News As negotiations over the Portland Harbor Superfund cleanup slog along, U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) keeps pushing for more money from what he says is one of the Williamette River's bigger polluters: the Pentagon. At a House Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday, Blumenauer grilled U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the defense department's role in making the Portland Harbor a toxic ...   More

Cover Story Portland, you have a gambling problem. We’re telling you this as a friend. For too many years, the voters of this city have rolled the dice on engaging but tro   More

Dr. Know Oregon is a die-hard blue state—and anyway, since the conventions, Obama’s been running away with the election. So, as a Portlander, why should I bother voting? —Derpa the Sherpa We’re no   More

Murmurs Ex-Attorney General John Kroger has left for Reed College, but his legacy at the Oregon Department of Justice continues. On July 2, the Harrang Long Gary Rudnick law firm sent the state a $431,0   More

News Charlie Hales is part of a nationwide "conspiracy" to con city planners into building streetcar lines—or at least that's what a libertarian think tank claims.A new Cato Institute report, "The Great Streetcar Conspiracy," accuses light-rail proponents of exaggerating the economic benefits of streetcars to ensure government funding.Randal O'Toole, the Cato fellow who wrote the report, singles out Portland ...   More

Murmurs A federal grand jury in San Diego last week indicted Yonas Fikre and two others for attempting to conceal the transfer of $75,000 from the United States to the United Arab Emirates in 2010. Fikre is t   More

News Despite not having a challenger in the 2012 election cycle, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Portland) has raised some $432,000 for his campaign as of September 30.That tally grows steadily. On Wednesday, Blumenauer was the beneficiary of a fundraising reception held by the Associated General Contractors of America at the lobbying group's townhouse in southeast Washington, D.C. Entry fees were as follows:$5,000 ...   More

News  U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) isn't among the growing number of lawmakers opposing-or seriously questioning-President Obama’s decision to commit U.S. forces to the international offensive against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.  “I think it was appropriate for the United States to be part of an international response to stop Gadhafi from slaughtering his people and reestablishing ...   More

News We're happy to learn Elmo and his cronies from Sesame Street are coming to Portland in mid-May for a three-day stint.According to a blurb for this "Elmo's Healthy Heroes" musical coming to the Memorial Coliseum, "When Super Grover loses his superness, Sesame Street needs a hero! Never fear, Elmo and his team of Healthy Heroes are here. Teaching lessons of healthy habits through song and dance, Elmo, ...   More

News  U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) has more than one question about the feds' contingency plans to monitor radiation levels and prepare residents along the West Coast if there are fallout problems here from the Japanese nuclear disaster.Here's the letter Blumenauer released this afternoon to the Environmental Protection Agency and Nuclear Regulatory Commission with his questions:March 16, 2011 Lisa ...   More