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Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: The Music Of Alice Coltrane, Steve Reich, and Hardcore Punk

Plus we’re adding local music news to the mix! 

If you want something to do besides watching the puddles gather rain, then this week’s Mercury Music Picks round-up is for you! With the continuation of PDX Jazz Festival, lots of local and national punk, and a DJ from South Africa pulling into town, there’s literally something for everyone. Plus, we’ve added a local music […]

Posted inSavage Love

SAVAGE LOVE: Acid Tongued

“My partner was prescribed a boric acid suppository. Will I die if I eat her out?”

I’m a cis man in a monogamous relationship with a cis woman who is going through perimenopause. She was recently prescribed a boric acid suppository to help deal with some normal but persistent vaginal health issues. Her doctor and all the reliable online medical resources we’ve found said we should wait “24-48” hours after she […]

Posted inGood Morning, News!

Good Morning, News: Providence Strike Ends, Climate Groups Appeal City’s Zenith Decision, and a California Library Goes MAGA

If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s news reporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism […]

Posted inNews

Climate Advocates Will Appeal the City’s Zenith Decision

A coalition of climate organizations and Portland residents plan to challenge Zenith’s land use approval with the state Land Use Board of Appeals, citing a lack of public process. 

The city of Portland may be required to defend its decision to grant Zenith Energy a key land use credential to the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), following a legal challenge from a coalition of climate organizations and residents.  The group of petitioners, which includes climate advocacy groups 350 PDX, the Northwest Environmental […]

Posted inComedy

Matt Braunger’s Elevator Pitch

The Portland-born comedian explains why seeing his upcoming show is a pretty good idea.

Matt Braunger thinks you should go see Matt Braunger at the Aladdin Theater on March 1st. “Why? Because you’re going to see a hilarious stand-up,” Braunger says in his elevator pitch, “someone who’s been doing it 20-plus years, is constantly evolving, and is a son of the soil who has worked altruistically, but also incredibly […]

Posted inEverOut

The Top 43 Events in Portland This Week: Feb 24–Mar 2, 2025

Tyler, The Creator, Deftones, and More

Looking for things to do? Don’t worry, we got you. This week, we’re pointing you towards events from Tyler, The Creator’s CHROMAKOPIA: THE WORLD TOUR to the Deftones and from Tim Heidecker’s On Cinema Oscar Special to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? MONDAY FILM Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me“Through the darkness of future past, […]

Posted inBooks

Author Q & A: Omar El Akkad on Gaza, Power, and the Stories Empires Steal

The award-winning author discusses his urgent new book and why we must resist the impulse to forget.

It all began with a tweet.  In October 2023, weeks after Israel began bombing Gaza, the writer Omar El Akkad shared a video showing a destroyed city street in Gaza. El Akkad wrote, “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to […]

Posted inThe Trash Report

THE TRASH REPORT: Would You Rather: Diet Coke with Lady Gaga or Salmon Sperm with Denise Richards?

Dig deep into the latest (and trashiest!) pile of gossip.

Hello, and welcome to the Trash Report! I am Elinor Jones, AKA Mother Trash Panda, AKA a bag of flesh wrapped in athleisure and covered in blankets. I told myself I was not going to buy any new clothes this year—just trades or vintage—but it’s only February and I did not factor in quite so […]

Posted inOpinion

“Dear Elon Musk: Here’s What I Accomplished Last Week”

Mercury Editor Wm. Steven Humphrey answers Elon Musk’s threatening weekend email to federal employees.

[Editor’s Note: On Saturday evening, February 22, billionaire White House advisor Elon Musk sent an email (from OPM, the Office of Personnel Management) to 2.3 million US federal employees, telling them to send “approx. 5 bullets” describing what they accomplished at work last week, and to respond by midnight, Monday, February 24. Musk later said […]

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