"dr-know"

Why is the New Generation Called “Gen Z?” And Why Did We Start With “Gen X?”

I hear the current new generation is called “Gen Z.” What happened to actual names—the Greatest Generation, baby boomers, millennials? What’s with the letters, and why did we start with Gen X? Who gives these names, anyway?

Are You Safer in a Houseboat Than on Land During an Earthquake?

I’ve been reading about how luxury houseboats are the next big thing in Portland’s overheated housing market. Are you safer in a houseboat than on land during an earthquake?

What’s Up With Service Animals in Grocery Stores and Operating Rooms?

What’s up with so-called “service animals”? Lately, people seem to bring their dogs inside with them everywhere—grocery stores, restaurants, operating rooms—and everyone just kind of lets it slide. Do we really have to put up with these furry incursions?

Is Hunting Legal on Government Island? It’s Unsettling and it Scares Pets.

I’ve lived on the South Channel of the Columbia River, within city limits, for 18 years. Every year, boatloads of hunters float by, shooting rifles at the geese on Government Island—a state park! It’s unsettling, and it scares pets. Can this possibly be legal?

Has Lewis and Clark Surpassed Reed as Portland’s King of Political Correctness?

In case you spent the last week doing something more useful than following America’s ongoing media conversation about politics—like, say, repeatedly digging a hole and filling it up again, or making your own gravel—here’s what you need to know:

What’s With the Big-Ass Flower Pots Clogging the Streets Downtown?

I confess this issue leaves me in a quandary. On the one hand, I usually tend to sympathize with the city’s efforts to impose order on its citizens, since—no offense—you guys are morons. In this case, however, as one of the morons having order imposed upon him, I’m inclined to side with you.

Can Portland Sue the Federal Government For Causing the Homeless Crisis?

Ah, that redoubtable legal standard, “more or less.” Judges can’t get enough of it! There’s nothing a court of law enjoys more, when painstakingly reconstructing a series of causal links, than a brisk round of good old-fashioned hand-waving, perhaps punctuated by an impish shrug.

Pioneer Courthouse Square Was Fenced Off For a Face-Lift For a Year, But Nothing’s Changed

It wasn’t the fencing that cost all that money, Fleeced, it was the yearlong, drug-fueled bacchanal that took place inside it.

Do We Really Need to Build An Expensive Water Treatment Plant? Nobody is Even Getting Sick

So, because our water occasionally contains a microbe that so far hasn’t made even one person sick, the feds say we have to build a $500 million treatment plant, or else. Or else what? We’re defying them on marijuana and sanctuary cities; why not this?

Are the Uniformed Police Officers in the Downtown Apple Store Really Cops?

The Apple store downtown has real, uniformed police officers acting as security. I was told these are off-duty officers moonlighting for extra cash. But in uniform? Are they acting as cops or private contractors? Can anybody rent one? —iWonder

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