Portland

Portland

Portland officials released a Market Feasibility Study on Friday, Jan. 23, that declared the region cannot support two venues capable of hosting popular touring Broadway shows. That upends the proposal approved by the City Council in late 2024 calling for a new Broadway-capable performing arts center to be built at Portland State University before the Keller Auditorium is closed and remodeled to continue hosting such large show.

GOOD MORNING, SUNDAY! It's the perfect time to catch up on some of the great reporting and stories the Mercury churned out this week! (PRO TIP: If you despise being "the last to know," then be one of the first to know by signing up for Mercury newsletters! All the latest stories shipped directly to your email's in-box... and then... YOUR HEAD.)

* Facing a $300 million budget gap, Portland transit service TriMet just announced another round of service cuts coming in August. TriMet already made smaller cuts to transit service in November, but the agency's budget deficit is significant and growing, without any new money coming in from the state for the foreseeable future. The agency is asking riders to weigh in on proposed cuts,

The Heights lounge and event space was founded in 2024 by local musician Jermaine Malone. Since then, it's operated out of a 3,800-square-foot space on SE Foster Road. The lounge features a rotating calendar of events from comedy nights, to dance parties, to "secret" punk shows. It also offers event space rentals and was expanding to include a studio space for music recording and mixing.

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! The rain continues today, though the soaking weather may, kindly, pause for most of the day and return at night.

Friday was a beautiful night for a Krampuslauf or "Krampus run," a holiday activity that draws from Alpine folklore where mischief-makers dress up like horned creatures and caper together through their town. The Portland version of this-a little more costume-forward and kid-friendly-has been meeting up and merrily marching on or around Krampusnacht since 2010.

The ordinance has two components. First, it will require landlords who rent buildings used as detention centers to compensate residents and the city for actual costs incurred as a direct consequence of its tenants' actions. Those costs could include things like police overtime, traffic management, fire and emergency medical responses, and environmental remediation. The collected money will reimburse impacted community members, and the city's general fund.

WHAT UP, SMARTY BUTT? 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 we'll be testing your knowledge on last week's big events, including public aerobics, Trump's continuing humiliation at the hands of Portland, and everyone's fave subject... DRUGS! 🥳 But first! How did you do on our last quiz?

If all goes well, this will be the last time I am the news and you can instead count on me to bring you some uncompromising journalism as the latest addition to the Mercury's news team. You may be familiar with my work at Street Roots, where I worked as a staff reporter for the past few years. I'll say, despite the risk of turning this into a cover letter, I learned a lot about reporting on housing and homelessness there,