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Portland Mercury

News. Entertainment. Trouble.

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A Month Before Classes Resume, University of Oregon...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/29

Despite a recent $25 million gift from the Schnitzer family, Oregon’s flagship university warns of a funding shortage and a second round of layoffs. by Abe Asher Following staffing cuts in June, another round of layoffs is coming at the University of Oregon, with entire departments potentially on the chopping block as the university seeks to address a projected budget deficit. In a June town hall, University

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The Newsletter Trying to Turn Portland into “Tennis...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/29

Tennis Courterly’s editors insist it’s not a secret literary magazine. by Taylor Griggs Portland might not have professional tournaments or world-class tennis academies, and many of the city’s public courts have seen better days. But Portlander Tyler Pell sees potential in the city’s community tennis culture. He wants to make sure other people see it, too. Enter Portland Tennis Courterly: The stylish,

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Good Morning, News: US Border Patrol Takes PNW...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/29

by Suzette Smith If you appreciate the Mercury's interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution to support our editorial team. Your donation is tax-deductible. You can also subscribe and have our papers delivered! Good Morning, Portland! We're out here this morning like "Name an instance of bullshit that I went for!" Last Friday, Earl Sweatshirt dropped the contrarian and beautiful Live,

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At the 2025 Time-Based Art Festival, West Coast Is...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/28

After losing federal grant funding, TBA pushes forward with queer opera, Native storytelling, and radical soundscapes. by Lindsay Costello Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) turned 30 this year, making it both a millennial and the creator of the city’s shiniest experimental performance jewel, the Time-Based Art Festival (TBA). Returning September 4-14, this year’s fest brings a full-force two-weekend

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FREE TICKETS THURSDAY: Enter to Win Free Tix to See...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/28

by Mercury Promotions Who's ready to have some fun? Well, the Mercury is here to help with FREE TICKETS to see some of Portland's best concerts and events—our way of saying thanks to our great readers and spread the word about some fantastic upcoming performances! (Psst... if you want to say thanks to the Mercury, please consider making a small monthly contribution to keep us alive and kickin'!) And oh boy, do we have some fun events

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POP QUIZ PDX: Mystery Objects, Shit-Talkin' Trumpers,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/28

See how well YOU score in this week's super fun trivia quiz! by Wm. Steven Humphrey CALLING ALL SMARTY BRAINS! It's time once again to put your brainy-brain to the test with this week's edition of POP QUIZ PDX—our weekly, local, sassy-ass trivia quiz. And this week we'll be testing your knowledge on a weird thing found in some lady's back yard, local masked crime fighter (and Multnomah County Chair) Jessica Vega

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Good Morning, News: Cop Investigators Approve Strike,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/28

by Wm. Steven Humphrey 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 and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there

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Workers in Portland’s Independent Police...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/27

The complaint investigation unit says the city’s new voter-approved police oversight system could leave them jobless. by Courtney Vaughn In 2020, Portland voters approved a major overhaul of the city’s current police oversight and accountability system. A ballot measure called for a new, civilian-led police oversight board and a city-funded team of investigators with the authority to investigate complaints

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Toody Cole and Friends Celebrate the Life, Music, and...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/27

Crystal Ballroom hosts an evening honoring the Dead Moon frontman. by Ben Salmon Depending on which source you believe, we are either approaching or have just passed the official 30th anniversary of the release of Nervous Sooner Changes, the all-killer-no-filler seventh studio album from Portland punk legends Dead Moon. Crammed front to back with the band’s signature mix of wild-eyed garage-rock and desperatly

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Hear In Portland: The Thesis at Lollipop Shoppe,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/27

Read all about what’s on the music forecast, Hear In Portland. by Jenni Moore At the time of this column’s filing, I am 12 weeks postpartum, potty training a three year old, and exclusively breastfeeding a three month old. As someone who’s already overwhelmed with the happenings of my inner world—while also being aware of the atrocities, injustices, genocides, wars, fascism, and disenfranchisement happening

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Good Morning, News: ODOT Starts Rose Quarter...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/27

by Taylor Griggs 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 and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no

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Despite State Transportation Funding Crisis,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/27

As legislators prepare to duke it out over transportation funding in a special session this week, ODOT has quietly broken ground on the first phase of the $2.1 billion freeway project. by Taylor Griggs The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) broke ground on the first phase of the I-5 Rose Quarter project this week—an event nearly a decade in the making. But the occasion commenced without fanfare. Even after

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Eight Writers We're Excited to See at the 2025...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

More than 80 authors will appear at the 2025 festival. by Ned Lannamann Reading can be a solitary pursuit. Therefore, getting out of the house for the Portland Book Festival isn’t just a fun way to spend a Saturday in November—it’s probably good for your mental health. Every year, nonprofit Literary Arts brings a passel of writers, publishers, and book lovers to the Portland Art Museum and South Park Blocks to

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SAVAGE LOVE: Long Time!

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

He likes to be tied up—she wants him to murder that kink in its sleep. by Dan Savage Long time reader! I’m a mostly straight boy in my early 20s with a new girlfriend. I say “mostly straight” because I’m into bondage and finding men who wanted to tie me up was always easier than finding women who wanted to tie me up. But I met a girl at a party early this summer and she’s beautiful and smart and really into

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Mercury Music Picks: Ural Thomas Brings the Pain,...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

Plus Hazel and Red Pine are back, and Portland Music News! by Nolan Parker For some, Labor Day Weekend is a signifier of the end of summer. And it is for those heading back to school as students, teachers, and school administrative staff (big shouts to the lunch ladies and janitors of the world). But y'all know this is the PNW (in the year of our Climate Collapsing Lord, 2025)—summer will be extending herself to

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Album Review: The OO-Ray’s Marginals Is a Sonic Vigil

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

Portland experimenter Ted Laderas meditates on forgotten disasters through distorted cello and droning electronics. by Lindsay Costello In the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan’s Tōhoku region, a resident of the small town of Ōtsuchi opened a public telephone booth in his garden. Inside, a disconnected phone invited visitors to speak their grief aloud, carrying on the wind painful

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Good Morning, News: Portland's WNBA Team Hires a...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

by Courtney Vaughn 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 and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is

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Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exxagerated

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

by Anonymous I realize that Portland's national reputation is still spotty. Businesses are leaving downtown and everyone is working from home or whatever. I'm not saying that stuff isn't true. I'm just saying I've spent all summer in Portland and this town fucking rules. The restaurants, the rivers, the group bike rides. The cars stopping to let my kids cross the street. The bar around the corner where I play pool with a sixty year old

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The Chicago Reader Joins the Mercury and Stranger in...

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

Big (and very good) news for the future and general health of alternative weeklies. by Wm. Steven Humphrey Great news! (Especially if you're a fan of the survival of newspapers and smart local media.) The Chicago Reader—one of the grand dames of alternative weeklies—is joining the Portland Mercury and Seattle's The Stranger as the newest member of the Noisy Creek newspaper family! In case you've forgotten, Noisy

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Unbalanced

Portland Mercury ·

2025/08/26

by Anonymous What’s the equivalent of the mental load that I keep hearing about? I don’t argue that my wife takes care of most of the executive functions of the house and that society has created an unfair standard for her to live by. But I’m not useless and I’m not a monster just because I’m a man. I’m absorbing a lot of criticism and I’m not really allowed to give my own. I’m a sounding board for everyone’s emotions but I need to be

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