Politics

Last week, the five members of the city council signed onto a letter outlining their thoughts on the massive Columbia River Crossing (CRC) project—a letter meant to guide tomorrow night’s CRC task force when it takes a vote to recommend a “locally preferred option” for the project. The problem is, the council isn’t holding a […]

School’s out for the summer, but PolitiCorps—a national political leadership training program, or “political bootcamp,” based here in Portland—is now in session. I’m on the campus of the Catlin Gabel School, just over the West Hills, where 24 college-aged future political leaders are listening to the Bus Project’s Emily Kintzer, as she gives an overview […]

True or false: New City Commissioner Nick Fish plans to join a camp out on city hall’s steps this Saturday night—a continuation of last month’s long protest against the sit-lie and camping ordinances. False! Chalk that rumor up to a “lame attempt at humor” on Fish’s part, he says. On Wednesday, when Fish presented Sisters […]

Remember that event we used to have every month with the Bus Project? I think it was called Debate Club. Well. It’s been reborn! Meet Brewhaha, our new, shinier, funner, faster-paced, variety-show style monthly forum on the weighty topics of our day. This month, we’re kicking global warming‘s ass, with an hour-long program that’ll cram […]

Today at city hall, I found a stack of these on the front desk in Commissioner Sam Adams’ office: It’s a temporary tattoo. Advertising the city’s one-stop phone number. Um… why? And who would slap this on their body? Note that mine’s on my fridge. And what happens when I need some city info, but […]

Amy’s out of town this week, so it took me precisely 28 hours to decide to muscle in on her city-hall patch and get down there. Actually, I sort of had to go down there, because for all my big talk about “offending your sources,” it was sort of necessary to smoke the peace pipe […]

A fascinating entry on the Stranger’s excellent blog this afternoon by reporter Erica C.Barnett, about homeless sweeps being done in Seattle. Barnett writes: The controversy over the sweeps, which the Times story breezes past in five short sentences consisting of an obligatory quote from a single homeless advocate, isn’t just about the fact that there […]

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t attend Metro council hearings very often. But I highly doubt the regional body draws an overflow crowd, uh, ever. There about 60 people to testify on a trio of resolutions that will declare where Metro stands on this project. Metro president David Bragdon just told […]

Check out this picture, which Matt Davis snapped at city hall today: Outside of that office, which used to say “Erik Sten,” were boxes of discarded office supplies and old books. Sad. Nick Fish’s first day is Friday, June 13—he’ll take the oath of office at Rosa Parks Elementary School in North Portland at 10 […]