News It's a dreary job, sorting through Multnomah County's Circuit Court filings. Every now and then, a hot case comes up, but mostly the stack of documents tells the sad tale of foreclosures, credit card laws suits and auto accident fights.But, thanks to people like Barry Edward Montgomery, sometimes reporters get a smile. People change their names for all kinds of reasons, but occasionally, the moniker ...   More

News Every day in Multnomah County Circuit Court, a handful of Portland-area residents applies to change their name—for marriage, divorce or more inscrutable reasons.This month saw two interesting name-change applications. In an apparent coincidence, both were submitted on the same day: March 4. First was Michael Patrick Wedel of Southeast Portland, who requested to change his name to Michael Erasmus ...   More

News Each day, a handful of local folks request an official name change by filing a one-page document in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Normally they're women changing their own name, or their children's names, due to a switch in marital status. Sometimes it's someone more noteworthy. But a few of the name alterations seem to come as the result of a radical life change. There was the guy who ...   More

News New name, same game—kind of. Sungari Pearl, the Pearl District's white tablecloth Chinese bistro will morph into Seres Restaurant and Bar come October 1...even though they're not changing the menu, decor or ownership. So why the shakeup? The powers that be say the new name highlights the eight-year-old restaurant's new focus on sustainability and organic goods, which it apparently has been ...   More

News Having your name legally changed in Portland is as easy as filing a one-page form in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Last Friday, Mary Jane Anderson did just that. Anderson, a 54-year-old custodian at Portland Public Schools' Harriet Tubman Leadership Academy for Young Women, tells WW she changed her name to what she always thought it really was: Mary Jean Anderson. Anderson, who lives ...   More

News The folks hosting one of Lilith Fair's tour stops in nearby Ridgefield, Wash. this year sent us an invitation recently for a press conference during which they'll be announcing a new name for the 18,000 capacity venue currently called, accurately enough, The Amphitheater at Clark County. It's hosted everybody from Pearl Jam to Tom Petty and Journey (!) in the past. While on lunch break we interns ...   More