A “Right to Know Who’s Policing You” ordinance from Portland City Councilor Sameer Kanal passed 8-4 Wednesday, May 27. Here's everything you need to know about the new law enforcement mask ban in Portland ⬇️

“They put on the show every once in a while to make citizens think that something’s going to happen. And it’s smoke and mirrors.”

From Portland, Oregon to Washington, D.C., NDAs for government employees fly in the face of a basic notion that a government should be accountable to its people. These tricks don't serve the public interest, and further impede the work of the press. Accountability is impossible without transparency.

From Portland, Oregon to Washington, D.C., NDAs for government employees fly in the face of a basic notion that a government should be accountable to its people. These tricks don't serve the public interest, and further impede the work of the press. Accountability is impossible without transparency.

“Grassroots organizing beat establishment Democrats.” That’s good news for “far-left” voters, like people who don’t like data centers, want to fund public schools and healthcare for everyone, support public transit and the environment, and yes, abolish ICE.

Documents obtained by KATU News show that over the past 12 months Urban Alchemy's own employees processed 26 complaints for PDX sites-half alleged sexual harassment. City councilors received this data the night before the amended to restrict funds failed on a tie vote.

Public records obtained by the Mercury uncovered a March letter, on Portland Police Association letterhead, outlining a host of grievances its President Aaron Schmautz raised about Councilor Sameer Kanal. It isn’t the first time the police union has politicked over a new police accountability board.

By popular demand, the @portlandmercury.com is back with live reporting from today's city budget talks. Today's amendments to Mayor Wilson's proposed budget include tweaks to parks, city jobs, shelter and displacement. Tune in for highlights from me and the inimitable @taylorgriggs.bsky.social.

Back from lunch, and within 20 minutes the council has approved an amendment to realign staff positions and fund a fledgling data privacy office. The amendment was proposed by Councilors Novick and Morillo, and passed unanimously.

Rorschach test:

The @portlandmercury.com's coverage of this morning's City Council budget talks is LIVE. We covered several amendments concerning the Portland Clean Energy Fund, Public Environment Management Office, and tree permitting jobs. Stay tuned for more updates from @jeremiahhayden.bsky.social and me.

By popular demand, the @portlandmercury.com is back with live reporting from today's city budget talks. Today's amendments to Mayor Wilson's proposed budget include tweaks to parks, city jobs, shelter and displacement. Tune in for highlights from me and the inimitable @taylorgriggs.bsky.social.

Back at Portland City Council chambers today with some gorgeous music welcoming people in the atrium. What a great city!

At the Tammy Carpenter election party in Beaverton, her largely Democratic Socialist supporters are optimistic that she can overcome a small deficit in the next vote drop for Oregon House District 27. Her opponent, Ashley Hartmeier Prigg, holds a 265 vote lead as of 8 p.m.

Very happy that the below post says pubic safety and not the more apt *public safety* and that I did not look at this app today because… writing. How did none of you tell me this? Ok, short break for me but @taylorgriggs.bsky.social has you covered. Back for elections coverage soon.

Mercury staff are taking notes at today's City Council budget discussion, and publishing them here if you'd like to read some highlights. Council is deliberating on 25 budget amendments today, starting with those related to pubic safety. www.portlandmercury.com/news/reporti...

Student loan forgiveness is unconstitutional.

I think we’re a little past “begins to threaten it.”

I think we’re a little past “begins to threaten it.”

Story's been updated with new data from the city. Of the total 229 jobs proposed to be cut in Mayor Wilson's budget: 83% are non-supervisory roles 17% are supervisor positions (and 77% are union jobs)

The PCC faculty union has responded to news of Bennings’s departure: “At a time when students and employees struggle to afford basic needs, and PCC programs are fighting for crumbs under the Fiscal Sustainability Action Plan, this payout is shocking and unacceptable.”

Board approves a separation agreement for PCC President Adrien Bennings, who leaves amid state ethics complaints and the school's financial challenges.

As it turns out, 100% of my friends love Portland and would never think about leaving.

As it turns out, 100% of my friends love Portland and would never think about leaving.

Torta restaurant Güero posted on Instagram on May 10 about the detention of their cook, Jose “Poni” Gongora Poot, and linked to a GoFundMe raising money to support his family in the legal fight to bring him home.

Legal experts say an Oregon judge who sided with PacifiCorp in a multi-billion dollar wildfire-damages lawsuit should have recused herself from the case because she represented the utility for years as a private attorney: www.oregonjournalismproject.org/appeals-judg...

It is odd to see Roberts, of all people, saying the Supreme Court, of all institutions, would be somehow excluded from political acts, considering that simply moving about the world is inherently political. He just wishes people didn't notice him slowly dissolving the illusion.

For the past six months I’ve been digging into a large volume of complaints I obtained that were filed with Portland’s Ombudsman against staff at the city’s largest shelter provider. katu.com/news/local/s...

Do read: katu.com/news/local/s...

Four Palestine Action activists — Samuel Corner, 23, Charlotte Head, 29, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21 — were found guilty of smashing drones and computers at the Israeli defense firm’s U.K. site in an attempt to shut the factory down.

Sightline Intelligence sent AI-supported tool to company that provides drones to Israeli military, research group says

Bob Cozzie, the city of Portland's deputy city administrator of Community and Public Safety, is leaving his post. Cozzie's last day at the city will be May 18. Cozzie is the second person to leave the top public safety job in less than a year.

Portland activists are calling on the city to investigate whether a local company that makes tech used in Israeli military drones receives any city resources. In the face of consistent federal funding for Israel’s wars, they say slowing components sales on the local level may be more effective.

Took a little trip to the Oregon Coast last weekend. It’s as beautiful as ever 🤍

I don't quite have words yet. I'm stunned, grateful, disoriented. My deepest, deepest thanks to the five families without whom this book would not exist. It has been the honor of my life to know and learn from you.

It's time to cast your votes for the May 19 primary election in Oregon! Need help sorting through the candidates and measures? The Mercury Election Strike Force is back in action with smarty-pants analysis and thoughtful opinions to help you fill out your ballot! DO NOT VOTE WITHOUT IT!

First reading of a face mask ban for law enforcement officers in Portland, Mayor Keith Wilson addresses city's budget challenges, the totally real 503 Day is this weekend, May Day demonstrations downtown, and more in today's Good Morning, News!

“Tough choices” is public officials’ shorthand for this year’s budget cycle. In Portland’s Community and Economic Development service area, the mayor and his administrators have turned to cutting social programs and staff to balance a proposed $1.24 billion budget for the service area’s bureaus.

City Council held its first ever oversight hearings—a new feature of the fledgling gov—to learn why the budget body was kept in the dark about $21M in housing funds last year. It gave a peek into Council demands for transparency, while new records show the admin may still be working in the shadows.

For the record, when you’re being mean to me, this is who you’re being mean to.

Yesterday, City Council questioned why millions in housing funds went unspent and why the funds were undisclosed last Fall. New records show efforts to keep councilors from experts. Officials knew about $21 million for rent aid in 2025 but didn’t inform the council during budget talks.

At Mayor Wilson's State of the City address Friday, he again relied on anecdote -- not data -- to prove his response to homelessness is working. @lmonghughes.bsky.social digs into the numbers today:

She didn’t let a single Palestinian give a vetted speech at the DNC while she defended the Biden admin facilitating a genocide. Not sure alignment is possible on the other 90% of issues if the candidate’s worldview is that America should have “the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

She didn’t let a single Palestinian give a vetted speech at the DNC while she defended the Biden admin facilitating a genocide. Not sure alignment is possible on the other 90% of issues if the candidate’s worldview is that America should have “the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

Lloyd Center Mall will officially close to the public this August, the Trail Blazers playoff schedule, The Department of War recites a fake bible verse from Pulp Fiction, and should the city, county, and state contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to a renovation project at the Moda Center?

A permanent stain in Oregon history will be that the city of Grants Pass took its desire to punish homeless people all the way to the Supreme Court. The small town was used by cities and states in the West to set the precedent that homeless people can be punished for being homeless—anywhere, anyhow.

So, slavery.

A state ethics complaint against city councilors for getting pro-bono legal help was officially dismissed last week. The OGEC found no conflict, saying officials can get job-related legal services if done properly. The attorney called it a win for local democracy under Portland’s new government.

The MultCo DA's office released a 2-page document today to show "a change is underway" under DA Vazquez. A neat crime stat trick is to use reported crime as a metric of success, without noting the +/- impact that police, prosecutors, elected have on public perception of crime. More fear, more calls.

The state ethics board has fined the local social media influencer Kevin Dahlgren for violating state law when he worked in homeless services for the city of Gresham. Dahlgren faced previous legal peril in a Multnomah County criminal case over the same conduct, but state ethics law still applies.