Willamette Week

Former Pixelworks CEO Allen Alley has been running (and walking) hard for governor since February. Alley made a lot of friends in corporate Oregon and made a new set of friends as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Despite those attributes, and a respectable showing in a run for state treasurer in 2008, campaign [...] Related posts: Notable Campaign Contributions In The Oregon ... Full Story »

Nineteen years after its founding as a pioneering watchdog in the health-care industry, the Oregon Health News is folding, according to the online Lund Report. The newsletter had a reputation as a hard-hitting source of information, and it was a valuable resource to lawyers, lawmakers and journalists across the state. In an email obtained by the [...] Related posts: More Changes at Oregon Health ... Full Story »

Yesterday afternoon I, along with hundreds of other ethically flexible Portlanders, left work early to hit up the opening of the 2009 Holiday Ale Festival, plunging headfirst into a heaving sea of drunken humanity swilling plastic mugs of high-ABV suds. Eighteen samples and four hours later my tastebuds and equilibrium were a waste, and I [...] Related posts: Our Top Picks From The Oregon ... Full Story »

If you’re reading this, odds are you’re sitting at work counting down the minutes to tonight’s 6 pm Oregon-Oregon State game. You’re not alone. Twitter is ablaze with commentary and anticipation for the game. Here’s a quick sampling of what’s being tweeted: @annesaw17 I hear Mission Theater already has a line for the civil war game. [...] Related posts: Civil War: A Few Final Pregame Thoughts ... Full Story »

First of all, the elephant in the room is pink and naked. That’s because the hook, the gimmick that accounts for the lion’s share of buzz surrounding Daniel Léveillé Danse is that the performers dance in the buff. As much as all of us would like to pretend we went into the West Coast premiere [...] Related posts: TBA Diary: Daniel Barrow Every Tim Q & A • Daniel Bernstine [COLUMN] P Earth ... Full Story »

Olympic Provisions, the Clyde Common crew’s happy-making new charcuterie, wine and food spot, opened for biz today in a sun-filled corner of the Olympic Mills Commerce Center in Southeast Industrial—officially marking 2009 as the year Christmas came early for Portland’s meat lovers. You’ll recognize a lot of CC-isms here, from the polished concrete floors to the [...] Related posts: Faux Olympic ... Full Story »

Water has been on Portlanders’ minds almost as much as it’s been in their mouths lately since last weekend’s E. coli scare on the west side of town. And Tyesha Snow, a Portland resident, thought this might be a “good opportunity to see if Portland residents could take this fleeting moment of understanding and raise some [...] Related posts: Tap Water Safe To Drink Mayor Sam Brewers Say “No” To ... Full Story »

For its hundreds of miles of trails and clean air, Portland has earned the distinction of being America’s best city for running, according to Runner’s World magazine. It’s just the latest evidence the City of Roses is challenging Boulder, Co., as America’s Mecca for elite runners. American mile record-holder Alan Webb recently moved to Portland to [...] Related posts: The Running Man [CULTURE F ... Full Story »

Last year in the pre-Civil War run-up I wondered whether Oregon had a prayer of beating OSU in Corvallis with a Rose Bowl berth at stake for the Beavers. Happily for me and my fellow Ducks fans, Oregon proved to have more than a prayer and won a game for the ages. But now as sports [...] Related posts: Civil War: It’s A Wrap I was goin What the World Is Tweeting About the Civil War If you Civil ... Full Story »

If you’re as angry and disillusioned as some commentators about President Obama’s decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan, a protest tonight gives a venue to voice your concerns. The Portland Peaceful Response Coalition plans to rally in front of the Edith Green – Wendell Wyatt federal building at Southwest 3rd and Madison tonight at 5 [...] Related posts: Green peace rally this Saturday ... Full Story »

NOTE: Tonight’s guest blogger is Trevor Solomon, ex-Floridian and director of MusicfestNW. He does not have fantastic grammar. But he loves Dwayne Wade. Things could get interesting. Take the jump for more. Pregame here at rq. i have to say first off the food downstairs was great, nice pork selection. ok back to the pregame. the [...] Related posts: Almost Live: Blazers vs. Heat (Only One Can ... Full Story »

Jeffrey N. Buxbaum, who leads the tolling and road pricing practice at Cambridge Systematics, was in town today to discuss the future of congestion pricing in Portland. In town to make presentations to government officials about how Oregon can test a congestion pricing pilot program on Portland-area highways, Buxbaum was obviously dealing with a hot-button issue. A [...] Related posts: Peter ... Full Story »

Just in time for the December gift giving rush local artist Klutch, who recently helped curate WW’s Trashed @ 35 show and even remixed WW’s signature blue box, hosts a giant everything-must-go sale of every single one of his own vibrant wood, pen and oil pieces throughout this month at Meat Cheese Bread. “My transmission [...] Related posts: Meat Cheese Bread I love all The Curd Way: Foster ... Full Story »

A proposal to change Portland’s zoning code to accommodate new plans for PGE Park in advance of Major League Soccer’s 2011 kickoff has been delayed again. The latest delay marks the third occasion Mayor Sam Adams has postponed considering the change, which is still listed on the Wednesday agenda. City Council is now scheduled to hear [...] Related posts: UPDATED: City Council to Consider PGE ... Full Story »

Try as I might to focus on work two days before the biggest football game in the history of Oregon and maybe the universe, my mind does tend to wander out the window just like this: Check tomorrow’s WW for your guide to numbers you should know to be conversational about the Civil War. Related posts:Civil War: [...] Related posts: Civil War: A Few Final Pregame Thoughts Last year Civil War Goes ... Full Story »

In his second straight day in the news, prominent mental-health advocate Jason Renaud announced today he’ll run against City Commissioner Dan Saltzman next year. Renaud, a volunteer for the Mental Health Association of Portland, is a prominent critic of the police role in the in-custody death three years ago of James Chasse Jr. Renaud (pictured above) also [...] Related posts: Advocate Seeks ... Full Story »

Preston Johnson, 22, had just gotten out of class in Eugene when he got the call from a casting agency: “Do you still have long hair?” they asked. A couple weeks, hair length confirmation and multiple auditions later, the University of Oregon student was kickin’ it on the set of a small film called [...] Related posts: Twilight 'Bite Sized: First Look from the set of Twilight Portland Vanity ... Full Story »

BikePortland had an item recently that intrigued us this holiday season: Portlander Max Kirchoff is starting a venture called TreesByBike that will use bicycles to bring locally grown Christmas trees from Wilsonville and Western Oregon into the homes of Portland residents. Kirchoff, 28, tells WW that his so-called “Riders of Yule” will be equipped with oversized messenger bags on [...] Related ... Full Story »

The Portland police union has declined to release the results of last week’s no-confidence vote on Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Chief Rosie Sizer today as planned. In a news release (PDF), the Portland Police Association says the decision came after Saltzman and Sizer agreed today to give back Officer Chris Humphreys‘ badge. “The (union’s) rally on [...] Related posts: Police Union Plans ... Full Story »

Does Portland’s City Council still feel guilty about its duct tape ban for the Rose Festival? We’ll find out Wednesday when the council considers a proposed ordinance [PDF] that would give the 2010 Rose Festival a $19,650 grant to help with parade amenities. It would be the third year in a row the Rose Festival received [...] Related posts: Duct Tape Ban Will Have to Wait Though it Rose Festival ... Full Story »

Well, not exactly. But a 20-by-30-foot sinkhole has turned up on a soccer field at Northgate Park in north Portland, prompting Portland Parks and Recreation to close the field and surround the sinkhole in fencing while the department investigates the sinkhole’s cause. Parks officials say the sinkhole’s edges are only one foot deep, but that the [...] Related posts: Portland Parks: $13 Million to ... Full Story »

In between calls to his staff and updating his Twitter account, Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler spoke with WW from St. Charles Hospital in Bend to say he’s recovering from a ski accident at Mount Bachelor on Saturday. Wheeler suffered two broken vertebrae and a broken shoulder in the fall. He says he doesn’t expect he’ll [...] Related posts: MultCo’s Wheeler to Compete in Ironman Competition ... Full Story »

“No more bullshit, no more lies! We will never compromise!” The catchy pronouncement echoed outside Nicholas Ungar Furs this morning as members of the Portland Animal Defense League stepped up their protests aimed at shutting down Portland’s last remaining fur salon (after Schumacher Furs left downtown). “It’s heartbreaking, that’s why we’re here,” said vegan activist Courtney Kintz ... Full Story »

After an officer involved in a controversial beanbag shooting filed a stress claim with the city, a prominent mental health advocate says he’ll ask the the city auditor to investigate disability claims by cops under discipline. Jason Renaud, a volunteer with the Mental Health Association of Portland and a high-profile critic of police action in the [...] Related posts: Chasse Cop Christopher ... Full Story »

Tomorrow is the 21st World AIDS Day. And local organizers have scheduled several events as part of the effort to raise awareness of the 25 million-plus people who have died from AIDS and the estimated 33 million people worldwide currently living with HIV. Cascade AIDS Project has hung 500 posters around the city and bought space on [...] Related posts: World AIDS Day in Portland: A Somber, Quiet ... Full Story »