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.
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,
In a recent news release, the White House accuses Portland protesters of engaging in years of "premeditated anarchy," attempting to bolster Trump's decision to send National Guard troops to "crush violent radical left terrorism" in the city. Local leaders remain firm in their opposition to the move. Portland's police chief says officers will continue to monitor protests at the ICE facility. Data shows protest response is costly, requiring staff to work significant overtime hours.
