Willamette Week, December 23, 2020 - Volume 47, Issue 9 - How 2020 Changed Us

"I DIDN'T NEED TO REMEMBER THIS." P.29 WWEEK.COM

VOL 47/09 12.23.2020

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

Introducing

the Elysium Fields Black Label Collection 100% live resin In partnership with award winning farms

2

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

FINDINGS BRIAN BURK

SWIMMING THE WILLAMETTE, PAGE 21

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER VOL. 47, ISSUE 9 A North Mississippi Avenue homeowner says “Red House” occupiers doused rubber tires with gasoline in anticipation of police. 7 Our most-read story of 2020 was about missing mailboxes. 9 Christopher Frison still has nightmares about Room 428 at the Residence Inn by Marriott. 11 A preschool teacher who lives in Southeast Portland says she’s had a fever for more than 280 consecutive days. 12 Dacia Grayber spent 180 hours of 2020 in a hazmat suit. 13 Oregonians bought over $1 billion in weed products this year. 15 A Portland fabric store sold 1 million yards of elastic for making cloth face masks. 15

This year Portland personally canceled Kindergarten Cop, Otter Pops and Colin O’Brady. 20 Swimming in the Willamette River will not kill or mutate you— most of the time. 21 Ankeny Street Promenade was the best place to get an IPA, tandoori chicken tacos, and nearly run over by a naked bicyclist this year. 23 One of the last things Anja Charbonneau did before quarantine was get high at the Keller for a production of Frozen. 27 The two leads in 2020’s best musical got married on set after dress rehearsal. 28 The opening line of one of the best books of 2020 is really, really bad. 29

ON THE COVER:

OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK:

CLASSIFIEDS

TO PLACE AN AD, CONTACT:

Portland, OR / Est. Since 2010

SERVING TWO LOCATIONS | OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

Images fromDAILY a SPECIALS year that changed us forever, design by LIQUOR Joy Bogdan.

Tradeupmusic.com SE 503-236-8800 NE 503-335-8800

Do you have questions about sex?

Send your query to: askshebop@ sheboptheshop.com Select questions will be answered in Ask She Bop's next sex advice column

3906 SE Division St.

503-894-8001

A SEX TOY BOUTIQUE FOR EVERY BODY

SHOP ONLINE AT WWW.SHEBOPTHESHOP.COM CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR CURRENT SPECIALS / ALL CLASSES NOW ONLINE! / PORTLAND OREGON

503-206-4461

EARLY BIRD | 10% OFF | 9am - 11am | Mon - Thur

HAPPY HOUR | 15% OFF | 5pm - 8pm | Mon - Thur FREE Pre Roll | Purchase 5 Pre Rolls Get 1 FREE

Manager Data Analytics & Modeling

at Providence Health & Services (Portland, OR). Lead the infusion of value- added bus analysis, data analytics, & modeling to the prods & services dev & delivered by HI. Reqd: Bach in BA, pub health admin, CIS, Engr, or rel analytic sci fld; 5 yrs leadership & mgmt exp in analytics, BI, strategy, consulting, dataprod ownership, etc; bus analysis, reqs gathering techniques, & creation & mgmt of curated data sets supporting self- service BI capabilities to adv HI's data modeling & semantic capabilities.

Apply at providenceiscalling.jobs

1326 SE Morrison St.

MON - Edibles 10% OFF TUE - Top Shelf 10% OFF WED - Vape Day 15% OFF (Excludes Selected Cartridges)

THUR - Topicals 15% OFF SAT - Shatter Day 15% OFF SUN - 15% OFF (Selected Items)

MIXER • TOBACCO • LOTTERY

WWW.FB.COM/BrothersDispensary

(503) 771-8535 • 8001 SE Powell Blvd, Portland

@BrothersPDX

WWW.BROTHERS-CANNABIS.COM

Onewheels in stock!

Sunlan Lighting 503-246-6646 gorgeperformance.com

7400 SW Macadam, Portland • M-F 11-7, Sat 10-6

Intuitive Psychic Readings

Need Clarity and Insight?

Phone readings. Relationships, health, job, answer concerns, guidance.

Sue 503-267-8074 amazingpsychicsue.com

TRADEUPMUSIC.COM

Buying, selling, instruments of every shape and size. Open 11am-7pm every day. 4701 SE Division & 1834 NE Alberta.

Steve Greenberg Tree Service

For all your lightbulb fixtures & parts 3901 N Mississippi Ave 503.281.0453 Essential Business Hours 9:00 to 5:30 - Monday thru Friday 11:00 to 4:00 - Saturday

sunlanlighting.com

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

Licensed/Insured. CCB#67024.

Free estimates. 503-284-2077

Sunlan cartoons by Kay Newell “The Lightbulb Lady” Facebook / Twitter Instagram / Google

"I DIDN'T NEED TO REMEMBER THIS." P.29

MICHAEL DONHOWE

503-243-2122 mdonhowe@wweek.com CASH for INSTRUMENTS

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

Armed activists seized three blocks of a North Portland residential neighborhood. We went inside the encampment.

WWEEK.COM

VOL 47/09 12.23.2020

MASTHEAD EDITOR & PUBLISHER

Mark Zusman

EDITORIAL

News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Matthew Singer Assistant A&C Editor Andi Prewitt Music & Visual Arts Editor Shannon Gormley Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, Latisha Jensen, Rachel Monahan, Tess Riski Copy Editor Matt Buckingham

WILLAMETTE WEEK IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY CITY OF ROSES MEDIA COMPANY

ART DEPARTMENT

Creative Director Joy Bogdan Art Director Jack Kent Illustration Intern Paola De La Cruz Photography Intern Mick Hangland-Skill ADVERTISING

Director of Sales Anna Zusman Account Executives Michael Donhowe, Justin Eulalio Thomas Marketing Coordinator Candace Tillery

2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210.

Main line phone: (503) 243-2122 fax: (503) 296-2874 Classifieds phone: (503) 243-2122 fax: (503) 296-2874

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Give!Guide Director Toni Tringolo TechfestNW Director Shelley Midthun Cultivation Classic Director Steph Barnhart Oregon Beer Awards Director Rachel Coddington Friends of Willamette Week Director Anya Rehon DISTRIBUTION

Circulation Director Spencer Winans Entrepreneur in Residence Jack Phan

OPERATIONS

Accounting Manager Kim Engelke Staff Accountant Shawn Wolf Manager of Information Services Brian Panganiban OUR MISSION

To provide Portlanders with an independent and irreverent understanding of how their worlds work so they can make a difference.

Though Willamette Week is free, please take just one copy. Anyone removing papers in bulk from our distribution points will be prosecuted, as they say, to the full extent of the law.

Willamette Week welcomes freelance submissions.

Send material to either News Editor or Arts Editor.

Manuscripts will be returned if you include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. To be considered for calendar listings, notice of events must be received in writing by noon Wednesday, two weeks before publication.

Questions concerning circulation or subscription inquiries should be directed to Spencer Winans at Willamette Week.

Postmaster: Send all address changes to Willamette Week, 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210.

Subscription rates: One year $130, six months $70. Back issues $5 for walk-ins, $8 for mailed requests when available.

Willamette Week is mailed at third-class rates.

Association of Alternative Newsmedia.

This newspaper is published on recycled newsprint using soy-based ink.

@plaidpantryofficial

@plaidpantryofficial

#keepportlandplaid

#keepportlandplaid

www.plaidpantry.com/whats-news

@plaidpantryofficial #keepportlandplaid www.plaidpantry.com/whats-news www.plaidpantry.com/whats-news Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

3

PREHOLIDAY

SALE GOING ON NOW! (On Selected Brands and Styles)

Now Open for Walk-In Shopping - Space Permitting

Sunday 11-5pm Tues-Fri 11-5pm Saturday 10-5pm 1433 NE Broadway St Portland • 503 493-0070

DIALOGUE

Last week, WW published three Portland nurses’ accounts of working through the worst week of the pandemic. All three health care workers—Heather Rose, Kjersten Olsgaard and Erin Boni—described tragic scenes at overtaxed hospitals, frightened patients and emotional exhaustion. The article was sparked by a letter Rose wrote to WW in which she wrote of feeling “shaken by a different sort of suffering” working in the Legacy Health’s intensive care unit, and pleaded for Americans to take COVID-19 precautions seriously. Here’s what our readers had to say: Fellene Gaylord via Facebook: “We are asking so much from our health care workers. As a recent COVID patient myself, my case was mild, but the fear was ever present.”

Amanda Ellis via Facebook: “Mine wasn’t mild. I suspect it is common, as those who were as sick as I was died. They just can’t speak now. How quickly things changed with this virus. How I went from ‘not feeling so good’ to drowning. Then my fear started because I didn’t have time to say goodbyes, even if I could have spoken. How the fear doesn’t really stop, watching my life tick away with postCOVID issues. The concern and fatigue of the health care workers should matter. I survived, if this is actually a survival. I didn’t have to watch myself decline and carry that fear too. That might have been too much.”

P Miller via wweek.com: “A little off point here, but not that far…whenever I read these death toll comparisons to 9/11, I can’t help but think that it is more ‘on the nose’ than is understood or appreciated. Our situation today is the resultant culmination of a mass mental illness that infected America on that very date two decades ago. It led America directly to this place. For it was 9/11 that fertilized an era of conspiracy theories, a generation consumed with brain-rotting lies, a rampant distrust of reality that led to the Trump presidency, to complete COVID denial, and to an utterly vicious incivility.

And that’s what America now is.”

Dr. Know

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Ariane Holzhauer via Facebook: “Just looking at the exhaustion in that nurse’s eyes makes me so sad for her and her colleagues who are fighting so hard and so long and have been getting so little support from the federal government, and such sheer obtuseness in so much of the public. I’m not surprised to hear stories of PTSD from the scenes they see, the distress and terror in the patients, the people dying alone, and paired with the insanely long work hours and fear for their own health and that of their families. And so many people out there refuse to do something as simple as wear a mask, and keep their distance?! This is a truly dark and shameful chapter in our history, and so much of it would have been preventable.”

HOW TO CUT TRAFFIC DEATHS

Thank you for highlighting Portland’s record-breaking traffic fatalities (“The Big Number,” WW, Dec. 16, 2020).

There are two glaring reasons for this.

First, Portland’s Vision Zero is an acknowledged failure, due to the fact that it does not include an enforcement component of any kind.

Second, with Portland’s Police Bureau sorely understaffed by national standards (less than onehalf the number of sworn officers needed per capita) and the City Council refusing to fully staff it, little attention is given to the rampant speeders along our streets.

Now that the few Traffic Division officers we have are being switched to patrols, enforcement of traffic rules will suffer.

Recently defeated Portland Bureau of Trnsportation Commissioner Eudaly can squawk all she wants about speed-recording cameras, but that’s not going to help the pedestrians run down in the crosswalks. Fully staffing the PPB is the solution.

Frank DiMarco Southeast Portland

BY MART Y SMITH @martysmithxxx

If the spit mAsK DOESN’T WORK for CS gas, why do geniuses think the mAsK works for COVID-19? [I] have tested the mAsKs personally as a professional combat team leader. A spit mAsK has never worked for biological agents like COVID-19, fools. Never. —Steve M. I get the distinct impression you’re not actually looking for an answer, Steve. Nonetheless, I’m going to take advantage of this rare opportunity to be the bigger person (it’s not often I meet someone even more petty and vindictive than myself ) and provide one.

The most obvious reason to believe masks are useful is the fact that doctors, nurses and other biological-agent wranglers have been wearing them for 150 years, and it’s kind of stretch to think they’ve been doing it just to piss you off.

I sense, however, that this won’t convince you— you’ve seen with your own eyes that masks aren’t effective against droplets of CS (that’s tear gas, for you civilians), so why should they be effective against droplets of coronavirus-infected sputum?

Setting aside the somewhat glaring fact that the primary target of tear gas is your eyes, which masks 4

Fred and Joan Booth via wweek.com: “It is only six more months or so and we will be able live normally. Patience, people, is what is needed now to avoid overwhelming the health care workers. Better to wait until next season for holiday celebrations.”

don’t cover, you have a point: Paper and cloth masks let enough CS through that they’re not much help in a tear gas attack.

However, no one (so far) has started throwing exploding canisters of pure coronavirus into crowds of people. I won’t bore you with the math, but the number of people who would have to sneeze on you all at once to equal the droplet concentration you experience downwind of one CS canister could populate a small city.

A mask just needs to stop most of the big drops— both inbound and outbound—which is where the bulk of the virus is. That’s sufficient to reduce the chance of transmission between masked people by two-thirds compared to unmasked folks, according to data from the American Society for Microbiology.

Think of it this way: As a gun enthusiast (you didn’t say so, but I’ve got a feeling), you’re well aware that a Kevlar vest doesn’t guarantee you won’t be killed by gunfire. But when a firefight erupts at the family Christmas dinner, it’s a lot better than nothing.

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

MURMURS FRITZ LIEDTKE

PFIZER VACCINES AT OHSU

OREGON’S COVID-19 VACCINATIONS BEGIN: In the first week since the vaccine arrived in Oregon, 4,475 health care workers have received a first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use, Oregon Health Authority officials announced Dec. 21. Health care workers, as well as staff and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, are to receive priority for the vaccine, which is expected not to reach the general public till at least the spring.

Oregon received 35,100 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine last week and, after a reduction by the federal government, expects to receive 25,350 doses this week.

Shipments of COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna, which the FDA approved last week, are also expected soon, though none has yet arrived.

LEGISLATIVE VACANCY LOOMS: The Senate District 24 seat held by State Sen. Shemia Fagan (D-East Portland) will become vacant in January when Fagan steps into her new role as Oregon secretary of state. In normal times, Fagan might have resigned to begin her transition early—but she stayed in office through December to ensure she wouldn’t miss the Dec. 21 special legislative session, which focused on relief for renters and landlords. Kayse Jama, executive director of Unite Oregon, who ran against Fagan in 2018, is seeking the appointment and would become the first Muslim in the Oregon Senate if successful.

Jama received more than 64% of District 24 precinct committee persons’ votes over other hopefuls Adrienne Enghouse and Candy Emmons on Dec. 15. Multnomah and Clackamas County commissioners will cast their votes to fill the seat Jan. 6.

CALIFORNIANS TWEAK TO-GO BOOZE BILL: After months of debate whether to legalize the sale of cocktails to go, a bill shepherded through the Dec. 21 session by state Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland) was

augmented by two unexpected sources.

The California Wine Institute requested that single servings of vino be included—an ask Oregon growers had not made—and Senate Minority Leader Fred Girod (R-Stayton) pressed Democratic leaders resistant to the idea to make it happen. Nosse, whose inner Southeast Portland district contains a vast number of struggling restaurants and bars, says he’s thrilled Girod got wine included, which he hadn’t been able to do.

“My bill wasn’t anybody’s top priority for the special session,” Nosse says, “but when you see institutions like Pok Pok [which is in his district] go out of business, you know the industry’s in trouble.” The Oregon Liquor Control Commission met Dec. 22 to adopt rules allowing the drinks to flow.

RUBIO PICKS STAFF, CONGRATULATES SUCCESSOR: City Commissioner-elect Carmen Rubio won the election to succeed Commissioner Amanda Fritz back in May but waited until this week to name her staff ahead of taking office in January. Rubio tapped Adriana Miranda, executive director of CAUSA of Oregon, the statewide immigrant rights group, to lead her staff. She’ll also bring Ricardo Lujan-Valerio with her from Latino Network, which Rubio has led for 11 years as policy adviser, and keep Fritz staffer Cynthia Castro on board. Meanwhile, Latino Network named Tony DeFalco, executive director of Verde, a social justice nonprofit based in Cully, to succeed Rubio.

“I could not be happier to welcome Tony to the Latino Network familia,” Rubio said in a statement. “Tony and Verde have been longtime partners of ours, and I am confident that he will continue our work to advocate on behalf of Latinx youth, families and communities across the state. Latino Network is in good hands.”

LAST CHANCE TO GIVE: It’s no secret Portland’s nonprofits have been rocked this year.

That’s why WW’s Give!Guide is raising $5 million for 174 nonprofits in eight categories before midnight Dec. 31. The goal is within reach: As of press deadline, we’ve raised $3.5 million. Find what matters most to you at giveguide.org and donate what you can.

YOU NEED WILLAMETTE WEEK, AND NOW WW NEEDS YOU 2.5 Million Monthly Readers, in print and online 4.8 Million Raised for local nonprofits in 2019 46 Years of News, Politics, and Culture 1 City Portland’s independent journalism wouldn’t survive without help from readers like you.

Become a Friend of Willamette Week, visit wweek.com/support Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

5

WHERE WE’RE AT

BLACK AND WHITE IN OREGON

Bad vs. Worse Oregon fares better than nearly all states by two key COVID-19 measures.

After the most deadly week of the pandemic—181 Oregonians were reported dead from COVID-19-related causes in the past seven days— it is small comfort to know Oregon is doing well by the low standards of U.S. coronavirus response.

With all the different metrics around the pandemic, it can be confusing to understand how we compare with other states.

Throughout most of the year, for instance, Oregon appeared to rank near the bottom of the country in terms of how many people it tested for the virus. That changed Nov. 20, when state officials announced a switch in methodology from person-based counting (each person is counted once, no matter how many times he or she gets tested) to counting the number of actual tests given.

That shift made Oregon look like less of an outlier. With the new methodology, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, we rank 35th out of 50 states.

But testing isn’t the most useful metric of the pandemic’s impact. The number of tests given determines two other closely watched metrics: test positivity rate and cases of COVID per capita.

The accuracy of the latter is further undermined by unknown number of people who are positive but don’t get tested.

Carlos Crespo, a professor and vice provost at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, says two measurements—current hospitalizations and deaths—are less subject to variation.

“The most stable indicator is mortality,” Crespo says. “It’s reliable and every state is counting the same way.”

Hospitalizations are not quite as standardized, but they are a strong indicator of the level of serious illness in a state.

And by these two standards, as the charts below show, Oregon’s results are among the best.

Oregon’s response to COVID -19 has sometimes appeared inconsistent and timid, especially to the medical workers risking contagion. But stay-home orders went into place before the coronavirus spread widely this spring, unlike in New York City and other Northeast viral hubs.

It’s also true we are the envy of places like North Dakota and Iowa, where elected officials refused to require masks in public well into November.

Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the state epidemiologist, says Oregonians’ willingness to follow orders has played a big role in our outcomes.

Says Sidelinger, “We have had relatively good adherence with guidelines, including wearing masks.” NIGEL JAQUISS.

COVID-19 DEATHS PER MILLION AS OF DEC. 22 Oregon has a lower rate of death from COVID-19 than all but four states and far lower than the national average.

Here’s a comparison of Oregon with the two highest and lowest states since the pandemic began.

NJ

2,063 DEATHS

NY

1,881 DEATHS

AVG

978 DEATHS

OR

319 DEATHS

HI

199 DEATHS

VT

179 DEATHS

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Who Gets Shot

by Police?

Before George Floyd’s death, Black Portlanders were killed by cops at a disproportionate rate.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS PER MILLION AS OF DEC. 21 Even with the large increase in the past month, Oregon has a lower rate of current hospitalization from COVID-19 than all but four states and far lower than the national average. Here’s a comparison of Oregon with the two highest states and the two lowest.

NV: 648

AZ: 539

AVG: 352 OR: 141

Source: The Atlantic COVID Tracking Project 6

UNREST FOR THE WEARY: Portlanders demonstrated for more than 100 consecutive nights in 2020.

VT: 43

HI: 37

Between 2004 and 2018, one quarter of all people fatally shot by officers of the Portland Police Bureau were Black, according to an April 2020 report by OIR Group, an outside consultant that reviews and critiques police departments.

Seven of 28 people killed by police during those years were black. Just 5.8% of Portlanders identified as Black in July 2019.

The disproportionate number of Black victims reported at the time took on new weight amid a racial justice movement sparked a month later, after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by Minneapolis police. It became the center of a summer of protest and unrest in Portland.

Ryan Petteway, a Black assistant professor of public health at Portland State University, says disproportionate police arrests, traffic stops and use of force against Black people all contribute to the disparate shootings because they increase police contact with Black citizens.

“There’s something racist and problematic in there,” Petteway says. “In the sequence of events that leads up to a Black person being shot by police, there has to be an interaction. We have an entire policing system that’s designed to interact more on Black bodies than for white bodies. That’s where we have to start.”

State Sen. Lew Frederick (D-Portland) say the disparities are something the white community started paying attention to this year, while Black people have dealt with them for decades. “What happened this summer was not a new item for the black community—it was a new item for the white community,” he says.

Petteway says the only solution is what protesters called for all summer: defunding the police.

“What was revealed about the protests this year is more white people are waking up to reality that this isn’t just individuals,” Petteway says. “The entire thing is problematic, and we need to start thinking how we can reimagine this entire apparatus.” LATISHA JENSEN.

JOSEPH BLAKE JR

W W S TA F F

NEWS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK

NEWS MICK HANGLAND-SKILL

FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT

The Occupation Next Door

OCCUPIED: Activists barricaded streets in North Portland to defend a family from foreclosure seizure.

A neighbor describes what happened when law enforcement stopped responding to an armed encampment.

cars because they had fully barricaded us in. They said they had basically claimed the area and we weren’t able to leave.

On Saturday last week, an individual went around and broke the Ring cameras off of people’s front doors, on their doorbells, with a crowbar.

Few recent events in Portland have drawn as much national attention as the Red House Eviction Defense. The armed occupation of three blocks of North Mississippi Avenue interrupted the foreclosure seizure of the “Red House,” the home of the Kinneys, a Black and Indigenous family facing eviction during winter amid the pandemic.

The standoff has become a flashpoint of gentrification, racial inequity and radical activism in Portland. The occupiers initially arrived in the neighborhood in early September. But the occupation grew significantly in size and energy after Multnomah County sheriff ’s deputies and Portland police officers, following a court order, arrived in the early morning hours of Dec. 8 to evict the Kinneys.

Nobody had as close a view of the occupation as a man living near the Red House. That neighbor reached out to WW to respond to our account of the eviction defense (“Beyond the Barricades,” Dec. 16, 2020). He asked not to be identified out of fear of political reprisal, but WW independently confirmed he lives less than a block from the encampment, inside the blockades used to seal off neighborhood streets from police. This is his story, as told to WW reporter Tess Riski.

It was just a huge, huge, raging party occupation: giant bonfires on the hill, bonfires everywhere in the street. They built the barricades. They had weapons behind it. They had bottles and rocks and Molotov cocktails and all that stuff.

They had sentries, essentially, that are posted up there.

They had an individual with an assault rifle positioned right next to our driveway. They have people regularly back at their station, but they also patrol around the block with weapons and tactical gear and bulletproof vests. They watch us, you know, and they’re regularly standing around as we move in and out of our backyard.

I could go out front on foot, but there were several people outside, and they were armed and they would watch us. They’d follow us around the block. And they were very suspicious that we were coordinating with the police. Like I said, they had guns up front, too, in addition to everyone inside of the zone.

Generally, they didn’t say much to us. They knew we weren’t happy that they were there, but basically we had kind of cut a deal with them that they needed to keep some distance from our property and not trespass or create fire risks and hazards next to it. And, in exchange, we were leaving them alone. That was kind of the truce that we had.

Between 7 and 9 am on Dec. 8, a large crowd of individuals started to build after they got the news about the eviction. And it grew and it grew. The police were slowly drawing down. That crowd came through the backyard of an adjacent house, and they were throwing bottles and rocks and bricks and paint balloons at the police and screaming at them and threatening them about the eviction.

Police backed down the hill because they were outnumbered by the number of protesters. They pushed the police down into the street, down by the Mississippi Triangle, and they surrounded them.

I thought they were going to beat the cops in the street, and it was one of the scariest things I’ve seen in real life.

I had never seen anything like that in America. At that moment, I was like: This is completely spun out of control, and this is really dangerous.

Then the large group went back to the Red House, and more people came in and they began to rip down the fence on the property. They went inside the house themselves and started pulling stuff out to build the barricades. They started carrying out refrigerators and washers and dryers.

They blocked the alleys and they blocked the side street of my house. They wouldn’t allow us to move our

Everyone thought the cops were going to come down, so they were prepping for that. The side of my house was lined with tires and wood that they were soaking in gasoline and lighter fluid in anticipation that, when the police would come, they were going to light it on fire and create a big flaming barricade to prevent them from coming in.

They had bonfires on and adjacent to our property next to the gasoline-soaked tires. We were asking them to put it out—and they refused to do so and would yell at us.

They got really hostile and told me to fuck off and that we were part of the problem, or that we were just another gentrifier. We were scared they were going to attack us in our house.

If you had a problem, or you were scared for your safety or that you were going to be attacked, you had to negotiate with the individuals or the leaders themselves, because the police would not come out proactively because of concerns about security and the situation escalating. If you wanted them to stop, you had to go down and negotiate with them yourselves.

There’s this notion that the neighbors generally were happy about this, or thought it was cool or were OK with it. Everyone who was directly surrounded by this was really, really scared and nervous. And people kept their mouths shut because they were worried about their safety and protecting their homes.

I was pretty impressed with actually how quick it came down. But everything is still here. Everything’s still trashed. Everything’s still covered in graffiti. Everything’s a mess. My house, my sidewalk, everything’s covered in garbage now.

If I’d known about this, I would’ve done what works in the city. I would have gone and found Mayor Ted Wheeler in person and screamed at him until he did something about it, because that’s the message that’s being sent to people as a result of this.

If you want the city to do things, you either have to get a bunch of guns and take over a neighborhood and threaten violence, or you go find Wheeler in real life or Commissioner Dan Ryan or whoever else and you surround their home and you scream at them and harass them until they give you what you want. Otherwise, they hide from you.

It’s incredibly disappointing and unfortunate that that’s what the city’s decision-making has come to.

TRENDING

Not So Different

As Oregon’s economy recovers from COVID-19 shutdowns, the urban-rural divide narrows.

For most of the past four decades, Oregon’s economic growth has been centered in the Portland metro area, fueling an acrimonious urban-rural divide.

2020 did little to heal the cultural rift between urban and rural Oregonians. But it did bring the two parts of the state closer together in another way: similar economic pain.

As Josh Lehner, a state economist, observed this month, Portland typically leads the state out of recessions.

But Lehner has noticed something unusual in the bounce back from the initial COVID-19 shutdown: Rural Oregon is faring better than are Oregon cities. And so far, in employment terms, it’s faring far better than Portland.

“Preliminary employment estimates indicate that the urban-rural divide has actually shrunk so far in 2020,” Lehner blogged earlier this month. “Now it’s shrunk for bad reasons—urban areas have lost proportionately more jobs—and not for good reasons—rural areas growing faster over an entire expansion—but even so, it’s important to note the gap is not widening.” NIGEL JAQUISS.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

7

NEWS WESLEY LAPOINTE

BERRY JAM: Fairview packing plant Townsend Farms was the site of a workplace COVID-19 outbreak, which the state was reluctant to disclose.

Reporting Gets Results

Four WW stories compelled changes in how Oregon works.

BY WW STA F F

503-243-2122

More than most years, 2020 had a knack for making people feel powerless. That’s why WW is so proud of the stories we reported that changed Oregonians’ lives.

Every week, we aim to produce journalism that shifts how Portland views itself. But with some stories, the results are immediate and tangible.

That might mean sending an elected official home or making a government agency cough up a document its We ended the campaign of the leading candidate for Oregon secretary of state.

The story: When the year began, former House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland) was on track to become Oregon’s next secretary of state. As a key ally of organized labor, Williamson had the edge in a competitive Democratic primary.

But beginning in January, WW started looking into Williamson’s unusual spending of campaign contributions. Over eight years, Williamson frequently traveled around the world—from Germany to Hong Kong—and much of the travel was on her political action committee’s dime. Over the course of one legislative session, she also spent more than $10,000 in campaign funds on food, coffee and other drinks in Salem. Her spending of donations occurred during a personal finance crunch: Williamson and her husband were paying off back taxes. That was a troubling pattern for someone seeking an office that oversees Oregon’s campaign finance system.

The results: Hours before WW published the story on Feb. 10, Williamson dropped out of the race. She blamed her decision on “a baseless story that questions my integrity, that of my family, and the legal use of campaign funds. I won’t allow my family to be put through this.” Labor unions rallied behind another candidate: Sen. Shemia Fagan, who won the primary and general elections, and will assume office in January. Williamson, who denied any of her actions were illegal, landed Oct. 27 at the public relations firm Strategies 360, where she will serve as senior vice president of government relations. RACHEL MONAHAN and NIGEL JAQUISS. 8

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

leaders didn’t want you to see. It might cause a powerful institution to abandon a practice it carried on for years.

Almost always, this enterprise and investigative reporting reveals actions somebody wanted to hide—and the scrutiny compels the end of the status quo.

Are we engaging in shameless self-promotion, patting ourselves on the back? Yes. But we hope revisiting these stories also shows how journalism promotes your interests.

In a year when just keeping up with the news was a challenge, here’s how we changed the landscape.

We caused Oregon Health & Science University to stop sending its soiled linens to be washed by state prison inmates.

The story: In April, WW reported that more than 30 Oregon hospitals were relying on prisoners to do their laundry during the pandemic. The reporting revealed that inmates made roughly 60 cents an hour cleaning linens from hospitals that treated COVID-19 patients.

The hospitals had contracts with Oregon Corrections Enterprises, a private-public partnership whose records are kept secret by the state. Inmates told WW they felt exploited. “I’m facing the potential of a deadly virus getting into my environment and me dying in prison,” said one. “Hell, it would even be nice to have an urn of coffee down there.”

The results: After WW published its story, Oregon Health & Science University, the largest research institution in the state, discontinued its contract with Oregon Corrections Enterprises. Since 1995, OHSU had sent its laundry to Oregon State Penitentiary—a maximum security prison in Salem. “The foundation on which our prison systems lie, and on which programs like laundry services operate, is antithetical to our values,” OHSU president Danny Jacobs said in a statement in June. “I know the Department of Corrections is working to address these complicated matters, and I applaud those efforts, but at this moment in time, the best decision is to end this contractual relationship by transitioning this needed service to other vendors over the next several months.” TESS RISKI.

We forced the Oregon Health Authority to disclose a COVID -19 outbreak at an east county berry processor.

The story: On May 27, during the first coronavirus shutdown, state health officials revealed a large COVID -19 outbreak at a workplace in Multnomah County. But the Oregon Health Authority refused to name the employer.

The following day, WW reported the employer’s identity anyway—it was Townsend Farms, a sixth-generation berry grower and packer headquartered in Fairview in east Multnomah County. Townsend employed hundreds of seasonal workers and, as WW reported, some who arrived at the company’s facilities in Fairview and Cornelius tested positive for the coronavirus. The outbreaks in May would grow to include 107 workers in Multnomah County and 22 in Washington County.

The results: On May 28, OHA confirmed that Townsend was indeed the company involved and pledged the health authority would immediately change its policy and, going forward, reveal the name of any employer where five or more employees tested positive. It’s a pattern of OHA making public disclosures only after journalists revealed outbreaks. The state named nursing homes with COVID -19 cases only after The Oregonian published a story, and only acknowledged any childcare centers had outbreaks after WW revealed the largest one at that time. The state has yet to release the name of a mink farm with an outbreak, perhaps because no journalist has published its identity.

“The COVID -19 pandemic demands that we all rethink how we accomplish necessary tasks that are vital to our roles,” director Pat Allen said when he announced the May 28 change. “OHA believes a consistent, transparent statewide approach to reporting COVID-19 cases in workplaces will give Oregonians more information to help people avoid the risks of COVID-19 infections.” NIGEL JAQUISS. We revealed the identity of a police officer accused of repeated violence.

The story: On Sept. 5, Black homeowner Elijah Warren complained to Portland riot cops that tear gas used on protesters was seeping into his Southeast Portland house. As he was speaking to a police officer, another officer cracked him behind the ear with a baton, sending Warren to the hospital. The only identification Warren had for the officer was his helmet number: 67.

City officials refused to release the name of the cop assigned that helmet number. But in the following weeks, WW spoke to several longtime observers of protests, who recognized him as one of the most forceful officers patrolling demonstrations. We also examined photos of the officer. On Nov. 4, we published his name: Detective Erik Kammerer.

The results: Well before WW revealed his identity, the Portland Police Bureau had taken Kammerer off street duty, pending a city investigation. But running his name revealed new facets of the story: Records show Kammerer is a homicide detective who has repeatedly testified to grand juries in cases where a fellow officer fatally shot someone. He is currently a lead detective investigating the shooting of a Portland man by U.S. deputy marshals. In other words, an officer who investigates whether police used excessive force is himself under investigation for hitting a man in the head. At least one city official is dismayed enough to condemn Kammerer by name. “Removal from street duty is not—in my opinion—a satisfactory response to Detective Kammerer’s well-documented violence toward protesters,” Commissioner Chloe Eudaly told WW this month. LATISHA JENSEN.

NEWS TREVOR GAGNIER

5.

Sept. 7: A Rare Wind Event Has Northwest Oregon Under a Critical Fire Warning —Matthew Singer

219,712 views One of the worst fire seasons Oregon has ever seen began with a windstorm. In early September, the National Weather Service placed the Portland area under a critical fire weather warning due to high-speed easterly winds. It was only the second time such a warning had been issued for Oregon, and the combination of strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity ignited wildfires that raged right up to the edge of Portland and clogged the Willamette Valley with smoke.

6.

March 18: The City of Portland Is Preparing a Shelter in Place Order —Nigel Jaquiss

176,051 views When Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office began drafting a stay-at-home order for Portland, it felt like the craziest thing that could happen in 2020. Nine months later, it’s surprising it’s only No. 6 on this list.

7.

THE BLUES: The removal of mailboxes from Portland streets caused widespread outrage.

Special Deliveries WW’s 10 most-read stories of 2020.

BY S HA N N O N G O R M L EY

sgormley@wweek.com

Don’t mess with Portland’s mail.

Of everything that happened this year, the removal of mailboxes around the city proved the last straw for WW readers. The most-viewed story of 2020 on wweek.com confirmed that the U.S. Postal Service had removed blue boxes all over the city the same day that President Donald Trump said he was intentionally undermining the post office and mail-in ballots.

1.

Aug. 13: U.S. Postal Service Confirms It Has Removed Mailboxes in Portland and Eugene —Tess Riski

1,038,880 views

A few months before Election Day, a photo surfaced on social media depicting a truck with a bed full of U.S. Postal Service boxes. WW confirmed that the postal service had removed boxes in Eugene and Portland, and intended to haul away more. A spokesperson for USPS told WW the boxes were being removed due to declining mail volume.

But the removals caused an outpouring of concern from Portland citizens—on that same day, President Donald Trump said he was intentionally undermining USPS to make it more difficult to vote by mail.

2. March 17: A Portland Strip Club Has Started a

Meal Delivery Service Where Dancers Bring Food Directly to Your Door —Andi Prewitt

346,168 views Pandemic or not, Portlanders weren’t going to go even a week without strip clubs. Even before Gov. Kate Brown issued her statewide stay-at-home order, Southeast’s Lucky Devil Lounge launched “Boober Eats,” where the club’s dancers delivered food orders.

Of course, there were plenty of other things to worry about in 2020, too. Our stories that drew the most traffic range from fire winds to stay-at-home orders, federal agents policing Portland protests to Facebook despoiling a small town on the Oregon Coast.

It’s a more apocalyptic list than our most-read stories of 2019, when Portlanders’ biggest concern was running out of kale during a snowstorm. But revisiting these stories serves as a reminder that just making it through 2020 was a feat. We all deserve to be at least a little proud of that.

3.

Sept. 16: Portland Protesters Say Their Lives Were Upended by the Posting of Their Mug Shots on a Conservative Twitter Account —Sophie Peel

255,410 views During a turbulent summer of protests, conservative journalist Andy Ngo began posting mug shots of left-wing demonstrators on his Twitter page. WW spoke to three Portlanders who claimed to have been threatened and harassed after Ngo posted their mug shots on social media.

4.

Aug. 19: Mark Zuckerberg Is Despoiling a Tiny Coastal Village and Oregon’s Natural Treasures. The State Invited Him. —Nigel Jaquiss

250,818 views Last spring, a Facebook drilling operation off the Oregon Coast left drilling machinery and thousands of gallons of drilling fluid underneath the ocean floor. The accident marked a disastrous ending to a project that residents of Tierra del Mar—the unincorporated town where a Facebook subsidiary built an industrial staging lot—resisted every step of the way.

July 19: In Further Sign of Tension, Portland Fire & Rescue Bans Federal Agents—and Portland Cops—From Using Its Stations —Nigel Jaquiss

167,770 views When federal law enforcement came to Portland to police demonstrations, hundreds of Portlanders took to the streets to protest. Portland Fire & Rescue stated its objections, too: The bureau banned feds and Portland police from using its stations as staging areas, including for operations against demonstrators.

8.

Aug. 21: Major Downtown Property Owner Urges City Council to Address “Lawlessness You Are Endorsing Downtown” —Nigel Jaquiss

156,215 views After months of nightly protests, Greg Goodman, whose family is one of Portland’s largest landowners, sent an email to Mayor Ted Wheeler calling for the City Council to rein in the “lawlessness” downtown. Goodman’s letter claimed the streets of Portland were full of broken glass, needles and litter, and that protesters engaged in vandalism “don’t know or care about George Floyd.”

9. April 13: Oregon, Washington and California

Form Pact to Jointly Reopen States From COVID-19 Stay-Home Orders —Rachel Monahan

146,674 views While the federal government floundered in addressing the pandemic, the nation’s Western states decided to coordinate any plans to reopen. At the time, Gov. Kate Brown’s criteria for reopening included 10 days of no deaths and the ability to trace any outbreaks. That still hasn’t happened yet.

10. March 22: Gov. Kate Brown Is Preparing to

Order Oregonians to Stay Home, Effective Monday —Rachel Monahan

142,998 views The first round of closures came only after 23 mayors in the Portland region called for a statewide shelter in place order, and Mayor Ted Wheeler claimed he’d issue such an order for Portland if Gov. Brown didn’t act. It also came shortly after Oregonians flooded to the coast for spring break.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

9

ALEX WITTWER

How 2020 Changed Us Meet 20 of Portland’s people and places that will never be the same.

THE NEW NORMAL: Plywood, decorated with Black Lives Matter murals, covers boarded-up shops in downtown Portland, as passersby wear masks to guard against the virus.

10

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

This was the year Portland ran out of superlatives.

We also ran out of toilet paper. It was that kind of year. But 2020 was primarily a time when words didn’t do justice to the extreme nature of events.

The worst pandemic of our lifetimes was eclipsed by the longest-running protest in Portland history. The nightly marching ended only because of the most devastating week of wildfires Oregon’s forests had ever experienced.

In the fall, WW decided to stop using the word “unprecedented.” It had lost all meaning in 2020—a year without precedent.

When 2020 began, Portland had a booming economy, largely peaceful streets, and a rising national reputation. That’s all gone now. So are many of our favorite restaurants, bars and shops.

Worst of all, many of us lost loved ones—either to the virus itself or to the other disasters that followed in its wake.

Our sense of civic self-satisfaction? That’s lost too, rendered obsolete by a racial justice movement that showed this progressive paradise was in many ways a shared fiction held by white people.

“All the inequities and all the disparities that we tiptoe around, COVID -19 laid those bare,” says Dacia Grayber, a firefighter paramedic elected this year to represent Southwest Portland and Tigard in the Oregon Legislature. “It’s kind of a weird silver lining. We can no longer pretend.”

So much of the year felt unreal. Its losses were

tallied on screens, explained in Zoom calls. It was the most eventful 12 months in our lifetimes, and we watched it alone, from a distance. We stayed home, and some of us stayed safe.

But what did any of it mean? Amid the chaos, what mattered?

We probably won’t know the answer to that for a while. But we know the people whose lives changed irrevocably.

As WW’s staff discussed the year, that’s what we kept returning to: the people and places that won’t be the same in 2021. Some of them rose to the moment. Some of them were overwhelmed. A few of them just came down with a bug.

But for all of the people and institutions in the following pages, 2020 won’t be just a year of superlatives. It will mark a turning point in their histories.

We’ve identified people, places and experiences that defined the year. (Twenty, of course.)

We caught up with Portlanders who confronted Donald Trump’s police, or contracted the coronavirus. We selected four people who exemplify a new wave of leadership for this city. We mourned beloved establishments that closed for good. And we selected four habits we expect to last. (Put on that mask!)

We’re thrilled that 2020 is over, and we hope the new year brings better things. But what these stories all show is one stark truth: For Portland, there’s no going back to how things were before.

Whether that’s good news or bad news is up to all of us.

Lives Changed by an Uprising For more than 100 consecutive nights, from May through October, Portlanders gathered in the city streets to protest the killing of George Floyd and violence committed by police against Black people. President Donald Trump sent federal officers to quell the unrest. Even more people demonstrated. Tear gas couldn’t send them home—eventually, the smoke from wildfires would. The crowds of thousands dissipated. The groundswell of support receded. The protest movement fractured, and some its members grew fixated on vandalism. But the Black Lives Matter protests defined and galvanized Portland: It will be impossible to forget the sight of mothers in gas masks confronting the federal government. And for these four people, the racial justice uprising will be more than a memory.

WESLEY LAPOINTE

Christopher Wise

Christopher Frison Christopher Frison still has nightmares.

On July 27, Frison says, he walked to Room 428 at the Residence Inn by Marriott in North Portland, where he has worked as a maintenance man for nearly 30 years.

Frison, 60, was responding to a request to unclog a toilet.

He knocked on the door and identified himself as maintenance. The guest inside the room—a Department of Homeland Security agent identified in court documents as Joseph Jones—swung open the door and, with an “aggressive look on his face,” pointed a semi-automatic handgun at Frison’s chest, according to a $1 million tort claim notice Frison filed against DHS in October.

Frison says he has not returned to work since the incident occurred, except a few times to file paperwork.

Without steady income since July, he says, he’s been struggling to make ends meet. He may need to return to work soon.

“I have a lot of nightmares, waking up screaming, ‘Don’t shoot me!’” Frison says, adding that he now suffers from insomnia and migraines. “That’s where I’m at. I’m struggling real hard. And I don’t know what to do but to go back to work. This is very frustrating.”

Frison says he is going to therapy and making progress. He’s now comfortable leaving his house, for example. He says his young grandchildren visited him from Arizona shortly after the incident, and another grandson took him fishing: “The kids helped me feel a lot better.”

DHS has not yet responded to the tort claim, according to Frison’s attorney, Michael Fuller. Frison tells WW that Jones, the DHS agent, contacted the Marriott regional management and asked if he could apologize to Frison for the incident. Frison says he declined the offer.

“That man tried to shoot me, literally,” Frison says.

“What did I do to this man for him to pull a gun on me?”

TESS RISKI.

Wise, 30, recalls treating four head injuries as a volunteer medic during Portland’s racial justice protests. He also had to show others how to treat his own, when a federal officer shot him in the head with a tear gas canister July 20.

Wise, who stands 6-foot-5, was checking on protesters to see if anyone needed medical attention right before he was hit. “I started walking backwards while facing the police. A federal officer saw me stand up—because I am fairly taller than everyone else—and aimed whatever weapon they use to launch tear gas canisters and shot one directly at my head. He 100% did that on purpose.”

Wise had someone conduct a neurological assessment and had another person treat and wrap the wound. Just 10 minutes later, he was back in the field, flushing tear gas out of protesters’ eyes. It wasn’t until the next day he started to notice symptoms of a concussion.

Several months later, he has trouble talking on the phone, his memory tends to fail him, and he often feels lethargic. He had to take three months’ leave from work and still can’t work full time.

“I had to slow down a bit after I got shot in the head,” Wise says. “It takes a while to heal from brain damage, and I’m still working on it. There were things I had to reteach myself to do, like talking. I still stutter a lot on phone calls.”

Wise became a volunteer medic starting May 29 after seeing people get seriously hurt at a protest the night before. His next year will be spent in a different venue: federal court. On July 22, Wise and three other street medics filed a lawsuit in federal court against defendants that include the city of Portland, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

“During the course of protests regarding protesting police brutality, we just saw an unreasonable amount of police brutality,” Wise says. Yet he sees an upside: Americans are talking about violence committed by police officers. “The fact that these conversations are being had,” he says, “that’s amazing to me.” LATISHA JENSEN.

Phillip Wenzel The aftermath of Phillip Wenzel’s collision with lawmen sounds like a country song: He lost his job, he lost his privacy, and he’s facing federal time. That’s a rough year for a paralegal.

On Aug. 14, Wenzel was tackled by a half-dozen police officers in the streets of North Portland. As WW reported a month later, his mug shot and job description were posted the next day on Twitter by Andy Ngo, a conservative pundit with an enormous online following. Soon, Wenzel was receiving threats. So was his wife, Erin, and his employer.

His law firm fired him.

“We’ve been lying low and, to be honest, we’ve been staying at home with the blinds closed,” Wenzel told WW in September. “I can get over Twitter trolls, but what gives me the most pause is the 1% of them that have genuine threats.”

Wenzel, who had attended 10 previous protests and played in the drum line, was now caught in the unusually toxic politics of a presidential election. A month prior, President Donald Trump sent in agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to tamp down on racial justice protests that had, by that point, begun to wane.

The federal agents’ arrival reignited Portlanders’ fervor for police reform. But it also led to serious criminal consequences for protesters caught in the crosshairs.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon, headed by Billy Williams, charged dozens of protesters with federal crimes, including at least four charged with assault of an officer for shining a green laser in officers’ eyes, according to court documents.

In total, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has convicted just two Portland protesters of demonstration-related crimes, according to Kevin Sonoff, a spokesman for the agency.

Others wait to see whether the feds will still pursue cases under a Biden administration. Among them is Wenzel, who was charged Sept. 28 with one federal count of civil disorder. That carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Wenzel declined to comment on his case. He expressed gratitude to his colleagues who quit their jobs in solidarity with him; he’s accepted a job at their new practice.

“I’ve been glad to meet the people that I’ve met,” he says. And he still sees value in the protests. “I hope it’s something that matters. I hope that more change is to come.” AARON MESH and TESS RISKI.

Mark Bouvia Few groups in Oregon have been hit harder by the COVID19 pandemic than prisoners. To date, more than 1,900 of Oregon’s 13,100 inmates—or roughly 14%—have tested positive for the virus since March. Twenty have died after testing positive, including one man within two days of his scheduled release.

But the events of 2020 changed the lives of other inmates in a different way. Some of them got out.

Due to the pandemic—and perhaps as a result of enhanced political will brought on by calls for prison abolition this year—the governor commuted the sentences of roughly 250 inmates since June. Some were within two to six months of their scheduled release, and others were considered medically vulnerable.

One of them was Mark Bouvia, who was serving time for delivery of methamphetamine. After multiple delays to his commutation, Bouvia, 62, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and scar tissue on his lungs, was released Dec. 17, seven months early.

“It’s the best Christmas present I could have ever got,” Mark Bouvia told WW three days after his release. “I lived through it, thank God.” Gov. Brown’s third major round of commutations came Dec. 17, according to Liz Merah, a spokeswoman for the governor, when 117 prisoners received the green light for early release. Of those 117, Merah says, 33 were within two months of release, and 84 were medically vulnerable.

“It went really well,” says Mark’s wife, Diana. “I’m glad he got out when he did.” TESS RISKI.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

11

Lives Changed

by COVID-19 Two months into the year, a plague descended. For many Portlanders, the primary task of the next 10 months was not catching the coronavirus. But that wasn’t so easy for many of us: people working frontline jobs, living in crowded housing, or just a little unlucky. For those infected by the virus, COVID-19 became the defining experience of 2020, or the last one. For some, it isn’t over.

Amy Watson Watson, 47, a preschool teacher who lives in Southeast Portland, says she’s had a fever for more than 280 consecutive days.

“I got COVID -19 in early April,” says Watson, who thinks she contracted the disease from one of her students. “I never got better.”

Before COVID, Watson used to run half-marathons.

Now she struggles to walk around the block. “If I walk up a flight of stairs,” Watson says, “it feels like I climbed a mountain.”

She’s found common ground with about 12,000 “long-haulers” around the world who, like her, have found that COVID-19 can stick around for a long time. She’s the administrator of a Facebook group where people share their symptoms, tips and hopes for the future. Her group has gotten useful information from a group at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York that focuses on long-haulers.

Many of them, including her, Watson says, suffer from dysautonomia, a condition in which the autonomic nervous system, which regulates involuntary processes such as digestion and heartbeat, doesn’t work properly. “Imagine if you eat and the food just sits in your stomach and never moves,” Watson says.

A native Oregonian who loves to hike, camp and take advantage of all the state has to offer, Watson says her illness has forced her to ponder difficult questions.

“Beyond whether you live or die, what is the quality of life?” she asks. “I can’t work, can’t go snowshoeing—I can’t do anything. What is a life anyway?” NIGEL JAQUISS.

Scott McClellan used to play in an adult ice hockey league in Vancouver, Wash. The Southeast Portland board and video game designer, 49, thinks the tight confines of the locker room at the rink is where he picked up the coronavirus back in March.

McClellan couldn’t get a test, but he kept getting sicker—headaches, sinus issues and shortness of breath. Then, toward the end of March, his heart started racing uncontrollably.

“It was the most alien feeling I’ve ever had,” he recalls.

“It was almost a dreamlike state where I was out of my body—kind of like third-person mode in video games.”

Thinking he was having a heart attack, he rushed to the 12

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Cassandra Avalos When Cassandra Avalos couldn’t taste “that normal morning yucky taste” one morning in early October, she worried. She knew one of the telltale signs of COVID-19 is the loss of the senses of smell and taste.

“Then my friend texted me and told me she’d tested positive for COVID,” Avalos recalls.

She scheduled a drive-thru test at Rite Aid pharmacy on Northeast 181st Avenue.

As a single mother of two, Avalos, 26, who works for the Latino Network in a preschool-to-third-grade program at César Chávez K-8 School, could not afford to be sick. But the test was positive.

Her experience exemplifies what happened to hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who contacted the virus. They didn’t die. They eventually recovered. But the disease strained their resources to the breaking point— and left them wondering if they were on their own.

Avalos says the virus was tolerable. “I didn’t feel terrible,” she recalls. “It felt just like having the flu: I was groggy and did not have a lot of energy.”

She pulled her children, ages 4 and 7, out of day care, and the three of them hunkered down.

“I was afraid for my 7-year-old because he has asthma,” Avalos says. She thinks both of her children became infected, because they got coughs and runny noses, but she didn’t get them tested.

She and the children found quarantining tough. “We nearly went crazy,” she says.

The lifesaver came when a contact tracer called from Multnomah County. That person gave Avalos’ name to a church organization—she’s not sure which one—that texted her to see what groceries she needed. The groceries were then delivered, free of charge, which allowed Avalos to stay home.

Today, she feels fully recovered—and fortunate.

“I can see that somebody with no support would find it very hard to stay quarantined because you have to feed your family,” she says. “I was very lucky.”

NIGEL JAQUISS.

Her family still doesn’t know how she got sick. But

on Nov. 20, Montero was the first person in her family to contract the virus; soon, the whole family had symptoms.

They recovered. She worsened. Perhaps it was because of her diabetes—such underlying conditions can intensify the virus’s damage. When the family took her to the emergency room, “I had to carry her to my car,” Castillo recalls.

Doctors found blood clots in Montero’s small intestine.

The lack of blood flow to her organs was fatal. She died in her sleep Dec. 6.

She left four children, a husband, and a family that has lost half its income. Castillo, 21, started a crowdfunding account to help her dad pay the bills. “Nothing can really fix it,” she says. “But we’re trying to make sue my dad’s OK afterwards.”

Across Oregon, hundreds of families are preparing to spend their first Christmas without a loved one. For Montero’s family, that means remembering their mom finding a twig while searching for a fresh Christmas tree on Mount Hood, and carrying it through the forest like she was Charlie Brown.

“When I tell people that she was the best mom, I mean it,” Castillo says. “I never met anyone so kind, so caring, so selfless. There’s just not enough words to describe her. She was just everything that was good in this world.”

AARON MESH.

The Leaders Who Emerged The upheavals of this year also represented an opportunity. People who had rarely wielded significant power in Portland discovered longtime leaders and institutions had lost public trust. Never before was this city as open to new voices and direction as when the old systems had so publicly failed. In particular, the demand for Black leadership was rarely more acute, as a predominantly white city grappled with its racist past (and present). This quartet rose to the occasion.

WESLEY LAPOINTE

Scott McClellan

emergency room. Doctors gave him an EKG and tested his blood for the proteins that signal heart damage but found nothing.

“But when I got home and lay down flat, I had another attack,” he says. “I ended up staying up three nights in a row, and for the next several weeks, I slept sitting up. If I moved into to a prone position, it came back.”

From his own research and talking to doctors, McClellan determined he had a another symptom of dysautonomia.

Today, 40 pounds lighter than when he last played hockey, he’s on the mend. He went for a 6-mile walk on Mount Tabor recently, although afterward, he says, his symptoms flared up again. He’s slowly returning to some website work.

As somebody who spends a lot of time online, he finds COVID skeptics maddening—particularly those who badmouth vaccines.

“It’s incredibly frustrating to see people say it’s nothing,” McClellan says. “COVID’s a big shit sandwich: The question is, do you want to eat the whole thing or tiny piece of it? A tiny piece could be the vaccine.” NIGEL JAQUISS.

Carola Montero

Mac Smiff

As of press deadline, 1,347 Oregonians had died of COVID19 during the pandemic. One of them was Catalina Castillo’s mom.

“It was two days before her 47th birthday,” Castillo says.

“We were all just heartbroken.”

Carola Montero spent 20 years as a full-time homemaker. Last year, she decided to rejoin the workforce, as a housekeeper at Providence Portland Medical Center.

Cleaning hospital rooms placed Montero, like many unsung frontline workers, in the direct path of the coronavirus.

Mac Smiff watched a livestream last week of Proud Boys outside the Capitol in Salem telling cops to quit their jobs—a strange twist to cap a strange year.

Smiff, however, was more amused than surprised.

“It was on my bingo card,” Smiff says. “I thought maybe this is the year that conservatives realize they shouldn’t be propping up the police. All of a sudden, they’re starting to catch on to that.”

Yet 2020 has already been a surprising year for Smiff in particular. Amid a protest movement that saw leaders rise

be the only rookie lawmaker who also fought Oregon’s wildfires. In September, she worked a fire line along Chehalem Mountain. So did her husband, Matt Laas, who has the same job; their four teenage kids waited at home for the order to evacuate.

“I worked a couple of 72-hour shifts,” she recalls. “It was chaotic for everyone at that time.” But what she mostly remembers from those delirious shifts is a man driving a pickup truck, wearing a MAGA hat, handing out food and water. “I want to believe that’s still there,” Grayber says.

“It shouldn’t take a natural disaster to bring that out in people.

Grayber will be sworn into office Jan. 11. She knows what to expect.

“I saw that this morning: people storming the Capitol building because they’re told they have to wear a mask,” she said Dec. 21. “To me, it’s one of the great tragedies of all of this. It’s this piece of fabric that says, ‘I respect and care about you.’ And it’s become this symbol of government control. It’s going to take a long time to come back from that.” AARON MESH.

leaders.

“I think it would be meaningful for people, especially those that went downtown [to protest] in Portland, who were not African American and said they wanted to live in a place where they felt like everyone could be free and everyone deserved a fair shot,” she told WW in November.

“When they say representation matters, it does—it really, really does.”

Whether or not Bynum becomes Oregon’s first Black House speaker—either in January or in years to come— she has shown a boldness uncommon in a state where Democrats now dominate the statehouse and every statewide office. RACHEL MONAHAN.

W W S TA F F

WESLEY LAPOINTE

and fall in the span of a week, Smiff has been a constant presence: berating the cops to quit, rallying demonstrators, then appraising the results in The New Yorker.

In late July, Smiff—a 39-year-old journalist, activist and longtime fixture of the Portland hip-hop scene—was filmed grilling Mayor Ted Wheeler about defunding the police, right in the middle of the protests. A few days later, a clip of an MSNBC interview with Smiff went viral. Suddenly, his inbox was overwhelmed with interview requests from national media outlets.

Smiff says the deluge of inquiries has been a mix of rewarding and overwhelming. It’s been especially difficult to discuss the nuances of police abolition—a movement that’s been around for decades but has just entered the mainstream—with a publication that’s only going to use a quote or two.

“The whole of July, I was talking about defunding and what that means, what that looks like, what it means for community safety, how the investments can look, who we can invest in, where the people are,” he says. “People didn’t post any of that. They just wanted to post action quotes or things that sounded cool or Tupac-y or something.”

Still, Smiff says it’s a victory in itself that defunding law enforcement has entered mainstream conversation. And after lending his voice to other journalists’ articles all year, he no longer needs others’ platforms: He already guest-edited an issue of Portland music magazine Vortex published earlier this month.

“I spent all year essentially giving away press, mostly to white people who just took that and got paid,” he says.

“Now, it’s like I paid my dues in a different way. Now, I’ll see about using this as our own way to do more Black press.” SHANNON GORMLEY.

Cat Hollis

Janelle Bynum

Dacia Grayber Dacia Grayber spent 180 hours of 2020 in a hazmat suit.

“My worldview at work is literally through a respirator,” she says.

Grayber, 45, is a firefighter and paramedic with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. When the COVID-19 pandemic descended in March, nearly every medical call she responded to was presumptively treated as a COVID case.

Yet many of the people she aided, in the Southwest Hills ringing Portland, refused to believe they had the virus. Grayber remembers one acutely: The woman couldn’t stand from her chair. “I definitely don’t have COVID,” she insisted. “The only people I’m seeing are my family and grandkids.”

Grayber will soon confront COVID denial on a statewide scale. In May, she was elected to the Oregon Legislature to represent the House District 35, serving Tigard and Southwest Portland. “There’s been lots of jokes at work,” she says. “‘You’re running out of one burning building and into another.’”

She was among the first in a trend: a wave of frontline medical workers voted into office in 2020. But amid the doctors and nurses joining the Legislature, Grayber will

It’s not exactly true state Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Clackamas) emerged this year.

Four years ago, when the Portland suburbs were still competitive for Republicans, Bynum, a moderate Democrat and businesswoman who, with her husband, owns four local McDonald’s restaurants, won a record-setting million-dollar race for the legislative seat that represents parts of East Portland and Clackamas.

In her first term, she delivered sidewalks for her district and safer streets in East Portland as part of a transportation package passed that year—important progress if not high-profile work.

But in the past year, she championed police reform bills alongside the Black Lives Movement protests in Portland. And she rose in profile.

Then Bynum chose a seemingly unlikely path, publicly challenging Rep. Tina Kotek (D-Portland) for her job as House speaker, a post she’s held longer than anyone in state history as a lawmaker widely respected for her progressive victories. A Bynum win would be a milestone for Oregon, which has never had a Black leader run either chamber of the Legislature.

Bynum’s rise is a reminder that Black voices don’t speak as one and a single person can hold many ideas.

She’s a business-owning tax skeptic, a champion for racial justice who demands measurable change, and a Black official cautioning against the property destruction that has marred Portland’s protests. She presents an interesting challenge to Portland liberals sympathetic to her argument: that racial justice means actually empowering Black

On its face, a stripper march sounds like an event out of a Portland tourist brochure.

It wasn’t an act of whimsy. It was a call for equal treatment.

On June 24, 100 strippers—some wearing stiletto heels—walked through the Montavilla neighborhood to demand that local clubs hire more dancers of color. Their chant? “No justice, no booty.”

The protest was an outgrowth of a movement Cat Hollis helped jump-start. As a Black stripper, Hollis, has long been aware of the obstacles faced by dancers like her. But an Instagram post by Lucky Devil Lounge shortly after the start of the George Floyd protests made clear just how many shared her experience.

“This comment feed started underneath it that was like, ‘That’s more Black Lives Matter signs than there’s ever been Black butts on your stage,’” Hollis says.

It spurred her to start the Haymarket Pole Collective, otherwise known as the Portland Stripper Strike. It wasn’t a work stoppage, but it did have demands—namely, that club owners commit to racial sensitivity training for employees and better shifts for dancers of color.

Thirty clubs signed on. (One holdout, Union Jacks on East Burnside, relented after being faced with the threat of a picket line.) The movement received attention from Rolling Stone and Vogue and spread to other cities.

It was representative of a reckoning in all corners of Oregon business: a recognition that Black, Indigenous and people of color had been shoved to the side of cherished industries. “Restaurant workers came forward with accounts of racism and harassment on social media,” Hollis says, “while groups like the Cannabis Workers Coalition sought to diversify the state’s cannabis industry.”

Haymarket has since scored other victories: In November, the group received a $590,000 grant from the Oregon Health Authority to assist BIPOC sex workers during the pandemic.

But the ultimate hope, Hollis says, is that it spurs calls for equity in other industries.

“If a strip club manager can sign on to do this,” she says, “why can’t a yoga studio or coffee shop?”

MATTHEW SINGER. Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

13

The Landmarks We Lost When the clock strikes 2021, Portlanders won’t be gathered in beloved pubs and diners. (Only patios are open for dining, and service ends at 11 pm.) But the year felt like an extended last call, with our most cherished venues, bistros and watering holes felled by the pandemic and a lack of government aid. Downtown got hit the hardest, as empty office buildings meant no lunch or after-work crowds.

But soon the blight touched every neighborhood. When we return to social life, we will still feel a vacancy: Many of our favorite hangouts won’t be waiting for us. Here are four we’ll miss.

Montage didn’t entirely disappear: It survives in the form of a food truck in the Hawthorne Asylum pod. Gone are the deep-fried frog legs and oyster shooters. But the mac is back, and let’s face it: That was always the reason you stumbled in after midnight. Returning to it now is like slipping into that now-tattered hoodie you’ve hung on to since college—there’s a tinge of guilt you didn’t put in more effort, but the comfort is its own reward.

Best of all? Every takeout order comes with a single aluminum rose. ANDI PREWITT.

Toro Bravo

Weird Old Division Street In most cities, a decaying porno house would be seen as a blight. On Southeast Division Street, it was a comfort.

No matter how much the neighborhood changed—and over the past decade and a half, few in Portland have changed more—the Oregon Theater somehow survived.

A former vaudeville theater, it was converted to an adult cinema in the 1970s, and there it remained, unaffected by the advent of VHS, DVDs and Pornhub, as expensive apartments and fancy restaurants grew up around it. Of course, you never went inside, but knowing others did was proof that remnants of a grimier, more family-unfriendly town still existed.

The pandemic did not close the Oregon Theater—the building fell into foreclosure in February—but its quiet end served as a prologue to the economic apocalypse to come.

In November, Reel M Inn, the nautical-themed dive bar with perilous restrooms and the best damn fried chicken in the city, shut down “indefinitely.” Ford Food and Drink, a longtime artist hub with its own in-house jug band, also shuttered in summer.

But it was Pok Pok that stung the most.

It was a shock that shouldn’t have been surprising: Owner Andy Ricker had closed nearly all his other properties in the spring, and he’d put the Division flagship up for sale in August. Still, when the confirmation came, in an Instagram dispatch from Thailand, the news was jarring.

A chicken shack that grew into a destination, it was, for 15 years, the city’s most famous restaurant, and arguably its most well-known export. It introduced Portland to the cuisine of Northern Thailand, then brought Portland to the world. If it couldn’t survive the year, what could?

In his farewell message, Ricker asked that you please not cry for him. “[I]t is an exciting time to be here to witness younger Thai chefs moving their cuisine into the 21st century with skill, care and a sense of history,” he wrote.

“To be here for it, watching and peripherally involved, is both a joy and an honor.”

That circle of life is already happening at his own properties: In September, Thomas and Marsha Pisha-Duffly, owners of the acclaimed Indonesian restaurant Gado Gado, opened a spinoff, Oma’s Takeaway, inside the former Whiskey Soda Lounge, the original Pok Pok’s semi-official waiting room.

And the Oregon Theater? The building’s new owner plans to continue screening movies there—only, this time, you can bring the whole family. MATTHEW SINGER. 14

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

If you had to pinpoint the year that Portland’s restaurant scene came into its own, 2007 stands out.

In retrospect, that year’s culinary rookie class is astounding. There was the multicourse experience at Naomi Pomeroy’s Beast. Kenny & Zuke’s debuted a perfectly slow-smoked brisket. Country Cat launched the fried chicken craze, and Clyde Common ushered in the age of the celebrity bartender.

And then there was Toro Bravo.

It seemed chef John Gorham sangria-hued dining room was jammed with diners from the day it opened.

Everyone fell for Gorham’s Spanish-inspired tapas immediately, and it’s easy to see why: Toro Bravo was sexy.

A meal there often started with the small-plates equivalent of a kiss: bacon-wrapped dates served on a swirl of warm honey. It evolved from there. A bowl of toast-brown patatas bravas. Gorham’s epic coppa steak, perfectly seared.

A few months after it opened, WW named Toro Bravo its Restaurant of the Year, and the waiting list stayed long right up until it closed—first temporarily, in March, then for good in the summer, following a shocking meltdown that saw Gorham step away from the small empire he’d built over the previous 13 years.

Portland is far from that golden age that 2007 ushered in—each member of that astonishing rookie class is either shuttered, drastically overhauled or teetering on the edge.

But there is some comfort in the fact that the spirit of Toro Bravo lives on in some formerly owned Gorham properties, from the burgers at Bless Your Heart to the dishes at Mediterranean Exploration Company, Shalom Y’all and Yalla, all surging with the flavors of the intercontinental sea. ANDI PREWITT.

Le Bistro Montage The end was, appropriately, spelled out in tin foil.

In late June, when Le Bistro Montage broke the news that it would be shutting its signature red entrance door for good, the message on social media was fashioned out of aluminum. Leftovers at the 27-year-old restaurant tucked under the Morrison Bridge were famously wrapped in elaborate foil sculptures, shaped like scorpions and swans and sea turtles, turning half-eaten portions of macaroni and cheese and catfish fillets into works of art.

As one of Portland’s limited late-night, all-ages haunts, Montage was the first place you’d go as a teenager to try to feel like an adult. If you were a kid from the suburbs, it was a destination that accorded you an edge. It was a quirky yet curious combination of dive bar and old school steakhouse. There were white marble tables, pressed linens and servers in crisp, white jackets. But the lights were dim, the pounders of Rainier were cheap, and the neon bar signs hung near eclectic art, like the whimsical take on The Last Supper.

CC Slaughters It once seemed like nothing could close CC Slaughters.

The disappearance of Portland’s queer spaces has been well documented. But for almost four decades, from the Reagan years up through the legalization of same-sex marriage, the Old Town gay bar served as a gateway to Portland’s LGBTQ+ nightlife.

Years after the demise of the string of Southwest Stark Street bars dubbed “Vaseline Alley,” CC’s, as it was known to regulars, stayed packed each weekend, hosting drag nights and dance shows. When neighboring club Embers closed after a half-century run, in 2017, CC’s became the largest gay bar in the city.

A younger generation of queer Portlanders came of age at dance parties around the city rather than at bars like CC’s, but that only made its closure feel more significant.

It’s hard to say what queer nightlife in Portland will look like post-pandemic. But the end of CC Slaughters is far from a death knell. Even before COVID-19, the scene lacked an epicenter, which in some ways is a good thing.

It had already spread out to dance nights across the city, from kikis to kink-centric parties, throwback soul nights and electro raves.

Still, when CC’s announced its closure on Facebook, Portlanders lamented the loss of a place that was once one of the handful of spaces in the city where they could be themselves.

“My brother’s partner took me here over 10 years ago, dragged me up to Bolivia Carmichael and said, ‘This is my partner’s younger brother. He just came out,’” one patron wrote about meeting one of the club’s regular drag performers. “She said, ‘Girl, you’ll be fine.’ And I was. And I am. Thanks for the world. Literally.”

SHANNON GORMLEY.

The Habits We Picked Up First, it was puzzles. Then it was baking. And then…it got weird. At the start of quarantine, the hobbies we picked up to pass the time were just that: innocent pastimes. But after a year in isolation, hobbies turn to habits, and the longer this goes on, the more permanent they become.

Here are four that, in one way or another, have reshaped Portland at large.

WESLEY LAPOINTE

CHRISTINE DONG

In a year that’s felt like a 10-month panic attack, more Oregonians than ever found relief at the bottom of a bong.

As the state first shut down in March, recreational cannabis sales hit $84.5 million a month, a record. Initially, it seemed like a surge brought on by the same panic that caused toilet paper and hand sanitizer to vanish from store shelves. But the numbers kept going up, even after the governor announced she would allow dispensaries to remain open.

As of mid-December, according to Oregon Liquor Control Commission data, total annual sales of cannabis products have reached $1,065,635,000—a 47% leap from last year, and the first time sales have crossed the $1 billion mark.

After five years of growing pains and bad headlines, Oregon’s weed industry is ending 2020 on, well, a high: Cannabis, it seems, is pandemic proof.

But who exactly was buying all that weed? Committed stoners stocking up? Office drones popping gummies while working remotely? Curious newbies replacing social drinking with quarantined smoking?

All of the above, says Adam Smith, director of the Craft Cannabis Alliance. And he expects the majority of them to keep buying.

“I don’t want to use the word ‘habit,’” he says, “but people get into a pattern where that’s something they’ve incorporated into their lives.”

But even with the big sales, the industry’s potential for growth remains limited. Smith says the next step is interstate commerce allowing growers to sell their product in other states where cannabis is legal. “In some circles, we’re as famous for our cannabis as we are for our pinot noir,” he says. “Until we can sell this world-class cannabis into the market, this industry will continue to struggle.”

MATTHEW SINGER. BRIAN BURK

Car Culture Most years, the last car would have rolled out of Newberg’s 99-W Drive-In months ago. The screen typically goes dark in late October, when the rains start.

But in 2020, a night at the drive-in is one of the only relatively safe escapes from home anyone can afford. So the projector has kept running through late December, the screenings switching from summer blockbusters to holiday classics like Elf, Die Hard and A Christmas Story.

In Portland, the automobile has long been considered a necessary evil, if not the outright enemy. But this year, we didn’t just learn to live with cars—we lived inside them.

Drive-thrus became the go-to pandemic pivot. ZooLights, the Oregon Zoo’s annual holiday light show, created a path for motorists to cruise past twinkling polar bears and LED gorillas, and drew bigger crowds than ever. Old Town Brewing converted its parking area just off Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard into a drive-up beer market. Lucky Devil Lounge in Southeast Portland even created a “strip-thru,” where masked dancers contorted under a tent and patrons handed them tips through their driver’s side windows.

Will our rekindled love affair with the automobile outlast the pandemic? It’s difficult to say. But right now, if we’re going to be confined, give us the box that moves.

ANDI PREWITT.

Williams. Higgins, the downtown lunch staple, loaded a cart with beer and wine from its vaunted cellar, and set up in the courtyard of the Oregon Historical Society.

Combined with the city’s neighborhood greenways, which closed certain roads to traffic to allow more space for bikes and pedestrians, Portland’s streets had rarely seemed so open. It looked utopian—or at least European.

Then the rains came. PBOT extended the Healthy Businesses program through winter, adding guidelines for installing awnings and three-sided enclosures.

Hannah Schwartz, a spokesperson for PBOT, says it’s too early to say if the program will extend past March. But support for it is high—a survey found 94% of diners want it to continue, perhaps even beyond the pandemic.

“For some folks, it’s opened their eyes to these other possibilities they may not have thought of before,” Schwartz says. “That’s exciting, too, to know people are seeing our city and our streets with this new perspective, and where that might lead us in the future.”

MATTHEW SINGER.

Weed Purchases

Mask-Making

Al Fresco Dining We started the year eating out of boxes. By the end, we were eating in them.

For the first part of quarantine, delivery and takeout were the only eatery options. As Oregon reopened its economy in early summer, it became clear that without some sort of dine-in service, few restaurants would survive.

In June, the Portland Bureau of Transportation introduced the Healthy Businesses program, expanding outdoor seating onto sidewalks and in parking spaces.

Seven hundred businesses signed up. Some commercial areas coordinated their applications, turning whole streets into temporary promenades.

Individual restaurants got creative. Kachka turned the roof of its parking garage into a Soviet-American patio party. Eem arranged individual dining pods along North

One activity united Portland in 2020: making and distributing as many cloth masks as possible.

Laid-off theater employees formed a mask-making team and gave out thousands of pieces of free personal protective equipment. Timbers and Thorns fans donated over 8,000 masks from April to May alone. Activewear company Dhvani shipped out tens of thousands of face coverings across the country.

The mask boom happened on an individual level, too.

The Mill End Store, a century-old textile warehouse just across Portland’s border with Milwaukie, estimates about half its customers in 2020 came in looking for mask-making supplies. The store sold over a million yards of elastic between its top two styles alone.

“It’s kind of like how people would send cards when they knew you were sick,” says Mill End owner Nancy Bishop.

Many Portlanders gave away their handiwork to friends, relatives and total strangers. Neighbors hung masks from clotheslines along sidewalks around the city for passersby to grab.

At Mill End, sales for mask patterns and elastic are starting to taper off. But even with the arrival of COVID19 vaccines, mask requirements aren’t going away soon, no matter how much some artisans wish they would.

“Some people have said, ‘I hope I’m not making these next year,’” Bishop says. SHANNON GORMLEY. Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

15

THE YEAR IN PICTURES

Wesley Lapointe | 03.20.20

Aaron Wessling | 03.03.20

Rocky Burnside | 03.22.20

Mick Hangland-Skill | 03.14.20

Henry Cromett | 03.27.20

Mick Hangland-Skill | 06.01.20

Alex Wittwer | 05.29.20 16

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Jonathan Inthavong | 06.06.20

Jonathan Inthavong | 06.06.20

Brian Brose | 06.16.20

Joseph Blake Jr. | 06.26.20

Alex Wittwer | 06.13.20

Alex Wittwer | 06.22.20

Alex Wittwer | 06.02.20

Brian Brose | 06.08.20

Joseph Blake Jr. | 06.26.20 Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

17

Alex Wittwer | 07.16.20

Nathan Howard | 07.04.20

Alex Wittwer | 07.16.20

Alex Wittwer | 07.18.20

Alex Wittwer | 07.18.20

Alex Wittwer | 07.18.20

Nathan Howard | 07.04.20

Alex Wittwer | 07.18.20 18

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Joseph Blake Jr. | 07.26.20

Trevor Gagnier | 09.10.20

Sam Gerhrke | 08.26.20

Alex Wittwer | 09.11.20

Justin Katigbak | 09.09.20

Chris Nesseth | 12.21.20

Alex Wittwer | 11.29.20

Chris Nesseth | 12.21.20 Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

19

ENDERS

ES

N

ERS

Portland protesters boycott Otter Pops.

TE

E

T

T

EY

A P O

IN

LEY LAPOIN

M

TE

A National Geographic investigation casts doubt on the facts about Portland adventurer Colin O’Brady’s historic Antarctic trek.

ES

NRY CR O

W

HE

L

Baker City votes to sell a used backhoe—and the backhoe briefly becomes Twitter famous.

SL

SHINDIGS GIRL/FLICKR

…until Uber Eats forces it to change names.

Lucky Devil Lounge launches a “stripper food delivery service” called Boober Eats…

WE

AL PICT

UR

C

IT

Y

OF

FLORENC

Finally, Oregon has a park named after the Exploding Whale.

RingSide’s steak sale sparks pandemonium on Burnside.

A drive-in screening of the Oregon-shot action-comedy Kindergarten Cop is canceled after complaints.

IV

R

O E

E M I LY - J O A N - G R E E N E

RIDICULOUS

UN

O

E

G

IT WASN’T ALL COVID, COPS AN D C AL AMI T Y I N 2 02 0. H E RE ARE T H E OT H E R MOST IMPORTANT PORTLAND CU LT U RE STORI E S OF T H E Y E AR, GRAP H E D.

FLICKR L /

MARIO CASCIANO

KA

TU

A house in North Portland allegedly turns into a pandemic speakeasy.

O

E

BE

Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson cameos in the new Borat movie.

G

EG

OWSKI

GR

An escaped goat holds residents of a Portland group home hostage.

TW

E

R

W

JA

NK

AWESOME

CH

TH

O

R I S R YA N

Members of Patriot Prayer kidnap the antifa elk statue.

M

A

S

Naked Athena.

TE AL

JO

NW

F

In-N-Out and Shake Shack inch their way toward Portland proper.

I

L M

CE NTE

N

CK

G

K

E

ISPIN -CR

Oregon’s most famous wolf, OR-7, aka Journey, RIP.

WIKIPEDIA

Raffi writes a song about the Wall of Moms.

R

U

JA

CK

RDA

N SCHN

IT

ZE

AWFUL

Damian Lillard buys a car dealership in McMinnville.

TA

ALEX W IT

E

T

R

O

D

Y

A Florida man defrauds an Oregon casino by pretending to represent the Village People.

Drake shoots a music video at the Nike campus in Beaverton.

AN

O

TWITTER

A rare plant flowering in a private yard becomes one of Portland’s hottest pandemic tourist attractions.

R

The whole John Gorham situation.

KENT

DO

B R AV O T V. C O M

Philanthropist Arlene Schnitzer RIP.

MO

NS

Art patron Glenda Goldwater RIP.

Yale Union transfers its building to an Indigenous arts organization and dissolves as a nonprofit.

IK W

Top Chef finally sets a season in Portland…

…in the year Portland dining is destroyed by a pandemic.

S

M

BL

O

A

H

Z

T

R

IL

AS

A

TEA

TRA

F

M

E

O

I

C

L

PS

U

S

P

C

O EB

OK

Club owner Mike Wolfson RIP. Concert promoter Mike Thrasher RIP.

E

C

IA

L

O FU

CO

NDME

LLECTIONS

Verdell Burdine Rutherford Park is the first in Portland named after a Black woman.

G

Darcelle XV is added to the National Register of Historic Places Blazers legend (and cannabis advocate) Cliff Robinson RIP.

SERIOUS 20

GOFUNDME

Phoenix, Oregon, an independent film shot in Southern Oregon, briefly tops the box office.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Matt Choi, co-founder of Koi’s Kimchi, RIP.

GET...OUTSIDE?

WHAT TO DO—AND WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING—AS PORTLAND REOPENS.

OUTDOORS

The Water’s Fine What’s it like to swim in the Willamette River?

Better than you think.

WO RDS & P H OTOS BY BRI AN BURK

Clad in an ensemble of silicone, neoprene and plastic, Jill and I plod toward the Willamette River at Poet’s Beach, underneath the Marquam Bridge, inflatable safety buoys tethered to our waists. It’s a gray November morning. At the water’s edge, we squeeze our hands into tight gloves, bump fists, then wade in.

Even through two layers of swim socks, the feeling of 48-degree water grabs my attention. As the water reaches her thighs, Jill commits, her body going horizontal. And then I do. The shock of frigid water slaps me hard in the face.

Blame COVID-19 for this madness. The pandemic closed pools across the city, driving us outdoors.

We’ve been donning wetsuits and exploring the Willamette about twice a week since September.

This kind of thing does not come naturally to me.

I’m not a strong swimmer, I’m cautious when it comes to physical adventure, and I hate being cold. But having a fearless friend like Jill, who lives to swim, can motivate one to get over old apprehensions.

Venturing into the Willamette is a negotiation with the water: I will respect you, please do not kill me. The feeling of vulnerability grows when we get near enormous objects: concrete bridge footings, the USS Blueback submarine docked outside OMSI. The river is virtually silent, despite the urban environment. Ducks, gulls and geese go about their business. Rowing sculls and kayaks glide by. We see

Your health is a priority, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

few fish, though the other day we were treated to the sight of a river otter. The water smells and tastes clean, an impression confirmed by monthly test results published by the city—a counterpoint to the reaction one often gets when you tell people you swim in the Willamette.

Even the wetsuits can’t keep us warm for long.

After about 40 minutes, it’s time to get out. We strip off our gear and hobble to our cars, shivering but exhilarated, like we just got away with something.

This virus has taken a lot of things. But it has also given me a new world to explore, and a new way of seeing the city I’ve known all my life. For this, at least, I’m grateful.

www.OutsideIn.org

Call 503.535.3860 or visit www.outsidein.org today to make an appointment.

Outside in - Downtown 1132 SW 13th Ave.

Outside In - East Portland 16144 E Burnside St.

Help protect yourself and your community from COVID-19

Wash your hands regularly

Wear a face covering

Stay home if you're sick

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

21

GET...OUTSIDE? JEFF REUTER

Q(UARANTINE)&A

Interview With a Santa Jeff Reuter comes from a family of professional Clauses.

But he became one almost by accident.

Jeff Reuter has Santa Claus in his DNA. When Reuter was growing up, his father would do private gigs dressed up as Old Saint Nick every Christmas. So did his brother. His grandfather was known to don the red-andwhites too, even though he was skinny.

With his hefty build and long white beard, Reuter, 56, had the look, but avoided the family trade until three years ago. His husband’s friend asked him to take on the role for the family Christmas photo. When Reuter’s mom saw it, she flipped: “You’re a Santa,” she said. “I’m sending you the suit.”

Since that day, Reuter—known this time of year as “Pro Santa Jeff,” or “Potty Mouth Santa,” according to his two adolescent children—has landed some substantial jobs for McMenamins and Multnomah Village.

But this Christmas, of course, is different from any other. The in-person gigs are gone.

Reuter has turned instead to virtual visits, transforming his home into a “workshop” and offering 10-minute chats over Zoom. His kids even help, too, acting as mischievous elves.

Here, Reuter tells WW why he thinks Americans are going big on Christmas this year and what it was like growing up with Santa as his dad. MATTHEW SINGER.

WW: What was it like as a kid growing up in a family of Santas?

Pro Santa Jeff: In my case, I was so excited about Santa I looked out the window and saw him drive off in a white Oldsmobile. So that kind of ruined it for me. But the real thing about growing up with it was the generosity my dad and my brother [showed] all year long. Every day was like Christmas. Every day you can make a kid’s life a little better. That was instilled in me.

Did you ever rebel against the family trade?

I never really considered it until three years ago when my husband’s best friend asked me to be her son’s Santa for a photo. My husband sent the picture to my mom, and all of sudden she was like, “You’re a Santa, I’m sending the suit.” My brother had since passed, so she had this suit that’s been in my family for years. To put it on myself, I honestly felt myself change.

How is it different doing virtual visits?

I don’t wear the suit, because I’m in the “workshop.”

I’m wearing a Henley [shirt] and suspenders and a Santa hat. And we have a questionnaire we ask parents to fill out. A lot of times, the kids are really shy, and the more questions I have, the more I can pull out, and we have a really good conversation.

Why do you think people are trying to go big for the holidays this year?

It’s about hope, which is the whole idea of the holiday and the message it sends to people. There’s a little more time for people to decorate and focus on it, where in the past we’ve all been so busy we don’t get the time to really do the things we want to do for the holidays.

See an extended video interview at wweek.com/distant-voices.

22

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

FOOD & DRINK

Editor: Matthew Singer / Contact: msinger@wweek.com Food & Drink Event Listings by Andi Prewitt / aprewitt@wweek.com

The Best Food of the Worst Year BEST LOCAL DELIVERY BOX: MILKRUN MilkRun is your dream CSA box: hyperlocal, seasonal, cus-

It was an apocalyptic year for Portland restaurants.

Here are a dozen things that didn’t suck.

Nobody needs to be reminded what a shit year it was for Portland’s food scene. Empires toppled, neighborhood hangouts shuttered, thousands lost work. And it’s still not over.

The devastation was the headline from March on. But even among the carnage, there was still culinary joy to be found, primarily in the scrappiness of the city’s restaurateurs who adapted, pivoted and innovated on the fly to make what they could out of this rotted Chopped basket of a year.

Here are 12 of the meals and moments from 2020 that WW’s food writers will actually remember fondly.

During its decadelong run, Portland’s top pizza joint has taught there are certain rules you follow to ensure a great pie. Regulars know that three toppings is the limit. Your Apizza dons, Kim Nyland and Brian Spangler, have also viewed pizzas to go with suspicion. Oven-to-table is optimal because taste and texture begin to decline almost as soon as the pie escapes the oven. The duo have clearly taken many deep cleansing breaths in 2020 and made the unthinkable move of going takeout only—and the

quality of their thick-rimmed, char-kissed pies remains

S

T

IN

E DO NG

H

LA

ND -SK ILL

BEST SWEET SPOT: JINJU PATISSERIE

IC

A

N GL

AN

D-SKILL

BEST SPLURGE: KATE’S ICE CREAM

M

H

For aficionados of laminated pastries, JinJu is a precious gem.

The best known variation is the croissant, which at JinJu is dark, golden-baked, buttery perfection—if you can get your hands on one before they sell out. But the crown jewel of the lot is the weekend-only gianduja kouign amann, a carmelized sugar-encrusted, crown-shaped pastry with a center core of hazelnut-kissed chocolate cream. It is truly world class.

Order it and you might forget for a moment that it’s still 2020. MCZ.

K

Many restaurants shifted to a market model amid the pandemic, selling bread, butter, milk, pasta and other staples. Sardine Head has done this, but better. Chef and owner Elizabeth Pettigrew stocks goods you can’t buy at Fred Meyer, like quarts of saffron buckwheat cream, crustacean kari gosse broth, and natural wine curated by Simon Lowry that tastes like a “pine-lemon jolly rancher (if they existed).” Pettigrew hand-delivers your order, and periodically sends the full week’s earnings to a nonprofit or individual who could use it. Monitor Sardine Head’s Instagram page for the latest information on where proceeds move, and to snag surprise offerings like aperol ice cream to add to your order via DM. ER.

K

G

Urdaneta has been piercing Basque pintxos with fancy wooden toothpicks since 2016—now you can, too. Chef Javier Canteras was one of Portland’s early adopters of the meal kit pivot when Urdaneta debuted “Tapas Party” kits this summer, packaged with precise quantities of labeled proteins, sauces, toppings and spices to assemble four tapas plates, plus dessert. Think HelloFresh, but with a sous vide octopus tentacle you’re tasked with charring.

With detailed plating instructions, Contreras gives you the tools to craft a professional-grade plate that will have your ego climbing with each tapered swipe of romesco. ELIZA ROTHSTEIN.

C

N

BEST OPPORTUNITY TO REPURPOSE YOUR TWEEZERS: URDANETA

MI

A

Call it innovation, desperation or just keeping busy: Shutdown Portland is awash in on-the-fly food, from both professional artisans and home kitchens. I’ve had Batch Chocolates personally delivered by owner Jeremy Karp, ordered pizza from a guy who makes Chicago-style pizza in his apartment, and a music-business Twitter friend scored cinnamon date bread at the doorstep of the Sunday Bread Project’s Hope Tejedas and picked up chai masala spice mix right out of the garage of Thali Supper Club’s Leena Ezekiel. Sometimes it’s for charity or a suggested donation, sometimes it’s for sale—but the experience is always more communal than transactional. JC.

The carts adjoining the Powell Boulevard branch of bottled-beer emporium John’s Marketplace feature plenty of choice bites, from honest-to-goodness muffaletta sandwiches on specialty bread to crawfish étoufée from Matt & Mamere’s to massive fried chicken sandwiches from JoJo’s to Holy Trinity’s standout Texas barbecue. Abundant covered seating allows meals on the premises, and the beer window at John’s provides plenty of hop houndfriendly beverage choices. MCZ.

Y

L

I was sitting at a picnic table with a locally made IPA in one hand and an ice cream sandwich in the other, waiting on my tandoori chicken tacos, when a naked bicyclist nearly crashed into me.

Startled, I look up to see more topless riders weaving around patio tables. That’s when I realized I was dining in the middle of a bike thoroughfare during the Naked Bike Ride. This happened at Rainbow Road, a blocklong section of Ankeny off the busy strips of boutiques and restaurants along Northeast 28th. On one side is Gorges Beer Co., on the other Tap & Table gastropub and Asian fusion Taco-Ish, and during the warmer months, Ruby Jewel parked a mobile ice cream trailer in the street. Aside from the risk of being flattened by a nudist, you could drink in the streets and order anything from a burger to a tofu taco without interacting with a single human. It was my go-to for the peak Portland COVID experience all summer long, and with any luck, it will become a permanent attraction. EZRA JOHNSON-GREENOUGH.

TE

BEST NEW CART POD: JOHN’S MARKETPLACE

I

E

IN

R

SL

O

H

WE

P

BEST MAKESHIFT OUTDOOR DINING PLAZA: ANKENY STREET PROMENADE

A

C

BEST PANDEMIC TREND: HOME PICKUP AND DELIVERY POP-UPS

BEST DINNER AND A DONATION: SARDINE HEAD

BEST ADJUSTMENT: APIZZA SCHOLLS

high. As if that weren’t radical enough, chief pizzaiolo Spangler has also begun making luscious calzones, but only 10 a night weekdays. MICHAEL C. ZUSMAN.

BEST TAKEOUT MEAL: SMOKED MEATLOAF FROM BULLARD Bullard smokes it if it’s got it, and I enjoyed this special occasion meal even more than the restaurant’s fabled beef rib or “San Antonio Chicken.”

Robustly smoky, super juicy and fatty, the all-beef loaf is generously glazed with housemade “BBQ ketchup” and comes in a foil pan with reheating instructions. One order ($28) with a side of mashed potatoes ($9) and four dinner rolls ($6) kept my wife and I fed on election night for almost as long as it took for the networks to call Pennsylvania.

JASON COHEN.

tomizable and dropped right at your door. A recent produce box delivery included gorgeous blue oyster mushrooms from Columbia Mushroom Company, vibrant organic red ursa kale from Gathering Together Farms in Junction City, and red anjou pears from Kiyokawa in Hood River. But the add-ons—Szechuan-style bacon from Revel Meat Co., tortillas from Three Sisters Nixtamal, Sleeping Beauty Cheese from Briar Rose Creamery, the delicious Silent Night holiday tea blend from Smith Tea, to name a few—are what really make this box a beauty. MilkRun says the average distance its items travel is 35 miles—delivered pandemic-safe and freshness sound. ANDREA DAMEWOOD.

The “it” ice cream of 2020 was undoubtedly Kate’s Ice Cream’s Marionberry Cobbler. Founder Katelyn Williams distills Oregon summer into one perfect pint, blending Marionberry jam and housemade walnut oat streusel into a vanilla base that smacks of warm afternoons. Somehow, it’s also vegan and gluten-free.

When COVID hit, Williams threw open the garage doors of her production space on Northeast Sandy Boulevard and began selling scoops and pints in the airy courtyard, and she’s still doing it through the winter. Pints run about $12. But for those of us who can’t stomach cow’s milk, or just want a lighter footprint, it’s worth the relative wallet dent. ANDREA DAMEWOOD.

BEST LITERAL BEER GARDEN: TOPWIRE HOP PROJECT AT CROSBY HOP FARM

Oregon beer nerds are blessed to live near where a significant portion of the world’s hops are grown.

But until Crosby Hop Farm opened up its TopWire Hop Project beer garden in late July, most had never visited where their favorite beer ingredients are grown. Find the rural road that leads to Lupulin Lane and you will soon be drinking estate-grown fresh hop IPAs among 18-foot-high rows of centennial hops. On my visit, I could hear the bines rustling in the wind and smell the pungent floral scent of their aromatic cones in the air. It’s an ephemeral experience: Hop season lasts for only a small window of time, and it was cut even shorter this year by the wildfires. Luckily, Crosby escaped unscathed, and its secluded beer garden will return next year, as the hop bines rise again. EJG.

BEST DISTANCED DRINK: THE OLD GOLD

One Sunday evening in July, not long after the bars and restaurants first reopened, I wandered past the Old Gold on North Killingsworth. There were a couple small parties at the picnic tables on the porch, but absolutely no one seated on the improvised patio alongside Spitz. A whole bar to myself—the ultimate in outdoor distanced drinking. I sat down, ordered and paid for an old fashioned on my phone, had a 10-second masked interaction with the server, and was out of there in 15 minutes. Not exactly a social hangout, but I sure wish I could do it again now. JC. Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

23

FOOD & DRINK BRIAN BURK

COURTESY OF LIZ CRAIN

RECIPE

Down With the Dumps A Christmas dumpling recipe from Portland cookbook author Liz Crain.

Liz Crain loves dumplings—like, really loves them. She loves them so much, in fact, she put out a whole cookbook this year called (wait for it) Dumplings Equal Love. Here, the Portland food writer shares the recipe she’ll make this Christmas with her nieces—over Zoom, of course.

Pork & Shrimp Shumai Makes 4½ to 5 cups of filling for 50 to 60 dumplings 60 store-bought dumpling skins 5 to 6 dried whole-cap medium shiitake (black) mushrooms ½ pound small (51/60 count) to medium (41/50 count) shrimp, peeled and minced to a chunky paste 1½ pounds ground pork 4 to 5 scallions (both white and green parts), thinly sliced 1 teaspoon sugar 1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, sake, or dry sherry 3 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon Sambal 3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

The five bars we’ll miss the most.

Reel M Inn

Hosford-Abernethy Division’s last true dive has promised it’ll eventually reopen, but every day without its fried chicken deserves a vigil.

Bailey’s Taproom

Downtown The city’s best-curated beer bar has also left the door cracked for a possible reopening, but we’re pouring out a bottle of mango habanero IPA regardless.

Beech Street Parlor

King The converted foursquare home that housed Northeast Portland’s coolest date spot is for sale.

Anyone who buys it is legally obligated to let everyone in the neighborhood hang out on the porch.

Them’s the rules.

Tube

Old Town You weren’t young and drunk in this town until you were young and

drunk on a random Tuesday at Old Town’s most sardine-canlike nightclub.

The Liberty Glass

Boise The pink house at the end of Mississippi survived the rapid upscaling of the surrounding neighborhood, but it was among the first beloved businesses to fall victim to the pandemic.

TOP 5

HOTTEST PLATES Our five favorite new restaurants of the year.

™ 1. Set out the store-bought skins. ™ 2. Reconstitute the mushrooms: Fill a small pot halfway with water, bring to a boil over high heat, and remove from the heat. Add the dried mushrooms to the pot and fully submerge them under a smaller lid or plate.

Let them steep for 40 to 50 minutes, until soft. ™ 3. In a large bowl, combine the mushrooms, shrimp, pork, scallions, sugar, salt, pepper, cornstarch, wine, soy sauce, sambal, and oil. Stir vigorously, smashing and spreading with a wooden spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes, until fully blended and tacky.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using. ™ 4. Form the dumplings according to the instructions.

(See wweek.com.) ™ 5. Steam the dumplings according to the instructions.

(See wweek.com.) ©2020 by Liz Crain. Excerpted from Dumplings Equal Love by permission of Sasquatch Books.

24

BUZZ(KILL) LIST

CHRISTINE DONG

I’ve easily made shumai more than 100 times, and no batch is ever the same. Sometimes I make the filling lighter and sweeter with more shrimp, and other times quite spicy and gingery to ward off winter colds.

The shumai from Mai Leung’s 1979 cookbook Dim Sum and Other Chinese Street Foods were one of my gateway dumplings. I found a used copy of the cookbook in my early 30s, when I was head over heels for dim sum, and I’ve traveled with it tucked in my carry-on many times since. Leung was a natural-born storyteller who highly valued her culture’s culinary traditions. She never missed an opportunity to educate and inspire through her books.

TOP 5

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Malka

Malka

4546 SE Division St., 503-984-1580, malkapdx.com.

The long-awaited Malka is the restaurant version of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. Each dish is a madcap mélange of a dozen or more ingredients that, on paper, couldn’t possibly work together yet invariably do.

While its visually engrossing dining room is shut down, many of chef Jessie Aron’s highlight meals are still available for takeout, including creative creations like the Important Helmet for Outer Space, a rice bowl with too many ingredients to list here.

Sunshine Noodles

3560 N Mississippi Ave., 971-2201997, sunshinenoodles.com. 11 am-3 pm Thursday-Saturday.

Sunshine Noodles is an avowedly irreverent, none too serious take on contemporary Cambodian food

by Revelry vet Diane Lam. The corn pudding is a candidate for the city’s best new dessert, but the lime

pepper wings are the breakout hit— spicy and complex, they want for nothing except a beer, and perhaps a napkin.

Taquería los Puñales

3312 SE Belmont St., 503-206-7233, lospunales.com. 11 am-10 pm daily.

This tacho shop only opened this summer, but it feels like it’s been serving the Sunnyside neighborhood for years. Every tortilla is made in-house that day, stuffed with an array of guisados—complex braises of meats and vegetables, including carnitas, barbacoa and chicken tinga. The classic tinga is a perfect gateway to the guisado style, and chef David Madrigal’s version is subtly excellent.

Nacheaux

8145 SE 82nd Ave., 971-319-1134, nacheauxpdx.com. Noon-7 pm Wednesday-Thursday and Saturday, noon-8 pm Friday, , 9 am-3 pm Sunday.

At Anthony Brown’s garishly teal-colored food truck, Mexican

favorites get hitched to Southern food and Cajun-Creole flavors. You can find “Mexicajun” food in both Louisiana and Southeast Texas, but it’s a rare concept in Portland, if not entirely unheard of. The “Nacheaux nachos” start with a big pile of fresh-fried chips and also feature carnitas that could just as easily be cochon au lait, while a cheesy “crunchwrap” comes stuffed with red beans, dirty rice and fried chicken.

Dimo’s Apizza

701 E Burnside St., 503-3278968, dimosapizza.com. 4-9 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

The menu at Dimo’s Apizza is loaded with variations of the New Haven-style pies chef Doug Miriello grew up eating in Connecticut. But his new spot is aiming for a place in Portland’s sandwich pantheon, too. The most recent addition to the menu is maybe the most impressive. It’s called The Beast: whole top sirloin seasoned like brisket, caveaged Gruyère and slathered-on aioli.

VA R I E T Y

MOVIES

Editor: Andi Prewitt / Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

versions of themselves, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets finds directors Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross blurring reality, but strict authenticity hardly matters. The sorrow of a fringe community’s last last call rings true. Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube.

6. Lovers Rock

FIRST COW

Best Movies of 2020

Theaters may have been closed most of the year, but there were still plenty of stellar films to stream at home.

Here are our favorites.

BY C H A N C E S O L E M - P FEI FER

@chance_s_p

To say nothing of our poor theaters, it wasn’t the friendliest year to watch movies at home either.

Living rooms tend to flatten films, not just visually but psychologically. You’re 5 feet from the day’s stresses, and the need for escapist content dominates all else. In 2020, streaming services became simultaneously more cryptic and crucial, as countless movies bailed on theaters and were instead released online.

Still, 2020 did yield some astoundingly good work— especially from indie directors who deserve recognition.

So in a year defined by making the best of it, these were the best of ’em.

10. Time Stitching together black-and-white home video with contemporary documentary footage, rising star Garrett Bradley personalizes activist Fox Rich’s two-decade battle to free her incarcerated husband, Rob. In all its meanings, time both feeds Fox’s resilience and carries its own injustice: A decade evaporates while a 30-second disappointment stretches into eternity. Amazon Prime.

If you’re skipping family time these holidays, Charlie Kaufman can affirm your decision. The acclaimed Hollywood scribe’s adaptation of Iain Reid’s novel follows a young woman (Jessie Buckley) visiting the parents of her boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) in a snowstorm. It instantly becomes an unshakable whiteout of flickering consciousness and incurable loneliness—that is to say, a Very Kaufman Christmas. Netflix.

8. Dick Johnson Is Dead Cameraperson director Kirsten Johnson employs cinema as experimental therapy and immersive theater, casting her dementia-stricken father in outlandish renditions of his own demise. Laughter and tears often share the same split second, and Dick Johnson (bless his heart) deserves some kind of humanitarian award for being the world’s kindest old man. Netflix.

7. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets The year’s second-best soundtrack rules this quasi-documentary ode to a dive bar’s closing night. Set in Vegas but shot in New Orleans and featuring barflies playing

5. Kajillionaire Onetime Portland legend Miranda July’s latest feature is her most Hollywood, meaning she had slightly more money to stay true to her strangeness. Evan Rachel Wood gives an admirably committed performance as a daughter seeking love outside her chilly, manipulative family of grifters. Touch, as 2020 so cruelly reminded, is a powerful thing. Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube.

4. Bad Education Hugh Jackman is at his beaming, slippery best in this saga of crime and cover-up as a Long Island public school district superintendent. While maintaining character-study intimacy, Thoroughbreds director Cory Finley shrewdly interrogates the incentives to cheat in a system founded on dreams of ascension. Amazon Prime, Google Play, HBO Max, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube.

3. Boys State In documenting the titular mock-government camp for young men, Boys State unveils a fishbowl of testosterone and ambition in the nascent political class. You don’t have to squint to observe how broken political systems imprint on future generations and parroted rhetoric becomes brutally internalized. Apple TV+.

2. Another Round Mads Mikkelsen gives the performance of 2020 as a Danish history teacher trying to imbibe his way to a higher plane of joie de vivre. Yet the most surprising dimension of director Thomas Vinterberg ’s cautionary tale is its unwavering empathy; Another Round knows well the symbolic heft alcohol takes on as a last link to youth. Amazon Prime, Google Play.

While local rep theaters are out of commission, we’ll be putting together weekly watchlists of films that are readily available to stream. With Christmas coming up, we’ve selected a coterie of four essential holiday classics, headlined by one nonessential yet nevertheless sweet and worthwhile new release.

Happiest Season (2020) Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis star in Clea DuVall’s directorial debut as Abby and Harper, a lesbian couple whose relationship is rocked while visiting Harper’s conservative family for the holidays…whom she hasn’t come out to. Aubrey Plaza, Dan Levy, Mary Steenburgen and others round out this saccharine rom-com’s stacked cast. Hulu.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Considered to be one of the greatest movies of all time, Frank Capra’s heartwarming drama tells the tale of George Bailey (James Stewart), a depressed man whose plan to commit suicide on Christmas Eve is interrupted by a guardian angel (Henry Travers) who shows him the myriad ways in which his selflessness has touched the lives of others. Amazon Prime. Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.

Fanny and Alexander (1982) In auteur Ingmar Bergman’s semi-autobiographical drama, titular siblings Fanny and Alexander come of age against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century Sweden. The first 45 minutes of the 188-minute theatrical cut treats us to a gorgeous depiction of a traditional Swedish Christmas, featuring a Nativity play and a lavish party. Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, HBO Max, iTunes.

The Apartment (1960) After an insurance clerk (Jack Lemmon) with ambitions to climb the corporate ladder offers his apartment for married higher-ups to have their trysts in, he discovers the company’s elevator girl (Shirley MacLaine) he’s been falling for happens to be his boss’s mistress. We often forget this classic is in fact a holiday movie: A pivotal scene takes place at an office Christmas party! Amazon Prime, Google Play, Hulu, iTunes, Sling TV, Vudu, YouTube.

LETTERBOXD

9. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

And here’s the best soundtrack of 2020, fueling the second installment of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe film series.

Amid the larger anthology’s complex depictions of West Indian immigrants in 1970s London, Lovers Rock romantically ambles its way through a house party that refuses to end. You’ve never seen the Widows director unwind this way before, and he’s brilliant at it. Amazon Prime.

GET YO UR REPS I N

1. First Cow When a given year’s best Oregon movie is also its best writ large…well, a much-deserved *chef ’s kiss* to the pair of pre-Oregon Territory bakers (John Magaro and Orion Lee) grounding this parable of frontier capitalism.

Portlander Kelly Reichardt is arguably the best filmmaker still searching for America in its under-examined past, and in First Cow, she’s crafted a Western that’s watchable yet patient, touching yet unsparing, and poetic yet plain.

In other words, the Meek’s Cutoff director has done what she always does. Only better than ever. Amazon Prime, fuboTV, Google Play, Hulu, Showtime, Sling TV, Vudu, YouTube.

The Next 10 11. The Nest 12. Never Rarely Sometimes Always 13. Da 5 Bloods 14. Bacurau 15. Mank

16. The Invisible Man 17. The Last Dance 18. David Byrne’s American Utopia 19. Palm Springs 20. On the Rocks

Black Christmas (1974) Right before winter break, a group of sorority girls receive a series of threatening phone calls and are subsequently stalked and killed by a deranged stranger. For those who prefer the creepiness of Halloween to the cheeriness of Christmas, look no further than this seminal snowy slasher that inspired a slew of horror filmmakers. Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, Google Play, iTunes, Kanopy, Peacock, Shudder, Tubi, Vudu, YouTube.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

25

MOVIES NW FILM CENTER

TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

The Last Hot Lick In the mid-2010s, the Pacific Northwest became a playground for director Mahalia Cohen and musicians Jaime Leopold and Jennifer Smieja, who traveled everywhere from Portland to the Painted Hills to make this exquisite emotional odyssey.

Leopold—a veteran of the jazz and rock band Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks—plays Jack Willits, a guitarist whose crumbling career reignites when he teams with Bobby (Smieja), a woman whose passion for singing is matched only by her hunger for heroin. As they traverse the region, Cohen tells a tale of rising and falling artistic fortunes without indulging in the melodramatic tropes of musical biopics. There’s no room for actorly vanity in The Last Hot Lick. Each moment—from Jack combing his thin hair to Bobby apathetically pleading for forgiveness after she skips a gig—feels captured, not created. It’s a poignant film, and it became even more meaningful after Leopold’s death in 2018. To see him sing “Daddy Cut Wood Up on the Mountain,” a song he wrote about his childhood, is to see the line between performer and character vanish. The Last Hot Lick may have been the first and last film that Leopold acted in, but it’s a swan song with the weight and beauty of an entire career and is finally available to stream. NR. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Amazon Prime.

THE LAST HOT LICK

Wander Darkly OUR KEY

: T H I S M O V I E I S E XC E L L E N T, O N E O F T H E B E S T O F T H E Y E A R. : T H I S M O V I E I S G O O D. W E R E C O M M E N D YO U WATC H I T. : T H I S M O V I E I S E N T E R TA I N I N G B U T F L AW E D. : T H I S M O V I E I S A P I E C E O F S H I T.

ALSO PLAYING Another Round Danish mainstay Thomas Vinterberg’s new drama deserves an instant place in the canon of booze cinema, though it barely touches on addiction as audiences know it through films like The Lost Weekend or Leaving Las Vegas.

Reunited with his razor-cheeked muse from 2012’s The Hunt—Mads Mikkelsen—Vinterberg chronicles the quasi-scientific shenanigans of four middle-aged teachers trying to enliven their drab days with a slightly heightened blood alcohol level. They figure, don’t most people love easier, converse smoother and dream bigger with a little buzz? Of course, the experiment is not a lasting success (this isn’t some bizarre Carlsberg propaganda). But the way Vinterberg cautions against a chemical antidote to midlife ennui is as incisive as it is forgiving. Like alcohol, nostalgia can linger in the bloodstream, too. Surrounded by teenagers, the four teachers are steeped in an environment where binge-drinking is synonymous with fond memories. Mikkelsen’s splendid transformations from sober Scandinavian granite to drunken Silly Putty (look out for 2020’s best dance scene) illuminates the weight of alcohol more as symbol than chemical.

Another Round cares little for the horror of helplessly draining the next drink. It’s after that deeper, more elusive fear being lubricated: What if you’ve already tasted the best life has to offer? NR. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. On Demand.

26

Mank In his first movie in six years, filmmaker David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network) hasn’t lost his ability to beguile, fascinate and vex. Working from a screenplay by his late father, Jack Fincher, the director has concocted a superb cinematic portrait of Herman “Mank” Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), co-writer of Citizen Kane.

In 1940, a bloated Mank drunkenly dictates the script to his formidable transcriber, Rita Alexander (Lily Collins). He’s preparing the project for Orson Welles (Tom Burke) to direct, but flashbacks insinuate that Citizen Kane is powered by a personal grudge Mank holds against William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance). Tormented by his tacit participation in a Hearst-backed smear campaign against the writer and liberal California gubernatorial candidate Upton Sinclair (Bill Nye), Mank models the megalomaniacal Charles Foster Kane on Hearst. Was Citizen Kane’s origin that simple? Hardly, but you don’t have to buy the theory to dig the movie. Beneath the seductive sheen of Erik Messerschmidt’s black-andwhite cinematography lies Fincher’s conviction that Hollywood—like the melting ice sculpture of an elephant at a party Mank attends—should be liquefied for its sins. Mank may not be cheery, but no one goes to Fincher for good vibes. Gleeful pessimism is his drug of choice, and for us, it can be an improbable and exhilarating high. R. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Netflix.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Adrienne and Matteo (Sienna Miller and Diego Luna) are not-sohappy new parents. They fight at home, at parties, in the car…until a head-on traffic collision cuts their final argument short. This propels Adrienne into an out-of-body experience, trapping her in a limbo where she’s forced to silently and invisibly observe the paramedics fail to revive her, and her subsequent funeral. And then she wakes up.

She’s not dead, but she’s convinced she is, triggering an existential crisis that causes her to reflect on the truth behind her relationship with Matteo. This is the point where the film becomes visionary, evoking dreamy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-esque reveries across memory in order to pinpoint where their love began to fade.

In these retrospective journeys through the most salient events of their relationship, Adrienne and her imagined version of Matteo communicate frankly about their ups and downs—something they struggled to do in the real world.

Reminiscent of a less esoteric She Dies Tomorrow (another three-star 2020 release), this confident directorial debut from Tara Miele is a psychological probe into the ways we reckon with trauma, effectively blurring the malleable lines between reality and memory.

R. MIA VICINO. On Demand.

Greenland The latest Gerard Butler vehicle doesn’t add much to the global disaster genre. Hell, it doesn’t add much to this year. In fact, you might see Greenland’s exploding comets turning the sky orange and think, “I saw that color of sky this fall; do we really need to pretend this shit anymore?” Granted, the Gerry Butler industrial complex (with its unpretentious geostorms and dens of thieves) can be charming as he holds up the fading action mantle of gruff transplants like Liam Neeson and Mel Gibson. As John Garrity, Butler plays a slightly sensitive oak of a family man, fleeing Atlanta for non-exploding pastures.

This whole comet apocalypse might

actually help him patch things up with the estranged missus (Morena Baccarin), assuming their diabetic son doesn’t need insulin at the worst possible time. While director Ric Roman Waugh deserves credit for illustrating just how achingly unfair any disaster scenario would be (or is) to the populace, those details don’t render Greenland particularly fun, or gripping either. In fact, it wedges the movie in a no man’s land—a Greenland if you will—between, say, The Road and Armageddon. Its best wrinkles are oddly authentic, even anti-escapist, but who comes to a Gerard Butler planetary extinction movie for the reality check? PG-13. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Amazon Prime, Google Play.

Half Brothers As a kid, Renato (Luis Gerardo Méndez) and his dad, Evaristo (José Zúñiga), used to build model planes together. That was before Evaristo suddenly left Mexico for the U.S., leaving his son behind. Years later, Renato is still building planes (real ones; he’s a strait-laced aviation executive), and still stinging from his father’s apparent abandonment.

But when Evaristo shows up again, sick and dying, his last request is for Renato to embark on a road trip with…his surprise American halfbrother, Asher (Connor Del Rio)!

Asher wears Hawaiian shirts and works as a “brand ambassador” for Chili’s. Renato wears pressed suits and has his own decadent office.

On the surface, it’s your average odd couple romp: Two guys on opposite planes of life are forced by extraneous circumstances to get along. But the film’s strength lies in its subversion of the traditional American gaze—instead of telling the story through Asher’s eyes, we’re firmly planted in Renato’s perspective as he speaks Spanish with his fiancée, rants about ignorant white Americans and uncovers the truth behind why his dad never returned to Mexico. At its core, Half Brothers is a madcap road comedy with a grounded heart, and though the beats and bumps are familiar, it’s a pleasant enough ride. PG-13.

MIA VICINO. On Demand.

Sound of Metal If a noisecore drummer loses his hearing, should anyone care?

Sound of Metal presents a remarkably empathetic portrait of that rare beast—the working hardcore percussionist committed to sobriety and a girlfriend/bandmate—yet shows just a taste of the goodish life Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) share while touring in a cozy Airstream before his sudden loss of hearing tears their plans asunder. While the plotline might seem eerily similar to the 2004 indie flick It’s All Gone Pete Tong, this story isn’t about punishing hubris. Ruben, unlike Pete Tong’s superstar DJ, has already dealt with his substance-abuse issues at the film’s start, and he tries his damnedest to embrace the silence suggested by deaf guru Joe (Paul Raci) at a cultish American Sign Language camp. Unable to abandon his eterna-gigging life plans, our hero neither hears nor listens to the increasingly gloomy diagnoses en route to affording the semblance of hearing promised by cochlear implants, which prove a maddeningly false tease.

This directorial debut from The Place Beyond the Pines screenwriter Darius Marder exploits next-gen soundcraft and Ahmed’s electric vapidity to its best advantage while ignoring moralistic conventions, but there’s a troubling condescension pegged to the protagonist’s chosen genre and instrument. Would a talented singer-songwriter be so blithely expected to accept medical practicalities rather than further damaging health in pursuit of doomed passions?

Would Beethoven? At the end of the day, this is an expertly crafted labor of love championing the abandonment of dreams. What’s the sound of one hand clapping? R. JAY HORTON. Amazon Prime.

POTLANDER

The Best Highs of a Low Year Escaping the madness of 2020 was just a gummy, honey stick, infused peach or good old-fashioned bowl away.

—Brianna Wheeler, WW cannabis writer

“My most memorable high this year was in early March, right before lockdown. My sister, Andrea, was visiting from Canada, and we were given tickets to see Frozen at the Keller Auditorium, which was packed. I ate half a Wyld pomegranate 1-to-1 THC/CBD gummy edible, and it kicked in during a very visual number that climaxes with Elsa transforming into a glittering dress, surrounded by a trippy winter wonderland. It was my last opportunity this year to experience a moment of pure novelty and joy with a crowd.

I’m so grateful we came out of that experience as healthy as when we went in.”

—Anja Charbonneau, editor in chief and creative director of Broccoli magazine

“One morning in October, my housemate and I took a trip to IKEA. To make the experience more enjoyable, we split a 50 mg THC-infused honey stick. The high was lovely—it didn’t smack me in the face as others edibles sometimes do. When my housemate and I got home, I went outside into the back shared courtyard to enjoy my honey high in our garden, along with one of my housemate’s cats, Bagel. The neighbors in the adjacent apartment came outside as well, and they brought with them the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. Before I could get Bagel back inside, the owner of this gigantic dog unclipped the leash with a nonchalant “Cats will defend themselves if need be.” Seeing Bagel, the dog leaped after him, bounding around the courtyard breaking pots and jumping on picnic tables in his pursuit. Eventually, Bagel wedged himself into an ivy-covered nook in the wall and the dog was leashed and taken back inside with many apologies by the neighbors. We sat outside for two hours trying to get this wailing cat to come down, still absolutely toasted from our honey high.

Eventually, my housemate was able to grab him with a blanket and deposit him safely inside. We ended with more THC-infused honey and a huge pile of tacos.

Bagel had a heaping portion of stewed carnitas all to himself.”

—Emma Chasen, cannabis educator and consultant

“This year, I definitely experimented way more than I usually do, but my best high was after smoking a bowl of Pineapple Fields picked up from Virtue Supply Co. The buds smelled sweet, were super fluffy, and boy, did she hit. I spent a full day doing nothing but cooking, cleaning, and creating. You just don’t want to stop, it gives you so much energy. A great strain for battling the 2020 blues.”

—Savina Monet, co-founder of the Cannabis Workers Coalition

L E AT H E R S T O R R S

“Toward the end of August, my family and I set out for Mount Hood to shoehorn at least one camping adventure into a summer spent mostly sequestered inside. There was one variable: the agreeability of our 5-year-old autistic son.

He loves the outdoors, but his verbal acuity is extremely limited, so anything that upsets him without our understanding has the potential to derail an entire day. In these instances, patience is my greatest tool. But it is finite—which is why I preemptively jammed an entire Hapy Kitchen Sea Salt Caramel in my mouth as we crossed through Sandy.

“Forty-five minutes later, we’d arrived and our son protested almost immediately. He melted into hysterics, refusing to exit the car while my partner exhausted himself with futile negotiations. This was when my onset began to bloom. The collision of my sparkling high and the drama playing out in the backseat of our Subaru could have been a recipe for catastrophe. Instead, I calmly set up camp, arranged a picnic, and did a quick yoga flow before relieving my partner of his heretofore unsuccessful persuasion project.

“My high built to its crescendo as my son and I embraced in the backseat. I improvised a speech about the joy of camping, why it’s familiar, how we’ve done it so many times before. After 15 minutes of measured cajoling, we left the car. My son strolled past our campsite to the vast meadow just past the tree line, turned his face toward the sky, and screamed ‘I’M OK!’ several times before stepping back into camp and nestling himself within the tent.

“It was the hardest I’d laughed and the highest I’d been all year.”

“In a year of record cannabis consumption, when it seemed most highs were aimed at staving off the lows, the buzz that gave me the most joy was this grilled peach filled with Lemon Kush-infused goat cheese in a gorgeous salad of arugula, nasturtium and tangerine marigold. Five milligrams per serving, so not a sock-knocker but certainly a jaw-dropper.”

—Leather Storrs, host of Cooked With Cannabis on Netflix

“Watching the Savage X Fenty Fashion Show with my mom was a high point of my quarantine—and watching it with her while sharing some Retreats gummies elevated it to my favorite high of the year. Already fairly zonked on painkillers from shoulder surgery a couple days prior, she stuck to the 25-to-1 CBD version (10 mg CBD and 0.5 mg THC). It helped her summon the appetite for dinner and settle more comfortably into the awkward sitting position with her surgical sling. I opted for the 1-to-1 Retreats, which took me by surprise with a more intense case of the giggles when my mom asked me who that “that Bunny guy” was (referring to Bad Bunny, of course). Retreats are made with ‘liquid-cured’ resin, and I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I am positive that I felt the best gummy high I’ve experienced in a long time. More mood elevation, more physical relaxation, more fun—it tasted like butter after you’ve been eating margarine for months.”

—Lauren Yoshiko, WW cannabis writer

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

27

PERFORMANCE

Editor: Andi Prewitt | Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com R U SS E L L J. YO U N G

Best Theater of 2020 Theaters stopped. The plays didn’t.

ICEBREAKER: Cast members of Artists Rep’s staging of the five-act Antarctic opus Magellanica reprised their roles for an audio version.

BY BE N N E T T C A M P B E L L FE RGUS O N

Best Musical: Daddy Long Legs (Broadway Rose Theatre Company)

Director Patrick Walsh pumped blood into the veins of a dusty classic with this vigorous new version of Sophocles’ tragedy, which was filmed at the Bybee Lakes Hope Center (formerly the never-used Wapato Jail). While the production has been sent to assisted living facilities, prisons, rural schools and shelters, copyright issues have prevented it from being screened for the general public. Hopefully, a day will come when audiences everywhere can experience the blistering power of the clash between Paul Susi’s bellowing Kreon and Ashley Mellinger’s unyielding Antigone.

Is it weird to say the pandemic was good for Broadway Rose, creatively speaking? Maybe, but without COVID19, the Tigard musical theater company might never have filmed this beautifully stripped-down love story. Based on the 1912 novel by Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs starred Malia Tippets and Joe Theissen (who got married at Broadway Rose this year) as Jerusha and Jervis, lovers whose romance crosses class divides.

While Tippets and Theissen were delightful, the production’s breakout star was videographer Mark Daniels.

His inventive and intimate camerawork made us feel as if we were not only seeing the performances but experiencing them. He turned Daddy Long Legs into an affirmation that in the age of social distancing, it wasn’t enough for theater to be dynamic. It had to be cinematic.

Best Experimental Production: Aberdeen For three days in July, Portland indie-rock band Lost Lander livestreamed this story concert starring Matt Sheehy from Corbett, Ore. With its emotionally naked songs and monologues, the event practically begged to be mocked by hipper-than-thou audiences—that was what made it beautiful. Sheehy’s honest musings on grief and love gave the middle finger to toxic masculinity, inviting us to experience every feeling that emanated from his soul.

COHO PRODUCTIONS

“You find ways to ritualize sound./To make sound a counterattack to the silence./To make sound an act of aggression/against what lurks in the stillness.”

Those lines are from Anya Pearson’s play Three Love Songs, a masterpiece that emerged from the wreckage of 2020. Pearson writes about experiencing and transcending trauma, and her words captured the achievements of Portland’s theater artists during the past year.

They ritualized sound. They led a counterattack against silence. They made sound an act of aggression against everything—death, suffering, cruelty—that lurked in the stillness.

While a few too many theatrical luminaries used art to try to make sense of COVID-19 (an understandable but perverse response to a profoundly senseless crisis), many more made peace with questions instead of seeking answers. Their work reminded us that it was OK to feel angry, damaged and lost. And that it would be strange if we didn’t.

I’m looking forward to the day when theater no longer means bingeing audio plays and virtual productions in my cluttered office/bedroom. I’m also grateful to the playwrights, actors, directors and craftspeople who rose to the challenges posed by 2020—the artists who refused to let silence and stillness win. Here are some of the standouts.

Best Classical Production: Antigone (Northwest Classical Theatre Collaborative)

Best Audio Play: Magellanica (Artists Repertory Theatre) In June, the original cast of E.M. Lewis’ five-act Antarctic epic (Sara Hennessy, Michael Mendelson, Allen Nause, Eric Pargac, John San Nicolas, Vin Shambry, Joshua J. Weinstein and Barbie Wu) recorded this audio edition of the play, which Artists Rep staged in 2018. As a Magellanica die-hard, I would have given almost anything to watch them reprise their roles, but getting to hear them retell Lewis’ transcendent tale of six scientists surviving life at the South Pole was a gift.

RIBBON IS A DANCER: The Found Dog Ribbon Dance closed shortly before the pandemic lockdown.

28

Willamette Week DATE 2020 wweek.com

Best New Play: Three Love Songs (Portland Center Stage) As part of the national Play at Home project, Portland Center Stage drafted four playwrights to write plays for quarantined theater lovers to stage at home. The most miraculous part of the series was Anya Pearson’s Three Love Songs, a rush of images, emotions and ideas split into three “tracks”: “A Love Song for Survivors,” “A Love Song for Creatives,” and “A Love Song for Difference.” Perform it if you’re hungry for truth, comfort, invention and hope.

Best Pre-Pandemic Play: The Found Dog Ribbon Dance (CoHo Productions) Any world in which professional cuddling is a job is seriously starved for intimacy. The Found Dog Ribbon Dance plunged into that tragedy with panache, building a poignant narrative of self-discovery around Beth Thompson’s multilayered performance as a cuddler with festering doubts about her occupation.

In a year when the distance between human beings expanded, the play’s exploration of physical closeness probably became more relevant than playwright Dominic Finocchiaro ever dreamed. His creation has emerged as a testament to the truth that when our species escapes the shadow of COVID-19, we will have to heal old and new wounds alike.

WORDS

The Best Things I Read This Year

“Mrs. Meyer’s,” Alexandra Molotkow I have a hard time believing this essay for Real Life magazine would have been published outside of quarantine. To get through it, you have to admit to yourself that you’re reading an intellectualized takedown of that one brand of hand soap—you know the one— and that in itself is a tough pill. But I now know that Mrs. Meyer was Thelma Meyer, and she was from Iowa, and she had nine children and, according to Alexandra Molotkow, her brand stands for “unalienated labor” and suburban pipe dreams of ethical consumerism. I didn’t need to remember this, but I have since I read it.

The writing that got me through 2020.

BY S CO UT B R O B ST

sbrobst@wweek.com

At the beginning of the year, this column was dedicated to the literary event scene in Portland, rounding up the important authors who would come to our bookstores and read from their latest work, shaking hands with strangers and then traveling to the next closest bookstore.

In March, those meet-and-greets stopped being possible. But at the same time, the actual act of reading became extremely possible. Since then, this section has been dedicated to book recommendations of all sorts––books about athletes, books about our city, books to take you out of or further into the moment.

That measures out to about 250 books recommended, which feels like an unhinged project in the best of years.

Some writing is good, maybe even great, but forgotten about as soon as it’s done. Other writing is read without much thought and then lodges itself in your brain for months afterward.

This list is about the latter.

The Topeka School, Ben Lerner Ben Lerner was the child of therapists. Brought up in Topeka, Kansas, he learned how to spin arguments out of fragments through high school debate competitions. His novel, The Topeka School, is about most of the same things and aims to preserve the ’90s in its political context—before the shooting at Columbine, suspended in the Bill Clinton presidency, and standing at the gates of a collapse of civility. It is not a book to ever read twice, but you get the sense that few have had the interest or ability to write about male pride with the same critical awareness.

Owls of the Eastern Ice, Jonathan Slaght There is no reason to come into Owls of the Eastern Ice with an interest in field research. In fact, if it is your area of expertise, this recommendation can be disregarded.

There might be all sorts of holes in the science and I wouldn’t know or care. It is an experience of a book.

Author Jonathan Slaght brings the reader into his niche, self-contained world of bird conservation, which is more thrilling than anyone could guess. For a field scientist, Slaght turned out to be a writer’s writer, and it is a gift to read about a man whose life’s purpose is to find one really big bird.

“A Small Needful Fact,” Ross Gay

Betty, Tiffany McDaniel The first line of Tiffany McDaniel’s second novel is pretty bad: “I’m still a child, only as tall as my father’s shotgun.” No one would be blamed for moving on to a different book with a similarly beautiful cover. But it would be a shame, because the novel is a gem, a fictionalized account of the author’s family history that can feel both lovely and unbearable to read. Set in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Betty is about the margins of life in midcentury rural America, made real and close by McDaniel’s proximity to those who lived there.

Savage Appetites, Rachel Monroe As someone who does not read true crime, I don’t think you need to appreciate the genre to enjoy Rachel Monroe’s debut novel. Monroe does all of the appreciation for you, and then some, as she links four different archetypes to four different stories of women and crime. The violence is the least interesting part of the book—Monroe is a master at breaking down cultural trends and implicating herself in the process, looking for answers why we obsess over women killers and the lives that bring them to a breaking point.

“Witness and Respair,” Jesmyn Ward For the September issue of Vanity Fair, Jesmyn Ward published a personal essay that read like an autopsy of grief. Just months earlier, she had lost her husband to COVID-19, and it takes some kind of writer to bottle tragedy as it happens and create something beautiful and big. There is writing—sometimes good writing—in which you can see the author thinking, processing and whittling down. This essay feels as if it could be a first draft from someone who writes prose by default, published for the rest of us as a matter of generosity.

Gay published this poem five years ago after Eric Garner died at the hands of police in Staten Island.

It gained a second life this past summer when police in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, and it manages, in just a few lines, to express something terrible and hopeful in the wake of violent injustice. Last year, Gay published the collection The Book of Delights, which is every bit as good, and I hope that “A Small Needful Fact” brings readers to it.

“My Heart Broke. Now What?”

John Paul Brammer The year had barely started when this entry in John Paul Brammer’s online advice column, ¡Hola Papi!, came out, at a time when a reasonable person could still think the worst thing in the world was heartbreak. I read it and bookmarked it, and then read it three months later, six months later, nine months later.

It is a testament to Brammer’s skill that if you read the advice enough times, it seems both dumb and obvious, but then there is another sadness of a different kind and his words feel inspired all over again.

“An Open Letter to Everyone Asking Why I Always Come Back to Oklahoma,” Patricia Liu Patricia Liu is still at the egg stage of her career, having published only a handful of poems. But you wouldn’t know it from reading her. It’s probably true that hometown elegies will almost always mean more to the writer than to the reader, but Liu writes about Oklahoma like she wants to share it—the love she has for the land and the people stretches through the prose and reminds us of all of the places we come from. “Oklahoma does not have to prove itself to me,” she writes. But it does anyway.

“The Subway Crush Who Crushed Me,” Zoe Fishman I would like to think this year gave everyone permission to embrace sentimentality. This essay for The New York Times’ Modern Love series was published last December, but sometimes you stumble upon things on the internet for good reason. Novelist Zoe Fishman memorializes her late husband in a classical love story, and it reads as completely improbable until you remember that you know lots of people who have improbable life stories. They just don’t know how to write them with Fishman’s grace and care.

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

29

TOUGH, INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM WOULDN’T SURVIVE WITHOUT HELP FROM READERS LIKE YOU.

Visit our website to make an appointment or shop online 717 SW 10th Ave Portland, OR 97205 503.223.4720 www.maloys.com

Ring in the new year

You can now shop online, or book an appointment to visit for fine antique and custom jewelry, or for repair work. We also buy.

For more than four decades, Willamette Week has made a difference in Portland.

Our reporting has changed lives for the better, held the powerful accountable, removed a few people from elected office, and along the way, made hundreds of thousands of Portlanders aware of the best in this city's culture. Quality local journalism takes time and talent and resources.

You can help by becoming a Friend of Willamette Week.

wweek.com/support

30

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

We are grateful for your support, and honored by your trust in us and our mission. Most of all, we are proud to call you Friends. Those of you listed below have joined Friends of Willamette Week. Your membership supports the work we do: making sure Portland has the local and independent news reporting that’s crucial to both our democracy and the health of our community.

We are grateful for your support, and honored by your trust in us and our mission. Most of all, we are proud to call you Friends. Those of you listed below have joined Friends of Willamette Week.

First and Last Name Barbara Aaby Shannon Aaron Howard Aaron Natalie Abbott Haytham Abdulhadi Jenifer Aberle Pam Abrahamsson Lisa Abramovic Susan Abrams Nader Absood Nikolas Ackerman Denise Ackerman James Adair Susan Adam Maryanne Adame Robert Adams Charlie Adams Danelle Adams Steve Adams Nancy Adams Lisa Adatto Michael Adelsheim Ruth Adkins Merredith Ahearn Andy Ahonen Stephanie AkersCohen Dave Albertine Michelle Alberts Kelley Albrecht Emily Albrent Alex Aldrich Dean Aldrich JoNel Aleccia Julia Alena Jeff Alessandrelli Grace Alexander Heather Alford Elizabeth Allancorte Dave Allen Elizabeth Allen John Allen Kelsey Allen Mandy Allen Mike Allen Victoria Allen Judith Alley Hilary Almers Jessica Almroth David Almvig Marcia Alvar Ulises Alvarez Olvera Jessica Amaya Hoffman Judy Amery-Ryland Darius Amjadi Stan Amy Andrea Anderson Anne Anderson Anne Marie Anderson Bebe Anderson Christine Anderson Cokie Anderson Jennifer L. Anderson Jordan Anderson Kasey Anderson Ken Anderson Nancy Anderson Oralia Anderson Ray Anderson Steve Anderson Sarah Earl Anderson Weston Anderson James Anderson Scott Andersson Teresa Andreoli Mark Andrews Michael Andrews David Angress Jonathan Anonuevo Joseph Anthony Brady Antonelli Fabio Apolito Mark Appleby Bryan Aptekar Judith Arcana Carissa Aresta Nyimas Arief Pam Arion

Ray Armsinger Gloria Armstrong Tom Armstrong Joanne Arnst Elizabeth Aronoff Allison Asbjornsen Mary Ann Aschenbrenner Stephen Ash Amanda Ashley Carole Astley Shelby Atwood April Atwood Rachel Auerbach Stephen Auerbach Mitchel Auerbach David Austin Diane Authier Diane Avenoso Edward Averill Elias Avila Steve Aylward Raymond B. Bechich Judith Babbitt Stacy Babbitt Hollie Babson Jane Bacchieri Sarah Bachman Jeff Bachrach Richard Bader Kali Bader Monica Bahan Ashley Bailey Susan Bailey Ann Bain Bryant Bainbridge Matthew Baird Mark Baker Alexandrea Baker John Baker Joshua Baker Kristina Baker Magen Baker Carolyn Bakula Amanda Ball Breanna Balleby Bev Balliett Anna Banana Susan Pease Banitt Mike Banker Nathan Banks Vikrant Bansore Rory Banyard Richard Barasch Laura Barber Lilianna Barchers Mary Bardmess David Barenberg Janis Barker Carole Barkley Sue Barnard Claudia Barnard Michael Barnes Robyn Barnes Stephanie Barnes Arlena Barnes Candice Barnhart Peter Barr-Gillespie Emily Barrett Leon Barrett Lee Barrett Rhea Barron Mark D. Barry Steven Barry James Barta Alice Bartelt Rebecca Bartleson Bruce Bartlett Damara Bartlett Jesse Bartley Cassie Barton Paul Bascom Hollis Bascom Kathrine Bashore Danielle Bass Alex Bassos Lindsey Bastani Morgan Bate Laurel Bates

Your membership supports the work we do: making sure Portland has the local and independent news reporting that’s crucial to both our democracy and the health of our community.

Anne Batey Larry Batina Alyson Battistel Joshua Baudhuin Hiedi Bauer Bill Baumann Trenton Baumeister Tom Baylis Mary Beach David Beach Stephen Beard Tom Bearden Leslie Becker Scott Ray Becker Libby Becklin Elizabeth Becklin Michela Bedard Kurt Bedell Christina Bederka Douglas Beebe Ryan Beeler Erica Beffert David Beffert Jon Beil Patricia R. Bekken Barbara Beletsky Brandon Bell Leon Bell Michael Bell Brenna Bell Gwynedd Benders Zachary Benjamin Hunter Bennett-Daggett Teri Bennett-Kent Brandon Benson Mary Benson Susan Benson Sally Bentley Kale Bentley Michael Bercutt Bonnie Berg Katie Bergen Robert Berges Rebecca Bergio Leonard Bergstein Josh Berkus Jim Bernau Desha Berney Emily Bernhardt Troper Thomas Berridge Sarah Berry Jennifer Besen Keiran Best Rick Best Brianna Beyrouti Shanda Bhasker Beth Biagini Russell Bianco Clay Biberdorf Lara Bickford David Biespiel Christy Bigelow Jeremy Biittner Alene Bikle Jenn Bildersee Melanie Billings-Yun Norman Birthmark Gerald Bishop Susan Bissonnette Suzie Bjork Margot Black Harvey Black Sylvia Black Mellennesse Blackbird Edward Blackburn Ronda Blacker Holly Blackman Michael Blackstock Valerie Blaha Holly Blakeslee Hollis Blanchard Paula Blanchette Kathy Blaustein Megan Bledsoe Carrie Bleiweiss Dawn Bleyle Kathy H. Bleyle Marie Bliven

Steve Bloch Naomi Bloom Tara Bloom Victor Bloomfield William Blosser Nik Blosser Paul R. Bocci III Marty Bode Carl Boehm Gabriel Boehmer Rebecca Boenke Amit Bohara Brad Bolchunos Joyce Boles Thomas Bolling Rebecca Bollinger Linda Boly BOMA Oregon Randy Bonella Brenda Bonnell Matt Bonner Aimée Bonneval Kenneth Bookstein Carolyn Booth Carey Booth Joseph Boquiren Maurice Borasky Christy Borden Howard Boryer Marielle Bossio Adele Bostwick Henrik Bothe Mary Botkin Joseph Bottero Eric Botteron Gina Boubion-Ryan Amanda Boughner Olivia Bounvongxay Philippe Boutros Victoria Bowen Jennifer Kay Bowers Lew Bowers Patricia Bowman Damien Boyd Danyal Boyd Dean Boyd Ovid Boyd Fred & Betty Brace Macy Bradach Denice Bradbury Hilary Bradbury Steve Bradley Seth Bradley Jennifer Rider Brady Rick Brady Peter Bragdon Brad Brahe Ron Braithwaite Kimberly Branam Tiger Branch Jesse Brandeburg Joseph Brands Robert Brands Phil Brandt Kelli Brandt Shelley Brandt Allan Branscomb Dannny & Kathy Brasuk Kas Brattin Paul Braun Lucy Brehm Kurt Brendley Kari Brennan Marge Brenneke Christopher Brentano Larry Breshears William Bridge Betsy Bridge William Bridges Jacqueline Briggs Thomas Briles Jordan Brinck Jonathan Brinckman Jenny Brinkley Victor & Greta Britt Lori Brocker Casey Broderick David Brook

Lane Brooke Sara Brookhyser David F. Brooks Clark Brooks David Brooks Leslee Brooks Michele Brouse Peoples Susan Browder Sara Brown Valerie Brown Theresa Brown Aaron Brown David Brown Joseph Brown Kristin Brown Phyllis Brown Scott Brown Wilson Brown Sherri Brown Rachel Browning Shanna Brownstein Francoise Brun-Cottan Elizabeth Brune Leslie Brunker Carol Brydolf Nancy Bubl Melissa Buchanan Levi Buchanan Catherine Buck Richard Buck Bridget Buckley Dave Budavich Matthew Budman Brooke Budy Patricia Buescher Airenne Buffum Carolyn Buhl Tina Bull Wendy Bumgardner Tyler Bump Diane & Stephen Bungum Matthew Bunker Suzanne Burdette Carol Burg William Burgel Heidi & Jack Burgoyne Phyllis Burke Ann Burlingham Charlie Burr Tracy Burridge Chris Burton Deborah Burton Rebecca Burwell Bryce Butler Catherine Butler Amie Buttram Mary Bycroft Gregory Bye Laura Byrd Fiona Byrne Josh Cabot Maria Margarita Caicedo Patrick Cain Bridget Cain Pete Cajigal Shelly Caldwell Jenny Calhoun Erin Call Tom & Martha Callahan Dan Calvert Susan Calvert Jennifer Cambier Christina Cameli Max Campos Joe Cantrell Annie Capestany Chris & Steph Capretto Teddi Carbonneau James Carey Janice Carr Margaret Carr Carolyn Carr Geoffrey Carr Laurel Carrasco Amy Carrick Andra Stoll Carrick Jill Carroll Belinda Carroll

Mary Carroll Candace Carter Chris Carvalho Heather Carver Jerome Casey Brodie Cass Talbott David Cassard Agnes Cassel Brett Cassidy Julie Casson Meghan Caughey Katie Cecil Joseph Ceratto Will Cervarich Christine Cha, MD David Chachere Elizabeth Chadwick Julia Chaltiel Matt Chamberlain Mary Chamie Benjamin Chan Christine La Chance Janet Chandler John Chandler Alice Chang Stephen Holland Chang Edwin Chapin Dennis Chapman Lynne Chapman Anne Chapman Ken Chapman Lillian Charron Bruce Chaser James P. Chasse Dora Lisa Chavez Anthony Chen Daniel Cheney Bradley Chesney Stan Chesshir Jane Chew Marsha Chez Jerome Chicvara Suzanne Chiles Elleanor Chin Ilze Choi Scott Christensen Michael Christensen Shayna Christensen Nick Christenson Samantha Christopher Lisa Christy Mary Christy-Cirillo Elaine Chubb John Chung Linda & Mark Church James Churchill Larry Chusid Amy Cissell Kyle Clark Aaron Clark Mindy Clark Tex Clark Christy Clark Will Clark-Shim Kathryn Clarke Lauren Clarke Celia Clause Holly Clearwater Joseph Cleary Aaron Clemens Carla Van Cleve Loren Clevenger Jan Clutter Joseph J. Clyde Ryan Coakley Sarah Coble Ronelle Coburn Dana Cofer Broken Robot Coffee Bradley Coffey David Coffman Deborah Cogan Abraham Cohen Jean M. Coleman Carie Coleman Vivian Coles Kara Colley Elizabeth Collins

Sandra Collins Fran Collins Rodney D. Collins Richard Collins Alexander Colts Bertita Compere Merri Compton Marilyn Conforti Margaret F. Conley Aimee Conner Alexandra Conner Tina Connolly Sean Connolly Benjamin Conte Phil & Melinda Conti Claire Contreras Brian Cook Tom Cook Kevin Cook Ryan Cook Erin Cooley Kelsey Coolidge Matt Coolidge Catherine Cooney Sheridan Copeland Rob Coppedge Abby Coppock Tod Cordill Carolyn Cornie John Cornyn Robin Corrigan Jane Corry Colin Cortes Melynda Cortez T’ien Corum Monica Cory Elizabeth Cosslett Greg Coster Sarah Cotta Marilyn Couch Jennifer Coughlin Kevin Coulson Laney Coulter Miriam Counts Christopher Cournoyer Nanci Courtney Terry Courtney Khiranne Covey Todd Coward Lynne Coward Andrew Cowles-Heriot Marilyn Cox Thomas Cox Graham Craft Zac Cramer Sandra Crandall Aimee Crandall Adam Crane Chris Cravens Bonnie Crawford Keith Crawford Dana Cress Jeffrey Creswell Benton Crider Craig Crispin Celia Crittenden Alison Crocker Suzanne Croft Liz Cronin Jack Crowder Chuck Crowe Rachel Crowley Linda Crum James Crutcher Mark Culley Sherri Culver Teri Cummings Joan Cummings Sea Cummins William Cunninghame Terry Currier Kim Curry Jeff Curtis Nan Curtis Lawrence Cusack Tom Cusack Debra Custer Sara Custer

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

31

April Custer Sam Cusumano Amanda Cyr Marina Czapszys Bess D. Peter D’Auria John D’Avolio Melanie & Tim Dabareiner Alison Dabney Colin Dabritz Matthew Dabrowiak Dave Dahl Glenn Dahl Lisa Dahlen Laura Dallago Terry Dalsemer Joan Dalton Sarah Dalton Andrea Damewood Duane Damiano Colleen Daniel Tove Danovich Nicki Dardinger Blair Darney Cindy Dauer Jo Ann Davich Gillian David Michelle David Autumn Davidson Mike Davidson Loren Davis Kimberley Davis Amie Davis Kirsten Davis Linda Davis Mark Davis Mike Davis Leslie Davisson Nagisa Day Susan Day Elizabeth Daykin Yvonne de Maat Peter Dean M. Susan Dean Christina DeArment Fasil Debeb Raymond DeBuse Buffon Decker Laurel Decker Adrian Dee Kathryn Deeks Mark Deffebach Beth deHamel Ben DeJarnette Patty deLarios Kate Delhagen Jennifer Delich Sue Dell Lynn Della Deb Delman Christine DeMars Jamey Dempster Gun Denhart Harriet Denison Matt Deniston Nikki Dennis Julie Dennis Jeffrey Denson Thomas DeRosier Kelly Derr Dean DeSantis Kat DesCamp-Renner Norman DeValliere Carey Deza Amber Diaz Christopher Dibble Adam DiCarlo Bill Dickey Laurel Dickie Gene Dieken Thomas Dietz Jennifer Dillan Pateick Dillon Frank DiMarco Brian Dinda Joel Dippold Katharine DiSalle Karen Dischner Debra Disko Rebecca Dittmar Rebecca Dobosh Christine Doby Ken Doctor Marina Doering Julia Dolan Theodore Dolney Tabitha Donaghue Julie Donaldson 32

Lisa Donnelly Sue Donora Robert Dorer Ashley Dorety Athena Dorey Mike Dorman Asha Dornfest Craig Dorrell Bill Dougan Justin Douma Dylan Dow Elizabeth Dowling Kate Downen Scott Downing Lee Draper Christine Dreier Nigel Duara Michelle DuBarry Charlie DuBois Tom DuBois Bob Dudek Barbara Dudley Jennifer Dudley Jessica Dudley John Duerr Michael Duey Fernande Duffly Maureen Dugan Marne Duke Eli Duke Diane Dulken Teri Duncan James Dundas Shawn Dunlap Douglas Dunlap Debra Dunn Joseph Duquette Nancy Goss Duran Kevin Duran Louis Duran Nancy Duran Jack Duren Bob Durgan Scott Van Dusen Jenny DuVander Peggy Van Duyne Eric Dye Gary Dye Marjorie Easley Kristin Eaton Steve Eberhard Zuriel Ebron Shannon Echavarria Jeana Edelman Michael Edera Jaime Edge Tom Edmonds Maureen Edward Lora Edwards Jane Edwards Peter Edwards Emily Edwards-Schofield Anthony Effinger Suzanne & Steve Effros Rachel Effros Nancy Ege Larry Ehl Michele Ehl Karen Ehlbeck Katrina Ehrnman-Newton Fran Eichenauer Mark Eichstaedt Margaret Eickmann Libby Eiden Janice Eisen Diane Eklund Erik Eklund Melissa & Chris Elkinton Barbara Ellert John Elliott Mat Ellis Barnes Ellis Carolyn Ellis Lindsay Ellis Michelle Elpusan Kathy Elsee Kathryn Elsesser Grace Emanuel Ariana Emery Chelsea Emery Heather Emery-Walen Elana Emlen John Emshwiller Timur Ender Jason Enderbury Eric Engler Jesse Engum Thea Enos

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Daniel Enroth Karen Erde Dianne Erickson Sue Erickson Bill Erickson Jane Erwin Eleanor Escafi Darcie Esch S. Dallen Esselstrom Steven Estes Amy Estrin Grace Ettinger Scott Van Etten Corey Eubanks Susan Evans Colin Evans Rowan Everard Maria Everhart Kathryn Everts Laura Ewig Michael Eyer Ron Ezetta Eli Fabens Sam Fader Alanna Faelan Hank Failing Eric Fair-Layman Ryan Farncomb Melanie Farnsworth Patty Farrell Gary Farrell Thomas Farrenkopf Christine Farrington Chris Farrington Judith Farrow Douglas Fasching Jordan Faulds Topaz Faulkner Jeffrey Feiffer Richard Fein Eddie & Gloria Baker Feinstein Sarah Felix Gareth Fenley Mark Fenske David Ferguson Collin S. Ferguson Neil Ferguson Collin Ferguson Preston Ferguson Ryan Ferris Andrew Ferroggiaro Matthew Fields Janet Filips Nicholas Finberg Lilie Fine Ed & Erin Finklea Emmett Finneran Hannah Fischer Doug Fish Gary Fisher Nancy Fisher Kathleen Fishler Rachael Fishman Aaron Fishman Stuart Fishman Tobey Fitch Caroline Fitchett Karen Fitts Ryan Fitzgerald Marianne & Thomas Fitzgerald Barb Fitzpatrick Scott Fitzpatrick Jeff & Erin FitzpatrickBjorn Margaret FiveCrows Greg Flakus Eric Flamm Rebecca Flanagan Andrew Flanagan Emily Flanders Linda Fletcher Irv Fletcher Stacey Flier Ellen & Drew Flint Laurie Flint Mary Flock Laura Flor Sara Floss Mary Flower Kate Flowers Patricia Flud Richard Fobes Charmaine Foltz Adam Foltzer Ronald Fontana Jessica Fontenot

John Forbes Margaret Ford Gary Ford Justin Ford Leslie Ford Randall Ford Keith Forman Mary Forst Melissa Forsyth Joshua Forsythe Bonnie Fossek Bill Foster Laura Foster Tim Fought Elle Fournier Lisa Foust Gerald & Heidi Fox Lauren D. Fox Lynn Fox Eric Fraker Rudolph Francis Gerry Frank Jack Frank Jason Franklin Bruce Franszen Julie Frantz Maxine Frantz Isaac Frazier Diane Freaney Katie Frederick Judi Free Gordon Freeman Jill French Michael French Lexie Frensley Amy Frey Annelise Friar Sarah Friedel David Friedman Karen Friedman Janice Friesen Jennifer Fritzsche Patricia Frobes Noah Froehlich Karen Frost Allison Frost Christine Frost Christy Frothingham Beth Fry Curtis Frye Alison Frye John Frysinger Charles & Kyle Fuchs Adelyn Fujiwara Durga Fuller Lisa Fuller Liz Fuller Joanne Fuller Michael Fulop Jen Fulton Clay Funkhouser Salvatore Fuoti Wynne Furth Alexandra Fus Bryan Fuss Holly G. Patrick Gabbard Ryan & Leah Gabler Kathy Gadler Lori Gaffney Judy Galantha Douglas Galbraith Eileen Galen Susan Gallagher Erin Galli Rebecca Galloway Erick Gallun Sara Eden Gally Catherine Gamblin Jim Gambrell Jeff Gansberg WIll Ganschow Karri Garaventa Daniel Garber Alton Garcia Kimberlee Garcia Amy Gard Jim Gardner Aaron Gardner Curt Gardner Richard Garfinkle Lorraine Garibbo Daniel Garigan Patricia Garner Judith Quinn Garnett Allison Garrels David Garrett Kelly Garrison

Jeff Garrison Caton Gates Steve Gatt Robin Gault Barbara Gazeley Katie Gdanitz Curt Gebers Paul Gehlar Julie Gehlbach Tom Geise Lee Ann Gekas Roger Geller Jacob Gellman Catherine Gentle Christy George Diane George Harmony George Aris Georges Chip Gettinger Barbara Getty Francesca Ghinassi Michelle Giacalone Susan Gibbs Holly Gibson Summer Gibson-Stone Victoria Gideon Nick Gideonse Abigali Giedd Tom Giese Ted Giese Thomas G. Giese Victoria Gilbert Jennifer Gilden Christina GildersleeveNeumann JoAnn Gilles Tom Gilles Tim Gillespie Mikki Gillette Ian Gillingham Allan D. Gillis Elizabeth Gilson Kylo Ginsberg Daniel Gipe Matt Giraud Cassy Gleason Tim Gleason William Glenn Kevin Glenn Adam Glickfield Michael Glover Eric Gneckow Joel Godbey Katherine Goeddel Emily Goetz Laurie Gold Ian Goldberg Bruce Goldberg G. Cody QJ Goldberg Estelle Golden Harold Goldstein Tobias Goldstone Elinor Gollay Catherine Goltra Jennifer Gomersall Stephen Gomez Griffin Gonzales Marc Gonzales Russell Gooch Erinne Goodell Anthony Goodin Tim Gooding Megan Goodson Diane Goodwin Kevin Gooley Eric Goranson Corbett Gordon Caitlin Gordon Debbie Gordon Kelsey Gorman Jennifer Gosnell Benna Gottfried Jon Gottshall Shelly Gourlay Lisa Grab Jane Gragg Jennifer Grahn Claudia Grandy Tim Grandys Nancy Grant Derek Grant John Grant Katherine Grant-Suttie Craig Graugnard Aaron Gray Sue Gray Sara Gray Larry Gray

Nick Grazulis Julia Greb Alison Greco Catherine Green Derek Green Jamison Green Michael Green Joshua Greenaker Peter Greenberg Todd Greene Anthony Greene Eric Greene Marie Greene Ann Greenhill Maggie Greensmith Caroline Greenwood Gay Greger Beth W. Gregory Tony Greiner Tim & Francene Grewe Stephanie Grice Rick Griebel Eric Griffith Lura Griffiths Suzanne Griffonwyd Juliet Grigsby Jim & John GrigsbyVegher Judith Griswold Julia Griswold Dale Groetsema Linda Grove Jill Guccini Tarun Gudz David Guettler MaryBeth Guinan Guinavere Guinavere Charlotte Gund Rodney Gunther Joseph Guth Gloria Guy Kristen Guy Molly Guyot Dwayne Haag Samuel Haber Christopher Haddon Nan Haemer Mark Haffner Andre Hage Travis Hagenbuch Robert Hager Justin Hager Alexander Hagg Jeremy Hahn Rachel Haig Allyson Haines Justin Haines Shelise Hakin Erik Halbert Brian Halbert Gregg Hale Chris Hall Michelle Hall Sherry Hall Kristi Halvorson Wendy Hambidge Nathan Hambley Christopher Hamel Alicia Hamilton Debbie Hamilton Lisa Hamilton Constance Hammond Sean Hammons Nadi Hana Kayley Hanacek Marsha Hanchrow Paul Hanes Tim Hanrahan Kieran Hanrahan Treasa Hansen Chris Hansen Kristi Hansen George Hanson Marilyn Hanson Sharon & Daniel Harada Amelia & Fred Hard James Harding Dan Hardisty Greg Harmon Ellie Harmon Heidi Harper Betsy & Hans Harper Julie Harrigan Eileen Harrington Marcia Harris Misha Harris Camille Harris Alana Harris

Karen Harris Harris, Harris & Associates Jennifer Harrison Chantel Harrison John & Barbara Hart Sam Hart Martha Hart Nancy Hart Teresa Hartnett Nancy Hartounian Marcus Harwell Emily Hascall Matthew Hastie Joshua Hatch Matt Hatley Barbara Hatten Rebecca Hatten Nicholas Hauser Corrie Hausman Maureen Havenner Sarah Hawkins Ed Hawkins Tia Hawkins Steven Hawley Amanda Haworth Dawn E. Hayami Robert Hayden Matthew Hayes Kevin Haynes Abigail Hazlett Karen Headley Debra Healy Kathie Healy Jim Hearn Marcus Hecht Kena Heck Joan Heeter Tony Vander Heide Michael Heilbronner James Hein Larry Heinonen Linda Heinsohn Steven Heisterkamp Kazzrie Hekati Scott H. Helferty Judy Heller Noah Heller John Helm Kathryn Helmink Lee Henderson De Henderson Linda Henneman Richard Henry Carol & Timothy Henry Ed Hensley Teresa Hepker Anna Herbert Bethany Hergert Xavier Le Hericy Daniel Hernandez Amanda Hernandez Cody Herriges Jack & Lauren Herrington Sarah Hershey Carol Herzberg Damon Hess Glen Hess Scott Hess Sandra Hetzel Mary L. Hewitt Will Hewson Christian Hext Margaret Hiatt Carl Hickerson Christopher Hickey David Hicks Sarale Hickson Jason Hieggelke Laurel Hiestand Beth Higginbotham Sydney Higgins Leslie Hildula Edward Hill John Hill Hayley Hilmes Harold E. Hinds Jr. Stephanie Hintz Jacqueline Hirahara Leslie Hirschberg Jennifer Histed Susan Hoagland John Hock Christine Hoerner Caryl Hoffman Linda Hoffman Diane & Barry Hofmann John Hogan Kayna Hogue

David Hogue Ned Holbrook Erin Holbrook-Kosgei Carol Holguín Betty Holladay Meg Hollinger Sarah Holloway Karl A. Holmes Michael Holmes Karl Holmes Doug Holmgren Alexandra Holmqvist Kurtis Holsapple Matthew Holtgreve Andrew Holtz Denise Holtz Joan Holup Amy Honisett Joy Carlin Honodel Erin Hooley Brian Hoop Robert Hoover Kevin Hoover Ava Hoover Cade Hoover Kathy Hope Walter Hopgood D. Todd Hopkins Mike Hopkins Robin Hopkins Peter Horan Michael Horenstein Michelle Horgen Liz Horn Cecilia Hornbuckle Megan Hornby Petra Horvath David Hotchkin Will Hough Charles Houghten Sara Hoversten Robert Howard Kris Howatt Walt Howe Erik Howell Kathleen Howell Ruth Howell Samantha Hoye Ann Hudner Kanna Hudson Sharron Huffman Erica Hughes Kassie Hughes Steve Hughey Chandler Hull Thomas Huminski Kyle Humphrey Grant Humphries Amy Hunn John Hunt Wendy Hunter Abdullah Husain Chrys & Brent Hutchings Beth Hutchins Harold Hutchinson Jill Hutchinson Laura Hutchinson Chris Hutchison David Hutchison Don Hutchison Trevis Hutsell Toni Hvidsten Judson & Barbara Hyatt Sharon I. Hans Ibold Evrim Icoz Don Iler Thomas Imeson Sharon ImissPtd Jennifer Inaldo Genoa Ingram Robina Ingram-Rich Heather Irace Patti Irvin Catlin Irvine Jonathan Isaacs Michelle Isabelle Charlyn Iuppa Masumi Izawa Burk Jackson Clinton Jackson Hal Jackson Jeff Jackson Bo Jacober Peter Jacobs Trevor Jacobson Lawrence Jacobson Robin Jacobson 34

Aabra Jaggard Jack Jahrling Jill James Laura James Elayne Janiak Tammy Jantzen Charles Jaspera Melchor Jasso Dana Jaszczult Mehan Jayasuriya Ellen Jean Laura Jedeed Dave Jeffery Aileen Jeffries Wendy Jenkins Stephen Jensen Erica Jensen Joan Jewett Sarah Jimenez Gordon Joachim Kyle Jochai Lonnie St. John Rob Johns Christopher Johnson Adam Johnson Carol Johnson Dana Johnson Dennis Johnson Elsa Johnson Gary Johnson Gil Johnson Heather Johnson James Johnson Jeremy Johnson Joni Marie Johnson Jordan Johnson Keith Johnson Lane Johnson Michelle Johnson Nicholas Johnson Robin Johnson Shannon Johnson Sharon Johnson Terry Johnson Robert Johnson Wendy Johnston Sarah Jolley Elissa Jonas James Lucas Jones Deanna Jones Kelley Jones Jeffrey Jones Jennifer Jones Logan Jones Mike Jones Ken Jones Hannah Jones Benjamin Jones Wally Jones Jessica Mae Jones Aid Micah Jordan Alexander Joyce-Peickert David Judd Isaac Judd Fiona Julian Jeannie Juster Jessica Kaan Nathan & Lindsay Kadish Jessica Kahlman John Kaib Larkin Kaliher Kandace Kamberg Jackie Kamins Carla Kaminski Mark Kaminski Anna Kanwit Virginia Kaplan Joan Kapowich Emily Kappes Julie Kares Jason Karls Daniel Karnes Alan Karpinski Madeleine Karpinski Sue Katz Deborah Kaufman Zoe Kay Aviva Kaye-Diamond Leah Kays Shasta Kearns Moore Jane D. Keating Adam Keehn Daniel Keeney Jen Keesey Kelly Kehoe Phillip Keisling Sandra Keiter Kelinson

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Doug Keller Mark Keller Amanda Keller Thomas Keller Jed Keller Ann Keller Paulette Kellner Michael Kelly Olivia Kelly Anna & Matt Kelly Carolyn Kelly Colleen Kelly Felice Kelly Jim & Sue Kelly John Kelly Nancy Kelly Tom Kelly Kyle Kemenyes Deb Kemp Emily Kemper George Kendrick Melissa Kennedy Carter Kennedy Sandra Kennedy Dennis & Liz Kennedy Heather Kennedy Nicole Kenney Catherine Kent Timothy Kent Julie Kent Constance Kenworthy Christoph Kern Michael Kerner J. Minott Kerr Kathy & Andy Kerr Sean Kersey Harry Kershner Mallory Ketchem Janice Kettler Amy Key Mary Beth Kierstead Lydia Kiesling Tom Kiessling Ashley Kikukawa Dolores Kilby Bob Killough Tae Kim Jerrid Kimball Heather Kimbrough Ray Kincade Jen Kind Nicholas Kinder Nelson King Allison King Bart King Jennifer King Jennifer Swan King Lynn King Patti King Robert King Katy King-Goldberg Fran Kinkead Ken Kinoshita Amy Kirkman Russ Kirkpatrick Shannon Kirkpatrick Dianne Kirsch Sara Kirschenbaum Jon Kirshbaum Peter Kirwan Tom Kishel Jim Kite Elyssa Kiva Mary Klein Bruce Klein Meredith Kleinhenz Donna Kleinman Bill Kloster Doug Klotz Andrea Kmetz-Sheehy Fred Knack Ryan Knauber Amy Knauer Robin Knauerhase Timothy Knight Sarah Knipper Chuck Knuckles April Knudsen Steve Knutson Kenny Koberstein Suzanne Koedoot Leah Kohlenberg Curt Kolar Edward Kolbe Patricia Koon Christian Koranda Katherine Kornei Lori Kovacevic

Richard J. Kozak Elizabeth Kozup David Kracke Henry Kraemer Korleen Kraft David Krakow Carolina Von Kramer Hope Kramer Samuel Kranzthor Ali Krasnow Diane Kratlian Ann Krenek Susan Krubl Allison Kruse Ben Kubany Margaret Kubat Cathy Kuehnl Wi Kula Lisa Kuntz Anna Kurnizki Mary Kuster Carrie Kyser Jake Laban Brian Lacy Christina Lacy John Lafrentz Louise Lague Lauren Lake Holly Lake Jessica Lambert Lisa Lambert Terry Lambeth Dawn Lamond Keith Lamond Sherry Lamoreaux Suzanne Lander Brian Landoe Carol Landsman Mary Landwer Dorinda Lang Mary Lang Carla Lang Kat Langman Kelly Lanspa George Lapointe Lari Larimer Kim Larsen Roy Larsen Kathleen Larson Diana Larson Michael Lasfetto Carolyn Laughlin Cindy Laurila Michael Lauruhn Amy Law Heather Law Steve Law Rhett Lawrence Jasper Lawson Lynne Leahy Victoria Leary Jean Leavenworth R. Scott Lechert Aaron Lee Bonnie Lee Michael Lee Alfred Lee JJ LeeKwai Eric Van Leeuwen David S. Legg Rayne Legras Ann Lehman Jason Lehne Jennifer Lehr Rachael Lembo Katie Lenahan Mariah Lenahan Chris Lenn William Lennertz Amber Lentz Patricia Leon Chris Leonardo Bob Leopold Brian Lepoee Libbi Lepow Amy Lepper Monique Leslie Laura Lester Elizabeth Levenson Ryan Leverenz Richard & Ellen Levine Rebecca Levison David Lewis Annie Lewis Erin Lewis George Lewis KJ Lewis M. Lewis

Madelon Lewis Rod Lewis Rodney Lewis S. Lewis Mary Lewis Kath Liebenthal Ben & Tori Lieberman David Lieberman Joshua Lighthipe Scott Likely Jim Lilllis Michael Limb Josh Linden Judy Lindley Grant Lindquist Craig Lindsay Michael Linhoff Dan Linn Marty Linsky Peter Linssen Kathryn Lipinski Paul Lipska Andrew Lipson Tamara Lischka Richard Lishner Michael Litchman Ann Littlewood Seth Litwin Lesley Liu Mitzi Liu Su Liu Elisa Lockhart James Lodwick Hjalmer Lofstrom Jayne London Julie Long Mark Long Mike & Ruth Long Molly Long Sean Long Eric Longstaff Sally Loomis Charles Loos Sarah Lopez Dynelle Lopez-Pierre Jeremy Loss Jeanene Louden Jason Love Liv Lovern Robert Lovitz Sara Lowe Christopher Lowe John W. Lowell Diane Lowensohn Jennifer Lowery Jackie Lowthian Alison Lucas Matteo Luccio Albert Luchini Olivia Luchion Arvin & Sue Luchs Sue Ludington Teri Ludvigson Brian Lum Freya Lund Michelle Lundberg Dick & Mary Lundy Carter Lusher Doug Lusk Tom Lux Chris Lydgate Jennifer Lyon Thomas Lyons Susan Lyvers Eric Maasdam Gregory & Stacey MacCrone Terry MacDonald Nick Macdonald Stephanie Macdonald Fay MacDonnell Donovan Mack Tom & Diane Mackenzie Lauren MacKenzie Jan Mackey Michelle Mackey Michael Mackin Andrew MacMillan David MacNamera Ellen MacPherson Chad MacTaggart Rachel Mader Mahesh Madhav Michael Madias Peter Madsen Thor Madsen Mark Mahler Maria Thi Mai

Keith Main Jean Malarkey Kim Malek Neil Malling Paula Malone Claire & Karl Mamola Julie Mancini Jan & Ric Mancuso Jan Mancuso David Mandelblatt Darnell Rudd Mandelblatt Katie Mangle Jon Mankowski Laura Mann Marsha Manning Eleanor Manning Andrea Manning Jane Vogel Mantiri Jeff Mapes Maggie March Christy Marchant Alessandra Marder Cynthia Marechal Gayle Marger Boris Margolin Katie Markowitz Graham Marks Jennie Marlow Donald Marquardt Hannah Marre Joseph Marrone Sean Marrs Pam Marsh Ron Marsh Dena Marshall Lisa Marshall Richard Marshall Gary Martel Tarra Martin Carolyn Martin Erika Martin Kendrick Martin Mary Martin Melissa Martin Mooch Martin Sharon Martin Bernadette Martin Leslie Martinez Kate & Janet Martinez Stacy Martínez Vincent Martínez-Grieco Suzanna Martushev Anna Marum Kathy Masarie Matthew Masini Shirley Mason Kathryn Mason Steven Masters Amanda Mather Megan Mathew David Matson Shelly Matthys Marilyn Mauch Kevin J. Maurice Dan May Brian May Buck Mayeaux John Mayfield Tom Mazur Margot Mazur Wynne McAuley Lisa McAuliffe Jordan McBain Tahitia McCabe Peggy McCafferty Michael McCaffrey Jake & Jennifer McCall Tim McCann Shannon McCarl Bianca McCarthy Megan McCarthy Bill McClain Jessica McClain Nicholas McClanahan Kenneth McConnell Linda McConnell Larry McCool Rivka McCormack Brett McCormick Pat McCormick Bruce McCormmach Nuala & William McCulleyGray Christen McCurdy Mike McCurdy Scott McCurdy Charles McDannald Robert McDevitt

Lawrence McDonald John McDonald Sarah McDonald Mike McDonnell Rosalie McDougall Patrick & Elizabeth McDougall Scott McDowell Joan McEchron Kim McGair Linda McGeady David McGee Joseph McGee Dawning McGinnis Paul McGinnis Jean McGowan Meg McGowan-Tuttle Marsha McGrath Sarah McGraw Molly McGrew Joan McGuire Steve McGuire Kathleen McHarg Robert McIntosh Alice McKee Martin McKeown Sallie McKibben Camden Mckone Anne McLaughlin Dawn McLaughlin Frank McLaughlin Kathryn McLaughlin Meara McLaughlin Mega Mclaughlin Judy McLean Michela & David McMahon Shannon Mcmakin Rayleen McMillan Brian McMullen David McMurray Matt McNamara Dylan and Heidi McNamee Bonnie McNeil JP McNeil Laura McNerney Andy McNiece Caroline McPhee Matthew McVickar Tim McWilliams Sepal Meacham Sarah Mead Eric Means David Mecklem Gina Medeiros Pam Medley Elizabeth Medley Andy Meeks Miki Mehandjiysky Tracy Mehoke Kevin Mehrens Celeste Meiffren-Swango Darcie Meihoff Leah Meijer Sherron Meinert Joe Meissner Christina Melander Lenna Melka Leo Mellon Linda Meloche Rob & Kate Melton Beverly Melven Kathryn Menard Victor Menashe Darlene Menashe Emily Meneer Gerhard Meng Allison Menzimer Emily Mercer Portland Mercury Hunter Merritt James Merritt Matthew Meskill Benjamin Messer Bonnniee MessingerMullinax Harold Metzger Travis Meuwissen David Meyer Mary Meyer Cheryl Meyers Jill Michaelree John Micheals Dustin Micheletti Amanda Michener Carly Mick Molly Mickley Nathan Miley-Wills

Stephanie Millar Thomas J. Millbrooke Yvonne Millee Brendan Miller Hayden Miller Alexander Miller Brian, Gina, Olivia & Brando Miller Bradley Miller Carol Miller Dustin Miller Linda Miller Mackenzie & Chris Miller Margaret Miller Nick Miller Peter Miller Patrick Miller Gil Miller Kevin Miller-Conley Lee Milligan Barbara Millikan Casey Mills Laura Milne Amy Milshstein Nancy Minor Larry Minson Dana Mirkin Adam Mishcon Lacy Mitchell Diana Mitchell Michael Mitchell Erik Mitchell Colleen Mitchell Jewel Mlnarik Gary Moe Dan Moeller Mary K. Moen Sharla Moffett Maab Mohammed Carrie Mohoric Sepanta Moinipanah Christopher Mommsen Myra Monberg Claudia Montagne Sonia Montalbano David M. Montgomery Lee Montgomery Leslie Montgomery Mindy Montgomery John Moody James Mooney Cynthia Mooney Derianna Mooney Kinsey Moore Carole Moore Emily Moore Merry Ann Moore Susan Moore Nicholas Morales Jenna Moran Christina Moran Susan Moray Iain More Henry Moreno Carrie Morgan Steve Morgan Matthew Morgan Jeffrey Morgan Susan Morley Daniel Morris Tod Morrisey Jeanette Morrison Anne Morse Jennifer Morse Brendan Mortimer Charles Moseley Arthur Moss Richard Moss Alice Mott Michele Motta Richard Mounts Anoosh Moutafian Kathy Moyd Heather Moyes-Switzer Gavin Moynahan Marc & Nelia Mucatel Wilfried Mueller-Crispin Corinne Muirhead Tony Mule Patrick Mullaley Zane Mullan Tami Mullaney David Muller Gregory Mulz Kris & Steve Munch Nikki Munroe Damien Munsinger Matti Munson 36

Keiko Murakawa Michael Murphy Kevin Murphy Brian Murray Colleen Murray Tom Murray Myron Mykyta Juliet Mylan Kevin Myles Kelly Nace-Jindrich Jenene Nagy Neal Naigus Rowan Nairalez Erica Naito-Campbell Robert Van Name Nicholas Nanpei Brandon Narramore Trish & Mike Narus Thomas Nast Radhika Natarajan Karen Natzel Clare Neal Hilary Neckles Adam Neff Eric Neiman Abhinav Nellore David Nelsen Karen Nelson Julia Nelson Emma Nelson Heidi Nelson Kymm Nelson Marianne Nelson Rob Nelson Marci Nemhauser Brian Nerios Hanna Nesper Newell Emily Nestor Jennifer Netzer April Neufeld Nancy Neuman Milena Neuse Jill Neuwelt Sarah Newhall Aumkara Newhouse Donald Newlands Paul Newman Rylan Newsom Brian Newton Jacqueline Nichols Matt Nicholson Melissa Nicholson Darryl Nicholson Paul Nickell Anthony Nicola Andrea Nicotera Lindsay Nied Ada Nikolaidis Robert Nimmo Katherine Noble Linda Noble Jason Nolin James Nolke Stephanie Noll Stephen Noll Sarah Nolte Bryan Noonan Luke Norman Marcia Norrgard Ellana Norton Len Norwitz Lisa Norwood Rob Nosse Ed Noyes Betty Noyes Gunther Nuissl Robert Nunn Stephanie Nystrom Mike O’Brien Greg O’Brien Mary Lynn O’Brien Paul O’Brien Mercedes O’Callaghan Shaun O’Connor James O’Connor Shawn O’Dierno Brian O’Donnell Nathan O’Donnell Meghan O’Halloran Ian O’Handley Margaret O’Leary Michael O’Mahoney Jason & Tara O’Mara Meghan O’Neil Heidi O’Shaughnessy Caeley O’Shea Kate O’Brien Melanie O’Kniser

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

Joseph O’Sullivan Chris Oace Robert Oberland Shaun Oconnor Susan ODell Scott Ogle Jack Ohman Janine Ohmer Anthony Ohotto Dean Oja Rose M. Ojeda Tamara Olcott James Oleson Allan Oliver Emma Oliver Dylan Olson Ann Olson Bonnie Brunkow Olson Don Olson Madeline Olson Merritt Olson Peter Olson Susan Olson John OMara Beth Omernik Gerard B. Oorthuys Maria Opie Erika & Jack Orchard Walker Orenstein Andrea Orive Sara Orman Jonathan Orpin Teresa Osborne Kim Osgood Gina Ossanna Christoph Otto Justin Ouellette Emily Outcalt Alisa L. Owen Gale Owen Jim Owens Turid Owren Justin Pabalate Christopher Pachel Dee Packard Kristen Padilla David Pagano Chris Page Kelly Paige Angela Pak Michael Palazzolo Sheryl Palmatier Thomas Palmer Evan Palmer Linda Palmer Cynthia Palormo John Pank Christopher Papciak Nathalie Paravicini Anne Paris Claudine Paris Rodney Paris Andrew Parish Laura Parisi Alan Park Patti Parker Maggie Parker Bill Parker Jerry Parkinson Jerry Parks Will Parmelee Sean Parries Julie Parrish Kimberly Parsons Lisa Parsons Marty Patail Amy Pate Sally Paton Michael Patrick Andrea Patrick Dickson Patton Dave Paull James Paulson Roger Paulson Bonnie Pavel Nicholas Paxton Rob & Carrie Peacock Jonathan Pearce Tom Pearson Scott Peck Chris Peck Nick Peck Anne Peel Eric Peet Martha Pellegrino Jake Pelroy Carl Pelz John Pendleton

Stanley Penkin Dale Penn Zachary Pennell Eric Penner Ron & Lynn Penner-Ash Nancy Perkins Bob Perlson Caren Perra Cheryl Perrin Craig Perry Darcy Perry Sarah Persha Timmy Perston Devin Peters Kevin Peters James Petersen Andy Petersen Andrew Petersen Russell Peterson Shawna Peterson Harry Peterson-Nedry Dave Peticolas Andrea Petkus Daniel Pettit John Pfeil Cliff Pfenning Matthew Pflieger Khanh Pham Alex Phelan Rachel Philip Evelyn Phillips Kenneth Phillips Zach Phillips Frank Piacentini Daniel Pickens-Jones Sce Pike Rebecca Pilcher Danny Pineda Andrew Pinelli Brigitte Piniewski Renee Pirkl Judi Pitre Tod Pitstick Marilyn Pitts Matthew Piwonka Susan Place Shannon Planchon Dan Vander Ploeg Katie Plourd Rebecca Plourde Sam Plunkett Brandon Poe Kim Pohl Tiffany Pok Natasha Polensek Sandi Polishuk Cynthia Pollack Whitney Pollack David Pollock Kathy Poole Mary Wells Pope Donna Pope Karen Van Poperin Wendy Popkin Susan Popp Gerald Poquette Curtis Porach Michael Port Susan Porter Sara J. Porter Michelle Porter Becky Porter Elsa Porter Lisa Porter Sara Porter Jane Portland Rich Posert Sandy Post Andrea Post Michael Potter Lizzy Potter Larry Pound Julie Poust David Powell Jeffi Powell Jamie Lynne PowellHerbold Jane Powers Jefferson Powers Kevin Pozzi Alex Prak Dustin Prater Rachel McMillen Pratt David Prause Peter Preciado Ryan Preuninger Kenneth Price James Price

Bradley Price Dan Price William Price Philip Pridmore-Brown Davis Priestley Kevin Prime Susan Prindle Ted & Melissa Prush Dennis Puetz Tracy Puhl Glendon Pullen Madeleine Pullman Dylan Pulver Chris Pureka Allison Pyrch Amy Qualls Jason Quick Vicki Quick Kevin Quinn Jason Quinn Bonnie Quintero Jacqué Quirk Linda Raab Jay Rabe Isaac Rabinovitch Brian Rae Jana Fay Ragsdale Lidwina Rahman Teressa Raiford Thomas Raines-Morris Liv Rainey-Smith Greg Raisman Merritt Raitt Shobana Rajagopal Alyssa Ralston Kate Ramirez Bob Randall Laura Randall Kent Randles Wendy Rankin Judith Ranton Porter Raper Barbara Ray Kelly Ray Terrie Ray Charlie Raymond Jennifer Raynak Tanya Raz Michael Rear Ron Reason Caroline Reay Doug Reckmann Shawn Records Bill Redden James Redden Sheila Redman Jennifer Reece Molly Reed Sara Reed Lin Reedijk Lynn Reer Ashley Reese Anne Reeser Barry Reeves Michael Reff David Regan Debra Rehn Stephen Reichard Kurt Reichle Malcolm Reilly Robert Reis Bren Reis Garvin Reiter Jed Rendleman Ashley Renfrew Stephanie Renfro Sandra Renner Brett Renquist Chris Rentzel James Reuler Maeve Revels Kristen Reynolds Ashley Reynolds Phyillis Reynolds Steven Reznick Tansy Rhein Sonya Rheingold Lori Rhodes Glenna Rhodes Blake Rhulen Gillian Rhyu Hannah Rice Margaret Rice Andrew Rich Gerald B. Rich Sarah Richard Carlotta Richard Steve Richards

Alicia Richards Bruce E. Richards Paige Richardson Michael Richardson Jacob Richman David Richmond Beth Ricketson Linda Ricketts Connor Rieschl Leslie Riester Constance Rigney Terri Preeg Riggsby Andrew Riley Devon Riley Josh Rinaldi Robert Rineer Kristina Rinehart Elise Ringer Joseph Riordan Ben Rippel Helene & Paul Rippey Mark Riskedahl Mary Riski Rachel Rittman Jonathan Rivin Mike Roach Shannon Robalino Janine Robben Brrian Robbins Sharon Robbins Vivian Robbins Jane Roberts Laurel Roberts Amalie Roberts Jack Roberts Prudence Roberts Linda Robertson Thomas Robertson Erik Robertson Carol Robinson Dana Robinson Edward Robinson Holly Robinson Jane Robinson Kara Robinson Margaret Robinson Matt Robison TJ Rockett Wendy Rodgers Tirzah Rodgers Tonya Roe Kalin Roethle Laura Rogers Pamela Rogers Lauri Rollings Louise Roman Catherine Rondthaler Charlie Rooney Barbara Rose Kathryn Rose Bonnie Roseman Michael Rosen Gabriel Rosenberg Dori Rosenblum Ellen Rosenblum Mary Rosener Seth Rosenfeld Dan Rosenhouse Marti Rosenthal Marti & John Rosenthall Susan Rosenthall Marcie Rosenzweig Erin Roski Teressa Ross Mark Ross Kelly Ross Preston & Joey Ross Kay Ross David Ross Margot Roth Matthew Rotter Tom Rousculp Mary Lynn Roush Carol Routh Keith Rowan George Rowbottom Dick & Jeanne Roy Michael Royce Don Royce Dan Rubado Charlotte Rubin Erica Rubin Meg Ruby Janice Rudeen Steve Rudman Allan Rudwick Stan Ruff Diego Ruiz Diaz

Jennifer Ruljancich Marshall Runkel Leif Running Missy Runyon Logan Ruppel Donald S. Rushmer Joseph Ruskiewicz Tamara Russell Randall H. Russell Steve Russell John Russo Michael Russo Scott Rutherford William Rutherford Stephen Rutledge Jacqueline Ryan Amanda Ryan Anthony Ryan Bethany Rydmark Michele Sabatier Richard Sachs Robert Sacks Norman & Karen Sade David Saft Riad Sahli Amy Sakurai BB Salmon Stephen Saltzman Parviz Samiee Anne Sammis James Sampson Armando Sanchez Cari Sanchez Scott Sandberg Laura Sanders Shirley Sanders Jana Sanderson Jami Sanderson Steven Sandstrom Carrie Sanneman Amy Santee Ralph Saperstein Josh Sargent Steven Saslow Steve Satterlee Todd Sattersten Eric Saueracker James Sauls Claude Saunder Nick Sauvie Amy Sawatzky David Sawchak Deepak Sawhney Gwyn Saylor Julia Scanlon Valerie Scatena Christy Scattarella Colin Schaeffer Janet Schaeffer Gaye Schafer Blazer Schaffer Trevor Scheck Gerri Scheerens Jeffrey Scheid Marylou Scheidt Ted Scheinman Gaynell Schenck Linda Scher Bruce Scherer Janel Scherrer Tony Schick David Schilling Barry & Hazel Schlesinger Jane Schmid-Cook Teasha Schmidt Rosemary Schmidt John Schmitt Brian Schmonsees Stephen Schneider Cristina Schnider Norm Schoen Thomas Schoenborn Jillian Schoene Karen Schoenfeld Ashley Schofield Ben Schonberger Deonne Schoner Emil Schonstrom Grant Schott William Schoumaker Jeremy Schram George Schreck Joanne Schrinsky Brent Schrock Lisa Schroeder Jonah Schrogin Sarah Schrott Douglas Schryver

Dick & Sue Schubert Jennifer Schuberth Amy Schuff Patty Schuh Charles Schulien Michael Schulte Sara Schultz David Schultz Robyn Schumacher John Schumann Erika Schuster Austin Schutz Elana Schwartz Ed Schwartz Tara Schwecke A’Jay Scipio Terrance Scott Gwen Scott Mary (Mitzi) Scott Michelle Scott Matt Scott Jim Scott Aaron Scott Susan Sealy Spencer Seastrom Lorah Sebastian Laura Selvey Lewis Selway Stephanie Semke Tyler Senior Monica Serrano Susan Serres Sharla Settlemier Brad Shafer Whitney Shake Craig Shambaugh Margaret Shannon Leonard Shapiro Jonathan Shapiro Vipin Sharma Jhonathan Sharp Dave Shaut Colleen Shaw Lisa Shaw Michele Shea-han Charleigh Sheffer Frank Shen James Shepard Annie Shepard Timothy Shepard Jean Shepherd Julie Sheppard Jamie Sherman Kyle Sherman John Sherman Dara Shifrer Holly Shilling Christopher Shiner Howard Lewis Ship Suzanne Lewis Ship Amy Shipman Evan Shlaes Jill Shoen Hilary Shohoney Elyse Shoop Jack & Pam Shorr Jeanette Shortley Ellen Shoshkes Lisa & Steve Shropshire Tim Shrout Sally Shuey Charlotte Shuff Scott Shumaker Katherine Shumate Sarah Shute Steve Sicotte Randy & Sue Siefkin Toni Sieling John Sieling Roy Silfven Norma Silliman Lori Sills Isa Silver Steffen Silvis Chad Simmons Sara Simon-Behrnes Joe Simons Vickie Simpson Tom Sims Tristan Sims Steven Sinclair Lori Singer Phyllis Singer Carl & Amy Singmaster Heather Singmaster

Helen Sinoradzki Chris Sinton Celestial Sipes Lynn Siprelle Kathleen Sitton Pradeep Sivakumar Dresden Skees-Gregory Taurin Skinner-maginnis Mike Skrzynski Arlette Slachmuylder Daniel Slightam Randy Slovic Kay Slusarenko Sarah Small Erin Smith Elizabeth Duell Smith Tanya smith Judith Smith Alexis Smith Donald Q. Smith Amy Smith Chris Smith Christine Smith Cynthia Smith Donald Smith Jefferson Smith Jill Smith Joan Smith Kevin Smith Michael Smith Robin Smith Sidney Smith Valarie Smith Liz Smith Currie Robin Smoot Laura Smoyer Diane Snow Tyesha Snow Sean Snyder Erin Snyder Kate Sokoloff Kerry Solan Diane Solinger Danny Solivan Richard B. Solomon John Somers Kim Sordyl Megan Sorensen Sean Sosnovec Carmen Hill Sorenson Paul Souders Erinn Sowle Kim Sparks Katy Spaulding Stephen & Tena Spears Matthew Spellman Jason Spence Lydia Spencer Sen Speroff Lisa Spicka Corinne & Larry Spiegel Franz Spielvogel Christopher Spinks Alan Spinrad Matt Spiro Katy Spray Charlie & Linda Spray Tiffany Vann Sprecher Roger Spring Tracy Springberry Margaret Sprinkle Lewis Sprunger Rebecca Sprynczynatyk Terra Spurgeon Joe Squires Anne Stacey Bob Stacey Jane Stackhouse Jessica Stacy Elizabeth Stahl Roger Staines Keith Stangel John Stapleton Alex Starelli Zachary Stark Geri Stark Barbara Stark Nicole Staudinger Jane Staugas Ellen Stearns Martha Stearns Alvin Steele Erica Steele Roger Steen Janet Stein

David Steinbrugge Peter Steinfeld Phyllis Steinhauser Greg Steinke Christian Steinmetz Jessie Stenerson Jessie Stepan Rosie Stephens Tessa Stephenson Terry Stephenson Sarah Sterling Linda Sterrett-Marple Sam Stevens Dannelle D. Stevens Sarah Stewart Hannah Stewart Amy Stewart Julie Stewart Fred Stiber Sanne Stienstra Erika Stier Laurette Stiles Douglas Stites Allan Stocker Cassidy Stockton Leslie Stoessl Carolyn Stokke Kay Stoltz Karen Stolzberg Ariel Stone Morgan Stone Maryruth Storer David Story Susan Strahorn Sherry Stratton Roger Straus Cheryl Strayed Susan Strayer Curtis Cory Streisinger Ryan Streur Lauri Strever Karen Strickland Susan Strom Mary Stromquist Beeman Strong Tina Stroup Toni Strutz Robert Stuart Geoffrey Stuckart William Stuckey Carol Studenmund Ann Su Kate Suisman Robert Sullivan Edward Sullivan Kathleen Sullivan Karen Sumpter Sarah Sumrall Catharine Sutherland David Suttle David Sutton Amy Sutton Ronald Swan Evan Swanson Marianne Sweeney Aron Swerdlin Laurel Swetnam Sari Swick Meredith Sykes Mary Sykora Joe Taccogna Bradley Takahashi Jenny Talbert Steve Talley Mike Tamada Katelyn Tambornini Forest Tanier-Gesner Jessica Tannenbaum John Tapogna Andrew Tappert Jeff Tashman Jen Tate Roger Tavarez Anna Richter Taylor Susan Taylor Brittany Taylor Dean Taylor Leah Taylor Stacy Taylor Travis Taylor Laura Taylor Ray Teasley Eric Tegethoff Dennis Tellez Liz Temple

Theresa Temple Kelli Terhune Jay Ternberg Michael Terpstra David Terrell James Testa Mary Thamann Twinka Thiebaud Elizabeth Thiel Susannah Thiel Morgan Tholl James Thomas John Thomas Kim Thomas Mitchell Thomas Ray Thomas Shannon Thomas Steve Thomas William Thome Adrienne Thompson Charles Thompson Evangeline Thompson Julianne Thompson Lianne Thompson Mel Thompson Nancy Thompson R. Thompson Steve Thompson Anthony Thompson Jr Skipp Thomsen Sharon Thorne Claudia Thornton David Thorpe Barbara Thurber Kristina Thurman Kathy Thurow Jess Tichenor Lindy Tiedemann Kevin Tieman Julia Tier Lucy Tillett Mark Timmerman Stephan Tobin Signe Todd Betsy Toll Julia Tomes Cory Tomford Day Tooley Katherine Topaz Barbara Topor Alan Toribio Ivan Torres Mario Torres, MD Megan Tosh Monica Toth David Towner Jason Trachewsky Mitchell Tracy Timothy Tracy Gabriel Trainer Mai Tran Duy Tran Michelle Trappen Jennifer Trask LaVonne Treat Andree Tremoulet Michael Trigoboff Paul Anthony Troiano Leora Troper Thomas Trotter Jeffrey Trull Jean Trygstad Wendy Tsien George Tsongas Ruth Ann Tsukuda Nancy D. Tuccori Randy Tucker Linda Tucker Nicole Turgeon Suzanne & Michael Turnauer David Tyler Kerry Tymchuk Susan Udy Angela Uherbelau Richard Ullom Jan Underwood Patty Unfred Melissa Unger Ungerleider Family Foundation Troy Unverdruss Robyn Urbach Kathryn Urey Edward Uthman

Anand Vaidya Alisha Vail Adrianna Valencia Karla Vallance Ara Vallaster Ingrid Van Valkenburg Megge Van Valkenburg Allan Van Vliet Robert Vancreveld Kevin Vandehey William Vanderlinde Tami VanSlyke Eric Vaterlaus Katie Vaughan Meg Vaughn Greg Veerman Denise Velaski Gamble Velimirovic Jeremy Vermilyea Christine & David Vernier Liene Verzemnieks Robin Vesey Matthew Vicedomini Peter Vickory Robert & Abby Vieira Tatiana Vilchis Nancy Vitangeli Mark Vlahakis Janette Vlahos Theodore Vlas Lori Voakes John Vogel Tim Volpert Emily Volpert Trish Voss Todd Waddell Patrick Wadle Zef Wagner Dan Wagner Wendy Wagner Shirley Wainess Ian & Laura Coleman Waite Christina Waldron Clay Waldron Anika Walker Jason Walker George Walker Nathan Walker Matt Walker Jarrett Walker Ann Wallace Annie Walsh Bob Walsh Christopher Walsh Emily Donaldson Walsh Nancy Walsh Mabsie Walters Owen Walz May Wang Suzanne Ward Evan Ward Jay Ward Jill Ward Avena Ward Angel Ware Juli Warner Elizabeth Warner Karyn Warner Bob Warren Mike & Eura Washburn Bob Watkins Stephany Watson Emily Watson Steve Watt Holly Waud Kathy & Michael Wax Robin Way Kayla Waye Frederick Wearn Eric Weaver Anne Weaver Brian Weaver Scott Weaver Candy Webber Sally M. A. Weber Anna Weber Sally Weber Bud Erland & Lisa Morrison Wed Cindy Wedel Jodi Weeber John Weeks Sutter Wehmeier Fran Weick Katherine Weil

Deedra Weill Jessica Weimer Josh Weiner Nathalie Weinstein Ben & Mackenzie Weintraub Mackenzie Weintraub David J. Weislogel Stuart Weiss Ezra Weiss John Weiss Ramsay Weit Amy Welch Elizabeth Welch Holly Welch Kaie Wellman Jennifer Wells Felicia Wells-Thomas Penelope Welsh Shari Wence E. Linda Wenning Patty Wentz Kendra Wenzel Michael Wenzlick Jeff Wertz Deborah Wessell Nicci & Ed Westbrook Susan Westby Anna Weston Mark Wetherbee Emily Wever Amie Wexler Eva Weyers Elizabeth Whalen Aaron Wheeler Eric Wheeler Luke Wheeler Michael Wheeler Sally Wheeler Mary-Margaret WheelerWeber Maeve Whelan-Wuest Viki White Libbey White Tabitha Whitefoot Joseph Whittington Susan Whyte Susan Widder Kurt Widmer Rob & Barb Widmer James Wilcox Carol McCormac Wild Doni Wilder Cindy Wiley Michelle Wiley Steven Wilker Jim Wilkerson Mark Wilkinson Bob Williams Chris Williams Don & Janet Williams Jacob Williams Judith Williams Kathleen Williams Larry Williams Luke Williams Martin Williams Matchu Williams Mitch Williams Molly Williams Robert Williams Tim Williams Jacob L. Williams Drew Williamson Janet Williamson Deborah Willoughby Keith Wilson Ashley Wilson Jean Wilson Karen Wilson Megan Wilson Steven Wilson Syd Wilson Tom Wilson Nate Wilson-Traisman Courtney Wilton Nicholas Windmiller Joshua Winegarner Greg Winklesky

Donald Winn Carol Wire Lindsey Wise Jody Wiser John Wish Jeffery Wishnie Eric Withee Jay Withgott Cornelia Withington Nancy Wittig John Wolcott Marjorie Wolfe Shaun Wolff Trevor Woller Jared Wolschlager Rachel Wolters Nathan Wonder Andrew Wood Cynthia Wood Hannah Wood Peter Wood Christine Woodard Barbara Woodford Michale Van Woodward Paul Wooley Brandon Woolley Kathleen Worman Jeannie Worthman Geoffrey Wren Cathy Wright Cody Wright Emily Wright Krista Wright Paul Wright Seth Wrinkle Emily Wulff Maria Wulff Merri Wyatt William Wyatt Steve Wyatt Lucy Wyman Eileen Wynkoop Walker Wynkoop Maiah Wynne Alexander Wyrick Nora Xu David Yaden Eric Yasol Diane Yatchmenoff Jane Yates Jeffrey Yen Yamile Ynostrosa Richard York Leslee York Heidi Yorkshire Benjamin Yost Dave Yoswick Lynn Youngbar Carolyn Younger Nancy Yuill Jessica Yutrzenka O. Zaen Ryan Zakovics Michelle Zamarron Anne Zander Tracy Zapf Margaret Zebroski Cathy Zegar Allen Zeitlin George Zelznak Donna Zenobia-Saffir Amy Zilk Adam Zimmerman Tony Zito Hisham Zubi Xande Zublin-Meyer Kyoko Zuch Adam Zucker Mark Zusman Janet Zusman Ariel Zych Jeannette Zyderveld Plus 3,406 Anonymous Friends

To become a friend, please visit wweek.com/support

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

37

ART N’ COMICS!

Be a Willamette Week featured artist! Any art style is welcome!

Let’s share your art! Contact us at art@wweek.com.

JACK KENT’S

Jack draws exactly what he sees n’ hears from the streets.

IG @sketchypeoplepdx | kentcomics.com

38

Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

JONESIN’

Week of December 31

©2020 Rob Brezsny

by Matt Jones

"I'm Gonna Have Some Words"--themeless time again!

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Author Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) carried on a long love affair with books. He read thousands of them, wrote more than 20 of them, and further postulated the existence of numerous imaginary books that were never actually written. Of all the writers who roused his adoration, a certain Russian novelist was among the most beloved. Borges wrote, “Like the discovery of love, like the discovery of the sea, the discovery of Fyodor Dostoevsky marks an important date in one’s life.” I'm wondering if you will experience one of these pivotal discoveries in 2021. I strongly suspect so. It may not be the work of Dostoevsky, but I bet it will have an impact close to those of your original discoveries of love and the sea.

In his masterpiece the *Mona Lisa*, Leonardo da Vinci applied 30 layers of paint that were no thicker than a single human hair. Can you imagine the patience and concentration that required? I'm going to propose that you be inspired by his approach as you carry out your big projects in the coming year. I think you will have the potential to create at least one labor of love that's monumentally subtle and soulful.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Vietnamese-American novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen has won numerous awards for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize. Here are his views about the nature of accomplishment: "We don’t succeed or fail because of fortune or luck. We succeed because we understand the way the world works and what we have to do. We fail because others understand this better than we do." I bring these thoughts to your attention, Taurus, because I think that in 2021 you will have an extraordinary potential to enhance your understanding of how the world works and what you must do to take advantage of that. This could be the year you become both smarter and wiser.

GEMINI (May 21-June20) Modern civilization has not spread to every corner of the planet. There are at least 100 tribes that inhabit their own private realms, isolated from the invasive sprawl of our manic, frantic influence. Among these enclaves, many are in the Amazon rain forests, West Papua, and the Andaman Islands. I have a theory that many of us civilized people would love to nurture inner qualities akin to those expressed by indigenous people: hidden away from the mad world; content to be free of the noise and frenzy; and living in attunement with natural rhythms. In 2021, I hope you will give special care and attention to cultivating this part of you.

ACROSS 1 Underscores?

6 Belt holders near belts?

15 Establish by law 16 Subject of a constitutional clause 17 Culminated in 18 Porcelain, when around electricity 19 "Must have been _ _ _ news day" 20 Fall apart 21 Expand 22 Semiconductor classification whose first letter stands for "negative" 23 "Remove plastic," e.g.

25 Wagering venue, for short 26 _ _ _ Webster (Twain's "celebrated jumping frog") 27 BBC's Italian counterpart 29 Like some hours 30 Salty snack from an air fryer, maybe 36 Popeye, as the theme song goes 37 Passive-aggressive message header implying you should've read

50 Search engine input

24 _ _ _ d'Or (prize at Cannes)

51 Slacker's sin

28 Mosque leader

54 Edge

31 "The cow _ _ _ [mooooo]" (pull-string toy output)

55 Store-hours word 56 Restoration site of 2019 58 Stops on _ _ _ 59 Kind of phenomenon that explains why Ouija board planchettes move

32 Like some bathrooms 33 Full of detail 34 "øPor quÈ no los _ _ _?"

35 When Easter falls

60 1996 presidential candidate Alexander

37 It's "like a carrot doused in perfume," according to cookscountry.com

61 Edge

38 Go boom

62 Powers portrayer

39 More out-of-the-way 40 Hockey player's concern

DOWN 1 College founder Stanford

41 Producers of "Dallas," "Falcon Crest," and "Knots Landing"

2 It's the least you can rate

45 1840s First Family

3 Phrase said with a downcast look

48 East _ _ _ (nation since 2002)

4 "Ghostbusters" stuff

49 Nail file material

5 Author Harriet Beecher _ _ _

50 Feeling of uneasiness

6 Beneficiaries of some trust funds

52 Enterprise counselor Deanna

7 "_ _ _ telling anyone"

53 Natural rope fiber

8 Medium that was often psychedelic in the 1960s

57 Exclamation often prompted by Bart Simpson

9 Reason for a winter shot

42 Projectile at some bars

10 Former Brazilian president _ _ _ da Silva

43 Formula One racer Vettel, to fans

11 "Diary of _ _ _ Black Woman" (2005 film)

44 Aberdeen resident

12 Put in writing

46 Spinning stat

13 Tangled

47 Spoil, with "on"

14 Rave flashers

©2020 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

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Hurricane Maria struck the Caribbean island of Dominica in 2016. Scientists studied two local species of anole lizards both before and after the natural disaster. They were amazed to find that the lizards after the hurricane had super-strong grips compared to their predecessors. The creatures were better able to hold on to rocks and perches so as to avoid being swept away by high winds. The researchers' conclusion? It's an example of one of the most rapid rates of evolutionary change ever recorded. I bring this to your attention, Cancerian, because I suspect that you, too, will have the power to evolve and transform at an expedited pace in 2021—in response to positive events as much as to challenging events.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) I hope that in 2021 you will spend a lot of time meditating on your strongest longings. Are they in harmony with your highest ideals, or not? Do they energize you or drain you? Are they healthy and holy, or are they unhealthy or unholy—or somewhere in between those two extremes? You'll be wise to reevaluate all your burning, churning yearnings, Leo— and decide which ones are in most righteous service to your life goals. And as for those that are in fact noble and liberating and invigorating: Nurture them with all your tender ingenuity!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) "You can't move mountains by whispering at them," says singer-songwriter Pink. Strictly speaking, you can't move mountains by shouting at them, either.

But in a metaphorical sense, Pink is exactly right.

Mild-mannered, low-key requests are not likely to precipitate movement in obstacles that resemble sold rock. And that's my oracle for you in the coming months, Virgo. As you carry out the project of relocating or crumbling a certain mountain, be robust and spirited—and, if necessary, very loud.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Climate change is proceeding with such speed in central Mexico that entire forests are in danger of perishing. In the hills near Ejido La Mesa, for instance, the weather is getting too hot for the fir trees that shelter millions of monarch butterflies every fall. In response, local people have joined with scientists to physically move the fir forest to a higher, cooler elevation. What might be your personal equivalent, Scorpio: an ambitious plan to carry out an idealistic yet practical project? According to my analysis of your astrological potentials, you'll have a lot of energy to work on such a scheme in 2021.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Author Gérard de Nerval (1808–1855) made the following observation: "I do not ask of God that he should change anything in events themselves, but that he should change me in regard to things, so that I might have the power to create my own universe, to govern my dreams, instead of enduring them." If you have a relationship with the Divine Wow, that will be a perfect prayer for you to say on a regular basis in 2021. If you don't have a connection to the Supreme Intelligence, I suggest you address the same prayer to your Higher Self or Future Beauty or whatever source of sublime inspiration you hold most dear.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) The mathematically oriented website WaitButWhy. com says that the odds of winning a mega lottery can be compared to this scenario: You know that a certain hedgehog will sneeze just one time in the next six years, and you place a big bet that this sneeze will take place at exactly the 36th second of 12:05 pm next January 20. In other words, WaitButWhy.com declares, your chances of winning that lottery are very small. But while their analysis is true in general, it may not be completely applicable to you in 2021. The likelihood of you choosing the precise moment for the hedgehog's sneeze will be higher than usual. More realistically and importantly, your chances for generating positive financial luck through hard work and foresight will be much higher than usual.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Author Anais Nin was supremely adaptable, eager to keep growing, and receptive when life nudged her to leave the past behind and expand her understanding.

At the same time, she was clear about what she wanted and determined to get what she wanted. Her complex attitude is summed up in the following quote: "If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is compromise." I hope you will heed her counsel throughout 2021. (Here's another quote from Nin: "Had I not created my whole world, I would certainly have died in other people’s.")

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) In 2013, workers at a clothing manufacturing plant in Gazipur, Bangladesh staged a mass protest. Did they demand a pay raise or better health benefits? Were they lobbying for air conditioning or longer lunch breaks?

None of the above. In fact, they had just one urgent stipulation: to dispel the ghost that was haunting the factory. I've got a similar entreaty for you in 2021, Pisces. I request that you exorcise any and all ghosts that have been preventing you from fully welcoming in and embracing the future. These ghosts may be purely metaphorical in nature, but you still need to be forceful in banishing them.

HOMEWORK: Has anything in your life changed for the better during the pandemic? What? FreeWillAstrology.com Check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes & Daily Text Message Horoscopes

freewillastrology.com The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at

1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700 Willamette Week DECEMBER 23, 2020 wweek.com

39

CLASSIFIEDS TO PLACE AN AD, CONTACT:

MICHAEL DONHOWE

Portland, OR / Est. Since 2010

SERVING TWO LOCATIONS | OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

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

Do you have questions about sex?

Send your query to: askshebop@ sheboptheshop.com Select questions will be answered in Ask She Bop's next sex advice column

3906 SE Division St.

503-894-8001

A SEX TOY BOUTIQUE FOR EVERY BODY

SHOP ONLINE AT WWW.SHEBOPTHESHOP.COM CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR CURRENT SPECIALS / ALL CLASSES NOW ONLINE! / PORTLAND OREGON

503-206-4461

DAILY SPECIALS

EARLY BIRD | 10% OFF | 9am - 11am | Mon - Thur HAPPY HOUR | 15% OFF | 5pm - 8pm | Mon - Thur FREE Pre Roll | Purchase 5 Pre Rolls Get 1 FREE

Manager Data Analytics & Modeling

at Providence Health & Services (Portland, OR). Lead the infusion of value- added bus analysis, data analytics, & modeling to the prods & services dev & delivered by HI. Reqd: Bach in BA, pub health admin, CIS, Engr, or rel analytic sci fld; 5 yrs leadership & mgmt exp in analytics, BI, strategy, consulting, dataprod ownership, etc; bus analysis, reqs gathering techniques, & creation & mgmt of curated data sets supporting self- service BI capabilities to adv HI's data modeling & semantic capabilities.

Apply at providenceiscalling.jobs

1326 SE Morrison St.

MON - Edibles 10% OFF TUE - Top Shelf 10% OFF WED - Vape Day 15% OFF (Excludes Selected Cartridges)

LIQUOR MIXER • TOBACCO • LOTTERY

THUR - Topicals 15% OFF SAT - Shatter Day 15% OFF SUN - 15% OFF (Selected Items) WWW.FB.COM/BrothersDispensary

(503) 771-8535 • 8001 SE Powell Blvd, Portland

@BrothersPDX

WWW.BROTHERS-CANNABIS.COM

Onewheels in stock!

Sunlan Lighting 503-246-6646 gorgeperformance.com

7400 SW Macadam, Portland • M-F 11-7, Sat 10-6

Intuitive Psychic Readings

Need Clarity and Insight?

Phone readings. Relationships, health, job, answer concerns, guidance.

Sue 503-267-8074 amazingpsychicsue.com

TRADEUPMUSIC.COM

Buying, selling, instruments of every shape and size. Open 11am-7pm every day. 4701 SE Division & 1834 NE Alberta.

Steve Greenberg Tree Service

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

Licensed/Insured. CCB#67024.

Free estimates. 503-284-2077

For all your lightbulb fixtures & parts 3901 N Mississippi Ave 503.281.0453 Essential Business Hours 9:00 to 5:30 - Monday thru Friday 11:00 to 4:00 - Saturday

sunlanlighting.com

Sunlan cartoons by Kay Newell “The Lightbulb Lady” Facebook / Twitter Instagram / Google