Willamette Week, July 6, 2022 - Volume 48, Issue 35 - "Ripped City"

“AFTER THE THIRD NYET, I WAS LOOKING FOR THE DOOR.” P. 11

WILLAMETTE WEEK

PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

NEWS: Betsy Johnson’s Car Crash.

P. 8 FOOD: Riffing in the Kitchen at Arden.

P. 22 FILM: Taika Tales.

P. 26

RIPPED CITY Nobody likes how Portland is governed.

But the plan to fix it is already a bitter fight.

By Sophie Peel. Page 12

WWEEK.COM VOL 48/35 07.0 6. 202 2

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Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

FINDINGS ALLISON BARR

ARDEN, PAGE 22

VOL. 48, ISSUE 35

Amazon has big plans outside the Oregon coastal town of Cloverdale. 6

Think you do the best Nic Cage impression? There’s a competition you’ll want to enter. 21

A state trooper says one motor home catches fire every day on Cabbage Hill near Pendleton. 6

The 2017 closing of Taylor Railworks still haunts chef Erik Van Kley. 22

Betsy Johnson’s attorneys claimed her job shielded her from paying damages for a car crash. 8

Buoy Beer has a taproom once

again following June’s partial pub collapse. 23

Ron Wyden traveled to the former Soviet Union to retrieve Arvydas Sabonis. 11

July 10 is known as Oil Day in the cannabis community because, upside down, the date spells “OIL.” 24

A volunteer committee proposes Portland try a form of government used by no other city in America. 13

For the first time in 20 years, Daryl Groetsch, better known as Pulse Emitter, is releasing music under his given name. 25

Mingus Mapps christened his political action committee after his own middle name, Ulysses.

Taika Waititi’s rise to Hollywood dominance began with a film about a man seeking a rematch with his high school nemesis. 26

14

ON THE COVER:

OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK:

An ambitious plan to reform Portland’s government threatens to tear the city apart; photo illustration by Mick Hangland-Skill.

U.S. Coast Guard says planned bridge across Columbia River is 60 feet too low.

Masthead EDITOR & PUBLISHER ART DEPARTMENT

Mark Zusman

EDITORIAL

News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Andi Prewitt Assistant A&C Editor Bennett Campbell Ferguson Staff Writers Anthony Effinger, Nigel Jaquiss, Lucas Manfield, Rachel Monahan, Sophie Peel News Interns Ekansh Gupta, Helen Huiskes, Ethan Johanson Copy Editor Matt Buckingham

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DIALOGUE In the hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, hundreds of Portlanders carried signs through downtown streets—a ritual of mourning for lost freedoms that has become familiar since the presidential election of Donald Trump. In last week’s paper, WW explored two questions posed by the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson: How would Oregon Right to Life seek to reduce abortions in a state with robust protections? And how long until Americans begin sneering at the legitimacy of the Supreme Court?

Here’s what our readers had to say:

TONY CLIFTON, VIA WWEEK. COM: “Malcontents never know

MARA, VIA WWEEK.COM:

ANTIFUGGEDABOUTIT, VIA WWEEK.COM: “The vast

GONZOVERITAS, VIA REDDIT:

what to do with a win. They now have one less thing to complain about—and full access to reproductive freedom will always remain intact in Oregon.”

majority of voters support legal abortion, but six unelected lunatics decided they know better. If Oregon flips red you can kiss your rights goodbye. Hell, if Republicans win back control of Congress, which seems quite likely, you might see a federal ban. So, in summary, do not vote Republican basically ever.”

JOSHUA MARQUIS, VIA TWITTER: “A GOP candidate

who says they oppose abortion choice is NOT going to be elected governor when two-thirds of Oregonians identify themselves as pro-choice.”

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Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

“Last time abortion was illegal, the religious and the sanctimonious forced pregnant teenage girls to drop out of high school.

Are these interest groups going to support them this time?”

“The court ruled that we have NO fundamental rights unless they are specifically written into the Constitution. This is a HUGE divergence from the last 150 years of decisions rendered by the court. (Decisions made since the enactment of the 14th Amendment.)

“Alito went back to English common law, pre-Constitution, pre-United States, to make his arguments. He propped up his reasoning with decisions made by a judge, Matthew Hale, that executed witches, allowed dreams as admissible evidence, and codified marital rape as legal and just.

Dr. Know

“Alito cited Hale’s decisions eight times in his own decision overturning abortion and, most likely, overturning a huge swath of other rights we thought were long secured.”

STEVERINO, VIA WWEEK. COM: “Here we go again. What

SCOTUS stated is the Constitution doesn’t consider abortion a ‘right.’

“If Congress wants to pass a law or put forth an amendment on abortion, there is NO restriction. Hence, it’s now a states’ rights issue. As an example, there is NO change in Oregon with respect to abortion. Kate and Tina can knock themselves out.

“I think all the hyperventilation is cutting off oxygen to people’s minds.”

PDXBILL, VIA WWEEK.COM:

“Americans in some cities have already stopped recognizing the legitimacy of property rights, local laws and the police. Hence, we see frequent rioting and property destruction.”

MATTGEN88, VIA REDDIT:

“Roberts has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author's street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words.

Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

Eastern Oregon is apparently under assault by a plague of ravenous Mormon crickets. What’s so Mormon about them? Are they morally upstanding? Abstemious? Polygamous? Please advise. —Ritt Momney Believe me, Ritt, I’d love to convince you that they’re called Mormon crickets because of their love for gold statues mounted on tall white columns. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing Mormon about them at all (except perhaps their lack of interest in birth control). They got the name after famously attacking Brigham Young’s fledgling Mormon settlement in Utah in 1847.

If Mormon crickets were discovered now, we’d call them Giant Murder Crickets. (They can’t hurt you, but who’s gonna tune in at 11 to hear about Stingless Vegan Crickets?) They’re huge—3 inches long—and each one can eat 38 pounds of vegetation in its 100-day life. They can’t fly (thank God), but they march by the millions, devouring all plant life in their path.

Obviously, this is not what you want to see as the leader of a 19th century religious community, and not just because survival depends on a successful harvest: When your power flows from

the perception that you are God’s anointed, having your colony wiped out by a literal plague of locusts is just not a great look.

Indeed, as the cricket was devastating their crops, several of Young’s fellow latter-day saints questioned his judgment, urging him to abandon his plans for Utah and resettle the group in—wait for it—Oregon, which might have changed our state’s colorful history considerably.

But then, just as Casa Diablo was vanishing from our McFly family photo, a massive flock of seagulls miraculously appeared—in Utah!—to devour the crickets, and the outpost that would later become Salt Lake City was saved. This event is now called the “Miracle of the Gulls,” and while it would be stretch to call it Mormon Hanukkah, it’s a well-known legend.

Secular killjoys are not entirely sold on this telling: Scientists note that the swarming crickets (which are actually katydids) have been feasted upon by seagulls in Utah forever; it’s like Burning Man for them. Historians also see no “miracle” mentioned in contemporaneous accounts of that year’s events. But can either explain why there’s a gold statue of a seagull (on top of a tall white column) in Temple Square in Salt Lake City? The defense rests.

Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.

MURMURS CHRISTINE DONG

BIKETOWN STATION MAJOR AUTISM SERVICES PROVIDER TO CLOSE IN OREGON: The Center for Autism and Related Disorders informed state officials last week it will close its 10 Oregon clinics in August, resulting in the layoff of 156 staff members. Texas-based CARD is the largest provider of an autism treatment called applied behavior analysis. Tobi Rates, executive director of the Autism Society of Oregon, says that although the therapy is controversial in some circles, it qualifies for broad insurance coverage from both private and public payers. “It’s a big deal,” Rates says of the closures. The widespread and growing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder—1 in 44 8-year-olds have it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—has attracted investors to the field. The Blackstone Group, a leading private equity firm, purchased CARD in 2018 for a reported $600 million. Rates says parents of children experiencing autism are upset about the closures and speculating among themselves that the move may be related to reimbursement rates. CARD and the Oregon Health Authority did not respond to requests for comment.

COUNTY MOVES TOWARD RANKED-CHOICE VOTING: While the city of Portland faces growing opposition to its charter reform efforts (see cover story, page 12), Multnomah County has chosen a different path to charter reform. Rather than combining proposed changes into one big question for voters, as the city reform panel has done, the county’s Charter Review Committee forwarded a slate of four discrete questions for final consideration July 5. The biggest change the county reform panel proposes is to shift from the current method of electing candidates to ranked-choice voting, in which voters assign relative preferences to each candidate, with the lowest-ranked candidate being eliminated in a series of tallies until one candidate gets a majority. If county commissioners ratify the proposal and voters approve it, the county would adopt ranked-choice voting in 2026.

Samantha Gladu, one of the members of the charter panel, says the change might reduce negative campaigning: “Candidates will have the incentive to work together rather than tear each other down and sling mud at each other.”

PARKING FEE WILL FUND LOW-INCOME TRANSIT RIDES: Motorists returning downtown after the July 4 holiday will notice a change when they pay for street parking: The price went up 20 cents per space. The Portland Bureau of Transportation says it’s a “climate fee” intended to remind motorists of “the externalized costs of driving (including greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, and use of roadway space).” Even by local measures, that’s an unusually pointed rebuke to drivers. The fee was the brainchild of a city task force, which met for a year to find ways to “address the climate crisis by reducing driving, while also addressing the historic inequities in our transportation system.” So where is the money going? PBOT spokeswoman Hannah Schafer says the bureau expects to raise $2 million in the first year and use that money to buy transit passes for people living in affordable housing and give Biketown rides to people receiving social services.

MUSHROOM VENTURE DISSOLVES: Red Light Holland, a publicly traded magic mushroom company, says it has dissolved its 14-month-old Oregon-based partnership with Halo Collective, a Canadian cannabis company, to pursue a new venture it hopes will bring mushroom enthusiasts of all backgrounds into the nascent psychedelics industry. Red Light Holland and Halo were among the first established companies to set up operations in Oregon after Measure 109 passed in November 2020 and legalized the regulated use of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms (“Business Trip,” WW, Feb. 16). Red Light says it ended the venture so it could focus on a new program in Oregon called “Red Light. Set. Go!” that will recruit candidates and provide them with advice and funding to enter the psilocybin market. Shunji Smith, a Japanese American mushroom grower from Eugene, is the first participant, Red Light says. Both Red Light Holland and Halo Collective are publicly traded, and both stocks have taken a beating this year. Halo Collective shares trade for 41 cents, down from a whopping $1,194 in April 2019.

Get Busy Tonight OUR EVENT PICKS, E M A I L E D W E E K LY. Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

5

ALEX WITTWER

NEWS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK

PROJECT

Operation Cloverdale

BEACH BONANZA: Tech giants can profit from landing cables on Oregon’s shore.

Watchdogs are guarding against another Tierra Del Mar-style foul-up.

BY N I G E L J AQ U I S S

LOW BRIDGE: The current Interstate 5 crossing is a drawbridge.

njaquiss@wweek .com

Amazon Web Services, part of the Seattle tech giant, wants to land a trans-Pacific telecommunications cable in the tiny Tillamook County hamlet of Cloverdale (pop. 146).

Records show Amazon obtained a permit in May from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to conduct an initial survey of the beach there. (The parks department regulates all Oregon beaches, which belong to the public.)

Amazon appears to be treading lightly, after a highly publicized screw-up by a Facebook subsidiary in 2020 (“The Facebook Coast,” WW, Aug. 19, 2020). In that instance, a drilling accident at Tierra Del Mar, also in Tillamook County, initially left 1,100 feet of drill pipe, 6,500 gallons of drilling lubricant, and equipment marooned 50 feet under the seafloor.

That Facebook mishap on a pristine stretch of the Oregon Coast led state Rep. David Gomberg (D-Otis) to pass a new law imposing legal and financial requirements on any company seeking to land a telecom cable on the coast.

Gomberg says he’s keeping an eye on Amazon. “Last time everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Gomberg says of the Facebook snafu. “This time, [Amazon] seems to be starting out on better footing.”

One of the Tierra Del Mar homeowners who led the fight to get Facebook to clean up its mess, Lynnae Ruttledge, was on hand at a June 27 open house in Pacific City where Amazon presented its plans to area residents.

Here’s what she and others learned: What exactly does Amazon want to do? The tech giant wants to run a cable on the seafloor from Singapore to Grover City, Calif., a distance of 9,400 miles. It will run a branch off that line under the beach off Cloverdale to a landing spot on Highway 101. The company says it wants to connect its largest region on the West Coast to its second-largest region in Asia to expand high-speed internet capacity.

What’s different from the Facebook project? Ruttledge and other Tierra Del Mar neighbors says Facebook blindsided them in 2020 with its plan to land its cable smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood (on a vacant lot its subsidiary bought from former Oregon Ducks quarterback Joey Harrington). They also claim the social media giant operated in secrecy and covered up its drilling accident. Along with the June 27 open house, Amazon circulated an FAQ document and brought sandwiches, cookies

and a team of experts to answer questions. Most importantly, rather than bringing the cable into a residential neighborhood, Amazon has cut a deal with the Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp to come ashore on the camp’s private property at least 500 feet from the nearest house.

What’s in it for the locals? Ruttledge says she’ll press for Amazon or the church camp, which is normally tax exempt, to pay taxes on the new equipment. Whether that happens or not, Gomberg says a tangible benefit will be to increase internet and cell service along the cable’s route to Hillsboro, Highway 6, which is currently a dead zone.

What happens next? Amazon will apply for permits from the Department of State Lands, the state parks and Tillamook County. If it gets those, the company hopes to drill under the offshore seafloor and beach starting in mid-2023. A spokeswoman for Amazon declined to comment.

LINEUP

Leaving Home The brain trust of Portland’s subsidized housing is seeing a lot of turnover.

The money is coming, but people are leaving.

Soon, Portland will have more cash than ever to tackle the homeless crisis. The Metro supportive housing services income tax, passed by voters in 2020, is funneling an expected $250 million each year among Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties.

But the people in charge of spending that money are leaving. No fewer than three top 6

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

execs have resigned since February. Four, if you count the head of the state’s housing agency.

What’s going on? They all have their own reasons for departure. Elissa Gertler, planning director at Metro, the tri-county government that administers the supportive housing services measure, is moving to Astoria. She’s staying in the game, though, running the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority.

Many agencies weren’t prepared for the typhoon of cash, Gertler says. They had to build the infrastructure and systems to spend it promptly and wisely.

“The region has pumped an unprecedented amount of resources into affordable housing,” Gertler says. “Every single one of our agencies has had to level up. It’s exhausting.”

Case in point: The Joint Office of Homeless Services, the city-county partnership, proposed a budget of $256 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, up from $150 million the previous year.

For her part, Shannon Callahan, director of the Portland Housing Bureau, says she’s staying on the job.

“There are a number of great folks transitioning to new jobs and opportunities right

now, including quite a few folks in the housing world locally,” Callahan said in an email.

“I, however, am still at the Housing Bureau.”

ANTHONY EFFINGER.

Name: Elissa Gertler Job title: Planning and development director, Metro Scope of duties: Managed urban growth boundary, oversaw regional transportation planning and funding, managed aspects of the Metro supportive housing services measure.

Last day: July 1, 2022 Years at the agency: 11 Why she left: To run the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority, which provides safe, affordable housing in Columbia, Clatsop and Tillamook counties, and to live in Astoria.

Name: Michael Buonocore Job title: Executive director, Home Forward Scope of duties: Ran Portland’s housing authority, the largest provider of affordable housing in Oregon, with 6,700 apartments in its portfolio.

Last day: February 2022 Years at the agency: 20

Why he left: To podcast and write a book.

Buonocore’s podcast is called The First Michael, and he’s appeared on The Moth storytelling show.

Name: Marc Jolin Job title: Director, Joint Office of Homeless Services Scope of duties: JOHS provides shelter beds, permanent housing, and mental health counseling.

Last day: March 1, 2022 Years at the agency: 7 Why he left: No reason given.

Name: Margaret Salazar Job title: Director, Oregon Housing and Community Services Scope of duties: OHCS provides stable, affordable housing statewide.

Last day: February 2022 Years at the agency: 5 Why she left: To become a regional administrator at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

COURTESY OF AMAZON

Coastal residents hope Amazon avoids Facebook’s mistakes with a new trans-Pacific cable.

NEWS HENRY CROMETT

THE BIG NUMBER

3.99%

That’s the road grade required to build a new Interstate 5 bridge that stands 115 feet above the Columbia River, according to estimates produced by Oregon and Washington officials in 2012.

Architects of the Interstate Bridge Replacement program confirmed to WW last week that they’re considering a bridge roughly that steep.

That angle takes on new consequence following a June 17 initial determination by the U.S. Coast Guard that the Interstate 5 bridge must be at least 178 feet tall—or include a drawbridge—in order to allow ships to pass under it.

The Coast Guard’s demand for greater height adds difficulty to the already daunting prospect of designing a bridge that satisfies everyone who crosses it.

“We are threading a very fine needle to meet all of the needs here,” says Gary Johnson, the IBR program administrator.

A drawbridge means periodic traffic jams as vessels pass. But a taller bridge means either a longer or steeper bridge.

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s highway design manual prescribes a maximum 3% grade for most interstate freeways on level terrain, with an allowance that in “extreme” circumstances they can go to 4%. (A 4% grade means the road gains 4 feet of elevation for every 100 feet of length.)

So steeper is out. That means longer—with a bridge rising farther from the banks of the Columbia. Retired engineer and bridge critic Bob Ortblad says to stay at a 4% grade, the bridge span would be 2 miles long, starting near North Marine Drive in Portland and landing near Mill Plain Boulevard in Vancouver.

Indeed, critics of IBR say the Coast Guard letter confirms their opinion of a tall bridge: It’s an arrogant folly. “A bridge with a 4% grade creates a safety hazard (with slow trucks climbing the steep grade), impaired performance of light rail and buses,” writes Joe Cortright in an email to WW. “The steeper grade and higher clearance also burn more fuel (as vehicles have to climb a big hill) and also leads to higher pollution. The very high clearance makes the bridge much worse for bikes and pedestrians, who have to climb the grade under their own power.”

Johnson says IBR representatives will seek a variance from the Coast Guard—in part to keep the bridge from being too steep.

“It is something that we are concerned about every day,” he says.

“We know that if grades get too steep, people will not use it for active transportation. So we are looking to make sure that our grades don’t exceed grades that are comfortable for folks who are biking, walking or rolling.”

We wondered how a 4% grade would compare to other sharp climbs on interstate highways. So we consulted the guidebook used by people most worried about road grades: truckers.

The Kansas-based publishers of Mountain Directory West and Mountain Directory East say they consulted with transportation departments in 22 states to identify the steepest highway grades in the nation. Here’s how the proposed Interstate Bridge Replacement compares to some of the nation’s most white-knuckle drives. A A R O N M E S H .

LOW BRIDGE: The current Interstate 5 crossing is a drawbridge.

Eisenhower Tunnel

Donner Pass

Cabbage Hill

Sunshine Skyway Bridge

Monteagle Mountain

Interstate Bridge Replacement (proposed)

Interstate 70 West of Georgetown, Colo.

7% grade For 6 miles Notable fact: Bores under the Continental Divide.

Interstate 84 East of Pendleton, Ore. 6% grade For 6 miles Notable fact: Mountain Directory West relays word from an Oregon state trooper that one motor home a day catches fire trying to climb Cabbage Hill in the summer.

Interstate 24 East of Monteagle, Tenn.

6% grade For 4 miles Notable fact: “The Monteagle grade” gets name-checked in the opening song of Smokey and the Bandit.

Interstate 80 West of Truckee, Calif.

5% grade For 4 miles Notable fact: Cannibalism.

Interstate 275 St. Petersburg, Fla. 4% grade For portions of 4 miles Notable fact: In 1980, a freighter collided with a bridge support pillar, killing 35 as a Greyhound bus and several cars plunged into Tampa Bay.

Interstate 5 Portland to Vancouver 3.5%-4% grade For less than 2 miles Notable fact: Oregon and Washington have been trying to replace the old I-5 bridge since 2005.

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

7

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8

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

Gubernatorial candidate Betsy Johnson crashed into another motorist. Then she tried to claim legislative immunity.

BY R AC H E L M O N A H A N

rmonahan@wweek .com

In 2013, according to court records, then-state Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) rear-ended a driver stopped at a red light in her hometown.

The collision caused the driver of the other car lasting health problems. Johnson, now 71, who records say was not wearing a seat belt, suffered serious injury as well.

But the crash was also significant for the way that Johnson attempted to fight off the lawsuit filed by the woman in the other car. Melissa Gallentine, 42, says Johnson tried to avoid taking any responsibility for her injuries—by claiming she was performing legislative duties driving to the Capitol.

Gallentine is still “disappointed,” she says, “in someone who would not take responsibility for her actions”—and over the legal obstacles she faced trying to recover money for her injuries, which included a concussion. (The damage to her car was covered by insurance.)

“I’ve been waiting for this call,” Gallentine told WW. Johnson’s efforts to shirk responsibility following the crash are relevant now because she has made accountability the cornerstone of her campaign to be only the second Oregon governor ever elected without being a member of either major party.

In her most recent campaign ad, Johnson sits behind the wheel of a car and grimly surveys Portland’s homeless camps. “We should expect personal responsibility,” she says.

“Nine years ago, I was responsible for causing an auto accident while I was leaving Scappoose on my way to the state Capitol. I wasn’t speeding, I wasn’t texting, I wasn’t impaired, and I wasn’t reading the damn newspaper,” Johnson says in a statement to

WW. “I turned the suit over to my insurance company which used every means under the law to avoid paying anything more than justified.”

In 2015, after unsuccessful negotiations with Johnson’s insurance company, Gallentine sued Johnson in Columbia County Circuit Court, seeking $261,000 in compensation for her injuries.

In response, Johnson’s attorneys claimed she should be shielded by the concept of legislative immunity.

That is, they argued she was shielded from even being served with a lawsuit during the legislative session. And Johnson’s attorneys argued that as a result, the lawsuit should be permanently dismissed because Gallentine would not be able to meet the statutory deadline for filing a lawsuit, which is two years after an incident.

“Because defendant is immune from any service of process, the court lacks personal jurisdiction over defendant,” wrote Johnson’s attorneys in an April 27, 2015, filing.

They were attempting to create a sort of Catch-22 that would have allowed Johnson and her insurance company to escape all responsibility.

That’s not all: Johnson’s attorneys also argued that if anybody owed Gallentine compensation, it was the state of Oregon because, while the accident took place just 7 miles from her home, Johnson was driving to work at the Capitol on April 22, 2013.

“At the time of the accident, defendant was in the performance of duty and/or acting within the course and scope of her public employment as an Oregon state legislator,” Johnson’s attorneys wrote.

WW requested an interview with Johnson on July 1.

Her campaign declined and instead issued a statement: “My lawyers used every tool they could to minimize what they considered an excessive claim, including

•••• • • • ••

BETSY JOHNSON

CHECK THE MIRRORS: Betsy Johnson’s latest TV campaign ad shows her at the wheel of a car and calls for “personal responsibility.”

laws that apply to legislators while conducting state business, which I was,” Johnson said in the statement.

“I was thinking about a bill I was on my way to introduce, and I didn’t notice that the intersection light had just changed….I immediately slammed on the brakes as hard as I could. I was taken from the scene directly to [Oregon Health & Science University] and ended up spending the next six months recovering in a wheelchair from a broken hip.”

Gallentine’s first lawsuit against Johnson in 2015 named the senator as the sole defendant.

That lawsuit was dismissed after Johnson’s attorneys argued legislative immunity.

The Oregon Constitution provides that lawmakers “shall not be subject to any civil process during the session of the Legislative Assembly, nor during the fifteen days next before the commencement thereof.”

It doesn’t say lawmakers have no responsibility for their actions.

Other lawmakers have tried to invoke legislative immunity in the past. In 2002, Rep. Greg Smith (R-Heppner) made headlines for attempting to claim legislative immunity after being pulled over for speeding. (He always denied it, and there is no legislative immunity for speeding tickets.)

Johnson may not have overstepped the law. But her effort to exempt herself may prove embarrassing for a candidate who has made accountability and transparency bywords of her gubernatorial campaign.

It’s especially noteworthy that her lawyers tried to pass the costs of the crash on to taxpayers.

As a co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means, Sen. Johnson built her reputation on holding agencies and other elected officials to account for the way they spent tax dollars.

The examples abound.

In a 2018 hearing, she blasted the State Library’s performance: “We have spent I don’t know how many untold hours trying to figure out how to cure a hundred years of tradition unhampered by progress, and it hasn’t gotten better,” she said.

In 2019, she lambasted then-Secretary of State Dennis Richardson for pandering to voters with the idea that the public should choose audit targets. That same year she torched the Department of Forestry for failing

THE MORNING OF The accident happened around 7 am, according to press accounts at the time.

Melissa Gallentine recalls she was nearly stopped at a red light and was watching a child bouncing in the vehicle in front of her, wondering if the kid was belted in. In her rearview mirror, she caught sight of Betsy Johnson’s 2005 Chevy Blazer approaching quickly.

Johnson hit her from behind.

“The only reason that we didn’t kill the kid [in the vehicle in front of mine] is because I turned my wheel and hit the gas,” Gallentine says.

The two vehicles stayed together as they crossed two lanes and traveled the length of half a football field before coming to a stop, Gallentine says.

“Her car had hit so hard that it took the trunk all the way into the back seats of my car so that you couldn’t actually open up the back,” Gallentine says.

Gallentine remembers walking toward Johnson, who appeared to be in a great deal of pain. An ambulance arrived quickly.

“They start getting her on a stretcher, and she’s screaming in pain, and she’s also screaming at them,” Gallentine says.

Gallentine’s husband drove her to the hospital. She says she suffered lasting symptoms of what the lawsuit describes as “mild traumatic brain injury.”

Gallentine’s back was sprained in multiple places. She says it took her four years to recover fully. She now runs an equestrian barn and training center. “I didn’t go full time, I wasn’t able to do this, until 2019,” she says.

After the crash, Johnson had surgery to repair a broken pelvis. She rehabilitated at a skilled nursing facility in Portland, missing more than a month of the legislative session.

Senate Democrats postponed work on legislation they needed her vote to pass. After she returned to work, she would spend six months in a wheelchair.

RACHEL MONAHAN.

to collect on wildfire costs for five years. “I am terribly disappointed by the agency’s inability to process its outstanding claims,” Johnson said.

But in the case of Gallentine’s lawsuit, Johnson’s attorneys made the case for the state covering the damages.

At least one Johnson supporter says he thinks the Legislature should take up the issue of ending legislative immunity.

“Lawyers do what lawyers do,” says former Sen. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha), a Johnson supporter. “The Legislature needs to take a look at that and decide whether they want to keep it or not.”

Gallentine subsequently refiled her original lawsuit, adding the state of Oregon as a defendant alongside Johnson. Johnson settled the case for $43,000 for Gallentine’s injuries, her campaign says.

“All accidents are unfortunate,” Johnson says. “This one was my fault, and I’m glad no one was as seriously hurt as I was. Everyone has insurance for a reason, lawyers do what lawyers do, but in the end, I’m glad a settlement was reached.”

The state did not pay any of the money, according to the Oregon Department of Administration Services’ risk management division.

Gallentine says the settlement provides a record that Johnson was at fault in the crash: “I was so upset about the fact that she did something wrong and she wasn’t even going to get a slap on the hand.”

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LAKE OSWEGO

PORTLAND

NEWS B R U C E E LY

“If you can have the Sonics leave Seattle out of nowhere for Oklahoma City, you can’t let your guard down.” for tax breaks. How do we avoid that?

Nobody has asked me for any subsidy. I see my job as setting the temperature so that clubs are going say, “Hey, this is the kind of place we want to be.”

BINGO BANGO BONGO: Ron Wyden said farewell to retired broadcaster Bill Schonely at Moda Center last season.

Hotseat: Ron Wyden Oregon’s senior U.S. senator becomes a lobbyist—for keeping the Trail Blazers in Portland.

BY N I G E L J AQ U I S S

njaquiss@wweek .com

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is an avid fan of the Portland Trail Blazers. He didn’t much enjoy the team’s futile basketball season, which started with the loss of Damian Lillard to a season-ending injury and ended with a lot more losses.

But he thinks he can net the Blazers a win that lasts a long time.

The success he’s looking for? Confirmation that the Blazers will remain in Portland after their lease at Moda Center expires in 2025.

There’s enormous investor interest in NBA franchises these days, including from billionaires up north who are still reeling from the stunning 2008 relocation of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City.

On July 5, Blazers chairwoman Jody Allen denied that she’s actively shopping the team.

“There is no pre-ordained timeline,” Allen said in a statement.

Wyden, who earned a basketball scholarship at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has unusual pull with the NBA, thanks to his long friendship with league commissioner Adam Silver. As Wyden rebounded from a recent bout with COVID-19 (the senator took Paxlovid and says he’s fully recovered), he spoke to WW in an interview that mostly stuck to sports.

He told us he’s been thinking a lot about the team lately. That’s because of Nike co-founder Phil Knight’s bid for the team and also because

he will speak later this week at the belated memorial service for Blazers co-founder Harry Glickman, who died in June 2020 at age 96.

WW: Tell me about your relationship with Harry Glickman.

Ron Wyden: Harry was responsible for dispatching me to the former Soviet Union in hopes of bringing back [Blazer great] Arvydas Sabonis. It was right out of a Rocky movie.

These huge guys are sitting around the table, Soviet sports federation officials. And I show up with all these papers: “Gentlemen, I am here to present a document from the top officials with the Portland Trail Blazers, [owner] Mr. Larry Weinberg and Mr. Harry Glickman, making it clear that Sabonis will play for Portland. He will receive outstanding medical care. He will be housed in a beautiful residence.” You know, all this kind of stuff. I’d get all whipped up and give my little speech. And some guy right out of the Rocky movies would say “nyet” and then I would get all cranked up and I’d do it again.

After the third nyet, I was looking for the door.

[Editor’s note: Sabonis played for the Blazers from 1995 to 2003.]

That’s unusual work for an elected official.

Harry was a gift to our community, and the Blazers meant so much to the city. We’ve had a love affair for the better part of five decades.

And I’m as determined as Dame is when’s going to the hoop that the love affair continues. I’ve been talking to Adam Silver about how important it is to keep the franchise in Portland. And I want us to get a WNBA team. Harry opened all these doors. At his service on Friday, I’m

going to tell people it’s up to us to keep ’em open.

How do you know Adam Silver?

Adam interned for [former U.S. Rep.] Les AuCoin (D-Ore.). So, I have known him for many, many years. When we talk, we often reminisce about Les and Oregon. What I’ve told the commissioner is that nobody has a more reliable and rabid fan base than Portland. I make the case that NBA basketball can’t just be about big cities on the East Coast and in California. Medium-sized and smaller markets like Portland, they need to know the league is committed to them. Harry Glickman knew that in the ’70s.

What does Silver say?

Adam has been a friend for a long time. I’m not going to get into all the specifics, but I was really pleased with his statement that he understood how important it is to have the club in Portland.

I’ve also made it clear I’m going watchdog the process—because if you can have the Sonics leave Seattle out of nowhere for Oklahoma City, you can’t let your guard down.

So what happens next?

Well, it’s such wonderful news that Phil Knight has expressed his interest in owning the club.

And, without going into those discussions, I’ve talked to Phil often over the years about the importance of the Blazers staying.

Have you had any communication with Allen?

No. Team owners often leverage fans’ affection

You mentioned your hope for a WNBA franchise. Tell me more.

Portland’s a hotbed for women’s sports. You got off-the-charts attendance for the Thorns.

I can just imagine what the crowds would be like if [former University of Oregon star] Sabrina Ionescu or some of these former UO or [Oregon State University] players came back to Portland. A Portland WNBA franchise would be a natural rival for the Seattle Storm. It would help the new owners of the Blazers with an additional 18 to 20 home dates. And when we’re celebrating the anniversary of Title IX, this is a great beyond-basketball opportunity.

Any sense from Commissioner Silver or others on when we’ll know the Blazers’ fate?

I can’t get into any details, but I’m pretty sure that there’s a lot of discussion going on right now.

Easier question: Rate the Blazers’ summer moves.

Jerami Grant played very well for the [Detroit] Pistons. He helps us up front. That’s a big plus.

[Shaedon] Sharpe sounds like a really promising young guy. I like the Blazers resigning [Anfernee Simons] a lot. Nurk looks healthy and Dame is healthy. I think the Blazers can make some noise.

You helped former Blazer Enes Kanter Freedom when Turkey was targeting him.

Is the NBA blackballing him now for his criticism of China?

I don’t know enough about all of the discussions that went on with Enes and Boston and the league. I’ve seen him a couple of times, and we were going to get together again, but that’s when I got COVID. He’s a really principled, moral, decent guy. And I think he’s going be speaking out for human rights for many years to come.

Non-basketball question: What’s your takeaway from the Jan. 6 hearings?

Cassidy Hutchinson was spellbinding. This was truth telling, and it was extraordinarily important. When she said, for example, that Trump knew that the mob was armed and he said take the magnetometers out? I said, holy moly, that is a stunning, stunning finding. I mean, how is it getting it clearer than that? And I’ll tell you another thing. I was there on Jan. 6. And when I’m on the Senate floor and they’re banging on the doors, I thought, “This doesn’t happen in the United States.” And now, after last week’s testimony, I believe the odds of making sure it doesn’t happen again are getting better.

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

RIPPED CITY Nobody likes how Portland is governed. How did the plan to fix it turn into another bitter fight?

BY S O P H I E P E E L

L

ike a lot of Portlanders, Ryan Buchanan loves his city—and hates how it’s governed.

He feels defeated by what he sees in Northwest Portland, where he will soon move his digital marketing firm: trash, tents, political feuds and seemingly no progress.

“I’ve been to a bunch of other cities in the U.S. in the last 12 months, and we’re far more broken,” Buchanan says.

For years, elected officials have told Portlanders: Change our form of government and we’ll become better leaders.

Portland law says the city should formally consider every 10 years whether to change the city’s charter; that is, the laws that govern the city, including its form of government and elections.

Mayor Ted Wheeler and his colleagues on the City Council picked a group of Portlanders to do just that in the winter of 2020. At the time, many Portlanders thought city charter reform was one thing everybody could agree on.

Last month, after a year and a half of work, the Charter Commission issued its recommendations for a new form of city government in a single ballot measure, and we will all get to vote on it this November.

Wheeler says he has concerns and doesn’t understand the proposal.

Commissioner Mingus Mapps doesn’t like it either.

Commissioner Dan Ryan has also expressed concerns.

A lot of politically connected people are already planning a political campaign to defeat the reform measure at the ballot box.

The proposed charter reforms, which will ultimately cost the city $1.9 million to conceive and discuss (this includes other alterations to the city’s charter that will be discussed in Phase 2 by the commission), appear to be at risk of an untimely death—the latest and most galling

speel@wweek .com

exhibit of this city’s dysfunction. It’s become a flashpoint for Portland’s deep disagreements about whom the city should represent and what its core values are.

Steve Moskowitz, a rabbi, former city attorney and top adviser to the late Mayor Bud Clark, has joined a group of Portlanders who oppose the measure. Moskowitz says he’s deeply disappointed.

“I was very hopeful that we were going to produce a product that everyone was on board with,” Moskowitz says. “Unfortunately, it’s full of all kinds of problematic issues.”

Robin Ye, chief of staff to an Oregon legislator and one of the 20 charter review commissioners appointed by the City Council, says the real problem is the very opposition Moskowitz represents.

“It’s incredibly disappointing, albeit hardly surprising, about the bad faith opposition that emerged,” Ye says, “and I think Portlanders can smell what they’re selling.”

How did the city’s plan to change its form of government to meet today’s challenges turn into another quintessential Portland brawl? To understand, WW read meeting notes, talked to more than two dozen people closely engaged in the fight, and spoke to those involved in prior attempts at charter reform over the course of Portland’s history.

What we found was a stalemate that could have been avoided because its dynamics are so familiar to even a casual observer of Portland politics: idealistic progressives who want to redistribute power to the silenced, quarreling with politically connected traditionalists who think the city is squandering its best virtues.

What’s worse is the inattention of Mayor Wheeler and other city leaders that has allowed values that ought to be harmonious—diversity and functionality—to be used as weapons against each other.

Here’s how that happened.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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City officials have long claimed that Portland’s form of government makes it impossible for them to do their jobs well.

The structure of City Hall in Portland is found in no other major city in the United States. The five members of the City Council, including the mayor, each get a vote—and city commissioners each manage a portfolio of city bureaus.

Many feel this arrangement has several flaws. First, the mayor has little real power other than the authority to assign bureaus and propose the city’s budget, and personal powers of persuasion.

Second, the setup requires politicians not just to vote on matters before the council, but to actually manage bureaus, something many of them are ill-equipped to do. This can lead to turf battles in which commissioners are more interested in protecting their bureaus than looking out for the larger civic good.

Most current commissioners have long asked for a change.

Mapps called the city’s form of government “inexcusable.” Commissioner Dan Ryan blamed the current system for his inability to quickly open tiny-house villages for homeless people.

In his State of the City address just last May, Wheeler said fixing the city hinged on voters.

“Portlanders will have an opportunity to vote at the ballot box to do away with our current, systemically bigoted, red tape-ridden, antiquated form of city government,” the mayor said. “I hope Portlanders will vote yes’ this November to change it.”

Yet now, all three men have doubts about the reform measure that’s been offered.

2

When the Portland Charter Commission was formed, members settled on their own set of goals.

The commission consists of 20 members, each appointed by a city commissioner. In 2020, 275 people applied to be charter commissioners. Each city commissioner, including the mayor, nominated four.

Candace Avalos was a commissioner chosen by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty.

A Black and Latina woman, Avalos, 33, worked at Portland State University as a student adviser for six years.

Like many of the applicants selected to serve on the commission, Avalos has dedicated her life to social justice. She’s executive director of the nonprofit Verde, which is distributing air conditioners to low-income families using proceeds from the Portland Clean Energy Fund.

She’s candid, smart and opinionated—enough to gain a regular guest column in The Oregonian. She made an unsuccessful bid for City Council in 2020, losing to Commissioner Carmen Rubio.

“That was a big hill to climb,” she says. “You could call me crazy for it.”

The city’s written directives for the Charter Commission are loose: “To review and recommend amendments to this Charter.”

It also directs the commission to “determine its own rules of procedure” and to choose its own areas of the charter to reconsider.

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Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

BLAKE BENARD

1

CHOSEN: Nonprofit executive director Candace Avalos was one of 20 Portlanders chosen to serve on the Charter Commission.

The commission outlined its desired outcomes early on: to bring more diverse voices into elections and city politics, and add councilors who understand community needs and are committed to anti-racism and equity. Commissioners wrote that they hoped to produce a form of government where elected officials would look like the community they represent.

In other words, commission members saw their primary task as making City Hall more inclusive.

“At the heart of what our proposal is saying is that our government is better when more of us have a say,” says commissioner Ye. “When more of us can see folks on council that understand our experiences and will fight for our interests.”

Avalos agrees: “In 10 years, it’s going to change the politics, what kind of people run, and the way that we govern.”

But Bob Ball, a charter commissioner in 2007, says that could dampen its chances of passing: “If you only look at it from any one lens, such as a small business lens or an equity lens, that could hurt it and be a fatal flaw.”

be hired by the mayor and confirmed by a majority of council members.

2. The number of council members would increase from five to 12, with three members elected from each of four districts.

(Currently, all five commissioners are elected citywide.)

3. And those commissioners would be elected using a relatively novel system called “ranked-choice voting.”

Many cities use city administrators or managers. Over 40 cities use ranked-choice voting. Three major cities use multi-member districts. But no city has combined all three of the reforms the charter commission is sending to the ballot.

4 3 The commission emerged with three proposed reforms.

No city in America has tried to achieve all three at the same time.

This year’s proposed overhaul of city government is ambitious.

It would: 1. Strip the mayor of a council vote, except as a tiebreaker. All administrative duties and bureau oversight would be handed to a newly created position of city administrator, who would

Perhaps the most popular aspect of the proposed reforms is that Portland would be run by a city administrator.

Almost every person WW spoke to for this story agreed it’s high time the city scrapped its commission form of government and adopted a city administrator who would oversee daily city functions like trash pickup and 911 response, allowing politicians to focus on policy—i.e., whether to widen Interstate 5 or ban oil trains from rolling through the city.

Becca Uherbelau, a charter commissioner, says it was a consistent priority.

Indeed, 3,625 cities across the U.S.—from Los Angeles to Frankfort, Ky.—employ a city administrator or manager.

“It’s hard to find anybody who wouldn’t want that,” Moskowitz adds.

BLAKE BENARD

5 6

PACKAGE DEAL: Charter Commission member Becca Uherbelau says all three reforms must be bundled into one ballot measure.

The reform measure calls for ranked-choice voting, an unfamiliar and controversial method, to elect city commissioners.

If the commission’s package of reforms passes, Portland voters will pick their three favorite candidates to represent them on the City Council come 2024. Voters rank as few or many candidates as they wish.

Each candidate must reach 25% plus one of the votes in order to get elected. If only one candidate reaches that threshold once all votes are tallied, surplus votes are then given to the next candidate listed on the voter’s ballot.

“The goal of ranked-choice voting is to enable voters to have a bigger say on their representation,” says Debbie Kaye, president of the League of Women Voters of Portland. “If a voter’s first choice doesn’t [meet the threshold], their second choice is [counted].”

Who uses ranked-choice voting? The Academy Awards, for one. So do New York City, Cambridge, Mass., and around 40 other cities. But ranked choice is still uncommon.

In New York City last year, after ranked choice was used to elect the mayor, politicians sparred over whether the method helped or hurt voter turnout. Daneek Miller, co-chair of the City Council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, called it “sophisticated voter suppression” because so many voters were baffled. (Others called this an elitist and racist argument.)

Critics in Portland worry that such a system allows candidates with a narrow base of support a window to eke out a victory, and that it’s confusing.

“It seems patently obvious to me that you don’t want a small group of people to decide an election,” says downtown property owner John Russell, a close adviser to several Portland mayors.

“It’s unlike anything that’s appeared in American politics.”

The city would be divided into geographic sections—each represented by three commissioners.

Under the proposed reform measure, Portland would have four geographic districts, each with three council representatives.

Supporters say districts with multiple elected leaders offer voters a better chance to get someone who represents their interests. Ethnic groups, renters, young voters: Any of them could form coalitions large enough to score one of a district’s three seats.

Ye says it’s an attempt to “move away from a politics of domination, where the same 50%-plus-one majority citywide can pick all the council seats, and towards a politics of inclusion.”

Naysayers take issue with the combination of ranked-choice voting and multimember districts. They say it could enable a system whereby all three victorious candidates in a district came from the same political faction.

“Each candidate will ask the voters to vote for them for No. 1, vote for their second partner as No. 2, and their third partner as No. 3, and so on,” says Chuck Duffy, a onetime staffer to late Mayor Bud Clark.

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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BLAKE BENARD CHRIS NESSETH

COMMISSIONER DAN RYAN

BLAKE BENARD

7

COMMISSIONER JO ANN HARDESTY

Portland voters will need to agree to all of this—or none of it.

Voters will see all of these changes presented in one yes-or-no question on the November ballot. It’s a combo meal—and there are no substitutions.

“We both need structural change and change to give Portlanders more voice and choice in who leads those structures,” Uherbelau says. “They’re not just related or unified. They’re interdependent.”

The decision to bundle all three proposals into one question was made by the Charter Commission. Instead of allowing voters to approve a city administrator form of government but oppose multimember districts, for example, the commission told Portland to take all or none of it.

That’s not going over so well among city leaders and is largely the reason the measure is finding mixed support from the City Council.

Ryan says he’s speaking with commission members to “see if I could get to a yes.”

“The fact that today I’m in an ‘I don’t know place,’ like most voters, there’s a good chance you’ll vote no,” Ryan says. “But I’m seriously in an ‘I don’t know’ place.”

The Portland Business Alliance wants a city administrator form of government but is worried the other two reforms will kill it; it is now poised to go to court to try and get the three proposals separated into individual questions on the ballot.

Russell, the downtown property owner, says it was crazy to combine the three reforms in one measure: “And it may just fail because of the complexity of it.”

Last fall, Commissioner Mapps, who ousted Chloe Eudaly from her City Council seat in 2020, created a political action committee—christened after his own middle name, Ulysses— 16

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

FLIP: Commissioner Mingus Mapps will use his PAC to oppose the charter reform measure.

explicitly to support city charter reform.

In his first two years on the council, Mapps, 54, a former political science professor who is Black, has largely argued for the interests of homeowners. He’s even-keeled and often stiff—the kind of personality that reassures some in a city where tempers are often short. He wants the city to hire more police officers and enforce laws against camping on public property.

Those positions match the public mood—so much so that multiple sources who spoke to WW for this story speculated that Mapps was preparing a run for mayor.

But, on June 16, Mapps said he’d changed his views on charter reform because he was unhappy with the result. “It’s unlike anything that’s appeared in American politics,” he says, echoing the views of a few Charter Commission members, who, in the minority, claimed the reform package was “untested.”

Mapps now intends to use Ulysses PAC (which has $23,000 in the bank) to campaign against the reform package, particularly because all the reforms are bundled into one ballot measure.

“It literally makes it impossible to sort out whether this is going to help the city more or hurt,” Mapps told WW, adding that he would like to lead “a City Council effort to submit an alternative proposal” in 2023.

Some point out that the proposed reforms would considerably dilute the power of Mapps and the other incumbent commissioners.

Their bureau assignments would be taken away from them.

They would be one of 12 votes, not one of five. They’d be running to appeal to only a portion of Portland, not the entire city.

Commissioners Carmen Rubio and Jo Ann Hardesty wrote to WW in a joint statement that they want to “give Portlanders the space to reach their own informed conclusions” and will

“support and execute the will of the voters.”

Former City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who campaigned against the 2007 measure to reform Portland’s government, says officials remaining mum about the proposal are abdicating their duties. “It’s the responsibility of council members to read it and understand it and become a voice.”

8

Portland’s old guard is preparing to fight the proposed measure.

Steve Moskowitz is perhaps best known as the Portland political apparatchik who was shot by his ex-wife seven times, including in the groin, in 1992.

Before that incident, which led him to Long Beach, Wash., to become a rabbi, he had been Portland’s deputy city attorney and then a top adviser to Mayor Bud Clark. WW described him and his wife in a 2004 story as “hippies who became yuppies without selling out.”

BRIAN BURK

“It’s hard for people to feel like the mayor’s analysis is worth much when he flipflops so quickly.”

J U S T I N YA U

MAYOR TED WHEELER

wife, Christy Eugenis, and Jim and Sue Kelly—who wrote in an email to prospective donors that they would match up to $50,000 in contributions to the PAC formed to promote the measure.

Building Power for Communities of Color, which will run the “yes” campaign, declined to offer more details.

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COMMISSIONER CARMEN RUBIO

Moskowitz, 73, moved back to Portland three years ago. And he’s diving back into politics to defeat charter reform.

“I was aware of the enormous catastrophe the city has in terms of its ability to provide basic services in terms of public safety and livability,” Moskowitz says.

Alongside Duffy and recent City Council candidate Vadim Mozyrsky, Moskowitz is creating a PAC to fight the ballot measure called Partnership for Common Sense Government.

They’re being joined by a group of politically moderate Portlanders: former state lawmaker Stephen Kafoury, onetime City Commissioner Mike Lindberg, former head of the city’s economic development agency Pat LaCrosse, neighborhood activist Bob Weinstein, and Alisa Pyszka, who recently ran for Metro Council president.

Avalos says the opposition was brewing for months.

“The power brokers that have always had power in the city don’t want to lose that access. That’s what it looks like to me,” Avalos says. “Status quo is going to be the status quo.”

9

It’s going to be a heated campaign.

Both sides have already formed political action committees and are lining up donors.

Mapps and Moskowitz are well connected with downtown developers. Opposition PAC director Chuck Duffy says he’s spoken with prospective donors, but because the PAC hasn’t yet registered with the secretary of state, it cannot accept contributions. He says it has no intention of asking for support from Portland United, the independent expenditure campaign that made an unsuccessful play to oust Hardesty.

Opponents are currently shopping for a campaign manager.

They will face off with New Seasons co-founder Stan Amy, his

The process raises new questions about the mayor.

Last week in an interview, WW asked Wheeler if he would vote for the charter reform measure.

“You’re giving me a hypothetical that isn’t fair. I still don’t even understand all the facets of this; I literally just heard the proposal yesterday,” Wheeler said. (All Charter Commission meetings were open to the public, and its documents are publicly available.)

“If you put the ballot in front of me right this minute and said I had to vote,” he said when pressed, “I would vote no.”

That’s remarkable, given how often Wheeler has said he needs a new form of government to address the city’s problems as mayor.

Some observers see an irony: Wheeler helped pick the volunteers who crafted the proposal he now second-guesses.

“The [charter] commissioners were appointed to be independent people, so you’ve got a cast of characters that produced something that is unique,” Russell says. “I guess you get what you asked for.”

Commissioner Ryan says he was “on the job for half an hour and was told to look at those who applied. I did my best to make sure that we had a diverse opinion and demographic makeup.”

He and Wheeler defend the City Council’s hands-off approach: “I let them go into their work mode....I’m diving in now.”

Ye says voters should take little advice from a mayor who for more than a year said charter reform was the answer: “It’s hard for people to feel like the mayor’s analysis is worth much when he flip-flops so quickly.”

Wheeler now claims he can work within the current form of city government by issuing executive orders that go over the heads of his colleagues on the City Council. We asked why he hadn’t used that approach more liberally before this year rather than seeking a change in government.

“Are you debating me?” Wheeler said, visibly annoyed. “I’m just trying to give you an answer. Get to your real question.”

WW repeated the question: Portland voters have been told by Mayor Wheeler for more than a year that the commission form of government prevents him from being an effective mayor. So if he doesn’t support changing the city’s form of government now, what option does that leave?

“I actually believe I’ve been able to lead very successfully,” he said, “not because of the form of government, but despite it.”

If he and his colleagues have to keep working within that form of government, they will have a hard time finding anyone to blame but themselves.

One More Thing!

Seven attempts to change Portland’s form of government have failed in the past century.

Since 1950, the city has on seven occasions presented voters with a proposal to change Portland’s form of government. Seven times voters said no.

In the two most recent attempts, in 2002 and 2007, organized opposition formed to kill the measure. Both times, opponents warned it would mean bigger government.

The 2007 proposal would have scrapped the current form of government and instead adopted a chief administrator who would oversee administrative tasks and bureaus, and a mayor who could hire and fire liberally.

Then-Commissioner Leonard spent months in a traveling roadshow of debates on the idea with then-Mayor Tom Potter. Leonard argued no.

“If the goal was to make city government more efficient and more responsive, there were probably good ways to do it, but handing bureaucracy over to an unelected city manager? Not one of them,” Leonard recalls.

It died dismally: 76% of voters said no.

“I remember voting against it in 2007 because I thought the city was doing fine, so why change it?” adds former City Commissioner Steve Novick. “Within a year of being on City Council, I changed my mind.”

Bob Ball was the chief petitioner in 2002 and then served on the 2007 commission that tried again. Voters preferred the devil they knew to the confusing plan on their ballots, he says.

Ball he offered to brief this year’s commission, he says, on the pitfalls that doomed his attempts at charter reform.

“I never heard back from them,” Ball says. “I would’ve said you’ve gotta keep it simple.”

SOPHIE PEEL .

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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July 18 Mississippi Studios Doors at 6pm

Last month Willamette Week named the city’s Best New Bands. On Saturday, July 18th these bands will compete for the title of “Best” at Mississippi Studios. Grab your tickets now for what will be a fun showcase of Portland’s newest musical talent.

GET TICKETS

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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Special thanks to our sponsor Feeld - a dating app for the open-minded to meet the like-minded. And our local sponsors, Revival Drum Shop and Hank’s Music Exchange.

This event is put on in partnership with the City of Portland, and benefits Music Portland, a nonprofit working to support the business of music and to make Portland a place where music businesses, venues, and artists can be successful at any stage of development.

Sean Battles

Kingsley

Night Heron

Pool Boys

The Macks

Glitterfox

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Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

Oregon Country Fair July 8, 9 & 10 2022

Come celebrate the return of the Oregon Country Fair, an unforgettable adventure in a beautiful wooded setting, 13 miles west of Eugene near Veneta, OR.

THIS WEEKEND! Music • Art • Jugglers • Comedy • Dance • Beautiful Crafts • Amazing Food Spoken Word • Parades • Magic • Vaudeville • Fun for kids • Alternative Energy Solutions

Tickets on sale at TicketsWest.com • More information at oregoncountryfair.org You must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or, if exempt, provide proof of negative COVID-19 lab test. Please visit our website for the full COVID policy: oregoncountryfair.org/ocf-2022-public-vaccination-policy/

WAKE UP TO WHAT MATTERS IN PORTLAND.

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GET BUSY CO U R T E SY O F T H E H U M A N ACC E SS P R OJ E C T

GO: The Big Float X

Grab a life jacket and your float vessel of choice (perhaps a giant inflatable unicorn) and put those years of swimming lessons to some use. It’s the 10th and final Big Float parade/beach party, which is not only an opportunity to celebrate the Willamette; the event also raises money for the Human Access Project, a nonprofit seeking to improve Portlanders’ relationship with their central river. Live music and nine food carts will be on hand. Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 98 SW Naito Parkway, thebigfloat.com. 10 am-6:30 pm Sunday, July 10. $13 in advance, $15 at the gate.

LISTEN: The Dusty Boys

Get a midweek boost by heading out to Hillsboro’s blossoming downtown for live music at DAnu Wine Bar. This Wednesday, the tasting room hosts The Dusty Boys who play Americana, old-school country and mid-20th century rock hits. In addition to DAnu’s regular menu of small bites, a more substantial nightly special is available, like Southwest smoked pork salad or grilled roast beef sandwiches. Non-wine drinkers, this bar sees you: Guest taps are always reserved for beer and cider. DAnu Wine Bar, 173 NE 3rd Ave., Suite #107, Hillsboro, 503-746-4773, danuwines.com. 6-8:30 pm Wednesday, July 6.

WATCH: A-ha: The Movie Whether you remember the ’80s or not, the universe has made it difficult to avoid the catchy, Top 40 tune out of 1985, “Take on Me.” Watch a 2021 Tribeca Film Festivalfeatured documentary exploring how Norwegian band A-ha dealt with the song’s popularity—and the aftermath of sudden fame. There’s phenomenal hair, stunning cheekbones and, of course, music. Fogelbo Lawn at Nordia House, 8800 SW Oleson Road, 503-977-0275, nordicnorthwest.org/a-hascreening. 9:15 pm Friday, July 8. $5-$25.

STUFF TO DO IN PORTLAND THIS WEEK, INDOORS AND OUT.

969 SW Broadway 503-223-4976 Mon - Sat 10-5, Sun 12 - 5

LISTEN: Harefest 10 Deemed “the mother of all tribute festivals,” Harefest 10 features 23 bands on three stages covering everyone from Tom Petty to the Beastie Boys. And unlike some multiday music events, this one has a pretty good lineup of food and drink vendors (Deschutes Brewery, Chop Chop Chicken Sundaes, The Smokin’ Oak, Wayward Sandwiches). Make the 25-mile drive south for the day, or camp overnight with a special pass. Clackamas County Fairgrounds and Event Center, 694 NE 4th Ave., Canby, 503-266-1136, harefest.com.

4-11:30 pm and 9 am-11:30 pm Friday-Saturday, July 8-9. $39-$225. 21+.

www.johnhelmer.com

(503) 493-0070 1433 NE Broadway, Portland

Summer Sale!

MON-SAT 10-6 PM & SUNDAY 11-5 PM

Starts Thurs July 7th Ends Sat July 16th

WATCH: Face/Off When Nicolas Cage and John Travolta sign up to impersonate each other, you know it’s going to get weird (especially when John Woo, maestro of slow motion and doves, is directing). Before the movie, there’s a Nicolas Cage impersonation contest, which will probably be completely normal and not at all terrifying. OMSI Bridge Lot, 1945 SE Water Ave., 503-221-1156, pamcut. org. 9 pm Saturday, July 9. $20.

42nd Annual

Cathedral Park Jazz Festival July 15th, 16th & 17th

969 SW Broadway 503-223-4976 Mon SatJim 10-5, 12Band, - 5Outer Orbit, Greaterkind, Pepper Sun Flying Eagle

Good things come to people who wait, but better things come to those who go out and get them.

Brown Calculus, Tony Coleman, Eddie Martinez, Mel Brown www.johnhelmer.com Trio, Rebecca Hardiman, Pura Vida Orquesta, Shoehorn’s Hatband, Lauren Sheehan with Great Auntie Lo, Bridge City Soul, The 1905 Orchestra, Trio Continuum, The Portland State University Festival Ensemble

LISTEN: Viennese Wunderkinds

With a career that included The Adventures of Robin Hood and Captain Blood, Erich Wolfgang Korngold has been hailed as one of the greatest composers of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Like Mozart, he was from Vienna, so Chamber Music Northwest is teaming artistic director Gloria Chien and the Viano Quartet for a concert that celebrates the two Austrian musical mavericks. Lincoln Performance Hall, 1620 SW Park Ave. 4 pm Sunday, July 10. Kaul Auditorium, 3017 SE Woodstock Blvd. 8 pm Monday, July 11. 503-223-3202, cmnw.org. $10$62.50. Available virtually July 22-Aug. 31.

Summer Sale!

Starts Thurs July 7th Ends Sat July 16th

COURTESY OF MISSISSIPPI PIZZA

DO GOOD: Kindness Farm Summer Volunteer Parties Kindness Farm, a nonprofit practicing sustainable farming, provides healthy food for homeless and low-income community members. The operation is only 18 months old and still looking for volunteers to help work on its 1 acre of donated land in Southeast Portland. Roll up your sleeves and join one of the volunteer parties for as little or as long as you like this summer. It only takes a few minutes to realize getting your hands in the dirt can regenerate your soul. Kindness Farm, 7101 SE 127th Ave., thekindnessmodel.org. 9 am-2 pm Thursday-Friday and Sunday, July 7-9 and 11. Free.

Starts Thurs July 7th Ends Sat July 16th

DRINK: Bingo & Bourbon A classic game becomes even more interesting with a spirited beverage. North Portland’s iconic Mississippi Pizza has hosted this weekly event every Monday for 11 years. It might be time to see what it’s all about. Mississippi Pizza, 3552 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3231, mississippipizza.com. 7:30 pm, Monday, July 11. $5. 21+. WATCH: Legally Blonde “Bend…and snap!” Twenty-one years after Legally Blonde’s release, Reese Witherspoon’s maniacally charismatic performance as Elle Woods is still a force to be reckoned with (as is Selma Blair, who nearly steals the show as the soulfully austere Vivian Kensington). Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 7:30 pm Monday, July 11. $8-$10.

969 SW Broadway 503-223-4976 Mon - Sat 10-5, Sun 12 - 5 www.johnhelmer.com

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THIS BURGER WILL KICKSTART YOUR HEART.

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Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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FOOD & DRINK Hustle and Grind Editor: Andi Prewitt Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

Chef Erik Van Kley has made Arden a wine bar worth seeking out for its food as much as its bottle list.

ARDEN STATE: Embellished pasta is just one of many highlights on the menu at the Pearl District wine-centric bar Arden.

BY M I C H A E L C . Z U S M A N P H OTO G R A P H S BY A L L I S O N B A R R

Some chefs are strutters, some are grinders.

Strutters like to be on television, work a dining room in sparkling whites and schmooze the foodie elite. Grinders prefer to work the line, cook great food and discreetly smile as empty plates return from the dining room. There is, of course, some crossover. But given a choice, take the grinder every time.

Erik Van Kley, the chef at Arden restaurant and wine bar, is a dedicated grinder. The food he has been making there since 2019 is unique and compelling. He is almost always present in his tiny, underequipped kitchen, cooking his heart out. Despite Van Kley’s preternatural skills, few have heard about the joys of an Arden dinner.

This is a shame.

Van Kley came to Portland from Michigan, the middle child of a traveling French history scholar and a homemaker with a journalism degree. He eschewed higher education himself 22

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

in favor of a kitchen hand’s life, starting as a dishwasher in high school and learning the ropes from “an old-school kitchen wacko” who would occasionally break plates on the floor just because he could.

To fill his spare time, Van Kley began a “meditative” relationship with the guitar at age 14.

He still plays morning and evening, every day, on his collection of Fenders. Though his focus has shifted over time, his passion has always been jazz.

“It’s not defined by a specific set of rules or boundaries,” Van Kley says, “but by the sum of its many moving parts.”

He jokingly refers to his cooking style as “jazz cuisine,” but it is no joke.

In Portland, Van Kley has developed an impressive résumé, beginning at Gotham Building Tavern, before moving on to Le Pigeon and Little Bird, spending nearly five years at each.

He worked closely with Gabriel Rucker during all three of those stints before striking out on his own.

Chef Erik Van Kley jokingly refers to his cooking style as ‘jazz cuisine,’ but it is no joke.

Van Kley’s independent venture, where he debuted his jazz cuisine, was Taylor Railworks.

There were no limits on what might appear on a plate there. Fans adored the chile crab, a dish better known in Singapore than Portland. Of the buttermilk-battered fried chicken, WW reviewer Matthew Korfhage declared, “The chicken is herbed and spiced with a curry-andmint combination that’s a lot closer to Mumbai than Memphis.”

Alas, Taylor only lasted from 2015 to 2017.

Its location was poor, the layout odd, and the global, improvisational approach was as con-

fusing to some as it was revelatory for others.

The closure still haunts Van Kley. He concedes, perhaps too easily, “I got a little out there with some dishes, and I fell on my face.”

After a few short-term gigs, Van Kley signed on at Arden. The food menu had not been the Pearl District wine bar’s strong suit. It is now.

Some of the more free-form numbers from the Taylor days are absent from Van Kley’s Arden playlist. Still, he and the several Taylor alums who now work with him aim to “keep it fun.” Commonly used ingredients include nuts for crunch, chiles for an attitudinal un-

Top 5

Top 5

Buzz List

Hot Plates

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.

1. BUOY BEER POP-UP

1. RANGOON BISTRO ALLISON BARR

2. POLLO BRAVO

1225 N Killingsworth St., 503-477-8999, pollobravopdx.com. 11:30 am-9 pm daily.

During the pandemic, Pollo Bravo stuck it out for a while with takeout and delivery from Pine Street Market, but without downtown’s tourists and office workers, co-owners Josh and Sarah Scofield eventually decided to go on hiatus. Now the beloved brand is back in a stand-alone restaurant with its signature chicken and stalwart sides (radicchio salad, patatas bravas), as well as select tapas and a rebooted Bravo burger.

3. CALLAO

1510 S Harbor Way, 503-295-6166, kingtidefishandshell.com/callao. 2-7 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

Now that it’s officially summer, you owe it to yourself to spend some time on the waterfront while snacking on light fare suited for hotter temperatures. Chef Alexander Diestra has made it a little easier to do just that with his new seasonal outdoor pop-up, Callao, which prepares traditional South American ingredients through a Japanese lens—think skewers, ceviche and a couple of dreamy desserts, like a coconut cookie sandwich and coffee jelly served with hazelnut whipped cream.

4. DOUGH ZONE

dertone, and plenty of bold, umami-charged components such as fungi, cheese and cured tiny fish.

Menu items rotate, but among recent appetizers, the best stars blobs of creamy burrata, crispy-fried mushrooms, pine nuts, and a shower of grated, earthy aged La Marotte sheep’s milk cheese dressed with shoyu vinaigrette ($18). It is a carnival of textures and flavors.

Trying to select a second course is maddening. Do you go for the decadent duck liver ragù embellished with sweet-smoky aji panca chile and smoked shoyu over tagliatelle, ringed by whipped ricotta, with Parmesan shavings on top ($17); morel mushroom and ricotta cappelletti in a savory Parmesan-imbued broth ($17); or the extravagant new menu addition: morels, spring onion and asparagus immersed in a buttery, rich and gooey stracchino di crescenzo cheese fondue with a layer of French black truffle shavings ($27)? If your answer is “all of the above,” you win.

The entree section may not be as powerful

as the preceding plates, but this is a quibble, especially knowing that Van Kley and crew are handicapped with a small four-burner stove, no flat-top grill, no walk-in refrigerator, and a deep fryer that looks like a toy. Duck fans will adore the platter for two that includes confited pan-fried leg and thigh, sous vide pan-seared breast, plus miso-creamed kale in puff pastry shell ($49).

In addition to the main sections of the menu, there are ample side offerings, ranging from togarashi-spiced marcona almonds ($6) to foie gras torchon with challah toast ($19), plus desserts. Wine remains a definite draw, too.

The best bet for the value-conscious or indecisive is the chef’s prix fixe, four courses shared by the table for $65 per person. Add wine pairings for another $45 per person.

Visit Arden soon and relish the bounty of a career grinder who has clearly found his groove.

EAT: Arden, 417 NW 10th Ave., 503-206-6097, ardenpdx.com. 5-9 Wednesday-Saturday.

1910 S River Drive, 503-446-3500, doughzonedumplinghouse.com. 11 am-10 pm daily.

Dough Zone, a Seattle dim sum darling with its first Portland outpost, must have come in with some industrial-sized sage sticks to cleanse the former Lucier space: Early on, it seems to have what it takes to lift the yearslong funk there. Despite the remaining opulence, this is a casual business—a place to go with friends and order a smorgasbord. Fill a table with spicy beef pancake rolls, Berkshire-Duroc pork-andshrimp steamed dumplings, and xiao long bao, which at $7.95 for an order of six is the best deal in town.

5. PIZZA THIEF

2610 NW Vaughn St., 503-719-7778, pizzathief.com. Noon-9 pm Wednesday-Monday.

Mondays are slow at most bars and restaurants, but not at Slabtown’s Pizza Thief. During its de facto service-industry night, you’ll find a growing number of brewers, distillers and cidermakers who’ve made this spot their regular hangout. And they’re not just there to drink. Pizza Thief has found a way to tap into our city’s vast fermentation labor force and put members to work baking pies and pouring beers. The new collaboration series is called Meet the Maker Mondays, which features a different Sicilian-style pizza created by a craft beverage company every week.

2. PAPA HAYDN PA PA H AY D N

2311 SE 50th Ave., 503-953-5385, rangoonbistropdx.com. 5-9 pm Wednesday-Friday, noon-9 pm Saturday-Sunday.

After half a decade hawking tea leaf salads and chickpea tofu to farmers marketgoers on weekends—while holding down day jobs—the trio behind Rangoon Bistro now have a restaurant. The dishes reflect a pursuit to perfect childhood memories of two of the Myanmar-born co-owners native foods: cucumber thoke and poached shrimp, a gloriously large rice noodle dumpling stuffed with ground pork, and chana dal, skinned and split chickpeas served at least a half-dozen ways.

1152 Marine Drive, Astoria, 503-298-6833, buoybeer.com. Noon-8 pm daily.

Show Buoy Beer some much-needed love by heading out to Astoria for pints at its new pop-up. By now, you’ve seen the devastating images of the brewery’s primary location above the Columbia, partially crumpled like a tin can. There’s no word on when the pub, which collapsed in midJune, might reopen, but fortunately the brand was welcomed by the new Astoria Food Hub, where you can now get Buoy on tap along with classic seafood once the kitchen is up and running.

5829 SE Milwaukie Ave., 503-232-9440, papahaydn.com. 11:30 am-10 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

Papa Haydn is best known for its desserts—and its cafe on Northwest 23rd Avenue—but the original location across the river boasts both a charming patio and a long list of cocktails for those days when you want to end (or start) your meal with a liquid confection. Opened in 1978, the restaurant and its shaded terrace are a hidden Southeast Portland gem—the perfect place to sip on the Secret Garden (citron vodka, strawberry purée, muddled basil) while seated in an actual secret garden.

3. JOLLY ROGER

1340 SE 12th Ave., 503-232-8060, jollyrestaurants.com. Noon-midnight Monday-Thursday, noon-1 am Friday-Saturday, noon-11 pm Sunday.

Along the journey from family-friendly seafood restaurant to neighborhood sports bar, the Jolly’s most salable feature (beyond that iconic signage) has been an easy adaptability to changing tastes and demographic shifts over 60-some years.

The place does engender goodwill among a dizzying cross section of Portlanders for reasons difficult to articulate. Pay this dive a visit (or several) before last call. At some point in the next year, developers will knock down the building and replace it with a residential complex.

4. VON EBERT CASCADE STATION AND TIMBERLAND

10111 NE Cascades Parkway, 503-2065765; 11800 NW Cedar Falls Drive, #110, 503-716-8663; vonebertbrewing.com. 11 am-9 pm daily. Cascade Station closed Monday.

The two tap houses under the Von Ebert umbrella have just launched a Power Hour, and no, this isn’t the brewery’s version of the drinking game you may remember from your early 20s. Every Monday and Tuesday, from 7 to 8 pm, draft pours cost only $3, which is more than half off. Hell, with pints at that price, you may want to go ahead and revive the pregaming tradition.

5. PORTLAND CIDER CO.

3638 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 971-888-5054, portlandcider.com. 3-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 1-10 pm Friday-Saturday, 1-9 pm Sunday. 8925 SE Jannsen Road, Building F, Clackamas, 503-744-4213. 3-9 pm Wednesday-Thursday, 3-10 pm Friday, noon-10 pm Saturday, noon-9 pm Sunday.

Back by popular demand, Portland Cider’s Tangerine Dreamsicle was designed to trigger summertime notalgia, with its bright, tangy fruit juice swirled together with rich vanilla from Singing Dog in Eugene. It’s one of the brand’s most requested small-batch beverages ever, and it’s only available for a limited time. Drink up. Summer is too short.

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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POTLANDER M C K E N Z I E YO U N G - R OY

STRIKING OIL In honor of Oil Day, we rounded up some of our favorite cannabis concentrates.

BY B R I A N N A W H E E L E R

For the uninitiated, July 10, also known as Oil Day, is a stoner holiday in the same vein as 4/20, designated as such because its date, when turned upside down, spells OIL. At its inception, the culture around dabbing concentrated cannabis (i.e., vaporizing, often from a modified bong with a mini torch, but sometimes with a glass straw and a scrap of metal) was gaining steam. And that’s it, the whole reason for the holiday.

Yes, it’s ridiculous, but sometimes ridiculous is just what the doctor ordered. Oil Day is a frivolity that feels necessary in our collective dystopia, a contemporary iteration of a Hallmark holiday but created exclusively for the most tolerant potheads.

This July 10, consider taking advantage of local deals and loading up your stash boxes with these concentrates, extracts, sugars and oils, categorized here by price range. Then, when the next news cycle rips your heart in half, you’ll have enough of the essential sticky icky to piece it back together.

HIGH END Imperial Extracts Purple Punch Live Rosin

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Oregrown Stacy’s Mom Diamonds Diamonds are ultra-pure, faceted THCA crystals that resemble diamonds. These sparkling rocks are typically delivered in a slurry of thick oil and, since they deliver some of the most dazzlingly potent highs, are typically reserved for dedicated dabbers. Stacy’s Mom delivers a balanced high that’s both social and physically soothing. Expect a fruity exhale with a lingering diesel aftertaste and a peppery, herbal aroma.

BUY: Oregrown, 111 NE 12th Ave., 503-477-6898.

MIDS Funk Extracts Platinum Cake Batter This collab between Funk Extracts and PDX Organic Farms is a cross of Platinum OG and Wedding Cake. Platinum Cake Batter’s genetics deliver relaxing body effects and a soupy, anxiety-quelling head high, which is appropriate for our times.

Users also report this strain can relieve chronic pain, making it a choice extract for after-work chill-out time.

BUY: AmeriCanna Rx, 8654 NE Sandy Blvd., 971-2544581, americannarx.com.

Purple Punch is, for most, a super-cushiony hybrid with strong euphoric and sedative effects. Bred from a cross of Larry OG and Granddaddy Purple, this cultivar’s genetics skew indica, and the effects are both potent and long lasting, especially when dabbed. Live Rosin, not to be confused with resin—the black buildup on overused, undercleaned pipes and bongs—is a solventless extract made from bubble hash. This concentrate is an event, though the delivery is very no frills, so load up your home rig to maximize your stoner relaxation.

Bobsled Love Potion Cured Resin Sugar Sauce

BUY: Gnome Grown, 5012 NE 28th Ave., 971-346-2098, gnomegrownorganics.com.

BUY: Deanz Greenz Dispensary, 10415 NE Sandy Blvd., 971-255-0758, deanzgreenz.com.

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

Love Potion is a sativa hybrid bred by Reeferman Seeds. This cultivar was developed from a cross of G13, Santa Marta Colombian Gold, and Colombian Gold. The result is a peppy, sparkling, lemon- and gas-flavored sauce that, while sloppy to load into a dab rig, is still satisfying. Some find Love Potion’s effects to be highly sensual, others simply appreciate the peppy, clarifying high.

BARGAIN Disco Dabs Gelato Glue Shatter Crowd-fave Gelato is a well-balanced and hyperresponsive strain, delivering effects largely based on the user’s resting state, which is to say this strain is an effective mood brightener and body soother that’s great for pretty much any time of day.

Gelato is bred from a cross of Sunset Sherbet and Thin Mint Cookies, and the resulting genetics are just potent enough to scare off newbies and delight established dab connoisseurs.

Expect a minty, vanilla nose and a creamy, citrusy exhale.

BUY: Budlandia, 8135 SE Woodward St., 503-412-8447, budlandiapdx.com.

Hush LA Cheese Shatter Hush dabs are typically the cheapest extracts on the concentrate shelf, which makes them a good product for beginners.

Shattered extracts are simply extracts that have been processed to a glasslike consistency, and those shards can sometimes make dosing easier. LA Cheese is a cross of LA Confidential and Exodus Cheese that typically delivers energetic, creative highs that are deeply euphoric.

BUY: Pur Roots Dispensary, 5816 NE Portland Highway, 971-865-5176.

MUSIC

Editor: Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Contact: bennett@wweek.com

Emitting a New Pulse For the first time in 20 years, Daryl Groetsch is releasing music under his given name.

BY DA N I E L B R O M F I E L D

@bromf3

SEE IT: Daryl Groetsch performs with Golden Feelings and The OO-Ray at Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth St., 503-284-6019, turnturnturnpdx.com. 8 pm Wednesday, July 13. 21+.

WHAT TO SEE AND WHAT TO HEAR

BY DA N I E L B R O M F I E L D @ b r o m f 3

FRIDAY, JULY 8:

When Father and his Awful Records crew first made a splash in the mid-2010s, they straddled both sides of the Atlanta hip-hop scene: the indie underground and a mainstream that, thanks to artists like Future and Young Thug, was shaping up to be even weirder and more exciting. Though last year’s Come Outside, We Not Gone Jump You recast Father as a spaced-out crooner, his new mixtape Young Hot Ebony 2 returns to the laconic Southern drawl he’s known for, halfway between a comedian and a drunken roommate trying to rope you into some mischief. Hawthorne Theatre, 1507, SE 39th Ave., 503-233-7100, hawthornetheatre. com. 8:30 pm. $20. All ages.

FRIDAY, JULY 8:

COURTESY OF WONDER BALLROOM

It’s not surprising that Daryl Groetsch has released six new albums so far this year. As Pulse Emitter, the Portland musician has put out dozens of releases since 2003, ranging from dark, subterranean drones to warm, gentle New Age music that wouldn’t be out of place in the soundtrack to a documentary about outer space.

But for this new batch of releases, he’s set all of that aside.

Home Again, Beige World, Solitude, Ease, Scenes From Some Planet, and Living in the Clouds represent his first music under his birth name since 2002. The six self-released albums are live on a separate Bandcamp page, away from the clutter of the rest of his catalog—and he’s been releasing them two at a time, Home Again and Beige World being the first pair to drop together.

Most of the new releases comprise four tracks that average about 10 minutes apiece (the outlier is Ease, which devotes half its runtime to one 20-minute track).

“The first two turned out being four tracks per album, and as I was working on the second two,” Groetsch says, “I somehow just had in my mind that that was like an aesthetic that I had created for it.”

The sound is sedate even by Groetsch’s standards: no drums, nothing resembling a melody, just deep synth drones that convey both a powerful longing and a profound sense of peace.

And while the vivid blues and pinks of Pulse Emitter’s New Age releases jostle against the darker sleeves of more ominous records on the project’s Bandcamp page, these six albums are tied together by their cover art: abstract aerial shots of clouds and distant mountains, tinted to match the records’ mood and stamped with Groetsch’s name in the bottom-left corner.

“I didn’t want to just pile it on top of the Pulse Emitter catalog, which is already kind of too big,” says Groetsch. “I was kind of overprolific, so I needed a blank slate.”

Daryl Groetsch was born in Missouri in 1975. His mother was a folk guitarist who taught her skills to her son, but his most formative experience as a youngster curious about music was hearing the radio program Hearts of Space. Broadcast from the Bay Area since 1973, Hearts of Space focuses on ambient, New Age, and electronic music under the all-encompassing banner of “space music.”

“I just remember one particular time being in the garage at

night when my dad was working on a car or something, and that music was on,” says Groetsch. “The garage was this cluttered place, dimly lit by electric lights, and something about hearing that music in a nocturnal setting just transported me.”

Groetsch played in jazz and rock bands throughout high school, but when he enrolled in Missouri State University’s composition program, he discovered both the synthesizer and the mind-bending possibilities that musicians like Aphex Twin, The Orb, and The Future Sound of London were opening up for electronic music in the ’90s (around the same time, he also started actively listening to Hearts of Space).

Groetsch’s early albums under his own name date from that period, and they’re hard to find. “I wouldn’t really seek it out,” Groetsch says. While his music from that era isn’t bad, it sounds worshipful of the artists he discovered in college, as opposed to the distinctive sound and vision he established when he started Pulse Emitter in 2003, five years after moving to Portland.

As Pulse Emitter, he’s explored noise music, which he describes as “tribal ambient vaporwave,” and melodic synth music. But Hearts of Space always lingered in the back of his head.

“I’ve kind of always wanted to do this sort of pure ambient space music, which I’ve appreciated and actually kind of struggled to make,” Groetsch says. “Which sounds counterintuitive.

That should be the easy kind of music to make. But with Pulse Emitter I somehow wasn’t able to just keep it simple.”

Why is Groetsch finally able to make this music? He doesn’t have a clear answer, though recording on an iPad rather than in a studio may have something to do with it.

“I’m not sitting in the studio trying to be serious,” he says. “I do it on the couch or in the car. That aspect of it contributes to being able to really relax while I’m making it, which isn’t always the case when you’re making electronic music.”

Groetsch is taking a break from recording for the summer (the better to give listeners a chance to catch up with the four cumulative hours of music he’s put out this year). But that’s hardly the end of his space-music dreams: “I plan on doing it for the rest of my life, to be honest.”

WEEK

C O U R T E S Y O F H AW T H O R N E T H E AT R E

COURTESY OF DARYL GROETSCH

GOING COSMIC: Daryl Groetsch.

SHOWS

When Spencer Krug isn’t doing a million other things, he and Dan Boeckner combine their talents into one of the best pure indie-rock bands of the past few decades. Wolf Parade has a powerful Portland plug in Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, who signed the band to Sub Pop and produced their brilliant debut, Apologies to the Queen Mary (the title is a reference to the time the band broke onto the Queen Mary ocean liner). Their latest tour appropriately kicks off in Portland, so this is a great chance to see them fresh and energized. Wonder Ballroom, 28 NE Russell St., 503-284-8686, wonderballroom.com. 9 pm. $32. 21+.

FRIDAY, JULY 8:

The debate about where techno was invented will likely rage until both Detroit and Berlin sink into the sea, but there’s no doubt that Kraftwerk played a vital role in lighting the fuse. Their hypermodern music reflects a postwar upbringing in a West Germany where the new was literally built on the ashes of the old. Classic albums like Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express posit a world where driving can be just as fun as sex—perhaps not a sentiment Portlanders can relate to, but then again, relatability is moot for any band that goes out of their way to look like a group of robots.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, portland5.com. 8 pm. $39.50-$129.50. All ages.

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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MOVIES

Editor: Bennett Campbell Ferguson Contact: bennett@wweek.com

IMDB

SCREENER

STREAMING WARS YOUR WEEKLY FILM QUEUE

BY B E N N E T T C A M P B E L L F E R G U S O N @thobennett

The Taika Rankings A look back at the films of Taika Waititi, director of Thor: Love and Thunder.

BY M O R G A N S H AU N E T T E

It’s been amazing to watch New Zealand director Taika Waititi’s rise to Hollywood dominance. Why? Because his work (from indie darlings to blockbuster tentpoles) is defined not only by quirky humor, but pathos and, sometimes, downright melancholy.

Waititi’s films are often characterized by a childlike view of reality—and the heartbreak that comes when that reality fractures.

There’s a universality to the stories he tells, giving them a sticking power that lies beneath their delightfully silly jokes.

Despite being busy with TV shows like Our Flag Means Death, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows, Waititi has two new films coming out this year, Thor: Love and Thunder (which opens this week) and the soccer comedy Next Goal Wins. The man has a lot on his plate—and many a great film in his catalog.

Here, ranked from good to best, are the films of Taika Waititi.

6. Eagle vs Shark (2007) Some directors come right out of the gate with a winner. Taika Waititi wasn’t one of those directors, but his first flick isn’t without its charms.

Jemaine Clement stars as Jarrod, an emotionally stunted 20-something who invites his girlfriend Lily (Loren Horsley) to the country to meet his parents and watch him fight his high school nemesis. It’s a potentially grating premise, but Waititi wisely focuses on the delightful Horsley (with whom he co-wrote the script), whose adorkable vibes make the story rather endearing. Still, the best was yet to come for the Kiwi wunderkind.

4. Boy (2010) Boy has a sense of humor, but it’s the saddest of Waititi’s films next to…well, we’ll get to that later. Set in the small New Zealand town of Waihau Bay, the movie follows 11-year-old Boy (James Rolleston) as he spends a winter reconnecting with his estranged, ex-con father, Alamein (Waititi).

While Waititi grew up in communities similar to the one depicted in the film, Boy is less a rose-tinted tour of a filmmaker’s nostalgia than an unconventional coming-of-age story. Boy’s sweetness and imagination are constantly threatened by a world that can be as apathetic and cruel as it is familiar and comforting. It’s a tricky balance to pull off, but Rolleston and Waititi do so with aplomb, 26

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

3. Thor: Ragnarok (2017) Taking over the less-than-favored Thor franchise, Waititi gave the series an ’80s-glam makeover and amped up the comedy—without skimping on the heavier stuff.

Thanks to Waititi, the journey of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the culmination of his relationship with his ne’er-do-well brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) are genuinely moving. On top of that, Waititi sneaks an anti-colonialist attitude into the mix, reminding us that the sins of an empire can’t stay buried forever.

Ragnarok also boasts some of the downright raddest action in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, unleashing violence as hyperkinetic as a Dynasty Warriors game (and scored by Mark Mothersbaugh’s ethereal synthwave and Led Zeppelin’s iconic “Immigrant’s Song”).

The result is a neon-tinted ride that, interpersonal drama aside, asks us to simply have fun with the space viking and his magic hammer.

2. Jojo Rabbit (2019) There are out-there comedy pitches and then there’s Jojo Rabbit.

It’s the story of a precocious youngster and his kooky imaginary friend—except the setting is Germany, circa 1945, the youngster is Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis), an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth, and his imaginary friend is a childish conjuring of Der Führer himself (Waititi).

What can one say but “Yikes”? And yet Jojo is a deeply affecting piece of work—a funny, romantic, heartbreaking, triumphant and a defiant rejection of fascism’s inhumanity.

Waititi is easily the funniest Hitler since Lorenzo St. DuBois, but the film belongs to Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson (who plays Jojo’s mother, Rosie), and Thomasin McKenzie (who plays a Jewish refugee Rosie hides in the walls). Jojo Rabbit netted Waititi an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay—and it was well earned.

1. Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) When a juvenile delinquent (Julian Dennison, a gold mine of nonsense bravado and earnest vulnerability) flees into the New Zealand bush pursued by his guardian (Sam Neill), the pair unexpectedly wind up on a grand adventure—all while staying one step ahead of an overzealous bureaucrat (Rachel House, playing an insanely funny avatar for government incompetence).

While the story of Hunt for the Wilderpeople is preposterous, the scenario is so charming that you wind up hoping the film will go on forever. For all its outlandishness, Wilderpeople knows its characters forward and back, and never lets their emotional journeys go by the wayside. It’s hilarious, it’s touching, it’s a marvel to look at, and it’s the best film from a man who makes very good films.

SEE IT: Thor: Love and Thunder, rated PG-13, opens Friday. See review, page 27, for theaters.

Teens Harper (Anjini Taneja Azhar) and Tilly (Quinn Liebling) fall in love in Young Hearts, a drama directed by siblings Sarah and Zachary Ray Sherman (who filmed at multiple Portland locations, including Franklin High School). In 2020, WW’s Chance Solem-Pfeifer described the depiction of Harper and Tilly’s relationship “incredibly normalized and non-exploitative by any Hollywood standard.” HBO Max.

INDIE PICK:

For the first time in half a decade, Darren Aronofsky has a new movie coming out.

While we wait for The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser, to storm awards season, revisit Black Swan (2010), Aronofsky’s biggest commercial hit—and rejoice that we live in a world where a ballerina (Natalie Portman) rolling on ecstasy and having sex with Sebastian Stan and Mila Kunis in same night can be considered “commercial.” Amazon Prime.

HOLLYWOOD PICK:

It’s been nearly 10 years since Sandra Bullock introduced the phrase “twisty bobcat pretzel” to America’s erotic imagination in Two Weeks Notice. She’s never met a factory-model romantic comedy she couldn’t inject with thrillingly weird humanity—and Notice, in which she plays a frazzled environmental lawyer working for a foppish corporate titan (Hugh Grant), is one of her best. HBO Max.

INTERNATIONAL PICK:

Remember the time Jackie Chan slid down a light bulb-covered pole in the middle of a shopping-mall showdown?

That fabulously freaky stunt is just one of many in the Hong Kong action comedy Police Story (1985), which Chan also directed. Other highlights include an epic misunderstanding involving a cactus and the comically tortured romance between Chan’s character and his girlfriend (Maggie Cheung). HBO Max.

ORANGE SKY GOLDEN HARVEST

5. What We Do in the Shadows (2014) Is this the best vampire movie ever made? That’s debatable, but it’s unquestionably the funniest. Written and directed by Waititi and Clement, Shadows expands upon a short mockumentary the pair made in 2005 about a coven of bloodsucking fiends living a quiet life in a Wellington flat.

Shadows (which later spawned the TV series of the same name) is the shallowest of Waititi’s films, but it has freewheeling anarchy akin to the Marx Brothers. It’s funny—like, laugh-out-loud, pissyour-pants, have-to-pause-the-movie-until-you-catch-your-breath funny, which is rare to find in any era.

creating a unique little project that’s sure to sweep you off your feet.

IMDB

PORTLAND PICK:

MOVIES G ET YO U R R E P S I N

TIFF

TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Being John Malkovich (1999)

Charlie Kaufman is one of the only working screenwriters who knows how to effectively exploit the art of meta-comedy. In his surrealist collaboration with director Spike Jonze, a puppeteer (John Cusack) stumbles upon a portal that takes him directly into the mind of John Malkovich (playing himself). Be one of the first 100 to arrive and get a free John Malkovich mask! OMSI Bridge Lot, July 7.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION An 80-year-old billionaire decides to ensure his legacy by financing the creation of an epic film about…anything. He hires eccentric filmmaker Lola Cuevas (Penélope Cruz), whose idea to adapt a Nobel Prize-winning novel called Rivalry sets the stage for Official Competition, a satirical adventure from Argentine filmmakers Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn. The film revolves around Lola’s collaboration with movie star Félix Rivero (Antonio Banderas) and revered elder theater actor Iván Torres (Oscar Martínez), who are cast in her film as rival siblings. Félix and Iván engage in a strange series of acting exercises (which include suspending a boulder over the actors’ heads as they rehearse), their egos creating comedic friction as Lola cleverly manipulates them. Cohn and Duprat, who wrote the script with Duprat’s brother Andrés, employ precise symmetry and overthe-shoulder shots in conversations to draw the audience in, while using deliberately vapid visuals to enhance the characters’ isolation. The result? A surreal environment that allows Lola, Félix and Iván to gradually fade away from anything resembling normal society, making Official Competition a fascinating and subtly hilarious film to watch. R. RAY GILL JR. Cinema 21.

CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH

In 2020, then-23-year-old Cooper Raiff became an indie film presence overnight by writing, directing and starring in Shithouse, a college dramedy about a deeply earnest freshman hooking up, missing Mom and figuring himself out. In his follow-up, Raiff advances a nearly identical character and worldview into post-grad angst—this time with Dakota Johnson and Apple TV+ in his corner. Wayward Andrew (Raiff) finds himself emceeing bar mitzvahs, which leads to meeting Domino (Johnson) and her autistic daughter Lola (Vanessa Burghardt)—and becoming the former’s love interest and the latter’s babysitter. While there’s sentimentality to spare, the movie’s broad comedy—from bar mitzvah brawls to Andrew roasting his stepdad (Brad Garrett) to tweens being cajoled into dancing with each other—plays well. Yet Cha Cha Real Smooth pauses routinely for Andrew and Domino to discuss their character development (he’s young and dumb; she’s scared to be alone), almost as if the script’s goal were life-coaching. And without Shithouse’s college bubble, it’s transparent that Raiff has orchestrated a farfetched story so stunning women will gaze longingly at him and he can weep over his own dialogue. Cha Cha Real Smooth isn’t necessarily a sophomore slump, but it’s certainly an indicator that Raiff should evolve his onscreen persona and formula before they strain credulity (and amplify his vanity) any further.

R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Cinema 21, Apple TV+.

MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU

The biggest animated universe in movie history is seemingly on cruise control in Minions: The Rise of Gru—which is of minimal concern to its tiny stars, who seem to be in a universe of their own. A prequel to the Despicable Me trilogy, the film begins with 12-year-old future master of evil Gru (Steve Carrell) living in 1970s suburbia and longing to join the Vicious 6, an infamous supervillain group. The Vicious 6 have just ousted their leader, Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin), and they hold open tryouts for a collection of dubious wannabes in a sequence reminiscent of the audition scene from Mystery Men. That’s just one of many scenarios framed against a vivid ’70s backdrop that’s glorious to gaze at—you feel as if you’re not just looking at another time, but another world. Unfortunately, the creativity ends with the animation. Gru spends the bulk of the film with the forgettable Wild Knuckles just waiting to be rescued, limiting his interactions with the riotous, gibberish-talking Minions, who fight not only to save Gru, but the movie. PG. RAY GILL JR. Academy, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Eastport, Evergreen Parkway, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Pioneer Place, St. Johns Twin, Studio One, Wunderland Milwaukie.

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER

Thor: Love and Thunder, the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, begins with a graceful homage to The Tree

of Life and ends with a tear-jerking climax that could have been written by Nicholas Sparks. It’s a gratifyingly weird film, but it isn’t good—and it casts serious doubts on director Taika Waititi’s next assignment, a Star Wars feature. Chris Hemsworth is back as Thor, the god of thunder and goofy pre-battle speeches, and so is Natalie Portman, who plays Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jane Foster. Since the breakup, she’s acquired some serious superpowers—handy, since a mopey and murderous chap named Gorr (Christian Bale) is rampaging through the cosmos. The problem with this plot is that it’s actually four plots. In the name of why-the-heck-not excess, Waititi has made a movie that is simultaneously a somber father-daughter drama, a cheery romantic comedy, an eye-assaulting action spectacle, and a disease-ofthe-week weepie. A more deft director (Edgar Wright, perhaps) might have coaxed the movie’s disparate parts to cohere, but Waititi doesn’t care about coherence. As his tactless, trivializing portrayal of a character’s stage IV cancer diagnosis suggests, he’s gotten lost in a maze of indulgent and seemingly random storytelling impulses. Thor: Love and Thunder wants to be witty and it wants to be moving, but its quest to be both is so scattershot it fails to be either. PG-13.

BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Cedar Hills, Cinema 21, City Center, Eastport, Fox Tower, Lake Theater, Laurelhurst, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Pioneer Place, St. Johns, St. Johns Twin, Studio One, Tigard.

A League of Their Own (1992)

Set partially in our very own Oregon, Penny Marshall’s sports dramedy is a fictionalized account of the very real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

The players include Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell, while Tom Hanks plays their cynical, alcoholic manager (Tom Hanks). Come dressed in your favorite baseball get-up and play catch before the movie! OMSI Bridge Lot, July 8.

Lost Highway (1997)

“Dick Laurent is dead.” Don’t miss the new restoration of David Lynch’s neo-noir nightmare, which follows a saxophonist (Bill Pullman) who receives a disturbing series of videotapes that seem to be surveilling him and his wife (Patricia Arquette) in their L.A. home, inciting bizarre hallucinations, amnesia, body-switching and even murder. Cinema 21 and Hollywood, July 8-14.

Night of the Comet (1984)

When a radioactive comet transforms everyone into zombies, two SoCal teenage sisters (Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney) show the world that valley girls can kick undead ass too. Packed with ’80s set pieces like an abandoned mall and a neon-lit radio station, this horror comedy is a zesty nostalgia trip. Clinton, July 9.

Midsommar (2019)

It’s Hot Girl Midsommar, featuring Florence Pugh’s breakout role, maypole dancing, flower crowns and dresses, way-too-potent shrooms, a pagan cult, unforgettably violent deaths, and communal cathartic screaming! Ari Aster’s rarely screened three-hour director’s cut plays as part of Cinemagic’s A24 showcase (see the rest of the lineup below). Cinemagic, July 11.

ALSO PLAYING: Cinemagic: The Witch (2015), July 9. The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019), July 10. Spring Breakers (2012), July 10. Climax (2018), July 12. Clinton: Flower Storms: Animation in Iran, July 6. Surf II (1984) and Surf Nazis Must Die (1987), July 8. Earth Girls Are Easy (1988), July 11. Hollywood: Ugetsu (1953), July 7. Vinegar Syndrome Secret Screening, July 8. Shrek (2001), July 9-10. Conan the Barbarian (1982), July 9. Afro-Punk (2003), July 10.

Legally Blonde (2001), July 11.

OUR KEY

: THIS MOVIE IS EXCELLENT, ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR. : THIS MOVIE IS GOOD. WE RECOMMEND YOU WATCH IT. : THIS MOVIE IS ENTERTAINING BUT FLAWED. : THIS MOVIE IS A STEAMING PILE. Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

27

COMiCS!

28

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

Jack Kent’s

True scenes from the streets. @sketchypeoplepdx kentcomics.com

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

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JONESIN’

FREE WILL

B Y M AT T J O N E S

"Free-Flowing"--a themeless for #1100!

ASTROLOGY ARIES

(March 21-April 19): With a fanciful flourish, Aries poet Seamus Heaney wrote, "I ate the day / Deliberately, that its tang / Might quicken me all into verb, pure verb." I'd love for you to be a pure verb for a while, Aries. Doing so would put you in robust rapport with astrological rhythms.

As a pure verb, you'll never be static. Flowing and transformation will be your specialties.

A steady stream of fresh inspiration and new meanings will come your way. You already have an abundance of raw potential for living like a verb—more than all the other signs of the zodiac.

And in the coming weeks, your aptitude for that fluidic state will be even stronger than usual.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to Arthu-

rian myth, the Holy Grail is a cup that confers magical powers. Among them are eternal youth, miraculous healing, the restoration of hope, the resurrection of the dead, and an unending supply of healthy and delicious food and drink. Did the Grail ever exist as a material object? Some believe so. After 34 years of research, historian David Adkins thinks he's close to finding it. He says it's buried beneath an old house in Burton-on-Trent, a town in central England. I propose we make this tantalizing prospect your metaphor of power during the coming weeks.

Why? I suspect there's a chance you will discover a treasure or precious source of vitality. It may be partially hidden in plain sight or barely disguised in a mundane setting.

1. Change chips, perhaps 7. Like some feral fur 13. A piano has just over seven

for 50 Cent and Justin Timberlake) 44. Proportional words 45. Range 46. Palm device, once

15. No longer on board

47. Disreputable brand

16. Permanently

49. Forward to the limit

18. Winged Renaissance art character

51. "Bear with me ..."

19. Arizona's Agua _ _ _ National Monument 20. Exalt extremely 22. "Eek!" 23. Curling inning 24. Word at some taquerias 25. Off schedule 26. Suffix that modifies Vienna and Burma 27. Descriptor that makes it 13

52. Season for some seafood, it's said 53. Diamond design 54. "Drag Race" verb

DOWN 1. Joe 2. Hoard in a hollow, maybe 3. Jazz piano style with lots of hand movement 4. Dance performed before some rugby matches

29. Online chatter in the AOL era?

5. "_ _ _ Seen It All" (Bjˆrk/ Yorke song)

30. Swedish Fish and Candy Corn, once

6. Starts flagging 7. "I Try" singer Gray

32. Tools for displaying albums

8. Swisher Sweets remains

34. Femur's position?

36. Words after shake or break 37. Olympic squad for Tom Daley and Matty Lee 38. Fill the silence, maybe 41. Warriors 35-Down Thompson 42. Daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh and ancestor of the Gaels (connected to the Stone of Scone legend) 43. "_ _ _ Technology" (hit

24. Overhead 28. Words that dispense with formality 31. Single-celled organism, less commonly 32. Workshop activity 33. First French Netflix Original animated series (2021) about a title kitten (title kitten) 34. "So Glad I'm Me" singer and "American Idol" alumna Jones 35. Kind of lineup 38. Dwight's equivalent on the original "Office" 39. Weekend Edition Sunday host Rascoe 40. Collins of ParliamentFunkadelic 45. Aladdin follower?

46. Altoids purchases 48. "Wie is de _ _ _?" (Dutch reality show of 22 seasons) 50. U.S. radio initials abroad

9. 1988 cult classic with the line "... and I'm all out of bubblegum" 10. "Professional Widow" singer 11. Hawaiian peak, occasionally 12. Source of the Rhodes Scholarship endowment 14. Diagnostic to check your balance?

17. Morning diner option 21. Just getting started

©2022 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #JNZ990.

last week’s answers

Willamette Week JULY 6, 2022 wweek.com

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Many Scorpios imagine sex to be a magnificent devotion, a quintessential mode of worship, an unparalleled celebration of sacred earthiness. I endorse and admire this perspective. If our culture had more of it, the art and entertainment industries would offer far less of the demeaning, superficial versions of sexuality that are so rampant. Here's another thing I love about Scorpios: So many of you grasp the value of sublimating lust into other fun and constructive accomplishments. You're skilled at channeling your high-powered libido into practical actions that may have no apparent erotic element. The coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to do a lot of that.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A Sagittarius

you to be extra vast and extensive in the coming weeks. Like Gemini poet Walt Whitman, you should never apologize and always be proud of the fact that you contain multitudes. Your multivalent, wide-ranging outlook will be an asset, not a liability. We should all thank you for being a grand compendium of different selves. Your versatility and elasticity will enhance the well-being of all of us whose lives you touch.

CANCER

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Being able to receive

(June 21-July 22): Your memory is SUBSTANTIAL. Your sensitivity is MONUMENTAL. Your urge to nurture is DEEP. Your complexity is EPIC. Your feelings are BOTTOMLESS. Your imagination is PRODIGIOUS. Because of all these aptitudes and capacities, you are TOO MUCH for some people. Not everyone can handle your intricate and sometimes puzzling BEAUTY. But there are enough folks out there who do appreciate and thrive on your gifts. In the coming weeks and months, make it your quest to focus your urge to merge on them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I love these lines by Leo poet

Conrad Aiken: "Remember (when time comes) how chaos died to shape the shining leaf." I hope this lyrical thought will help you understand the transformation you're going through. The time has come for some of your chaos to expire—and in doing so, generate your personal equivalent of shining leaves. Can you imagine what the process would look and feel like? How might it unfold?

Your homework is to ponder these wonders.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A British woman named Andie Holman calls herself the Scar Queen. She says, "Tight scar tissue creates pain, impacts mobility, affects your posture, and usually looks bad." Her specialty is to diminish the limiting effects of scars, restoring flexibility and decreasing aches. Of course, she works with actual physical wounds, not the psychological kind. I wish I could refer you to healers who would help you with the latter, Virgo. Do you know any? If not, seek one out. The good news is that you now have more personal power than usual to recover from your old traumas and diminish your scars. I urge you to make such work a priority in the coming weeks.

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Ancient Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." But a Spanish proverb suggests a different element may be necessary: "Good luck comes by elbowing." (Elbowing refers to the gesture you use as you push your way through a crowd, nudging people away from the path you want to take.) A Danish proverb says that preparation and elbowing aren't enough:

love doesn't come easy for some Capricorns.

You may also not be adept at making yourself fully available for gifts and blessings. But you can learn these things. You can practice. With enough mindful attention, you might eventually become skilled at the art of getting a lot of what you need and knowing what to do with it. And I believe the coming weeks will be a marvelous time to increase your mastery.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): "If I don’t practice

one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it." This quote is variously attributed to violinist Jascha Heifetz, trumpeter Louis Armstrong, and violinist Isaac Stern. It's a fundamental principle for everyone who wants to get skilled at any task, not just for musicians. To become a master of what you love to do, you must work on it with extreme regularity. This is always true, of course. But according to my astrological analysis, it will be even more intensely true and desirable for you during the coming months. Life is inviting you to raise your expertise to a higher level. I hope you'll respond!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In May 2021, Jessica

and Ben Laws got married on their dairy farm.

The ceremony unfolded smoothly, but an unforeseen event interrupted the reception party. A friend who had been monitoring their herd came to tell the happy couple that their pregnant cow had gone into labor and was experiencing difficulties. Jessica ran to the barn and plunged into active assistance, still clad in her lovely floorlength bridal gown and silver tiara. The dress got muddy and trashed, but the birth was successful.

The new bride had no regrets. I propose making her your role model for now. Put practicality over idealism. Opt for raw and gritty necessities instead of neat formalities. Serve what's soulful, even if it's messy.

Homework: Ask a friend or loved one to tell you a good secret. Newsletter.

FreeWillAstrology.com

CHECK OUT ROB BREZSNY’S EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES & DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES

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The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at

30

"Luck will carry someone across the brook if they are not too lazy to leap." Modern author Wendy Walker has the last word: "Fortune adores audacity." I hope I've inspired you to be alert to the possibility that extra luck is now available to you.

And I hope I've convinced you to be audacious, energetic, well-prepared, and willing to engage in elbowing. Take maximum advantage of this opportunity.

reader named Jenny-Sue asked, "What are actions I could take to make my life more magical?"

I'm glad she asked. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to raise your delight and enchantment levels, to bask in the blessed glories of alluring mysteries and uncanny synchronicities.

Here are a few tips: 1. Learn the moon's phases and keep track of them. 2. Acquire a new sacred treasure and keep it under your pillow or in your bed. 3. Before sleep, ask your deep mind to provide you with dreams that help generate creative answers to a specific question. 4. Go on walks at night or at dawn. 5. Compose a wild or funny prayer and shout it aloud it as you run through a field. 6. Sing a soulful song to yourself as you gaze into a mirror.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I'm pleased to authorize

ACROSS

WEEK OF JULY 14

© 2022 ROB BREZSNY

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TO PLACE AN AD, CONTACT:

Biden executive order. Vendors cannot ship lightsto us “STANDARD INCANDESCENT & HALOGEN LIGHT CAN NO LONGER BE SHIPPED TO Sunlan after Aug 31. Bulbs pictured below are included, more next story!

You can use them forever. Sunlan has current stock

MICHAEL DONHOWE

503-243-2122 mdonhowe@wweek.com CASH for INSTRUMENTS Tradeupmusic.com SE 503-236-8800 NE 503-335-8800

Steve Greenberg Tree Service

Pruning and removals, stump grinding, 24-hour emergency service.

Licensed/Insured. CCB#67024. Free estimates: 503-284-2077

Sunlan Lighting

3901 N Mississippi Ave. | 503.281.0453 Essential Business Hours 9:00 to 5:30 Monday - Friday | 11:00-4:00 Saturday

sunlanlighting.com

TRADEUPMUSIC.COM

Buying, selling, instruments of every shape and size. Open 11am-6pm every day. 4701 SE Division & 1834 NE Alberta.

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