Scoop: Benefits for Krebs and Full Sail Bails on Pale

1. CURTAIN CALL MAY NOT COME: Last week, Portland’s theater community reeled from news that Southeast Belmont Street’s venerable Theater! Theatre! would be shutting its doors this summer. But now the fate of the two-auditorium space has grown murkier. Profile Theatre and Theatre Vertigo announced Feb. 8 that landlord Veerinder Chawla would not be renewing their leases, but Chawla now says there may be room for renegotiation. He met with representatives from each company Feb. 10. “It’s based on discussions that are under way,” Chawla says. “There’s a chance that Theater! Theatre! will stay open.” Profile managing director Matthew Jones says, “We’re interested in having real negotiations with anyone who’s interested in talking with us.” Look for more on this site. 

1. PALE ALE SAILS AWAY: Full Sail Brewing has discontinued its mainstay pale ale, Scoop has learned. The Hood River-based brewery needed to free up brewing capacity for seasonal beers, and found its pale was going stale. “We’re in the business of freshness and looking at trends,” says head brewmaster Jamie Emmerson. “It’s not that the pale had volume problems, but it was the softest of our regular beers. Other people just keep those around forever. But, for us, focus matters. It’s not like we don’t have other recipes lying around.” Most of the six-packs are gone, with the final kegs soon to run out. Instead, look for six-packs of previously pub-only Full Sail brews like Nut Brown Ale and Wassail.

1. FOR PETE’S SAKE: Last week, Pete Krebs, the Portland singer-songwriter best known for fronting ’90s noise-pop band Hazel, was diagnosed with a rare, difficult-to-treat form of skin cancer. Krebs’ wife, Rebecca, made the announcement via fundraising site Pay It Square. Within hours, her plea for donations to assist with the family’s medical bills hit its goal. But Krebs—who battled Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his 20s—isn’t out of the woods yet. As such, a trio of benefit concerts have been announced: Swing for Pete on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at the Secret Society, featuring Krebs’ swing-jazz project the Stolen Sweets; Rock for Pete, with Colin Meloy, Black Prairie, the Dharma Bums and more, the following night next door at Wonder Ballroom; and For Pete’s Sake on March 15 at LaurelThirst Pub, with a lineup to be announced.

1. ONCE BITTEN: An anecdote in a recent profile of Portland illustrator Halsey Swain (Jan. 30 issue) not only upset some readers but caught the attention of animal control. According to Swain, she left her pet rattlesnake in the freezer after it spit venom in her eyes. Animal control left a notice on Swain’s door, not because of her poor treatment of the animal, but because owning a rattlesnake is apparently illegal and punishable by a fine of up to $10,000. Swain was eventually let off the hook as the snake is now either dead or was mythical.

WWeek 2015