Despite vows by Willamette Week that they'd "beat the living shit" out of their cross-town rivals' softball team, the Merc prevailed for the second year in a row on Sunday, by a score of 11-8. "It was another great Sunday in the world of sports," writes the Mercury's Wm. Steven Humphrey. "The WW has really improved since last year, and made a strong showing with numerous hits and good fielding, but ultimately it was the surgical style of the Mercury that won the day." AAN members: we know that many of you have softball squads hitting the diamond this summer. Feel free to report successes, failures and box scores to jwhiten (at) aan.org.
The Mercury caused quite a stir when they organized a freelance janitorial crew Friday evening to put an end to a Rose Parade tradition: the "reserved" seat. In the City of Roses, people tape off sidewalk spots up to a week in advance of the annual parade, and, according to KOIN-TV, some were even selling their spaces on Craigslist. "If you go to the DMV or the bank, you don't get to tape your spot off in advance and then come back the next day," the Mercury's Matt Davis explains. "It's ridiculous." But as a local TV news reporter says, some folks "really don't care for the idea of messing with tradition." One inexplicably frightened bystander tells KATU-TV that the Merc's peaceful group of tape-and-chalk exterminators had her a little rattled: "It is quite interesting; kind of scary. I was worried for a second what might happen."
Maine Community Publications, a subsidiary of the Seattle Times Company, recently announced the launch of The Maine Switch, a "free lifestyle weekly targeted to adults ages 25-45 years old," according to a press release. "Short and sweet is the soul of this magazine," says a blog entry on Switch's MySpace page. "You won't find long, boring reports in Switch, that's not our style. Instead we love colorful photos, funky facts and quirky pieces." The Seattle Times Company also owns Maine's large daily, the Portland Press Herald, which has twice before launched similar products with no success, the Portland Phoenix reports.
When law professor-turned-blogger Jack Bogdanski posted an item about a shooting outside a downtown hip-hop club, the Mercury's Matt Davis accused him of inciting racism, leading to a flame war that spread to other local sites, reports the Oregonian. Bogdanski responded by blocking the alt-weekly's IP address, preventing Mercury employees from posting comments on his site. "It's like a jihad, when these guys (at the Mercury) get going, they just pour it on," Bogdanski tells the Oregonian. To which Davis responds: "Regardless of (Bogdanski's) readership or our readership, I don't think we should be cutting conversation down. It's important that Portland have a conversation about race."
Portland Phoenix reporter Lance Tapley is the first to break news about a hunger strike at Maine's Supermax prison. Posted on ThePhoenix.com, the news comes soon after an inmate of Maine State Prison's solitary confinement unit committed suicide. Following two more suicide attempts and an ensuing crackdown, an undisclosed number of prisoners have refused to eat in protest of conditions. Earlier this year, Tapley won an AltWeekly Award for his coverage of abuse at the prison, and The Phoenix has covered the escalating bedlam there over the past year.
The athletic Portland Mercury crew won first place in the city's "Bar/Restaurant/Media/and Friends" softball league. A recap of this weekend's championship game and photos of the excited staff are available on Blogtown PDX, the Mercury's group blog.
