Under the fluorescent lights and cool air conditioning of the Lloyd Center mall food court, two dozen people spread collage supplies, paper, and pencils over tables that typically hold pretzels and cheap chicken chow mein. On Sundays, the Portland Zine Meetup gathers here to layout pages and share in-progress works about everything from a favorite punk band to lovingly illustrated fursonas.
At this particular meetup, Roman Ruddick, 30, has brought a new zine about the emotional process of changing their name. For that folded mini-zine, Ruddick hand-wrote reflections about their name change over collaged photos of themselves as a child.
Ruddick and Charlie Manzano, 26, started the weekly meetup in 2023, after they moved to Portland from Ashland, where they’d launched the Southern Oregon Zine Festival.
One of the big appeals of Portland was its zine scene—and Multnomah County Library’s policy of allowing anyone 100 free black-and-white photocopies a day.
“We did partially move to Portland for the free photocopies,” says Manzano. “It was a big draw.”
The weekly Portland meetup (@portlandzinemeetup on Instagram) eventually grew too popular for just once a week, so comics zinester Sophie Danner, 25, volunteered to run an additional Thursday night session at Rose City Book Pub.
Over the past two years, the free, twice-weekly meetups have blossomed into a staple of Portland’s zine community—a warm and welcoming space for anyone looking to self-publish. They’ll even have a dedicated table featuring members’ zines at this year’s Portland Zine Symposium, held November 8-9, the biggest event of the year for Portland’s zine community.
“The entry point for zines is non-existent. Anyone can make them, and you don’t need anything fancy. They provide tangible proof of someone’s lived experience,” says Danner, who this year is attempting to draw 100 diary comics before her next birthday (she’s at number 45). “And it’s really cool to see people be introduced to zines and then to be like, ‘I can do anything with this!” adds Ruddick.
Both Manzano and Ruddick met because of a shared difficulty: As teenagers, they were both diagnosed with cancer. In 2017, Manzano started a Tumblr about being a trans cancer patient—Ruddick became his only follower. The two became internet friends, then friends IRL. In 2018, Manzano’s cancer came back and Ruddick moved to the Bay Area to be with him. It was there that they stumbled across a zine festival in the San Jose public library.
“We were like, ‘Wow, these people are writing about, like, every topic ever! This would be a great way to find other trans cancer patients,” says Ruddick.
“I was really interested in reading more from patient perspectives, and not, like ‘I survived by eating kale,’” says Manzano. “I was looking for more earnest, personal stuff.”
Luckily, earnest and personal are where zines excel. The duo started making their own zines about their experiences with cancer. They started up a website, TransCancerZine.com, featuring downloadable PDFs of zines, which they still run. Both Ruddick and Manzano are now in remission and make zines about all sorts of things they care about.
“Zines were really important to me. They were like this method of expressing a desire to be heard in the way I wanted to be heard,” says Ruddick. “I really liked how honest I could be in zines and how honest I found other people’s writing. I liked the vulnerability.”
The group plans to continue the popular twice-weekly meetups and have started publishing anthology zines, taking submissions from the meetup regulars. The first publication, Something Good Happened Here, shares personal memories from 40 contributors about good things that have happened to them in specific places in Portland—a sweet and sincere counterpoint to the national narrative that Portland is a crime-ridden dumpster fire.
Published in March, to coincide with the Reed Zine Fest, copies of the anthology will be available at the Zine Symposium too, along with those from meetup members. That’s part of the thrill of zine-making, says Ruddick: finding new stories and new friends.
“Every time I go to a zine fest, especially where there’s zinesters I’ve never met, and getting zines I’ve never seen, it’s inspiring.”
Portland Zine Symposium takes place in Smith Memorial Ballroom at Portland State University, 1825 SW Broadway, Nov 8-9, 11 am-5 pm, FREE, all ages.
Former Georgia State Representative and two-time gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams may be best known as a political activist, but when she’s not ticking off Republicans, she’s writing novels.
Coded Justice, the third book in her Avery Keene series, continues to follow Abrams’ heroine through the insular world of Washington politics, this time bringing her up against a potentially deadly side of artificial intelligence. One of the great draws to this year’s Portland Book Festival, Abrams chatted with the Mercury about her fiction writing and the ways she sees it as an extension of her political service—in particular, she hopes this new work can help audiences learn about artificial intelligence (AI) in a way that is more palatable than waiting for X’s built-in chatbot Grok to go Mecha-Hitler again.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
PORTLAND MERCURY: How do you keep coming up with new adventures for Avery Keene?
STACEY ABRAMS: I try to think about issues that are in the public domain that aren’t getting a lot of attention, or that are getting attention, but people don’t necessarily understand how they work. It’s a really good excuse for doing lots and lots of research, because I’m a nerd. It also helps me think about what communities want to understand—whether it’s biogenetics or how the energy grid works or cryptocurrency. In Coded Justice, it’s artificial intelligence. This is one of those looming conversations that we need to know more about, but we don’t always feel either qualified or entitled to more knowledge,
AI is a constant part of the cultural conversation these days. When you first started exploring a new book, did you kind of immediately know AI was going to be involved?
I knew that the third book was going to transition Avery out of the Supreme Court and into her next phase of life. Thinking about it, AI just kept coming back to me as a question. In my previous books, there’s been a clear villain or an anti-hero. I wanted to grapple with the question of what happens when there’s no clear right or wrong, but there are still important questions and decisions. AI was the perfect foil because it’s a technology. It’s not good or bad. It’s capable of great good, and it is absolutely something that can be used for tremendous problems and to cause harm.
Were you trying to maintain a certain level of neutrality?
Less neutrality and more that I wanted to understand it better. People are not wrong to be concerned about this technology.
For example, there was a recent executive order that forbids the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in AI models, and I want people to understand the consequences of that. It can deprive those populations of the very privilege that AI provides: faster understanding, connecting dots we don’t see, being able to accelerate possibilities. This would disallow communities from having access to that information or even being included in how that research is done. By the same token, we have seen what happens when AI is trained on the wrong models and given bad information, and that is a possibility we need to understand, so we can guard against it.
Ultimately, AI can’t do anything on its own. We have to pay attention to who’s making the tools. That’s really the question Avery confronts in the book. She enters into navigating this extraordinary technology by dealing with a man who’s well-intentioned but who stands to make billions, depending on the choices that he makes and those of his team, who all have their own reasons for how they approach their job. People make the technology, and people decide whether the technology is a tool or a weapon.
So many of the people currently involved with AI—the ones who are creating the guard rails—seem determined to make money despite the risk to the rest of the world.
One of the best ways to disempower a community is to make sure they feel outmatched by the knowledge. That’s part of the reason I wrote this book. I’ve been using this series and my life to tell stories so that the reader feels not just empowered but armed—ready to engage.
I love that Coded Justice has been described as a primer for how the average person can understand AI. It’s giving you a little bit of a thrill, but also I want us to be able to say: Oh, when you mentioned LLM, I now know what that means. The way I wrote Coded Justice, I spent time working with models and doing deep research on what’s actually possible today. I don’t want anyone to have to do all the research I did—although it was fun and interesting and terrifying. You just have to read the book, so you can feel better armed for the next conversation.
So it’s kind of a Mary Poppins approach, a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down.
Exactly. Only, you know, there might be car chases.
Mary Poppins needs a few more car chases, if we’re being honest. The first books of yours that I read were romance novels, technically written by Selena Montgomery. What made you decide to start publishing under your own name?
When I first started writing romance, I was also publishing tax policy articles. So when Rules of Engagement came out, so did a piece about the operational dissonance of the unrelated business income tax exemption. As a lawyer, you can write romance under a pseudonym, but you can’t write tax policy under a pseudonym. So Selena Montgomery got to write romance, and Stacey Abrams got to write tax policy. Once people got more comfortable with it, I was able to merge the lanes. And now it’s Stacey Abrams writing as Stacey Abrams.
So can we expect more romance books from you?
Maybe. Right now I am focusing on Avery and building out her world. I just actually penned a deal to do two more Avery Keene novels. Hopefully people will notice Avery has a little bit of a love life, and in Coded Justice, there is competition for her affections. So I love that. I try to meet all of my audiences, wherever I am.
Stacey Abrams appears as part of Portland Book Festival in a special ticketed event at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, Sat Nov 8, $35, tickets at literary-arts.org
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey: In the yawning aftermath of After Yang, writer/director Kogonada tries again with Colin Farrell, this time welcoming Margot Robbie to another potential wad of corn, giving it a horrific title, and going for the tearjerking jugular. I’m sorry, but it grows harder every year to cheer for the man who made Columbus.
One Battle After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson interprets Thomas Pynchon for the second time, casting Leonardo DiCaprio as fu-manchu’d Bob Ferguson. Anderson’s working with the biggest budget of his career, primed to hone Pynchon’s novel—the 1990 postmodernist thriller-romp Vineland—into what could be the closest the director’s come to an action-packed blockbuster.
October
The Smashing Machine: The Rock turns his face into a prosthetic meat-slab for Benny Safdie, playing MMA champion Mark Kerr. His artificially heavy brow cannot hide how desperately his sights are set on an Oscar nomination.
Tron: Ares: Jared Leto lands the easiest role of his lifetime—a synthetic humanoid who must learn how to be a real man—in the third film in a sci-fi franchise that seems “loosely planned” at this point.
The Mastermind: Kelly Reichardt mines a sumptuous ‘70s sheen for the story of an unassuming art thief (cutie-pie Josh O’Connor). No doubt we’re getting another hushed-but-devastating drama from an increasingly iconic American director.
A House of Dynamite: Little details are available for Kathryn Bigelow’s first film since 2017’s Detroit, except for a big castlist—including Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, and teen heartthrob Tracy Letts—and a one-sentence synopsis about an “unattributed missile” heading toward the US. Whatever. It’ll be on Netflix; you’ll get to it eventually.
Bugonia: Yorgos Lanthimos—popular director who makes weird, uncomfortable movies—is back with a movie that appears to be weird and uncomfortable. It’s his follow-up to last year’s Kinds of Kindness, a movie I’ve heard described as “weird” and “uncomfortable.” I wouldn’t know; I haven’t seen it. I’m not fond of feeling weird or uncomfortable.
November
The Running Man: Edgar Wright pimps out Glen Powell, the goddamnedest goodlooking man on god’s green earth, for the second cinematic attempt at adapting Stephen King’s 1982 book. Michael Cera could be playing a guy who electrocutes cops with a squirt gun full of his piss? I still need to confirm that.
Die, My Love: Grief and dissolution haunt Lynne Ramsey’s films (Morvern Callar, You Were Never Really Here), and her latest—starring Jennifer Lawrence as a woman whose reality’s crumbling—will probably be a similarly intense ghost story.
Train Dreams: Filmed throughout northeastern Washington, Clint Bentley’s quietest of the quiet Pacific Northwest epics sold to Netflix for a reportedly record-breaking amount at Sundance, which is funny, because this gorgeous historical drama will make exactly zero dollars.
Hamnet: Bard-heads rejoice! Chloé Zhao (The Rider, Nomadland) goes back super-thirsty to the Oscar well for the story of sexy William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) mourning the loss of their young son, her via being sad and him via writing Hamlet (duh).
(VISUAL ART) Marie Watt’s balance of technical precision and expansive vision melds in larger-than-life textile processes and multimedia explorations. Storywork centers stories from her Seneca Nation ancestry, pairing them with references to everything from Greco-Roman myth to Star Trek. The selection of narrative prints appears alongside a sculptural tin jingle cloud. Programming includes an October 2 performance by champion jingle dancer Acosia Red Elk and a campus native plant tour led by the Indigenous Traditional Ecological and Cultural Knowledge team on October 14. (Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at PSU, 1855 SW Broadway, FREE, pdx.edu, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
Time-Based Art Festival—TBA: 25
Through September 14
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) turned 30 this year, making it both a millennial and the creator of the city’s shiniest experimental performance jewel, the Time-Based Art Festival (TBA). This year’s fest brings a full-force two-weekend lineup packed with multimodal poetry, queer opera, and shape-shifting dance. You’ll find programming at four venues—PICA’s cavernous Hancock headquarters, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Winningstad Theatre, and Reed College—featuring a lineup that leans West Coast, with artists hailing from Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles. (PICA Annex, 15 NE Hancock and other locations, pica.org) LC
(VISUAL ART) This traveling exhibition features Black Oregonian perspectives you should make time to engage with—works by heavy hitters like Intisar Abioto, Jeremy Okai Davis, Sadé Duboise, and Master Artist Michael Bernard Stevens Jr. appear together, culminating in a diversity of perspectives that “challenge the expectation that Black art must be political.” Curated by Tammy Jo Wilson (who also curated this summer’s Terrain: A Land Art Experience), Black Matter’s programming includes an opening night sculptural sound performance by Sapata and Santigie Fofana-Dura, and spoken word by MOsley WOtta on September 18. (Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, 12625 SW Crescent, Beaverton, FREE, thereser.org, all ages)LC
As Above, So Below
September 6–28
(VISUAL ART) Side by side, Anna Buckner and Meredith Morrison’s artworks are visual ASMR: Buckner’s mounted textile pieces transform applique and log cabin quilt techniques into painterly compositions, while Morrison’s sculptural forms embody a synthetic, iridescent nostalgia. The title of this exhibition nods to a familiar phrase and charts the “slippages,” investigating “points where logic breaks down, where systems fail to contain emotion, and where abstraction begins to feel personal.” If you tend to get lost in the vocabulary of exhibition statements, this one’s still worth it for the elegant material exploration. (Well Well Projects, 8371 N Interstate #1, FREE, wellwellprojects.com, all ages)LC
HUMP! Film Festival
September 11–13
(FILM) As you undoubtedly know, HUMP! is America’s sweetest li’l porn festival—supporting this very publication for a number of years!—featuring short, oh-so-dirty flicks made by your horny friends and neighbors from the PNW and beyond. Plus, unlike those bro-centric porn sites, HUMP! films spotlight every conceivable body type and sexual flavor, making it much more interesting and FUN… particularly when viewed in a theater filled with sexy people like yourself. And if you loved the spring installment of HUMP!, wait until you see this fall’s “part two,” featuring 22 BRAND NEW FILMS for your horny, drooling pleasure. Miss at your peril! (Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st, $20-25, humpfilmfest.com, 18+)WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
PDX Pop Now!
September 12–14
(MUSIC) The most honorable Snoop Dogg once said: “Pop it like it’s hot,” and every year PDX Pop Now! does just that, with a line-up of the city’s local music heaters. The 2025 festival lineup is stuffed to the gills with the likes of Alienboy, Rango, Franklin Gothic, Friends Friends, the Prids, the Apricots, Femme Cell, Spiderling, Swiss Army Wife, and more. In past years, sets crawled the alleys of SE industrial, but this year’s location is legit: Westside Portland favorite Midtown Beer Garden. That means the food and family-friendly activities are on lock; all we have to do is rock. (Midtown Beer Garden, 431 SW Harvey Milk, FREE, pdxpopnow.com, all ages) NOLAN PARKER
(VISUAL ART) UK textile artist and Royal College of Art professor Freddie Robins fuses kitsch, gender exploration, and a rebellious sense of expression into tapestries, tactile sculptures, and assemblages. Adding a little insight into what this show might investigate: its name, Apotropaic, means “designed to avert evil.” It’s less “Keep Calm and Carry On” and more ritualistic, comprised of knitted horses and studio remnants, among other curiosities. Curated by Stephanie Snyder, Robins’ solo exhibition brings her to Portland as Reed’s Stephen E. Ostrow distinguished visitor, and she’ll deliver an artist talk on September 30. (Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock, FREE, reed.edu, all ages) LC
Karen Slack: African Queens
September 13–14
(MUSIC) Iconic soprano—and winner of the 2025 Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Solo—Karen Slack opens the Portland Opera 2025-26 season with a survey of story and style. Her curation of African Queens, draws from songs already familiar and new compositions from contemporary composers Jasmine Barnes, Jessie Montgomery, Shawn Okpebholo, Dave Ragland, Carlos Simon, Joel Thompson, and Portland Opera’s Music Director Damien Geter—sometimes referred to as “the “Blacknificent 7.” Each commissioned work drew inspiration from a great African woman in the past; the collected evening draws a line through history via Slack’s impressive musical range. (Patricia Reser Center for the Arts, 12625 SW Crescent, Beaverton, $36-56, portlandopera.org, all ages)SUZETTE SMITH
The Elixir of Love
September 19–20
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) Nicknamed POGO, Portland Opera’s “to go” company travels around the state—with portable scenery and costumes—performing 50-minute opera productions for students in school gyms and neighborhood community centers. The shows are created to be approachable to youthful audiences, which also makes them perfect for anyone dipping their toe into opera for the first time and worldly fanciers looking for an opera snack. On an educational level, Elixir of Love by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti is a textbook example of the bel canto style he was influential in popularizing; on a theatrical one, it’s a messy little drama about snake oil salesmen and the strongest romantic love potion: affected indifference. (Winningstad Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, $15, portlandopera.org, all ages) SS
Sasha Fishman: Shad Mode
September 20–November 15
(VISUAL ART) For Sasha Fishman, the extraction of marine biomaterials is both a research-driven investigation and a sculptural gesture, an inquiry shaped by the sea itself. The fittingly surnamed artist is a Columbia sculpture grad who has collaborated with laboratories on “salmon, fountains, and carbon capture materials.” She’ll show for the first time at ILY2; expect a slick, watery sensibility in Fishman’s Shad Mode, whose material explorations include hagfish slime, algae, and cicada shells. (ILY2, 925 NW Flanders, FREE, ily2online.com, all ages)LC
Paradise Blue
September 24–November 2
(Theater & Performance)A jazz club in 1949 Detroit is the setting of Paradise Blue, the kickoff production for Portland Playhouse’s 18th season. The Black Bottom neighborhood, which is home to the Paradise jazz joint, is on the precipice of gentrification, as the protagonist Blue—a deeply troubled trumpeter—fights to retain control over the club and come to terms with his own tortured history. Acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau’s immersive script is one of a cycle of productions documenting the Black experience in Detroit, and how the city and its residents are haunted by the decisions and mistakes of the past. (Portland Playhouse, 602 NE Prescott, $25-59.95, Arts for All passes available to those receiving SNAP benefits, portlandplayhouse.org) WSH
Amanda Lepore
September 25
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) Amanda Lepore graces the faggots, faeries, dykes, and daddies of Portland with her club kid glamour for one night—giving face, showing off the “world’s most expensive body,” and oozing downtown cool with every pose. This “Back-to-Werk” show sees Lepore invite the city’s buzziest queens to share the stage, like Mona Chrome, Ry Bred, Tomboy, and Mercury favorite Violet Hex. Those willing to splurge on VIP afterparty tickets can enjoy the homo DJ collective Jacques Strappe at a secret location only disclosed to buyers of the very VIP tickets. (X-Port Lounge, 1355 SW 2nd, 8 pm, $25-50, posh.vip, 21+) NP
Yoshida Chizuko
September 27–January 4
(VISUAL ART) Pioneering Japanese modernist Yoshida Chizuko gets her due in this first-ever major retrospective, which spotlights Chizuko’s paintings, woodblock prints, and rare monotypes, among other print mediums. Described as “quietly prolific” by exhibition organizer and curator Jeannie Kenmotsu, Ph.D., Chizuko’s avant-garde contributions to both the modernist movement and 20th-century Japanese printmaking have long been undersung in favor of male artists of the period. Featuring optical art, naturalist works, and experimental pieces, the exhibition traces the full arc of her career and restores overdue recognition to her legacy. (Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park, FREE–$25, portlandartmuseum.org, all ages)LC
Primary Trust
September 28–October 26
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) Awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Primary Trust by Eboni Booth tells the story of Edward, an introverted Black bookstore employee who spends much of his free time with an imaginary drinking buddy. After Edward is suddenly laid off and ejected from the bubble of his solitary, comfortable life, he’s encouraged to get a job at a local bank, where his life is slowly transformed in unexpected, and ultimately positive, ways. Produced in multiple cities across the country, Primary Trust has received tons of terrific press, which bodes well for Portland’s version of this good-natured and funny meditation on the importance of human connection. (Portland Center Stage, 128 NW 11th, $25-98, pcs.org) WSH
The Bed Trick
September 30–October 26
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) Tired of dusty Shakespeare revivals? Then you may fall in love with Seattlite Keiko Green’s sparkling, modern version of All’s Well That Ends Well—now called The Bed Trick—which updates the farcical tale with a sexy, youthful, and thoughtful spin. Three college freshmen engage in a wild plot of revenge and trickery when they discover that one of their boyfriends is a cheater—leading to a hilarious series of events that include catfishing, deception, and romantic betrayal. While hilarious, this effervescent story also promises to be an eye-opening treatise on consent, modern romance, and the “problematic” plays of the Bard. (Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison, $5-60, artistsrep.org) WSH
Lambrini Girls / Edging
October 4
(MUSIC) At their Mississippi Studios gig earlier this year, Brighton, UK’s Lambrini Girls tore it the fuck up, easily facilitating one of the absolute best shows of 2025—forging community in the shape of a 10-person human pyramid that a circle pit immediately formed around. The radical, all-femme outfit plays fast, witty punk for those interested in Palestinian liberation and queer and trans rights. It’s Cuntology 101, bitch! (Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, 8 pm, SOLD OUT, revolutionhall.com, all ages) NP
Dancing on the Sabbath
October 11–November 8
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) Shaking the Tree’s season opener sounds promising on a number of levels. It’s a reimagined fairytale—12 Dancing Princesses—told on a topical slant, which has become something of a specialty for the theater company that brought us _____ the Wolf in 2018 and The Brother and the Bird in 2024. Some of the city’s finest talent are at Dancing on the Sabbath’s creative center: with the company’s Samantha Van Der Merwe directing and a notable cast that includes Sammy Rat Rios and Kai Hynes. ProLab’s Laura Cannon choreographs “12 ritual dances” to convey “silent resistance and rebellion.” (Shaking the Tree, 823 SE Grant, $12-48, shaking-the-tree.com, 16+) SS
Via Mardot / Pillow Spiders
October 24
(MUSIC) You know and love Detroit heavyweights J Dilla, the Stooges, MC5, the White Stripes, and the Supremes, now get ready to fall for Motorcity thereminist Via Mardot. But don’t get it twisted, the composer and multi-instrumentalist also plays guitar, chimes, marzolin, and the makeup brushes—among others. And she sings! Mardot’s music exudes eerie soundscapes that might make you fall in love or question how you came to be in this remote European cemetery at three in the morning. (Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Ct, 8 pm, $26.05, polarishall.com, all ages) NP
Carmen+
October 24–25
(THEATER & PERFORMANCE) In 2017, choreographer Ihsan Rustem debuted a commissioned work for Performance Works NW, a take on the 19th-century opera Carmen that infused the drama about passion with wry absurdity and set it partially in a ’50s barbershop. The work was a hit, earning a Readers’ Choice Award from Dance Magazine and furthering Rustem’s already commendable reputation for collaboration. Now Portlanders have a real treat on their hands: another chance to see Rustem’s Carmen, with the original cast members, Andrea Parson and Franco Nieto. The “+” is a brand new work from UK choreographer Caroline Finn, which rounds out the show, treating audiences to an evening of dance that is new, boundary-pushing, and beloved. (Newmark Theatre, 111 SW Broadway, $35-74, nwdanceproject.org, all ages) SS
Portugal. The Man / Ya Tseen
November 6–7
(MUSIC) Portugal. The Man’s first three albums—Waiter: “You Vultures!”, It’s Complicated Being a Wizard, and Church Mouth—still go so hard to this day, Yet, the early work feels rather remote when lined up side-by-side next to their newer, more radio-ready releases. Will the band’s new album—slated for a fall release—return to their deeply experimental roots, or will it be a further exploration of pop music’s groovier outer reaches? One thing we do know: P.™ are primed for their back-to-back hometown and tour sendoff shows. (Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, 8 pm, $60.44, revolutionhall.com, all ages)NP
Portland Book Festival
November 8
(Readings & Talks) Every year, nonprofit Literary Arts brings a passel of writers, publishers, and book lovers to the Portland Art Museum and surrounding South Park Blocks to mark the start of cozy-nights-in-with-a-good-book season—on the other side of summer’s debaucherous beach read bacchanals. This year marks the 20th anniversary of what began as Wordstock—renamed in 2018—where attendees get to interact (no touching) with authors from all genres and backgrounds, hawking their words in the most enjoyable way possible: via talks and readings that’ll give you way too many good ideas of what to read next. Bring a tote, because you’re going to take home an armful of new things to stack on the nightstand. (Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park, 10 am–6 pm, admission $18 and up, free for youth 17 and under, along with veterans and active military, Arts for All passes available, pdxbookfest.org, all ages) NED LANNAMANN
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Police said a man allegedly assaulted his parent and then fought with officers after a domestic violence call brought a heavy police presence to a Gresham home.
Police responded to the 400 block of Southeast 196th Avenue late Wednesday night after a domestic assault call, officials said.
“An adult son assaulted his parent and fought with officers after they arrived. It doesn’t look like weapons were involved in the assault,” a Gresham Police Department spokesperson told KOIN 6 News via email.
Further details about the incident were not made immediately available.
This is a developing story. KOIN 6 News will update this article if more information becomes available.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Parents of an African-American student previously at Portland Catholic school say they have reached an agreement with the Archdiocese after an alleged racist incident in March.
Karis Stoudamire-Phillips and her husband Mike, are prominent members of Portland’s Black community. Their 10-year-old son was expelled from Portland’s Madeleine Catholic School after they decided to challenge the school and the Archdiocese.
The Phillips’ say their son was called the N-word on the playground by at least one other student. When Karis and Mike met with Principal Tresa Rast, they claimed she didn’t take the incident seriously.
When the conversation got heated, Rast called the police.
While no arrests were made, the son was expelled, which is when they decided to fight back.
“The legacy of standing up is so much more worth it than making people feel comfortable about the things that exist that they don’t want to deal with,” Mike Phillips said.
Rast was fired, but the Phillips’ say they also wanted more accountability from the Archdiocese.
Their attorney says the agreement, which is confidential, generally calls for a public apology, acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and reformative actions to make sure what happened to their son doesn’t happen to other students of color at Madeleine or any other Catholic school.
“That’s our hope. That the commitment that Madeleine is expressing to be better and do better,” Karis said. “We really hope that that is something that they are really internalizing and going to implement.”
The Phillips’ say their son is now attending a Christian school and that they got support from all over the country, but that their greatest support came from parents at Madeline.
The school did issue an apology, saying they are committed to “maintaining an educational environment free from the scourge of racism.”
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A winery in Amity called Antica Terra has been making waves for the last two decades.
“I truly think it is the most special place in the entire Willamette Valley,” said Art Tierce, the head sommelier at Antica Terra. “Antica Terra sits on this beautiful little ridge with this kind of singular series of marine sedimentary soils that was once the ocean floor 40 million years ago.
From the kitchen to the dining area near the barrels — the team here proudly works together, no matter their titles and roles.
It’s part of what makes things work at a winery that’s also known for its fine dining experience.
Seasonal and local foods are prioritized — which leads them to be open to ideas and changes.
“We might do three or four different menus for one weekend, and I think that’s really special,” Tierce said.
KOIN 6 was there for what’s called A Very Nice Lunch, as Tierce poured some very nice wines.
Even if you have very little wine knowledge, he wants you to know, you’re welcome here.
“Honestly, I can speak from my own experience. Wine can be intimidating. It is scary. Everybody’s afraid to say the wrong thing,” said Tierce.
Chef de Cuisine Ramon Canarios, also known as Chef Ray, is now much more confident about his wine knowledge — and credits the approachable way he was taught at Antica Terra.
“I can actually sometimes blind taste stuff now, which three years ago would’ve never been the case,” he said. “(Tierce) was one of the key people when I started that made me feel comfortable and totally lacking in pretentiousness about it.”
As for the wine experts who want to explore, there’s plenty of room for you here as well, whether to chat about the label designs, or the topography.
“In the label art, we redesign a couple of labels every year. Cera and Botanica are entirely new pieces of artwork,” Tierce said.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The 55.3 million fatal doses of heroin seized by law enforcement in Tigard last year turned out to be mostly water, according to an independent analysis.
As KOIN 6 News previously reported, federal agents announced the arrest of four Mexican drug traffickers after they were caught transporting eight 55-gallon drums of a liquid narcotic in Tigard in January 2024.
Originally, law enforcement believed the substance to be liquid fentanyl. Field tests later showed that seven of the eight drums contained heroin, according to court documents obtained by KOIN 6 News.
Investigators said they believed the containers held 1,430 liters, weighing 1.4 metric tons, of liquid heroin. The government characterized the drug seizure as “truly an astronomical amount,” and heralded the mission as historic and unprecedented. They said that combined, they had recovered 55.3 million fatal doses.
But while the contents tested positive for heroin, no test was conducted to determine the concentration of heroin in the liquid. An independent analysis, later requested by the defense attorney, found that the drums were mostly water.
“Recovery of usable heroin would require the evaporation of the water,” the report said. “There is approximately 390 gallons of water in the seven drums, which contain heroin. Therefore, the small amount of heroin dissolved in the water in each drum makes the recovery of usable solid heroin impractical.”
The total combined heroin in the eight drums was between 22.1 and 25.3 grams, the report said.
The drums contained 99.999% water and 0.001% of unusable heroin, the defense attorney said in a sentencing memorandum.
Luis Deleon Woodward, 28, pled guilty to conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute heroin on July 30. He has been in custody since his arrest in January 2024. Though undocumented, he has lived in Yakima since he was 6.
In the sentencing memo, the government argued that regardless of how diluted the barrels were, the defendant still engaged in a conspiracy that was designed to transport and distribute heroin.
Attorney Casey Kovacic, who defended Woodward, told KOIN 6 News that his client was immediately handed over to ICE following his sentencing hearing on Sept. 4. He said that he may have already been deported.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said they cannot comment on pending litigation.
OLYMPIA, Wash. – According to the results from Spring 2025 state assessments in Washington State released Wednesday, student performance in math and English language arts (ELA) continues to improve.
The tests, administered in grades 3–8 and 10, are required under federal law and measure whether students are on track for college-level coursework without needing remediation.
This year’s results show that 71% of students demonstrated at least foundational grade-level knowledge in ELA, while 63% met that mark in math, with gains recorded across all tested grades in math and most grades in ELA.
Looking ahead, Washington will focus on modernizing math instruction to better align with workforce needs.
At the pinnacle of San Cha’s opera Inebria me, an apparition in white emerged: Esperanza (Kyle Kidd), angelic and blood-smeared, clutching a red rose. Dolores (San Cha, the show’s librettist and composer) gazed at the spirit, her expression a blend of awe and longing, the unraveling newlywed finally alight with something beyond grief. Her encounter with Esperanza sparked a radical, gender-free religious fervor, one of ecstasy and drama, detached from self-flagellation or duty.
Inebria me took Winningstad Theatre to church on September 5 and 6—the three-act opera was one of the Time-Based Art Festival’s most striking works in years. San Cha, a Mexican American artist whose stage name blends the Spanish words san (saint) and sancha (mistress), adapted her 2019 album La Luz de Esperanza into a Spanish-language opera that queers the telenovela genre’s heteronormativity.
At first, the plot seemed deceptively simple: A working-class femme marries a wealthy man, but feels trapped by the role she’s expected to play. But an unexpected encounter frees Dolores from those constraints, awakening her queerness and spiritual agency. Led by a trans and queer cast and crew of color, the opera draws from the melodrama of telenovelas but finds wholly original terrain, inspired by San Cha’s strict Catholic upbringing, queer self-discovery, and experiences in the Bay Area drag scene.
Set in a “haunted hacienda,” Inebria me‘s stage was shrouded in fog and dominated by a black, angled cross. On either side, chiptune pioneer Leeni Ramadan played warped synth while Darian Donovan Thomas bowed a violin, both dressed in nuns’ habits.
The opera opened with Rosa (Carolina Oliveros) praying to the veiled Madre Jutta (Lu Coy), who loomed from a second-level balcony. Kneeling in guilt, she confessed envy for her sister Dolores, whose impending wedding provoked some seriously dark emotions in Rosa and her other sister, Azalea (stefa marin alarcon).
Entering in white taffeta and a trailing veil, Dolores at first exuded bliss. Yet even amid the rapture of her wedding, resignation flickered across her face, conveying a sickly sense that she was now ensnared in her husband-to-be Salvador’s grasp. He appeared as a distorted, disembodied voice—its source left unnamed in the show program—his form reduced to a sinister red outline projected against the stage backdrop. Amid twinkling synth, Madre Jutta sealed the marriage, and Dolores’ sisters looked on bitterly.
After the ceremony, Dolores’ sense of entrapment deepened. Lifting her wedding veil, she prayed to the moon, singing: “Cover me in your cloak… I can’t stand this thirst. Don’t let me dry up.”
Dolores’ sisters dismissed her distress, deeming her hysterical and reinforcing an internalized misogyny embedded in the narrative. But Dolores’ awakening soon arrived in the form of Esperanza, whose spectral presence filled her with rapture. In one of the most absorbing and vulnerable acts I’ve witnessed on stage, Dolores drank from Esperanza’s breast. “Inebria me,” she cried—make me drunk.
Against a chilly wave of arpeggiated electronics and droning violin, Salvador demanded Dolores be chained for her indiscretions. Azalea—secretly in love with Salvador and filled with jealous rage—readily obliged, while Rosa, taking pity on Dolores, helped her escape. Frenzied and delirious, she darted through the audience like a hunted animal.
The opera’s final act saw a tragic yet cathartic climax, perfectly aligned with San Cha’s fascinations with telenovela melodrama and religious mystics like Saint Teresa of Ávila. Dolores shed her corset for a loose white robe in Inebria me’s closing scene, ascending the cross to join Esperanza at its head.
“Feast on me,” she sang, signaling a sensual shift toward liberation.
At the pinnacle of San Cha’s opera Inebria me, an apparition in white emerged: Esperanza (Kyle Kidd), angelic and blood-smeared, clutching a red rose. Dolores (San Cha, the show’s librettist and composer) gazed at the spirit, her expression a blend of awe and longing, the unraveling newlywed finally alight with something beyond grief. Her encounter with Esperanza sparked a radical, gender-free religious fervor, one of ecstasy and drama, detached from self-flagellation or duty.
Inebria me took Winningstad Theatre to church on September 5 and 6—the three-act opera was one of the Time-Based Art Festival’s most striking works in years. San Cha, a Mexican American artist whose stage name blends the Spanish words san (saint) and sancha (mistress), adapted her 2019 album La Luz de Esperanza into a Spanish-language opera that queers the telenovela genre’s heteronormativity.
At first, the plot seemed deceptively simple: A working-class femme marries a wealthy man, but feels trapped by the role she’s expected to play. But an unexpected encounter frees Dolores from those constraints, awakening her queerness and spiritual agency. Led by a trans and queer cast and crew of color, the opera draws from the melodrama of telenovelas but finds wholly original terrain, inspired by San Cha’s strict Catholic upbringing, queer self-discovery, and experiences in the Bay Area drag scene.
Set in a “haunted hacienda,” Inebria me‘s stage was shrouded in fog and dominated by a black, angled cross. On either side, chiptune pioneer Leeni Ramadan played warped synth while Darian Donovan Thomas bowed a violin, both dressed in nuns’ habits.
The opera opened with Rosa (Carolina Oliveros) praying to the veiled Madre Jutta (Lu Coy), who loomed from a second-level balcony. Kneeling in guilt, she confessed envy for her sister Dolores, whose impending wedding provoked some seriously dark emotions in Rosa and her other sister, Azalea (stefa marin alarcon).
Entering in white taffeta and a trailing veil, Dolores at first exuded bliss. Yet even amid the rapture of her wedding, resignation flickered across her face, conveying a sickly sense that she was now ensnared in her husband-to-be Salvador’s grasp. He appeared as a distorted, disembodied voice—its source left unnamed in the show program—his form reduced to a sinister red outline projected against the stage backdrop. Amid twinkling synth, Madre Jutta sealed the marriage, and Dolores’ sisters looked on bitterly.
After the ceremony, Dolores’ sense of entrapment deepened. Lifting her wedding veil, she prayed to the moon, singing: “Cover me in your cloak… I can’t stand this thirst. Don’t let me dry up.”
Dolores’ sisters dismissed her distress, deeming her hysterical and reinforcing an internalized misogyny embedded in the narrative. But Dolores’ awakening soon arrived in the form of Esperanza, whose spectral presence filled her with rapture. In one of the most absorbing and vulnerable acts I’ve witnessed on stage, Dolores drank from Esperanza’s breast. “Inebria me,” she cried—make me drunk.
Against a chilly wave of arpeggiated electronics and droning violin, Salvador demanded Dolores be chained for her indiscretions. Azalea—secretly in love with Salvador and filled with jealous rage—readily obliged, while Rosa, taking pity on Dolores, helped her escape. Frenzied and delirious, she darted through the audience like a hunted animal.
The opera’s final act saw a tragic yet cathartic climax, perfectly aligned with San Cha’s fascinations with telenovela melodrama and religious mystics like Saint Teresa of Ávila. Dolores shed her corset for a loose white robe in Inebria me’s closing scene, ascending the cross to join Esperanza at its head.
“Feast on me,” she sang, signaling a sensual shift toward liberation.
(Associated Press) – The NCAA banned three men’s college basketball players for sports betting on Wednesday, saying they had bet on their own games at Fresno State and San Jose State and were able to share thousands of dollars in payouts.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions released findings from an enforcement investigation that concluded Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver bet on one another’s games and/or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season; two of them manipulated their performances to ensure certain bets were won. The eligibility was permanently revoked.
The NCAA said a sports integrity monitoring service in January notified Fresno State and NCAA enforcement staff that a Nevada sportsbook operator had flagged suspicious prop bets on Robinson. The investigation began a week later. The Associated Press could not immediately locate the former players for comment.
According to the NCAA, Robinson and Vasquez had been roommates at Fresno State during the 2023-24 season. In January 2025, Robinson and Vasquez, now at San Jose State, discussed over text message that Robinson planned to underperform in several statistical categories during a regular-season game. Robinson also placed multiple bets on Weaver, his teammate at Fresno State in 2024-25, the NCAA found.
The game that drew attention to Robinson was Fresno State’s Jan. 7 matchup with Colorado State. The NCAA said he had three bets based on his his performance – one was $200 to win $1,450; the second was $800 to win $5,800; and the third was $1,200 to win $8,700.
Investigators found that before that game, Robinson told his mother to transfer money by Apple Pay to Vasquez so Vasquez could coordinate a $200 bet on Robinson’s under-line for Robinson. After the game, the NCAA said, Vasquez helped Robinson transfer $1,425 of the winnings to Robinson’s mother. On Jan. 10, Vasquez provided $200 to Robinson.
Also last season, Robinson placed 13 daily fantasy sports over-line and under-line prop bets totaling $454 on parlays that included his own performance. He collected $618 on one occasion, the NCAA said.
Robinson placed bets on Weaver before a game in late December 2024 after he and Weaver exchanged information about their respective betting lines, the NCAA said. Weaver also placed a $50 prop bet on a parlay for himself, Robinson and a third athlete, and he won $260.
Vasquez and Robinson failed to cooperate with the enforcement staff’s investigation, the NCAA said. Weaver cooperated and agreed to the violation in his case.
All three were released from their respective teams and are no longer enrolled at their previous schools. Neither school was punished.
Fresno State said it cooperated willingly with the NCAA.
“The university proactively shared reported information concerning sports wagering activity with the NCAA and worked collaboratively with the NCAA staff throughout the investigation,” the school said in a statement. “While the eligibility consequences for the former student-athletes are significant, the case ultimately resulted in a Level III/Secondary violation and no sanctions for the institution. The university continues to have confidence in the Fresno State Athletics’ culture and is grateful to conclude this matter.”
San Jose State said in a statement that it is aware of the decision and noted that Vasquez had already been removed from the roster several months ago. He graduated in May 2025.
The latest case comes eight years after a 2017 federal investigation into off-the-books payments to players and their families that, at the time, was against NCAA rules and one of the biggest scandals in the sport’s history.
Since then, the growth of legalized gambling across the United States has raised concerns for college sports leaders and there have been allegations against schools involving betting, including some against three other basketball programs earlier this year.
The NCAA in June said that “several sports betting-related violations by staff members at NCAA schools” have been resolved in recent years and noted its enforcement staff was working on issuing notices of allegations in several ongoing gambling cases.
“The enforcement staff’s sports betting-related caseload has significantly increased in recent years, and our staff — including our new sports betting integrity unit — has been effective in detecting and pursuing violations,” Jon Duncan, NCAA vice president of enforcement, said then.
The nation’s largest college sports organization, overseeing some 500,000 athletes, also said it was considering a proposal that would allow athletes and staff members to bet on professional sports and shift enforcement efforts to college sports betting and “behaviors that directly impact game integrity.” The Division I Council introduced the proposal that will be considered this fall and be implemented if Divisions II and III officials also approve.
Current NCAA rules do not allow athletes or institutional staff to engage in sports betting for any sports that have NCAA championships; bets by an athlete on their own team or own sport risks a lifetime ban from college athletics. Those rules would not change under the pending proposal.
DENVER (AP) — Three teens have been hospitalized in critical condition after a shooting at a suburban Denver high school, authorities said Wednesday.
The shooting happened around midday at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, about 30 miles west of Denver, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.
All those taken to the hospital are believed to be students, Kelley said. She did not immediately have details on their injuries.
All three teens were either in the emergency room or undergoing surgery as of mid-afternoon at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, CEO Kevin Cullinan said. He said he does not believe there were any other victims from the shooting.
It is not clear who the shooter was or how many shooters may have been involved in the shooting, Kelley said.
Over 100 police officers from around the Denver area rushed to the school to try to help, Kelley said. The sheriff’s office is the same agency that responded to the school shooting at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that killed 14 people, including a woman who died earlier this year of complications from her injuries in the shooting.
OREM, Utah (AP) — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, died Wednesday after being shot at a college event, Trump said.
The co-founder and CEO of the youth organization Turning Point USA, the 31-year-old Kirk is the latest victim in a spasm of political violence across the United States.
Videos posted to social media from Utah Valley University show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone while sitting under a white tent emblazoned with the slogans “The American Comeback” and “Prove Me Wrong.” A single shot rings out and Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as a large volume of blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators are heard gasping and screaming before people start to run away. The AP was able to confirm the videos were taken at Sorensen Center courtyard on the Utah Valley University campus.
“We are confirming that he was shot and we are praying for Charlie,” said Aubrey Laitsch, public relations manager for Turning Point USA.
A person who was taken into custody at Utah Valley University was not the suspect, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. It was not clear if authorities were still searching the campus for a suspect.
Kirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political organization. Immediately before the shooting, Kirk was taking questions for an audience member about mass shootings and gun violence.
“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” an audience members asked. Kirk responded: “Too many.”
The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”
“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.
Then a single shot rang out.
The event had been met with divided opinions on campus. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”
Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit to Utah colleges was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”
Trump and a host of Republican and Democratic elected officials decried the shooting and offered prayers for Kirk on social media.
“We must all pray for Charlie Kirk, who has been shot. A great guy from top to bottom. GOD BLESS HIM!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence in the United States across all parts of the ideological spectrum. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade to demand Hamas release hostages, and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a campaign rally last year.
Former Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who was at the event, said in an interview on Fox News Channel that he heard one shot and saw Kirk go back.
“It seemed like it was a close shot,” Chaffetz said, who seemed shaken as he spoke.
He said there was a light police presence at the event and Kirk had some security but not enough.
“Utah is one of the safest places on the planet,” he said. “And so we just don’t have these types of things.”
Turning Point was founded in suburban Chicago in 2012 by Kirk, then 18, and William Montgomery, a tea party activist, to proselytize on college campuses for low taxes and limited government. It was not an immediate success.
But Kirk’s zeal for confronting liberals in academia eventually won over an influential set of conservative financiers.
Despite early misgivings, Turning Point enthusiastically backed Trump after he clinched the GOP nomination in 2016. Kirk served as a personal aide to Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, during the general election campaign.
Soon, Kirk was a regular presence on cable TV, where he leaned into the culture wars and heaped praise on the then-president. Trump and his son were equally effusive and often spoke at Turning Point conferences.
DENVER (KDVR) – An “active assailant” was reported at a high school in the Denver metro area on Wednesday afternoon, according to authorities in Jefferson County.
A spokesperson for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office initially said in a post on X that “at least” two students at Evergreen High School, in Evergreen, Colorado, had been shot and taken to the hospital. A representative for the nearby CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital told Nexstar’s KDVR that there were three total patients, all in critical condition.
A public information officer for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon, said the shooting occurred on school grounds, and the injured are all believed to be students.
The spokesperson said it was not clear how many shooters were involved or where they may be.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Denver said it is aware of the shooting and has personnel responding and is ready to help. The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Denver Rocky Mountain Region Field Division said it is also responding.
Gov. Jared Polis added on X that he is “monitoring the situation.”
“State Troopers are supporting local law enforcement in responding to this situation,” he wrote. “Students should be able to attend school safely and without fear across our state and nation. We are all praying for the victims and the entire community.”
U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen, from Colorado’s 7th congressional district, said she was “shocked” and “heartbroken” over the incident.
“I’m hopeful that law enforcement is able to intervene & ensure all of our kids come home safe,” Pettersen wrote. “We are in communication with local law officials & will be there to support the Evergreen community.”
Officials in Jefferson County first posted an alert shortly after 12:40 p.m. local time, notifying the public of an active assailant at the school. Parents were urged not to pick up their children from the school, as it was still an “active scene.”
At 1 p.m., authorities established a nearby elementary school as a reunification location.
A spokesperson for West Metro Fire Rescue told Nexstar’s KDVR that the rescue had sent two ambulances, four medical staff and one chief for mutual aid.
No further information was immediately available.
This is a developing story. Nexstar’s KDVR will be providing live updates and coverage when more information becomes available.
It might seem strange to focus on music and arts at this particularly dystopian stage of American life. When the city is under threat of President Trump deploying National Guard troops to quell protesters who are “ruining” the city of Portland, which, according to the President’s TV news diet, [checks notes] is now like living in hell.
On the contrary, there’s at least a trio of exciting local updates on Portland’s music forecast that are more than worthy of your time; from celebrating alternative Black artists at Black and Loud Fest, a thrilling new pop single from Alana Rich, and an upcoming visit from queer singer-songwriter and Mean Girls (the musical) star Renee Rapp—you can consume and support them in good faith knowing that MAGA would label them all DEI hires and “paid agitators.”
MUST SEE:
Upcoming local event(s) featuring local artist(s).
Black and Loud Fest
Founded by Cameron Lavi-Jones and Anthony Briscoe, Black and Loud Fest started in a parking lot in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood in 2022, with the goal of spotlighting Black artists and Black-fronted bands creating music alternative to mainstream Black music. In addition to throwing “one of the most kick-ass music festivals in the Pacific Northwest,” the festival celebrates the history of Black alt-rock, aiming to give alternative Black artists their flowers. In April 2024, the festival expanded to serving Portland’s alternative Black music fans at Bossanova Ballroom. The festival returns to Portland this month for Black and Loud 2025, this time heading to Revolution Hall. While the Portland lineup isn’t nearly as robust as Seattle’s the day prior, New York alt-rock legends Living Colour will be headlining both installments. The Portland lineup also sees sets from reggae and blues percussionist-vocalist Cyril Neville (also featuring her son’s band, Omari Neville and the Fuel); frontman and Black and Loud founder Cameron Lavi-Jones’ alt-rock four piece King Youngblood; and Seattle-based soul-punk rockers Down North. (Revolution Hall, Sun Sept 14, more info here, 6 pm)
MUST LISTEN:
New release(s) from Portland-relevant artist(s).
“The Thrill” by Alana Rich
On August 28, Portland-based pop singer-songwriter Alana Rich released new single “The Thrill,” maintaining her reputation of releasing glossy, emotional retro-pop. Co-produced by Justin Sprout, with Samantha Dang and Ken Tran, this one has a cinematic feel, with shimmering synths, and intense nostalgia-laced longing. It’s the type of song that should be strategically placed during a sentimental episode of Love Is Blind or The Ultimatum. “This song feels like the feeling right before everything changes,” says Rich. “It’s nostalgic, a little dangerous, and a little euphoric—like the flicker of something just out of reach.” In the second verse, Rich sings: “Remember all the nights sipping cherry wine off Cornell / We’re two bodies moving in sync and so now / I still wonder if I’m wasting away / In the back of my mind / Tasting your fingertips in summer’s bloom / When I think about you.” The perfect late summer steamer.
ADDED TO THE QUEUE:
Some upcoming music buzz to add to your radar.
Reneé Rapp / Syd
Initially made famous for her enchanting, smoldering, borderline witchy portrayal of Regina George in the Broadway musical Mean Girls, reprising the role again in the 2024 film adaptation, singer-songwriter Reneé Rapp also has a budding solo career. From her 2022 debut EP Everything to Everyone, to 2023’s full-length studio album Snow Angel in 2023, along with her new album Bite Me, Rapp is on fire. For her upcoming stop in Portland, she’ll be joined by special guest Syd (The Internet) at Moda Center’s Theater of the Clouds. All in all, expect to hear granular powerhouse vocals as she reviews highlights from her catalog. Look for standouts like the saucy, ’90s reminiscent “Shy;” poignantly restrained, effervescent single “I Think I Like You Better When You’re Gone;” the moody “Why Is She Still Here?” about being an undercover lover; and the sensuous “Kiss It, Kiss It,” on which the rising queer icon delivers killer lyrics like, “You’re gonna kill me if you kiss it like that / Got me in tears, but not because I’m sad.” And of course, there’s a chance of being blessed with at least one or two renditions from Mean Girls, like “Someone Gets Hurt,” “World Burns,” and the delightfully petty Regina George anthem, “Not My Fault.” (Theater of the Clouds, Mon Oct 13, 8 pm, more info here, all ages)
Central Oregon Disability Support Network serves families with children with disabilities across eight Oregon counties.
Bend, Ore. – An Oregon nonprofit serving kids and families with disabilities may be forced to shut down many of its services, after losing a major federal grant.
The U.S. Department of Education just notified Central Oregon Disability Support Network it would not continue the final payment of a five-year grant. Executive Director Dianna Hansen says CODSN stands to lose $150,000, “Which doesn’t seem like a lot, when you’re the federal government. But it’s a lot for our small nonprofit that serves eight small counties in Oregon.” She adds, “Essentially, it’s almost half of our budget.” The nonprofit plans to appeal, but Hansen says, if the decision stands, “We’re going to be laying staff off. We’re going to be closing if not all, most of our offices.”
Hansen says USDOE said in its “Notice of Non-Continuation,” the department pulled the funds because of two lines in the original 50-page application submitted in 2021, which mentions DEI training, “‘Both our board and staff continue to actively pursue professional development to diversity, equity and inclusion.’” But Hansen tells KXL that training was conducted from 2018-2020, before the grant was awarded. And, “It was training for our board and staff to really understand the diverse types of disability.” She says they learned about the differences in needs for someone who is visually impaired, compared to someone in a wheelchair. And, Hansen says, they learned more about workign with the types of families CODSN serves, “It was really around understanding families in poverty and generational differences- we serve a lot of grandparents raising grandchildren.” Click here to read CODSN’s officials response.
Hansen notes nearly every other state applicant in the federal program included similar language, but, “They only removed the grants from Oregon, New York and Washington state.” She says no one from USDOE reached out for clarification on the language used in the 2021 application, nor was there an opportunity to update the nonprofit’s information.
CODSN’s grant funds a parent resource center serving 4,000 families navigating special education systems across eight rural Oregon counties, include Deschutes, Jefferson and Wheeler counties.
Several members of Oregon’s Congressional delegation pledged to help restore the funding. Hansen says only Rep. Cliff Bentz did not respond to her request.
If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s newsreporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. 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. We’re finally getting to a time of the year when talking about the weather is a little more interesting. Things may be very different week to week. Today, we’re looking at temperatures in the mid-70s. Fingers crossed for some rain this weekend, but for now, things are looking dry and temperate. Anyway, onto the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Wanna run for office in Portland? It won’t cost you too much—for now. The city of Portland appears to be weighing an increase to the candidate filing fees for those running for mayor and City Council, which are currently quite modest ($100 and $75, respectively). In a survey seeking feedback on Portland’s first ranked choice election, the city floated a potential filing fee increase, which might reduce the number of “non-serious”—the city’s words, not mine!—candidates entering the fray. There were, after all, almost 120 candidates running for City Council or mayor last fall, which was a lot for voters (and reporters!) to sift through. And the city is correct in its analysis of some of the candidates. Not everyone who ran realistically had the experience or drive to mount a successful campaign, and some seemingly threw their name in the ring just to see it on the ballot, without trying very hard to actually win. Would a fee increase help? Maybe, but I think the election in Portland last fall was representative of a unique time, when nobody was an incumbent on the forthcoming 12-person City Council and everyone felt a sense of possibility about their political futures. It’s unlikely so many people will run again, with or without a fee increase. Still, the city is considering a slight increase ($250 for council candidates and $325 for mayor/auditor) and a more significant one ($1,332 for council and $1,655 for mayor and auditor). Would-be candidates who earn under a certain threshold can apply for a fee waiver, and anyone can choose to collect 500 signatures in support of their candidacy, in lieu of paying the filing fee.
• The state transportation package is tearing Oregon apart!!!! At the very least, it’s shaking up the political world. Last week, Rep. Cyrus Javadi—a Republican up until a few days ago—announced he would re-register as a Democrat before running for reelection in 2026. The decision was partially motivated by his feelings on the Democrats’ transportation funding bill, which is currently stalled in the Senate until at least next week. Javadi, who represents Oregon’s northern coast, was the sole Republican to vote in favor of the bill during the House vote last week, with the rest of his former Grand Ol’ Party colleagues unable to get past their indiscriminate hatred for the transportation package due to its proposed tax increases. Javadi has recently become a pariah in the Oregon Republican Party for other reasons, too. For example, he supports access to rural healthcare and is anti-banning books. The horror!
More recently, Democratic Rep. Annessa Hartman—the sole Democrat to vote “no” on the transportation bill—announced she won’t be running for reelection at all. Hartman, who represents Gladstone, Oregon City, and unincorporated Clackamas County in the Oregon House and was the third Indigenous person elected to the body, implied her Democratic colleagues tried to bully her into voting for the bill, apparently warning her that voting against it would end her career. In an interview with OPB, Hartman said “that was the nail in the coffin that I can’t be part of this system anymore.” Her decision illuminates just how chaotic things are in the Oregon Legislature right now, where lawmakers seem to be struggling to read the political landscape. Those who oppose the bill have also said it’s a political death sentence to support it, and lawmakers who have voted in favor have certainly been targeted for online bullying and harassment, too. In such an environment, I suppose Hartman’s decision to leave is understandable. She says she plans to run for the Clackamas County Commission next.
• This story is wild. A Sellwood coffee shop has likely exposed customers to asbestos, either because it fell on them while they were in the cafe or because they took some of the cafe’s asbestos-ridden furniture home after the coffee shop offered it to people for free.
Health officials are asking anyone who picked up the furniture to throw it away or contact the DEQ for disposal.
• Portland man Oscar Burell Jr. became infamous earlier this year for terrorizing city streets from behind the wheel of his pickup truck. Those who didn’t encounter him directly may have seen the dozens of videos he posted on social media, which depicted himself driving extremely recklessly. And honestly, “recklessly” doesn’t really cut it as a descriptor for the way this guy conducted himself. He filmed himself sitting halfway out the car window while going 60 miles per hour on the freeway, weaving in and out of lanes and seemingly not looking at the road at all, among other exploits.
Burell was eventually arrested in April, and this week, a judge found him guilty of two counts of reckless driving and a single charge of reckless endangerment. But he was acquitted on eight other charges, and was sentenced to one and a half years of probation and made to do 80 hours of community service. His fairly mild punishment also includes getting his driver’s license suspended…but only for a mere 90 days, which is shockingly lenient considering just how destructive of a driver Burell has proven himself to be. Given Burell’s prior behavior, it’s a miracle he hasn’t seriously injured or killed a fellow road user or himself. The legal system would be wise to try to ensure it stays that way. But the judge’s decision on this case doesn’t show an understanding of the gravity of destructive driving, and some are alarmed about the precedent the light sentence will set. Contrary to American car culture dogma, the ability to drive a car is not an inalienable human right. It’s a privilege, and one that should be taken much more seriously. I guess we have a long way to go.
• Don’t forget to check out this week’s Mercury Music Picks!
It’s a big week for unusual and captivating live music: Zamrock, club music from NYC, dungeon synth, and more. Oh, and don’t forget the two festivals Lose Yr Mind and PDX Pop Now❗️
• President Trump’s efforts to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook have been stymied, at least for now, by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. The judge’s ruling grants Cook a preliminary injunction and allows her to stay in the job, which is good for Americans who want to see the central bank retain its independence (as we all should if we want a somewhat functioning economy). However, it’s only a temporary order, as the case will continue making its way through the courts. Still, let this be a lesson to my fellow journalists, some of whom wrote headlines declaring that Trump “fired” Cook when he clearly lacked the legal authority to do so. It’s a disgrace to see ostensibly independent media professionals doing free PR for the president, who is an enemy of a free and fair press. You don’t have to give this guy anything.
• More than 2,000 filmmakers and actors have signed an open letter calling for an end to genocide in Gaza and pledging to boycott the Israeli film industry. Signatories include well-known actors such as Emma Stone, Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and Tilda Swinton, as well as filmmakers including Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, and Yorgos Lanthimos. The letter, dubbed the “Film Workers Pledge to End Complicity,” referenced a similar campaign in the 1980s, when many Hollywood filmmakers joined an effort to stand against South African apartheid. Today, the Hollywood pledge is one of the most substantial public demonstrations of support for Gaza since Israel began its near-constant siege on the region almost two years ago, and is particularly notable for its strong language on a subject fraught with so much political and cultural controversy. In the recent past, people who have spoken up for Gaza have risked their careers, as a version of McCarthyism rears its head in Hollywood and politics. The fact that so many renowned celebrities signed this letter may be indicative of the changing tides on this issue, as people from around the world have seen the devastating toll Israel’s war has had for millions of Palestinian civilians.
• Poland and its NATO allies said they shot down Russian drones that apparently violated Polish airspace last night. It’s unclear if Russia intentionally flew drones into Poland, which has made similar allegations in the past, but European Union foreign policy experts say it was no accident. They also say it represents an escalation of Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has been going on for nearly four years and shows no sign of winding down, at least not if Putin has it his way. Good thing the US has such level-headed foreign policy experts at the helm right now. 😒
• So, we all know that the Trump administration wants to ensure the US is hooked on fossil fuels for decades to come, pumping out planet-warming emissions to the grave detriment of the planet we all call home, and forcing us to pay more in energy costs. But our government’s crusade to ruin everyone’s lives is actually even worse than you might know. American officials are currently trying to strong-arm other countries into rolling back their own clean energy policies, too. US Energy Secretary Chris Wright is currently in Europe promoting fossil fuels, using FAKE, DEBUNKED MISINFORMATION to promote a disastrous and radical ideology. There’s no way to describe these efforts except as pure evil, representative of a spiritually bankrupt and sick worldview that I pray world leaders will reject. I literally cannot stress it enough: Our leaders have nothing good to offer the American people or the world. Every single thing they say and do comes from a place of greed, nihilism, and misanthropy. They should not be allowed a moment’s peace. It is ethical to hate them and make your hatred known. In fact, it is unethical not to.
• Oh man, I’m mad now. Let’s calm down with this amazing video of opossums eating fruit. Have a good Wednesday, everyone.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Pleasant and fair weather days are returning to the region. A mix of sunshine and clouds and temperatures near average will take Portland through the end of the week.
Decreasing clouds on Wednesday will help Portland area temperatures warm into the mid to upper 70s. Portland’s average daytime high temperature should be in the upper 70s during the second week of the month.
Rain remains absent for much of the Willamette Valley as thunderstorms continue over the Cascades and throughout portions of the Columbia River Gorge. Those planning on hiking should do so earlier in the day, before afternoon and evening storms develop.
Some afternoon thunderstorms have the capability of producing flooding rains. The National Weather Service has burn scar areas in Central Oregon under a flash flood watch through Wednesday evening at least.
Mostly dry skies will remain in western Oregon and southwest Washington through Saturday. This comes as Portland prepares for slightly warmer-than-average temperatures to start the weekend.
KOIN 6 Senior Meteorologist Kelley Bayern shares Portland’s drier and warmer weather pattern for the middle of September 2025
An incoming cold front is expected to increase rain potential across the Pacific Northwest on Sunday as temperatures fall to the mid 70s. A warm pattern and dry trend is expected to return to the region early next week.
