Plenty of alt-weeklies have creative covers; some say it's a staple of the genre. But the most recent Portland Mercury cover might be one of the flat-out weirdest we've ever seen: it features an illustration by Andrew Zubko of Betty White, holding a flaming chainsaw, riding John Ritter. This end result sprang from a web poll the paper ran last month to see what readers wanted. (What, no Mercury readers wanted to see Urkel brandishing a kitten atop a dinosaur version of Tim "Tool Time" Taylor?) Gawker calls the cover a "slightly insane, slightly amazing pop-culture mindfuck."
One week after Sam Adams first admitted to Willamette Week that he had sex with an 18-year-old legislative intern and then lied about it, the newly elected mayor says he'll be going back to work today. MORE ADAMS: The Portland Mercury argued this weekend that Adams should stay; the Oregonian wonders if Portland can move on; and the New York Times looks at a city in "turmoil."
On Monday, the paper published Nigel Jaquiss' expose revealing that Portland Mayor Sam Adams, contrary to his earlier denials, confessed to having had a sexual relationship with 18-year-old Beau Breedlove in 2005. Adams, who was sworn in as Portland's first openly gay mayor on Jan. 1, apologized yesterday for lying and for forcing Breedlove to lie. Also caught up in the City Hall scandal is the Portland Mercury, which was pursuing the story along with WW. Former news editor Amy J. Ruiz was one of two Mercury writers working on the story; subsequently, Adams hired her to be his planning and sustainability policy adviser. "It never crossed my mind that [Adams] might have hired me to keep me quiet," Ruiz says. Adams says Ruiz earned the position on merit. "Amy was hired because of her smarts," he says. Meanwhile, Mercury editor Wm. Steven Humphrey says that the paper didn't sit on the story, but merely lost the race to the finish line to Jaquiss.
The Mercury is the new co-sponsor of an inauguration party with the Oregon Democratic Party, a few weeks after the Willamette Week backed out of the gig, citing journalistic ethics. "We're an alternative paper and we make a promise that we're going to be accurate and fair," Mercury editor Wm. Steven Humphrey tells the Oregonian. "So if the Republicans ever manage to elect an awesome president, we'll sponsor their party too." On the Mercury's blog, Humphrey puts it this way: "Anyone who thinks it's unethical can stay home."
Amy J. Ruiz is leaving the paper to become incoming Portland Mayor Sam Adams' new Strategic Planning and Sustainability Policy Advisor. After congratulating Ruiz, editor Wm. Steven Humphrey gives a message to Adams. "If you think purchasing our employees is going to stop the Mercury from dogging your every decision and step, you are horribly mistaken," he writes. "In fact, our next news hire will make you wish you'd never been born -- in a fair and accurate way, of course."
For the paper's Halloween issue, the Mercury ran a cover disguising itself as an issue of National Geographic, which has trademarked its yellow-banded cover design. This week editor Steve Humphrey says he received a letter from National Geographic's executive vice president that proves "not everybody in the world is a humorless dick." The letter said the magazine's first instinct in similar cases is to issue a cease-and-desist letter, but it recognized that the Mercury cover "was not malicious appropriation, but all in good fun." The letter also urged the Mercury to encourage its readers to buy subscriptions to National Geographic.
On the heels of Epicurious.com calling Portland, Maine, "the new Portland, Oregon," Portland Mercury food writer Patrick Alan Coleman decided that he "quite like[d] the idea of a cross-country Portland food rivalry," and baited the Mainers with a blog post detailing why the West Coast Portland is the real deal for foodies. Portland Phoenix editor Jeff Inglis has fired back with his point-by-point rebuttal, noting the superiority of Maine's beer, ingredients, mushrooms and bartenders.
In collaboration with Travel Portland and Amtrak Cascades, Ace Hotel and The Stranger have launched Trainsetters -- a program that encourages train travel from Seattle to Portland and supports Portland's independent shops this holiday season. The program is aimed at an emerging travel market: younger travelers who are sick of the hassle and high costs of driving and air travel, and who prefer the train's practical and aesthetic benefits. Trainsetters will be promoted via design collaborations between The Stranger and Ace Hotel, including postcards, posters and custom coffee sleeves on the train, ads in The Stranger, and also on the web at www.trainsetters.com.
Phil Busse, the former Mercury managing editor and one-time Portland mayoral candidate, was charged with misdemeanor theft for stealing McCain campaign lawn signs in Minnesota. Busse was in the state for a visiting professorship at St. Olaf College, and admitted his deeds in a Huffington Post blog last Thursday titled "Confessions of a Lawn Sign Stealer." He has since resigned from St. Olaf, the Oregonian reports. "I have no problems with taking personal responsibility for stupid actions," says Busse, who faces up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. "I certainly regret I took down the signs."
