GOOD MORNING, SUNDAY! It's the perfect time to catch up on some of the great reporting and stories the Mercury churned out this week! (PRO TIP: If you despise being "the last to know," then be one of the first to know by signing up for Mercury newsletters! All the latest stories shipped directly to your email's in-box... and then... YOUR HEAD.)


City Council Approves Unfunded Plan to Criminalize Unsheltered Homelessness

Despite a loud outcry from experts and the homeless themselves, Portland City Council voted Thursday to approve a plan to ban unsheltered homelessness and create mass outdoor homeless encampments across the city.

Doug Brown

City Sweeps Laurelhurst Park Homeless Residents to Turn Street Into Pickleball Courts

Homeless Portlanders were swept from Laurelhurst Park on a rainy morning in preparation for the city to turn a two-block section of SE Oak into pickleball courts (among other things).

Alex Zielinski

POP QUIZ PDX!

Which Portlander went on to join KISS? Will the zoo's giant lizard eat you? And who should replace Rene Gonzalez on the ballot? (Perhaps a 5 lb. bag of rancid potatoes?) Test your brain with this week's super-fun POP QUIZ PDX! 🥰

KEVIN WINTERS / GETTY

Is City Council’s Proposal to Ban Unsheltered Homelessness Legal?

As Mayor Wheeler & Commissioner Ryan have fast-tracked a proposal to criminalize homeless camping & create mass encampments through City Council, few have discussed whether the plan would pass legal muster. (A review of recent case law finds it might not.)

Alex Zielinski

Photographer Luke Misclevitz's Wild Time Capsules

Photographer Luke Misclevitz has been documenting Portland's wild, vibrant underground scene since before the pandemic—and has a wild, vibrant new book to show for it.

Luke Misclevitz

Homeless Portlanders Urge City Officials to Reconsider Mass Encampment Plan

Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Ryan were asked Tuesday to involve the perspective of homeless Portlanders before passing a plan to criminalize homelessness in Portland. (Spoiler alert: They went, obviously didn't listen, and left.)

Alex Zielinski

HEAR IN PORTLAND

Haley Heynderickx opens for Lucy Dacus, a Snugsworth side project sounds like "The Craft," and Digable Planets NYE tickets are now on sale!

JEFF ANDERSON, COURTESY OF LUCKY BIRD MEDIA

Benson High School Remodel Raises Debate Over PPS' Climate Policy

Despite committing to a climate policy that prohibits the use of fossil fuels in new buildings, PPS’s latest building remodel includes a fossil fuel-powered heating system. PPS says the policy didn't apply, while critics urge electrification.

PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

THE TRASH REPORT

Let's go, trash pandas! 🦝 It's time to dig through the best celebrity and local garbage with THE TRASH REPORT! This week: Musk ruins Twitter, Chandler fucks with Keanu, and Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's interchangeable faces. 😲

GREG DOHERTY / GETTY IMAGES

The Future of Coffee Looks Psychedelic 🍄 ☕️

We tried a psilocybin-infused coffee made in collaboration with Puff Coffee, the new coffee venture of Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorenson.

CROUTON

David Sedaris Is Coming and Wants to Know Where He Can Find a Dead Body

Author/funny guy David Sedaris is coming to Portland, and in this interview he talks about travel plans, helping his sister study for Star Wars, and asks if we know where he can find a dead body.

ANNE FISHBEIN

Happy Halloween, You Surf Witches!

Check out these awesome photos of last weekend's witch paddle on the Willamette, where the heavy mist and overcast skies added vibe to an epic Halloween-y witch ride.

ELAYNA YUSSEN

How to Get Back to the Land of the Living

Check out this Q & A with Morgan Talty, whose debut short story collection "Night of the Living Rez" was published by Tin House this past July.

Tin House

SAVAGE LOVE

In this week's edition, a bisexual hubby sneaks off and gets the monkeypox vaccine without telling the wife, and... WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?

Joe Newton

WOW, THAT IS A LOT OF GOOD READIN'. I hope you didn't have any other plans this weekend! Dig in, and remember: Producing all this hard work costs moolah—so please consider contributing to the Mercury to keep it all coming! Thanks!