Fall officially starts tomorrow, and we'll be ushering in the season with cheap and cheerful events from Fresh Hop Pop-Up Beer Fest to KBOO Community Radio's 55th Birthday and from Celebrating 75 Years of Forest Park to Free Entrance Days in the National Parks. For more ideas, check out our guide to the top events of the week.

Club Nowhere x Opal Underground Presents: Jeffrey Sfire, Sappho, and DJ Orso
Named symbolically after the multi-faceted gemstone, Opal is a tribute to Portland's queer underground nightlife. This weekend, they’re teaming up with the newly debuted Club Nowhere for an evening of dance-forward house music and queer clubbing, soundtracked by world-renowned selector Jeffrey Sfire. Perhaps best known for his collaborative Italo-disco project Sfire with longtime friend SOPHIE, he will keep you dancing with a high-energy blend of '80s Italo, Hi-NRG, and Chicago house bangers. Be sure to arrive in time for opening sets from local DJs Sappho and Orso. AUDREY VANN
(Holocene, Buckman, $15)

What, dear reader, was the greatest week of your life?

Think back on that moment. Treasure its beautiful memory. Then THROW IT IN THE TRASH, because the Portland Mercury’s Wing Week is about to make every other week you’ve ever experienced look like GARBAGE.

That’s right: From Monday, October 2 to Sunday, October 8, the Portland Mercury’s Wing Week returns—with creative, one-of-a-kind chicken wings available at 62 Portland locations! Even better? Each order of wings will only cost you a mere $8! Yes, it will be amazing—because the Mercury and our Wing Week partners at Jim Beam (thanks, Jim!) wouldn’t have it any other way!

Read on for a complete list of this year’s wings—and once you stop drooling, keep a few things in mind:

 TIP, AND TIP WELL! Wing Week’s a ton of fun—and making it happen takes a ton of work! Make sure everyone behind Wing Week—everyone working on the floor, in the kitchen, and behind the bar—knows how much you appreciate them. Wing Week couldn’t happen without ’em!

WINGS... AND MORE! As subtly implied by the name “Wing Week,” wings ARE the focus of Wing Week. BUT! Each Wing Week location also has an amazing array of sides and drinks that are a perfect match for their wings! Don’t miss out!

HAVE FUN! This is Portland’s biggest Wing Week ever—and it’s almost guaranteed that despite everyone’s best efforts, there’ll be lines, sell-outs, and more. So if one location is too crowded? Just come back another day, and in the meantime, hit another Wing Week location!

#PORTLANDWINGWEEK  The Mercury’s got you covered with Wing Week updates, reviews, and tips on Facebook, as well as Twitter, Threads, and Instagram (just search the #mercurywingweek hashtag for loads of up-to-the-second info). And on the WING WEEK homepage, you’ll find useful stuff like a handy map of all WING WEEK locations, which also makes for a great tattoo.

WE ADORE YOU!
Thank you so much for partaking and enjoying in the Mercury's food weeks and supporting small local businesses—especially those who may not get the attention they deserve!

YOU'RE THE BEST. And, as always, if you appreciate the Mercury's daily efforts to keep you informed and entertained, please consider dropping a small contribution so we can keep it going!

Again, GO HERE TO SEE ALL 56 (!!) OF THESE DELIGHTFUL WINGS IN THEIR SUCCULENT GLORY, and get ready for the most tummy-pleasing week of your life: the Mercury's WING WEEK! Coming at ya October 2-8 at more than 60 locations... and for only $8 a plate? What?? YES!!

In an unexpected move, PacifiCorp executives recently announced an ambitious plan to expand the company’s carbon footprint. Their plan hinges on a tried and true strategy of putting roughly 1,200 cars back on the road in Oregon three days a week. With the average employee driving a round trip of 20 miles each day, this equates to approximately 72,000 pounds of greenhouse gas every week. Assuming those cars are on the road 48 weeks each year the total emissions should hit 1,570 tons in Oregon in 2024. In all seriousness, this goes against PacifiCorp committing to a net zero future. By reversing their remote work arrangements they are in effect increasing the amount of greenhouse gas emitted every day. Not only that, but other people that do need to report to a physical work location throughout the Portland area will now face increased traffic and commuting times. For all the “we care” press releases the company has put out, this new policy stands in stark contrast to their commitment to reduce pollution. Maybe it’s time for the company executives to adapt to the new normal and fully embrace remote work and the many benefits it provides. Or just acknowledge that they aren’t really doing everything in their power to reduce pollution; they are just doing what is required and nothing more.

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. 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 us. Thanks for your support! 

Happy Friday! It's going to be sunny and warm today, but say goodbye to all that— starting tomorrow, it'll OFFICIALLY BE FALL, and we'll get rain all next week to show for it. YAY!

Now, time for the news.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Former Portland Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty accepted a settlement of $680,000 in her lawsuit against the Portland Police Union and two officers who spread misinformation that she committed a hit-and-run in early 2021. The settlement avoids a trial which was supposed to begin next week. She also received a written apology from Mayor Ted Wheeler last month, which came with an additional $5000. Not sure if it's a fair trade for the racist smear campaign against her in the press and on social media, but I'm glad she'll getting something out of this whole boondoggle. 

• Jessie Burke, a Portland businessperson who owns The Society Hotel in Old Town, was a member of Gov. Tina Kotek's downtown task force — until she was booted this week because of her ties to Nathan Vasquez’s campaign for Multnomah County district attorney. Whoops! 

• A new vision for the Lloyd Center has been submitted to the City of Portland and is making waves around social media. The latest Lloyd Center revitalization plans do not include a Major League Baseball stadium, but do include housing, retail, and community gathering space—and excitingly, getting rid of a few unnecessary parking garages. 

• Portland's coolest new record shop is three record stores, a bookstore, a radio station, and a music label. Read about the new home of Beacon Sound, Musique Plastique, Super Electric, Lost Avenue, et al. in the 2023 Fall Arts & Culture Preview.

SNL mainstay Colin Jost will drop by Salem to give us his weekend update. Plus, metal’s favorite soprano Chelsea Wolfe has announced a local date for next spring. https://t.co/fXaCOIzFic

— EverOut Portland (@EverOutPortland) September 21, 2023

• Yesterday, the Biden administration agreed to spend more than $200 million and fully fund Native tribes’ plans to reintroduce salmon in the Upper Columbia River Basin. Salmon have been extinct in parts of the Columbia River Basin for more than 80 years thanks to the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Washington. The money will, among other things, be used for making accommodations to dams on the Columbia so salmon are able to get travel past them. Salmon and tribal sovereignty wins are great to see.

• Get thee to Ashland for the 2024 Oregon Shakespeare Festival:

Three stages. Limitless worlds! Watch our 2024 season take flight ✨

LEARN MORE: https://t.co/ltTgnSrdxv#OSF2024 pic.twitter.com/ySLTemJViV

— Oregon Shakespeare Festival (@osfashland) September 20, 2023

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Speaking of Shakespeare: Prepare ye, East Coasters, for lots of rain this week from Tropical Storm Ophelia. 

• The U.S. Government is on the verge of a shutdown as far-right loonies in the House have seized control from Speaker Kevin McCarthy and refuse to come to an agreement on a spending plan. Dark Brandon has emerged with some words on the situation:

Last time there was a government shutdown, 800,000 Americans were furloughed or worked without pay.

But enjoy your weekend. https://t.co/wAz1SpInV5

— President Biden (@POTUS) September 21, 2023

•  The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike is growing to 38 General Motors and Stellantis plants in 20 states. Ford has agreed to some of the union's demands during recent negotiations, so it will be spared additional strikes for now. 

Auto workers at 38 @UAW @GM and @Stellantis plants are being called on to strike due to the lack of progress at the bargaining table.

"We will shut down parts distribution until those 2 companies come to their senses." pic.twitter.com/mDwWNeTxEL

— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) September 22, 2023

• Finally, may all your autumns begin so cozily: 

Hugs and snugs mode activated by a pile of rhino hay pic.twitter.com/40r4g10qya

— Oregon Zoo (@OregonZoo) September 20, 2023

Or, who do I make this out to? Whats the deal? Seriously, what's the deal? Why are chips now close to 6 dollars? I guess inflation is natural but what is zero logic is the fact that you have to make deals of buy 4 or 5 to get the price of $2.99. What makes sense is keeping the price level at the 3 to 4 dollar range and people will continually buy them so you do not contribute to overweight health issues and obesity. I'm sure you are seeing sales declining so you do this buy 4 for a good deal. 4 at the price of 3 dollars is $12. Or people buy 1 for the price of 6 dollars, which is still decent money you make, but I guess you risk people not buying it because it is such a rip off. There aren't more chips in these bags. In fact, you have a deal of 2 for 4 dollars for the small snack size bag which is even more a ripoff because there's like 3 chips in the bag and it cost half the price of a big bag. You really must be trying to get people fat. You must really think we have parties everyday to buy 4 bags of chips just to satisfy our cravings.

SNL mainstay Colin Jost will drop by Salem to give us his weekend update. Metal’s favorite soprano Chelsea Wolfe has also announced a local date next spring. Plus, the fight for Olivia Rodrigo tickets starts this week—hold on to your guts. Read on for details on those and other newly announced events, plus some news you can use.

MUSIC

An Evening with Patterson Hood (of Drive-By Truckers)
Show Bar (Dec 19-21)

Briston Maroney: Ultrapure Tour
Crystal Ballroom (Mar 21, 2024)

Chelsea Wolfe
Roseland Theater (Mar 27, 2024)

Whether or not you consider yourself an “art person,” Converge 45 is worth visiting—the biennial brings together local and further-flung artists whose work will likely be new to you, offering a window into the contemporary art world from venues all over town. (Seriously, you’ll find them in each of the city’s quadrants—there’s no reason to miss out.) I popped by PNCA, Stelo Arts, Reed College’s Cooley Gallery, and the Lloyd Center to dive into the biennial’s plentiful offerings. Here's what I recommend checking out for yourself.

Amanda Ross-Ho: ICE TIME
I was lucky enough to catch Los Angeles-based artist and one-time competitive figure skater Amanda Ross-Ho's performance at the Lloyd Center ice rink on Converge 45's opening weekend in August. The performance, which felt inextricably linked to the legacy of a certain infamous Olympian who learned to skate at Lloyd, saw Ross-Ho skate in a meditative figure eight formation. Her solo exhibition ICE TIME expands on this meditation with a further developed sense of repetition and muscle memory.
(ILY2, Pearl District, free, through Oct 28)

CALLING ALL BRAINY PANTS! 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, you'll be answering questions about runaway fire department equipment, assholes who bother the Chapman Elementary swifts, and OH! What are we gonna do about all these local conservative billionaires who won't mind their own got-damned business? Trust me... I HAVE IDEAS. 👹

But before we continue... HOW DID YOU DO ON THE PREVIOUS QUIZ? Very, very excellent! And wow... while I figured a lot of you would ask for a roller coaster or something to make downtown Portland a fun place to visit again, I think the majority of you really got to the root of the problem! BRAVO AND BRAVA! 👏

OKAY, TIME FOR A NEW QUIZ! Take this week's quiz below, take our previous pop quizzes here, and come back next week for a brand spankin' new quiz! (Having a tough time answering this quiz? It's probably because you aren't getting Mercury newsletters! HINT! HINT!) Now crank up that cerebellum, because it's time to get BRAINY!

Create your own user feedback survey

Your contribution to the Mercury supports our editorial team. We try to ask unobtrusively, but there have been a couple surveys where an overwhelming number of readers said we should remind them more. The Mercury believes in Portland and smart, local journalism—we also like fun, sex, and staying curious about one another. Without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

Good Morning, Portland! Yesterday, when news editor Courtney Vaughn was working hard to break down any complexities found in the announcement that Chuck Lovell will step down as Portland's police chief, I was working hard trying to Bob Loblaw's Law Blog the incoming interim chief. What do you think about Bob Day's Big Bob Day Job Day? NOW, FOR THE NEWS!

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• October 11 will be a Back on the Job Day for Bob Day, a retired Portland police officer who will serve as Portland interim police chief until June 2025. The city's current police chief, Chuck Lovell, announced he will step down from the position in three weeks. Lovell clarified that he isn’t retiring, and will remain with PPB for the time being, serving in a community engagement role. News Editor Courtney Vaughn has more.

• And now for a Portland police chief listicle. I sound like I'm making fun, but this is pretty useful, and I wish we'd thought of it. Three years isn't at all that bad, duration-wise.

• Seven of nineteen Portland-area libraries are currently closed for renovation—Mercury reporter Taylor Griggs breaks down why that is, and what Portlanders stand to gain:

You aren't imagining it. Seven out of 19 Multnomah County libraries are currently closed. Mercury reporter@taylorjgriggs explains what's happening, and why it's all happening at once.https://t.co/HKpJh4FkHA

— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) September 21, 2023

• In today's Gov. Kotek blast: The governor announced yesterday that she's calling take backs on a portion of the Emergency Homelessness Response funds she sent to Multnomah County, redistributing it to six other counties: Clackamas, Marion, Polk, Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. A spokesperson for Kotek noted that Oregon's most populous county has way more resources to address the homeless crisis, than other Oregon counties, especially since the supportive housing services tax has popped off so hard that Multnomah County is having a hard time spending it. Kotek has expressed concerns with how Multnomah County and Portland officials are spending state dollars on homelessness, basically asking that the plans be less vague.

• Sept 24-30 is Sea Otter Awareness Week, according to Oregon nonprofit Elakha Alliance, and I SUPPORT IT. It turns out that not only are sea otters little dexterity champions and but they "maintain balance within the intricate web of life that epitomizes coastal ecosystems." If these people just want more sea otters on Oregon coasts then I'm pretty sure everyone will be onboard. Check out defenders.org/sea-otter-awareness-week for otter events.

• Portland Fire & Rescue investigators are looking for a person they think may have set at least ten fires between 3-10 am, Wednesday morning.

• Oregon State Hospital says it will implement one simple trick to make sure mental health patients can't easily steal a hospital van as they escape—you may remember an attempted murderer suspect escaped last month, but promptly drove into a mud pit, where he remained for 12 hours until the ongoing manhunt discovered him. The trick? Staff will no longer leave keys in the hospital vans.

• We're heading into the Doug Fir's final shows at its East Burnside location. This week, Hear in Portland's Jenni Moore recommends Bijoux Cone's record release party:

No more leaving town for a bit—we're staying HEAR IN PORTLAND to catch up on Dani Danger’s debut music video, and a powerful song about trans erasure from Bijoux Cone. Plus, there’s still time to check out the final shows at Doug Fir Lounge.https://t.co/XI0Q5uOLRH

— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) September 20, 2023

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• The Biden administration announced yesterday that it will restart its program that mails free COVID tests to US households. Starting September 25, another round of no-cost tests can be ordered from covidtests.gov, and delivered for free by USPS.

• The White House also announced President Biden will create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps. Associated Press reports the plan will employ more than 20,000 young adults "who will build trails, plant trees, help install solar panels and do other work to boost conservation and help prevent catastrophic wildfires."

• Planet Money and NPR's self-described "tiktok boy" Jack Corbett dropped a new finance video yesterday. It's about Student Loans! It's accurate, if metaphorically so.

Student Loans are Sorta just different now , but you have to opt-in! https://t.co/RohWdmq9tb for more pic.twitter.com/rXVENW9cyh

— Jack Corbett (@jackcorrbit) September 20, 2023

• Business media magnate Rupert Murdoch plans to retire from his position as chairman at Fox News and News Corporation. His son Lachlan Murdoch (known for having tattoos and wearing leather boots, but otherwise being the same dude) will assume control of his family's global media empire. Truly this is the final season of Succession.

• Okay, get out there and say something gender neutral today.

Gender neutral forms of YAS Queen/King pic.twitter.com/RTt7mhi1Eb

— Vicky 🔜 @Kupo Con (@vickybunnyangel) March 20, 2021

I love my kids. I do. But I also fucking hate them sometimes. I wake up early to make them breakfast and make them lunch and take them to school. Then I work all day and pick them up from school and make them a snack and then they sit in front of the TV watching cartoons so I can cook them dinner. And then after all of that, they walk up to the table and complain about dinner like they're a goddamn emperor. Shut up, eat your dinner, go to bed. I'm goddamn sick of you.

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell will step down from his position in three weeks, with an interim police chief stepping into the role until June 2025. Bob Day, who retired from Portland Police Bureau in 2019 after serving as deputy chief of police, will step into the role of chief until June 2025.

The announcement was made Wednesday, September 20 at a press briefing with Mayor Ted Wheeler, Lovell, and Day. Wheeler said the move is part of a broader effort to set the city up for transition, come January 2025. 

“As I noted last week, we stand on the precipice of a complete overhaul of our city’s government, and I take very seriously my responsibility to deliver a functional city to the new mayor and the new City Council,” Wheeler said. He said the best path forward is to appoint an interim chief now, while giving the next mayor the option to recruit and appoint a long-term police chief, come 2025.

Lovell, who joined PPB in 2002, confirmed he isn’t retiring, and will remain with PPB for the time being, serving in a community engagement role, starting October 11.

“I was appointed at a very turbulent time for our city and our bureau,” Lovell said. “I’m proud of the accomplishments of the police bureau.”

Lovell said he is eligible to retire in 2027. Whether he’ll spend the rest of those years in Portland remains to be seen, but Lovell said he never aspired to serve as police chief before being tapped for the role in June 2020. 

“I took this job because the city tapped me and needed me to fill that role, and I did that to the best of my ability,” Lovell told the Mercury.

"We’ve had an ongoing discussion about transition,” Lovell said of his conversations with the mayor. “I always knew I wasn’t gonna do it for seven years, or the rest of my career, and then the question was always, ‘well, when is the right time?’”

Wheeler thanked Lovell, saying the longtime police lieutenant and chief for the last three years has his respect and gratitude, noting Lovell stepped forward to lead PPB “during one of the most difficult times in our city’s history.”

Lovell stepped into the leadership role three months into the pandemic, amid the social unrest and protests of 2020. Lovell will transition his role at the bureau as Portland gears up to transition its form of government. Phasing in the charter reform elements before 2025 is a priority for Wheeler before he leaves office.

Wheeler said Day, who first became a police officer in Portland in 1990, will be able to step into the interim chief role with ease, and can see the bureau through the city’s pivot to a new government structure.

Incoming Interim Chief Day said he won’t stick around past 2025, but heeded the call to come out of retirement.

Day gave a polished speech, peppering in quotes from novelist and civil rights activist James Baldwin, and touching on the death of his young son in 2016 to cancer. Day said he’s not naive, rather, “hopeful” about what PPB and the city can accomplish. He said his son's diagnosis taught his family the necessity of hope. 

Day said he hopes to establish trust with the community and continue PPB’s recent hiring efforts, to bolster staffing and carryout more of the gun violence reduction efforts already underway.

During his previous tenure at PPB, Day served as second-in-command to former Police Chief, Danielle Outlaw, and oversaw training for the bureau. He was head of training in 2018, when police circulated training materials with a derogatory meme that joked about pepper spraying and beating protesters. The internal training presentation later became the subject of an internal investigation and was included as evidence in lawsuits against the city and its police bureau.

Day also led the city's Central Precinct operations when police and then-mayor Charlie Hales started reversing course on approaches to homelessness, using sweeps and embracing a program to charge people who frequently camped on sidewalks with misdemeanors.

The incoming interim chief said he’s looking forward to working with Lovell again, noting Lovell was “instrumental in a real pivotal change in my understanding around community engagement and African American police relations.”

Day held up a book Lovell gave him two decades ago, Courageous Conversations Around Race.

The gift from Lovell came years before Day was on scene in 2010 during a welfare check of Aaron Campbell, an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot in the back by police. Later reporting alleged that Day called the incident commander away for an on-scene briefing, when Campbell came out of an apartment and officers opened fire on him. Day never faced discipline for his actions, but the incident commander and other officers did. 

While many see Portland recovering from the effects of the pandemic, economic downturn and omnipresent livability issues, Day says he sees Portland as a city with the potential to be what it once was.

“At my heart, I’m passionate about the city. I’m passionate about the Police Bureau, and I absolutely hopeful that Portland can once again become a city and a place, a destination for families, business, tourism, community service, grassroots initiatives—the things that we are all so familiar with, and remember and long for,” Day said.

This week, as we recover from traveling to Seattle for an experiential Beyoncé concert, we're listening to the new version of SZA’s “Snooze” (featuring Justin Bieber) on repeat, and diving into local artist happening here in Portland. No more leaving town for a bit—just staying home to catch up on Dani Danger’s debut music video release for her sultry and vocally impressive single “Addicted to Love,” and the upcoming album from Bijoux Cone. Plus! There’s still time to check out the final shows at the Doug Fir as we know it.   

Upcoming local event(s) featuring local artist(s).        

As we approach September's close, we’d like to take this moment to reiterate the fact that the Doug Fir will be leaving from its beloved location at the Jupiter Hotel. Earlier this year, the venue announced that it would be moving into the space formerly occupied by late night Cajun restaurant Le Bistro Montage—AKA the place every Portlander went on prom night. While we’re still grieving Montage, and we’re definitely still processing the fact that Doug Fir will never be the same after the impending move, somehow the merging of these two Portland institutions feels a bit like destiny? There are a few chances left to see a show inside the endearingly cramped confines of the log-cabin themed venue, where a cute woodsy aesthetic abounds, but personal space is a fool’s errand. Doug Fir representatives say they hope to open the new location in early 2024. “The new Doug Fir will feature 300+ capacity, best-in-class sound and lights, enhanced customer and band parking and load in, expanded dressing rooms, an intimate private bar, and patio,” a message on the venue's social media reads, encouragingly. Maybe change isn’t so bad after all. For those who require one last rendezvous inside, there appear to still be tickets for Japanese pop four-piece Chai on September 25, an album release show for art-pop / goth / synth act Bijoux Cone on September 27—which we're writing about in this column—and a pair of Ural Thomas and the Pain headliner events on the location’s final night of September 30.

New release(s) from a Portland-relevant artist. 

A couple weeks ago, R&B and soul artist Dani Danger landed on our Must Listen list for her irresistible single "Addicted To Love," which tackles the experience of being in a toxic relationship. Although the Jamaican-American artist was raised in Florida, she currently makes her gorgeous blend of Caribbean-influenced jazz, soul, and R&B in Portland. It's a comforting example of new talent influx, even as artists in neighboring genres (like Moorea Masa and Blossom) have recently relocated to Los Angeles. At the beginning of September, Dani released a music video for the song, which was shot by Portland-based visual mastermind Riley Brown and co-directed by Brown and the artist herself. Just like the song, the video is sultry and emotional. Pool views, sensual bedroom scenes, and heated arguments abound.

Some upcoming music buzz to put on your radar.

We see the energy amping up around Portland-based goth, art-pop / synth-pop artist Bijoux Cone, as she prepares for the October 20 release of a new project called Love Is Trash. Bijoux described one of the albums already released singles "Mind's Eye" as a reflection on erasure. “[Mind’s Eye is] about feeling invisible, or being made invisible by others… or even feeling like you have to be invisible in order to survive. Specifically, I wrote it from the perspective of negotiating my transness with my family,” she wrote in a social media post. “Sometimes queer people see a refusal to acknowledge someone’s identity, or a ‘don’t ask, don't tell’ philosophy being confused with ‘acceptance.’ A lot of queer stories are like this, and this song is part of mine." The artist also explains that around the time that she was finishing the lyrics, a transwoman she looked up to, whom she had met early in her process of coming out, died unexpectedly. “Her family put her dead name on the gravestone,” Cone wrote. “It broke my heart and still scares the hell out of me. This song is for her and for anyone else who has had to hide or has been pressured to hide who they are.” Love Is Trash holds the promise of many more insightful tracks, and even some influence of jazz and soul in the artist's work. Fans have a chance to hear her live at a vinyl prerelease show, which also happens to be one of the final Doug Fir dates. (Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside, Wed Sept 27, 9 pm, $15, tickets here, 21+)

<a href="https://bijouxcone.bandcamp.com/album/love-is-trash">Love Is Trash by Bijoux Cone</a>

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. 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 us. Thanks for your support!

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Here's your gentle reminder to pick up your hot-shit copy of the Mercury's FALL ARTS GUIDE, which is jam-packed with super interesting and fun things to do this fall, and can be found in 500+ locations all around this grand city that Republicans and their rich local supporters love to shit upon. Yes, it's early in the morning, and I'm already going hard. Wait 'til you see me at noon! In the the meantime, here's some NEWS.

them: PORTLAND, A CITY OF FIRE AND RUBBLE

me: the French bakery's vending machine ran out of crème brûlée again

— 🏳️‍🌈 Andrew D. Jankowski 🏳️‍🌈 (@AndrewJank) September 20, 2023

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• New legislation will require OHSU's Primate Research Center to be a LOT more transparent about what they're doing with all that federal funding, after years of mishaps and animal deaths due to staff negligence. The center has also earned the title of "one of the worst, if not the worst, primate center in the U.S. in terms of violations of the Animal Welfare Act." Our Abe Asher has the details, but here's the quote from this story that made my jaw drop:

...advocates have raised concerns about the day-to-day research being conducted at the center—including a reported study in which researchers gave voles an excessive amount of alcohol to see if they would cheat on their mates. 

• Today in HA-HA-HA: Portland City Council members are reportedly losing their got-damned minds over Mayor Wheeler's plan to take away all of the members' bureau assignments in roughly six weeks in order to "test run" a city administrator running the bureaus, in advance of what will happen following the next city council election. I personally think this is a great idea, since every last one of them is absolutely terrible at their jobs—especially Mapps and Gonzalez. On the other hand, without the bureaus to keep them busy, maybe they'll just sit around thinking of new, creative ways to harass homeless folk and make their rich friends more money? ACK! I'm torn!! 

• After months of back-and-forth debate, Portland Public School board has voted to fire Bryan Chu, who they accuse of insubordination and neglect of duty, though his supporters see him as a "spirited" educator who wasn't afraid to call the district out on alleged racist policies. But the fight isn't over yet: Chu is expected to ask for arbitration—an appeal of the decision to be decided by a member of the Employee Relations Board—which could take up to a year to complete.

• Read this OPB story instead of the Oregonian's version which, as usual for that publication, platforms the opinions of local billionaires over experts, for no other discernible reason other than they have a lot of money:

"Along with banning the use of hard drugs in public places & making fentanyl, meth and heroin illegal, the proposals would also require addiction treatment, rather than having it be voluntary, and would increase penalties against drug dealing."https://t.co/WzU7TR6L4l

— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) September 18, 2023

• Cool laser show alert!

Electronic music pioneer Mort Garson is probably best-known for his compositions for growing plants. But he also made tons of albums about space and the occult. You have one chance to see a unique survey of his work at OMSI—WITH LASERS.https://t.co/CmbZP9IErl

— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) September 19, 2023

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Attorney General Merrick Garland is testifying today in front of a panel of conspiracy-spouting, lying Republicans who continue to do their damndest to a) help create a new totalitarian government, while simultaneously b) wasting everyone's time? Meanwhile a government shutdown is just around the corner, but by all means let's continue to focus on that nobody, Hunter Biden.

Sen. John Fetterman: "If those jagoffs in the House stop trying to shut our government down, and fully support Ukraine, then I will save democracy by wearing a suit on the Senate floor next week."

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 20, 2023

• That missing F-35 stealth fighter jet that was just "gone" for 24 hours has been found at a crash site in rural South Carolina. It's still a mystery why the pilot ejected, and why the jet was able to fly undetected by radar for so long. (This looks like a job for Private First Class Encyclopedia Brown! And I suspect the culprit may be Gunnery Sergeant Bugs Meany! [I'm afraid no one gets Encyclopedia Brown jokes anymore, which makes me sad.]) 

• In any case, get ready to fall in love with this guy:

Interview of the year https://t.co/ZhGfoaRMfo

— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) September 20, 2023

• Somebody hacked Donald Trump Jr.'s Twitter account, and put out the false claims that Daddy Trump was dead and Don Jr. was going to run for president. (Even the reliably gullible Republican conspiracy theorists didn't buy this one.)

• Twitter-ruiner Elon Musk is reportedly considering charging all Twitter users "a small monthly fee" because it's "the only way to stamp out bots." (AKA a last ditch effort to save the company he ruined.) Sounds like a plan, and maybe he should fuck around and find out?

• Today in "Adidas just fuuuuuuucked up BAD": "Kanye ‘didn’t mean what he said’ about Jews, Adidas CEO says." Counterpoint: Yes, he absolutely did.

• And finally... CHAIR SCIENCE!

How plastic chairs are moulded pic.twitter.com/Z0v8CXLYvu

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 19, 2023

When State Rep. David Gomberg was in his second term in the Oregon House of Representatives, a bill came to the floor to exempt workers at Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) National Primate Research Center in Hillsboro from any kind of public disclosure.

Under the terms of the legislation, Oregonians couldn’t disclose the names of the people who worked at the center or the names of businesses who worked with the center. The bill passed overwhelmingly, and Gomberg’s interest in the center was piqued. 

“The company that delivers monkey chow to this research center has more protections in place than caseworkers or Oregon judges do,” Gomberg said.

Gomberg, a Democrat who represents a district that covers the Central Coast range, wanted to learn more about why the research center needed to operate in such relative secrecy. He arranged to visit, twice, and was alarmed by what he saw. 

“We found animals that were being housed in small cages there for up to three years,” Gomberg said. “At the same time, we continued to read reports about mistakes that were being made—using the wrong anesthetic, inattention during childbirth, animals that died of thirst in their cages.”

The National Primate Research Center is one of seven federally-funded primate research centers across the country. It has been affiliated with OHSU since 1998, and has, in recent years, been a constant target of scorn from animal rights advocates.

That is, in part, due to a steady stream of headlines about safety mishaps at the center. In August of 2020, for instance, a primate center employee accidentally placed them inside a scalding cage-washing machine. One died, while the other had to be euthanized. 

Two years before, another monkey became entangled in pipes in its cage and also had to be euthanized. In another incident, a group of five voles died of dehydration after staff failed to give them water. Another animal died in 2021 after it was improperly anesthetized. 

Even when it doesn’t concern clear violations of the Animal Welfare Act, advocates have raised concerns about the day-to-day research being conducted at the center—including a reported study in which researchers gave voles an excessive amount of alcohol to see if they would cheat on their mates. 

All seven of the primate research centers in the U.S. have had safety issues over their years of existence. But according to Alka Chandna, Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Cases at PETA, OHSU’s facility stands out. 

“We just see violations and violations and violations,” Chandna said. “It’s probably one of the worst, if not the worst, primate center in the U.S. in terms of violations of the Animal Welfare Act. They’ve been cited and they’ve been fined by the USDA, and I don't see that abating at all.”

Chandna’s assertion is backed by plenty of data. OHSU violated the Animal Welfare Act 31 times between 2014 and 2022, according to inspection records reported by OPB. The issue, Chandna said, is that the fines levied by the federal government aren’t nearly enough to significantly impact the university or the center. 

PETA has had a longstanding battle with OHSU over its animal research facility. The animal rights organization successfully sued OHSU for records last year. 

In the buildup to this year’s legislative session, Gomberg decided to take a different tack. Alongside Republican Rep. Anna Scharf, he introduced a bill to require transparency from OHSU about what is happening at the center. 

Gomberg said OHSU fought the bill—arguing that it would be an unnecessary burden on the center’s employees and work output. But after his own experience attempting to obtain information about the center, Gomberg felt it was a necessary tool. 

In the end, however, OHSU didn’t convince many legislators: only one member of the House and two members of the Senate voted against the bill, which Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law in mid-July. 

HB 2904 requires OHSU to publish annually, on a publicly accessible university website, information on the number of nonhuman primates that were used in research in the previous year, as well as those used in breeding, purchased or sold, and, importantly, were “injured, or died, in a manner that resulted in an animal welfare citation by the USDA.”

In a statement provided to the Mercury, an OHSU spokesperson said the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) is “consolidating on its website information responsive to Section 1 of the bill; that information is also contained in reports to the regulatory bodies that oversee ONPRC.”

The public transparency requirements are a sea change from the transparency requirements of the last several decades, and it puts Oregon on the forefront of animal testing transparency: no other state as of yet has a similar transparency law for a primate research center. 

Gomberg and his allies hope the passage of the bill might be a turning point—if not for changing the conditions for animals confined to the research center, then at least for raising awareness about the center’s existence and research practices in the state. 

“Does OHSU have influence at the legislature? Of course they do,” Gomberg said. “I think OHSU for the most part does remarkable work. I think this one department, this one facility under their umbrella, is a stain on their reputation.”

Chandna said her organization applauded the bill and said that the more the public is aware of the kind of research being done at the center, the less willing they will be to turn a blind eye to it. 

“Any movement towards transparency is laudable,” Chandna said. “We support it and think this is something all states should emulate.”

There are signs that public opinion may be on the side of animal rights advocates. A 2018 Pew Research poll found that a narrow majority of 52 percent of Americans oppose the practice outright, with 62 percent of women opposing the practice. 

OHSU, in its statement, argued that animal testing is still a necessity. 

“We look forward to a time when nonanimal research methods are capable of faithfully modeling the complexity of a living system; however, we are many years away from realizing that goal,” the statement read.

But regardless of how people feel about animal testing generally, Gomberg said, people should be willing to demand better from OHSU—an organization worth nearly $4 billion that is facing broad leadership questions as it pursues a controversial takeover of Legacy Health. 

“Reasonable people can disagree about whether or not using animals for this kind of research is scientifically ethical or valid, but I think we can all agree that it’s not being done very well in Oregon,” he said. 

Gomberg said that, at this stage, he’s not considering introducing further legislation targeting the center. He wants to see what kind of effect the transparency law has. 

“We’re dragging the issue of animal research into the public arena,” he said.

Aside from Pink Floyd, few artists’ catalogs seem more tailored to score a laser show than the one left behind by electronic music pioneer Mort Garson. Within his varied projects you'll hear sounds that continue to surface in pop culture, influencing video game soundtracks, new age culture, and various offshoots of ambient, electronic and pop music.

The Canadian composer started out as a session musician and writer of late '50s / early '60s hits like Ruby & the Romantics’ “Our Day Will Come” and Brenda Lee’s “Dynamite,” but his career underwent a dramatic metamorphosis when he met Moog synthesizer inventor Robert Moog and began using Moog's machine to make music.

Fascinated by the wide range of sounds available from synths, Garson’s second act is littered with interesting and often odd projects: 1968’s The Wozard of Iz, an acid-fried satire based on The Wizard of Oz. 1969’s Electronic Hair Pieces, featuring synth covers of songs from the musical Hair. Twelve albums of zodiac-themed records. Occult-influenced albums under the names Lucifer and Ataraxia. Scores for left-of-center films and TV shows. His music was even part of televised transmissions from the Apollo 11 moon landing.

“The only sounds that go along with space travel,” he told the Los Angeles Times, “are electronic ones.”

Garson died in 2008, and these days his best-known work is his 1976 collection of compositions for growing plants, Mother Earth’s Plantasia, which New York City-based record label Sacred Bones reissued in 2019.

The release spurred a posthumous surge of interest in his work, and in subsequent years  Sacred Bones released more reissues, including Journey to the Moon and Beyond: a collection of Garson’s space-age pop delights that includes his Apollo 11 accompaniment.  

“Sometimes we sit around at the Sacred Bones office, shooting out wild, seemingly-unattainable, and often asinine goals for our own entertainment,” a label representative wrote on its social media account, "and every once in a while (honestly more often than is reasonable) we actually pull them off.”

          View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by Sacred Bones (@sacredbones)

The post announced Sacred Bones' partnership with LA-based Night Howl Productions, on a custom-made laser light show survey of Garson's works, created and shown by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) on September 21. Titled Laser Mort Garson: Plantasia on the Moon, the single-evening event also includes live sets by Portland experimental musicians Pulse Emitter and Elrond.

The post announced Sacred Bones' partnership with LA-based Night Howl Productions, on a laser light show—surveying Garson's works—created by Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) Director of Space Science Education Jim Todd and projected by Justine Lacio at OMSI on September 21. Titled Laser Mort Garson: Plantasia on the Moon, the single-evening event also includes live sets by Portland experimental musicians Pulse Emitter and Elrond.

Be you a casual fan of beeps and bloops or an expert in synth lore, Laser Mort Garson is not one to miss. For the former and fans of the form, here are five of Garson’s finest tracks, any of which would be an excellent place to start your long, strange trip into the center of his sound:

Much of this remarkably consistent concept album, Mother Earth’s Plantasia, sounds like another galaxy’s Beach Boys or the classical music they listen to on Neptune’s moons. “Rhapsody in Green,” on the other hand, is slow and melancholy, giving in a humanistic feel that will resonate with anyone who has spent much time on Earth.

<a href="https://mortgarson.bandcamp.com/album/mother-earths-plantasia">Mother Earth's Plantasia by Mort Garson</a>

If for no other reason than its historical value, be sure to check out Garson’s “Moon Journey,” a six-minute score that aired alongside the live TV broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing—which appears on Journey to the Moon and Beyond. Sometimes chunky and mechanical, other times otherworldly, it flickers with a sense of uncertainty, suspense and astonishment that mirrors its namesake event.

<a href="https://mortgarson.bandcamp.com/album/journey-to-the-moon-and-beyond">Journey to the Moon and Beyond by Mort Garson</a>

Released under the alias Ataraxia, The Unexplained is one of Garson’s works that is heavily influenced by his interest in the occult. The result is music that is much darker than his plant- and space-songs, and more akin to synth-rock or a classic horror movie soundtrack.The bracing opening track, “Tarot,” is one of the most stylistically varied in his catalog—and that's saying something!

In 2020, Sacred Bones Records supplemented its Garson reissue campaign with a collection of odds and ends from across his career called Music from Patch Cord Productions. As a result, the compilation bounces around from style to style, from baroque bleep-bloops to robot funk to commercial projects and beyond. The sensuous spoken word and choral vocals of “Cathedral of Pleasure” are so ‘70s, they carry Garson’s smooth tones to an entirely different and unexpected place.

<a href="https://mortgarson.bandcamp.com/album/music-from-patch-cord-productions">Music from Patch Cord Productions by Mort Garson</a>

In 1970, filmmaker Skip Sherwood asked Garson to score his movie Didn’t You Hear? Fifty years later, Sacred Bones reissued the soundtrack, which not only provides accompaniment to what’s happening on screen, it also documents Garson’s works in the months after he discovered the Moog. The music here is raw and exploratory. Even if you don’t have the film to go along with it, it’s fun to make up your own story.

<a href="https://mortgarson.bandcamp.com/album/didnt-you-hear">Didn't You Hear? by Mort Garson</a>

Laser Mort Garson: Plantasia on the Moon shows at OMSI, 1945 SE Water, Sept 21 8 pm, $35, tickets here, all ages, w/ Elrond, Pulse Emitter

Hello Mercury friends and neighbors!

In case you didn't notice, the Portland Mercury has returned to publishing print issues on a semi-regular basis! First there was our "Say Nice Things About Portland" issue, and now you can find the Mercury's Fall Arts Guide in more than 500 locations all around the the city! Isn't that freaking fantastic?!?

"OKAY, SURE, BUT HOLD ON JUST A DING-DONG SECOND," you may be unnecessarily yelling. "Why did you stop publishing print issues in the first place?"

Okay, here's the dirty secret about the printing game: It costs sooooo much money! In fact, in ye olden pre-pandemic tymes, print and paper costs would eat up a whopping 60 percent (!) of our budget. And that financial burden only quadrupled during the pandemic, making it harder than ever to provide you with fun and informative print products. But! On the other hand, our readers absolutely flip ass-over-teakettle for our print issues, and want as many of them as they can get.

So what's a beloved local, reader and justice-focused periodical to do?

Ahhh... that's where YOU come in. You can help support the Mercury's mission to provide smart, thoughtful journalism (as well as our entertainment 'n' fun-packed print issues) by becoming a monthly or even one-time contributor! We're working hard every single day to bring you investigative journalism that digs into Portland's current issues with a keen, suspicious eye—especially when it comes to the conservative forces that are trying to undo the years of progressive advances our city has made. But we also love tooting our trumpet about Portland's amazing music, food, and performance scenes—and our print guides are a great way to spotlight these hardworking folks, while recommending events where you can have a fun, fantastic time. (And psst... we do this without hiding the information you need behind a paywall.) But make no mistake, it takes a lot of work, and it's expensive.

Look: We know you believe in us, and want to keep us alive, kicking, and growing. So if you can, will you consider helping us out with just a teensy-tiny regular or one-time contribution? Even $5 goes a long way when enough folks pitch in!

As always, thanks so much for your generous words and support! You are worth fighting for, and I hope you feel the same about us. Don't forget to pick up a copy of our Fall Arts Guide (on the street NOW at more than 500 locations), and be on the lookout for even more super fun print issues in 2024!

You are the best!

Yer always pal,

Wm. Steven Humphrey

Editor-in-chief

Portland Mercury

(he/him)

[ Read more ]

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. 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 us. Thanks for your support!

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Hope you’re enjoying this last bit of sublime weather, before we usher in the rain and capitalism goes full Pumpkin Spice on us. Today, you can expect some clouds, with a high of 72 and a low of 55.

In Local News: 

• Nurses at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) voted to authorize a strike Monday. The date of a potential strike hasn’t been set or confirmed, but unless union negotiations on behalf of the organization’s 3,100 nurses see progress, the nurses could at any point give 10-day notice of a strike.
  

  AURN nurses at OHSU are #readytostrike and they’re making sure the board of directors knows.#aurn #ohsu #oregonnurses #portland #ohsunurse #onanurses #recruitretainrespect #SafeStaffingSavesLives #faircontract pic.twitter.com/OlAgQ8B8qv

  — Oregon Nurses Association (@OregonNurses) September 18, 2023

• As OHSU nurses are likely to strike, so are workers at Kaiser Permanente, who voted to authorize a strike and stop work as contract negotiations over better pay and staffing appear to be falling apart.

• Speaking of strikes, last week, hundreds of teens skipped school and marched in the streets of downtown Portland for the latest youth-led climate strike. The march saw people of all ages marching alongside Portland youths to demand change from elected leaders. This time, climate strike leaders asked Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a climate emergency, in an effort to reduce Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions. Across the world, young people are rising up and in some cases, successfully suing their local government, arguing current leaders aren’t doing enough to protect their right to a sustainable future.

  Hundreds gathered in downtown Portland Friday, Sept. 15 to march during a youth-led climate strike. The strike saw teens skip school to demand Gov. Tina Kotek declare a climate emergency. Protesters also lambasted Zenith Energy's operations in Portland. https://t.co/6FDesXoQDk

  — Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) September 18, 2023

• While Portland may be getting hotter, as is the rest of the planet, it hasn’t burned down, contrary to the remarks of a Florida man who previously lived in the White House. In a recent interview, former President Donald Trump asserted Portland is a "burned down hulk of a city"  in what can only be assumed was a lapse in memory or an unhealthy diet of too much Jason Aldean and Fox News. The comments were in response to questions about whether Trump would pardon rioters convicted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 capitol attacks–including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio–if elected again. 

In National/World News:

• Hunter Biden is suing the IRS. The president’s son, who is ensnared in a long federal investigation into tax evasion and a gun charge, alleges two whistleblower IRS agents improperly disclosed personal information about him. The IRS agents spoke publicly, alleging Biden tried to interfere in a tax probe case against him. Biden says they went too far in what they publicly disclosed about his personal taxes. 
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to visit the U.S. again this week, as Congress is being asked by President Biden to approve an additional $24 billion in aid for Ukraine, as part of a larger $40 billion spending package that is all but guaranteed to face opposition. As NPR reports, Zelensky has an ally in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who argues the U.S. has a unique opportunity to water down one of America’s adversaries “without firing a shot” by helping Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.
• In other Russia news, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been jailed in Russia since March, will likely remain detained in the country, after a court failed to immediately rule on an appeal Tuesday. Evan Gershkovich was sent to Russia on a reporting assignment, but was detained and jailed on espionage charges, after security leaders alleged Gershkovich was trying to collect state secrets about its military operations. The Wall Street Journal and a United States ambassador to Russia deny the allegations.  

  “Bring him home.” A message from Evan Gershkovich’s colleagues. pic.twitter.com/KTOukL4g1n

  — The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) September 13, 2023

• Canada’s ties with India haven’t been great, the BBC News reports, but things got worse recently when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged India’s government may have been behind the death of prominent Sikh separatist movement leader and Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In the fallout over Trudeau’s comments, India has expelled a Canadian diplomat from its country.

This beaver was orphaned and rescued as a newborn,

Watch the incredible instinct to build a dam, even though it’s never seen its parents build one.. pic.twitter.com/qPswBZOojd

— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 18, 2023

This week, we're counting down the days to the official start of fall with the best things to do, from Arctic Monkeys to Rose City Comic Con and from Amy Sedaris to Zadie Smith.

Elizabeth Rush and Erica Berry
Four years ago, a crew of scientists set out for Thwaites Glacier, an unusually broad Antarctic glacier that had never been visited by humans before. Their goal? To learn as much as possible about the ice formation, which was purported to be deteriorating and potentially contributing to catastrophic global sea-level rise. Elizabeth Rush, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Rising, documented the voyage in The Quickening, engaging with the unknown, the sublime, and the every day. Activites like ping-pong and lab work comingle with "staggering waves" and "unfamiliar contours" at sea, and the story is woven with more intimate questions: namely, what does parenthood mean in an era of "radical change?" Rush will be joined in conversation by Erica Berry, whose coming-of-age memoir Wolfish charts the trail of legendary wolf OR-7 in the Wallowa Mountains to "peel back the layers of what scares us." LINDSAY COSTELLO
(Powell's City of Books, Pearl District)

“Tina Kotek, listen up! All the youth have risen up.”

This was one of many chants that echoed through downtown streets during the Portland Youth Climate Strike (PYCS) last Friday, September 15. The strike, which saw teens leave school to march downtown, was held on an unseasonably warm September day, with temperatures in the 90s, underscoring the protesters' message: the climate is changing rapidly, and our leaders must act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—before it's too late. 

Last week’s strike, held in solidarity with others around the world for the Global Climate Strike, was the second youth climate strike in Portland this year, and was one of several held in Oregon that day. Young people in Salem, Eugene, Bend, and Florence also left school to participate in climate marches in their city, all of which shared a central demand: Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek must declare a climate emergency. 

“A climate emergency declaration would allow the state government to act swiftly to reduce Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions, as well as address issues such as sustainable housing and transportation,” a press release for the statewide action said. 

The local action is part of a growing youth movement across the United States to demand action to reduce the impacts of the climate crisis, for future generations. Last month, a landmark lawsuit saw a Montana judge rule in favor of youth plaintiffs who alleged state leaders violated the young people's constitutional right to a clean, healthy environment, in its process for permitting fossil fuel development.

Portland youths have been hosting climate strikes since 2019 in solidarity with the Global Climate Strike founded by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and her organization Fridays for Future. After a break during the pandemic, the PYCS returned in 2021, and the group has since held events at least once a year. 

The latest strike saw several hundred attendees, most of whom were Portland-area students. While youth climate advocates led the protest and made up the majority of the participants, they were joined by people of all ages. 

"We're really trying to highlight the fact that this is an intersectional, intergenerational movement," 18-year-old Niomi Markel, who has been involved in PYCS leadership for two years, told the Mercury after the march. "The youth are leaders, but we're asking everyone to join in."

"Hey hey! Ho ho! Zenith Energy's got to go!" 

In Portland, climate strike organizers rallied against Zenith Energy, a multinational fossil fuel storage and transport company which has an operation center in Portland’s Northwest Industrial Area. While Portland City Council initially denied Zenith a Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS)—a permit required for the company to legally operate in the city—in 2021, city leaders approved a LUCS in October 2022.

Portland leaders said their approval was predicated on several commitments from Zenith, including a promise the company will phase out all crude oil transports through the terminal within five years and transition to renewable fuels. The approval decision was made after a lengthy legal dispute between Zenith and the city of Portland in the wake of the initial permit denial. 

But Portland climate advocates weren’t happy with the city’s decision to allow Zenith to operate—regardless of the promises the company made. Community groups called on Portland officials to rescind the LUCS, arguing the city didn’t collect public feedback when approving the land use permit. Advocates have also been skeptical of Zenith’s promises to transition to renewables. Some environmentalists argue renewable fuel, which refers to fuels made from animal and plant matter, is not significantly different from standard fossil fuels—especially in the case of a potential oil spill.

The company is located in Portland’s Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) hub on the western bank of the lower Willamette River—a seismically vulnerable part of the city. In the case of an earthquake in the Cascadia subduction zone, research has shown materials stored in the CEI hub are very likely to spill into the Willamette on a scale equivalent to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. 

“One of the reasons we are here is because of the CEI hub on the Willamette River and how when the Cascadia subduction zone earthquake happens, the Willamette River will be flooded with oil and other toxins,” Avery Temple, co-founder of the Healing Underground—an abolitionist, healing justice, and arts grassroots collective in Portland—said at Friday’s strike. 

Last week, Street Roots reported the Portland City Auditor is investigating Zenith for potentially violating city lobbying code. Recent reporting shows Portland Commissioners Dan Ryan and Carmen Rubio significantly interacted with Zenith in 2022, corresponding privately with company staff and joining Zenith executives on a boat tour of their facilities. At the time, Ryan oversaw the Bureau of Development Services (BDS) and was responsible for the LUCS decision. In 2023, Rubio took over BDS, and has maintained city involvement with Zenith. 

“Our city officials intentionally worked with Zenith to issue them a new permit, allowing them to continue bringing oil tankers down our river and oil trains through our neighborhoods,” Josie Moberg, a climate justice movement legal fellow at Breach Collective, said at the strike.

Many protesters at Friday's climate strike held signs referring to Zenith, calling Portland City Council's permit approval for the company a "backroom deal." Zenith's future is now in the hands of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which is responsible for issuing an air quality permit to the company. In August, members of Portland environmental groups Breach Collective, Willamette Riverkeeper, Portland Audubon, Portland Harbor Community Coalition, and Columbia Riverkeeper sent a letter asking the state DEQ to "utilize its existing legal authority to deny Zenith’s pending... permit application." 

The Oregon DEQ will allow the public a chance to comment on the draft air quality permit decision before the final decision is made, but it's not yet clear when the public comment period will be. 

A broad and active coalition 

The PYCS last week saw fewer attendees than in past years, when thousands of marchers have taken to Portland's streets. This year, the number of protesters was in the hundreds. Climate strikes across the world have faced a problem of dwindling participation, even as the effects of global warming become increasingly pronounced—this past summer was the hottest on record. 

But even with fewer protesters, the energy remained high and attendees expressed a range of tactics for climate action. 

"Our expectation is always zero engagement, so it's always a blessing to have people show up," Markel, one of the PYCS leaders, said. 

Local climate action isn't limited to the annual or biannual marches, either. Portlanders have met regularly throughout the last few years to organize around various local environmental initiatives, from community forums against the Zenith permit dubbed "Rumble on the River" to actions against the Oregon Department of Transportation's (ODOT) plan to expand I-5 at the Rose Quarter. (ODOT recently paused plans for the I-5 expansion due to a lack of funds.) 

With Portland City Council growing to 12 members in 2025, local climate activists are likely to see new avenues for environmental action in City Hall and organize around supportive candidates. At least three people who have announced a 2024 run for City Council were present at Friday's Climate Strike: Steph Routh, Daniel DeMelo, and Chad Lykins, running in districts 1, 3, and 4, respectively. 

Another group of climate strike attendees advocated for a unique path toward climate action: spirituality. Several members of Portland-based EcoFaith Recovery, an interfaith organization that aims to "revitalize communities of faith to make a lasting difference for the healing of the world," showed up to Friday's march to support the youth leaders. 

Robyn Hartwig, the founder of EcoFaith Recovery, is the pastor at Spirit of Grace Church in Beaverton. She told the Mercury the purpose of the group is to become grounded in "bigger stories of the earth," using intersectional practices guided in multiple religious traditions and partnerships with Indigenous organizations. 

"This capitalist, destructive economy isn’t going to be around forever," Hartwig said. 

Solveig Nilsen-Goodin, a Lutheran pastor in Portland, said it's important to form community and protect against the feeling of despair that can come with addressing the seriousness of the climate crisis. 

"We wanted to bring deeper spiritual energy to these young people who are looking ahead for decades and thinking, 'How are we going to get through this?'" Nilsen-Goodin said. "We need to act together. Isolation kills us and breeds despair."