitics
Sit-Lie Ordinance: Totally Not Targeting the Homeless (NOT!)
From Street Roots’ blog: August 1, 2008 On Tuesday July 27, Street Roots interviewed 27 individuals experiencing homelessness and two canvassers on Portland street corners. Fifteen of the 27 individuals had been given verbal or written warnings or citations for the sidewalk obstruction ordinance. Twelve of those interviewed say they have also been warned by […]