Our menagerie of Republican presidential candidates is nearing completion—but now we’ve got our shiniest piece yet. The most scantily clad of emperors. A man with all the electability of your mom’s ex-boyfriend: Donald Trump. Here’s the announcement, in all its shlocky and unpracticed glory. Jump 7:25 to watch him enter via escalator while Neil Young’s […]
Politics
Posted inPolitics
Government’s Bulk Data Collection of Your Telephone Data Ended Last Night, Temporarily
Gil C/Shutterstock.com At midnight last night, as Wired explains, congress allowed Section 215 and two other parts of the Patriot Act to expire, temporarily, partly due to Rand Paul taking his time while getting super pissy on the floor. And, I know—Rand Paul. But Section 215 is the one that allows the NSA to collect […]
Posted inBikes
“Dead Red” Gets the Go-Ahead
Photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation Good news: If you’re on a bicycle or motorcycle and a red light won’t change for you, you can run it! Oregon bicycle and motorcycle riders on Wednesday won the right to go on a “dead red” light following the unanimous passage of Senate Bill 533. The […]
Posted inNews
Port Director Reaffirms He’s Mad at Fossil Fuel Charlie
Photo courtesy of Bob Sallinger Port of Portland Commission Executive Director Bill Wyatt opened today’s regular commission meeting by telling the audience—which was largely made up of activists sporting “NO TERMINAL” signs—how disappointed he is that Mayor Charlie Hales pulled the plug on a $500 million propane terminal project in North Portland. “I think it’s […]
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Who Are the Best Picks for the PPS School Board? Figure It Out With this Handy Tool from KBOO
The Mercury didn’t endorse candidates in this month’s election for the Portland Public Schools Board of Education, but not because it’s not important. The seven-member volunteer school board steers a district made up of nearly 50,000 students across 81 schools, and faces enormous challenges. And right now, you’ve got an opportunity to pick three of […]
Posted inBikes
Split Opinions on Motorcycle Lane-Splitting
Oregon Department of Transportation Motorcycles riding between lanes on a highway during heavy traffic For six months last year, daily motorcycle commuter and downtown Portland resident Patrick Leyshock worked in Hillsboro. As a dedicated all-weather rider, Leyshock rode Highway 26 in morning and evening rush hour traffic five days a week, putting along in the […]
Posted inNews
Fossil Fuel Charlie for Mayor 2016
Spotted near Portland State University Portland Mayor Charlie Hales isn’t getting much slack from fossil fuel opponents these days. Between the (I’m just going to say it) unflattering likeness in the poster above—spotted near Portland State University—and last week’s entertaining and disruptive Earth Day demonstration during council’s regular hearing, you could say opponents of a […]
Posted inNews
New Seasons Board Member Will Raise Big Money For Jeb Bush Next Week
Endeavour Capital Stephen Babson: Peddler of arugula and right-wing politics Pass the rainbow chard! When (unannounced) Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush sits down in Portland on April 21— to a $12,500-per-person dinner held to swell the coffers of a Bush-friendly Republican political action committee—there’s a good chance the pricey comestibles he’ll schmooze over will have […]
Posted inPolitics
Obama Criticizes Shitty Christians, Shitty Christians Shit Pants
Mediaite via Joe My God: Towards the end of his speech at Tuesday morning’s Easter Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Obama appeared to veer off script to make some comments that implicitly referenced the fierce debate that has been raging over the last week about “religious freedom” laws in Indiana, Arkansas and elsewhere. “On Easter, I […]
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Oregon’s New School Budget: More, but Not Nearly Enough?
Oregon schools are finally getting free lunches for low-income students and full-day kindergarten for everyone, but will $7 billion be enough to fully fund K-12 education? The Oregon House of Representatives on Tuesday passed in a party-line vote House Bill 5017, funding Oregon K-12 schools with $7.255 billion for the 2015-17 biennium. Two notable investments—funding […]
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Checking in On Charlie Hales’ Campaign Cash: More Money From Development Types
Steve Morgan Mayor Charlie Hales, the lone announced candidate for his seat in next year’s primary race, continues to haul in campaign donations in his off hours—and report them well before campaign finance deadlines, in case would-be rivals are curious. In the last three weeks, Hales reports fielding nearly $5,500, much of it from well-known […]
Posted inMedia
CNN’s Too Many Cooks Parody is Actually Very Awesome
I never thought I’d say this again… but CNN has done something right! If you enjoyed Adult Swim’s Too Many Cooks sitcom parody, and you’re baffled by the upcoming 2016 presidential election, you owe it to yourself to watch this version of Too Many Cooks featuring all the players who will surely take a big […]