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.)
• Proposed Detention Center Fee Yields Hostile City Council Meeting
Wednesday's City Council meeting saw multiple disruptions and expulsions as councilors passed an algorithmic rental price-fixing ban and considered a proposal meant to deter landlords from opening detention centers. Prior to the meeting, three different groups held demonstrations outside City Hall.
Looking to survive and thrive this winter? Check out all our smarty-pants and sassy articles online, or pick up a print copy at more than 500 spots across the city! ☃️😎
• Adventures in Newspapering: Welcome to "Team Portland"
Have you noticed how the same people who declared "Portland is DEAD" a few years ago have suddenly jumped on the "Portland is BACK, bay-bee" bandwagon? Mercury editor Wm. Steven Humphrey has, and spends a smooth 800 words *giving them hell.* Enjoy!
• Portlanders Gather to Mourn and Demand Action on Day of Remembrance for Traffic Crash Victims
For the loved ones of someone killed in a traffic crash, every day is a day of remembrance. But many others need a reminder of the devastating human toll traffic violence takes each day. Last Sunday, Portlanders gathered to honor the lives lost and demand action to prevent more needless deaths.
Get the details on a festive hip-hop showcase hosted by Cool Nutz, and Steven Golliday and the Portland-based Joseph both dropped new singles.
• Portland City Council Votes to Adopt AI Rental Price-Fixing Software Ban
After months of uncertainty, a policy to ban the use of algorithmic rental price-fixing software in Portland was approved this week. Now Portland will join other cities in banning a practice many say raises rents and violates federal antitrust laws.
• Eternity Is the Straightest Rom-Com That Ever Straighted
If you saw either of director David Freyne's warm, funny, queer-coded films, you might think that Eternity, the new rom-com from A24, could have some real Guadagnino potential. BUT YOU WOULD BE WRONG. Eternity is the straightest rom-com that ever did straight.
• City Narrows Search For Portland’s Next Top Bureaucrat
A nationwide search to find a new city administrator is much closer to being finalized, after the city narrowed nearly 100 applicants down to three. City Council will vote to confirm the final hire, and councilors have ideas about what they want to see in the new top bureaucrat.
Travel the spaceways, travel to Hell. Hear Australian folk, and Portland ambient. Feel the Temptations of Four Tops. (Who doesn't?) There's all this and more happening in this week's Mercury Music Picks.
• Kelly Reichardt’s Small Politics
Kelly Reichardt tried something new with The Mastermind, an East Coast heist flick, but its aesthetic vision still feels true to the director.
• An Ode to Becoming the Most Annoying Team in the NBA
The Blazers defense is annoying... finally! The full court press defense the Blazers have been utilizing has proven to be little sibling-level disruptive, affecting the ball on both ends of the court. Feels good to be annoying, don't it?
• The QuietQuietLoud of Sigur Rós in Portland
As the Icelandic post-rock group winds down their multi-year tour with Wordless Music Orchestra, this seems far from the last time they'll show off their symphonic side.
"Is an open relationship a feasible option?" "Hmmm... let me ask my husband of thirty years and my boyfriend of thirteen years." Find this and other interesting questions and answers in this week's column!
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!
