Willamette Week, January 12, 2022 - Volume 48, Issue 10 - "Jobs Issue 2022: Everybody Wants You"

“QUAILPOX, PENGUINPOX, FLAMINGOPOX (I’M NOT MAKING THESE UP).” P. 4

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

WWEEK.COM

VOL 48/10 01.12.2022

NEWS: Kristof Bumped Off Ballot. P. 6 • BUSINESS: Don't Feed the Gummy Bears. P. 8 • WEED: Cannabis Cold Remedies. P. 25

smile TO THEIR face.

BRING A

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CRITERION

FINDINGS

THE RED SHOES, PAGE 27

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER VOL. 48, ISSUE 10 Nicholas Kristof is not on the May ballot. 6

One-third of Portland high school students are no longer in classrooms. 7

At the Oregon Flea Market, you can find a ceramic Jesus statue for any-sized room. 17 Biketown now serves 40 square

miles of Portland neighborhoods.

State regulators will soon ban Snooze Fruit Chews from grocery stores. 8

22

One of the duties of working at a sawmill is making sure it doesn’t catch fire. 12

Unicorn Creationz’s mascot is a dabbing unicorn. 24

There are some anti-vaxx professional cuddlers. 14 Want to book a train car for a remote office? You can. 15 Italian communist Antonio

Gramsci wrote most of his work in prison. 16

This month, you can eat salad for charity. 23

26

An annual event honoring Martin Luther King Jr. used to last eight hours. 27

OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK: Multnomah County leaves revelers to fend for themselves in the Omicron wave.

MASTHEAD EDITORIAL

News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Suzette Smith Assistant A&C Editor Andi Prewitt Staff Writers Nigel Jaquiss, Rachel Monahan, Sophie Peel, Tess Riski Copy Editor Matt Buckingham

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3

DIALOGUE

• •••• ••••

A T R E A LRBO S ER E T •••• A E H T JAN 22

Booklover’s Burlesque

LAST WEEK, WW kicked off 2022 with interviews of five people with demands to change Portland (“Voices,” Jan. 5, 2022). The most provocative remarks came from Betsy Johnson, formerly a Democrat and state senator. Now she’s running for governor as a candidate unaffiliated with any political party. That’s not entirely a departure: Johnson, the Scappoose heir to a timber fortune and owner of a helicopter company, has long served as a brake on Democratic policy ambitions. She now pledges to save Oregon from Portland, which she describes as “an accelerating death spiral disaster.”

Here’s what our readers had to say.

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personally, a lot. But she is firmly opposed to doing anything about climate chaos.

I would hope that, for many people, that will count as much as if she opposed vaccinations.”

nians are NOT card-carrying Marxists or Trump-worshiping cultists. Most Oregonians are center-left or center-right. If Johnson is pissing off extremists on both the left and right, that tells me she’s probably onto something.”

SARAH IANNARONE, VIA TWITTER: “Willamette Week

WILLYZ HOUSE, VIA WWEEK.COM: “For the first

STEVE NOVICK, VIA FACEBOOK: “I like Betsy Johnson

FEB 5

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

thinking Betsy Johnson has answers for Portland when (a) she doesn’t live here, and (b) all she does is slam us left and right every chance she gets is some next-level political youknow-what-ery.

“But hey, they endorsed Ted Wheeler, too, so [shrug emoji].”

DOUG LARSEN, VIA WWEEK. COM: “I’m tired of seeing tribal,

partisan hacks in government.

Despite what many people seem to believe, most Orego-

time in a long time, I’m feeling optimistic as an Oregonian. If she just follows through on the accountability point, she’ll turn this state around.

“If I didn’t have personal experience with her, I’d be wondering if this was all talk.

But I do have experience with her as a constituent, both as someone who needed something done and as the person that needed to be moved to get something done for someone else. In both cases,

Dr. Know

her follow-through, no-bullshit approach, and tenacity got the problem solved.

“She’s got my vote.”

THEDEADTEXT, VIA WWEEK. COM: “That she would even

hint at being like McCall should be disqualifying. What is her big cross-party success? Other than being a curmudgeon to Dem efforts.”

JAKE DOCKTER, VIA WWEEK.COM: “Why is @

wweek platforming Betsy Johnson as possible positive?

She has ties to Timber Unity that have not been addressed and should be of concern.”

SUZANNE PUTTMAN, VIA FACEBOOK: “I have heard

only good things about Betsy Johnson. After seeing how Democrats have destroyed Portland, they lost my vote.”

KARLAV, VIA WWEEK.COM:

“She had me until her milquetoast answer grading Trump.

Maybe she’s just making sure she turns off any Trumpers, but anyone who doesn’t call him out for the dangerous man he is…well, she won’t get my vote now.”

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

Submit to: 2220 NW Quimby St., Portland, OR 97210 Email: mzusman@wweek.com

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

A witch gave me an apple with a worm in it. Then I found a dead crow and thought I might plant it in a pot with the apple. Its feet were covered in tumors I’m told are avian pox. As it sits on my altar with candles and prayers, I ask: Will the pox virus mutate into the apple if I plant them together? Will I get the pox if I leave the crow in my freezer? What does it mean? —Lilith Lives Here I bet you’re a lot of fun on long car rides, Lilith.

Still, I understand your concern: The large, wartlike lesions on the legs, feet, and faces of birds afflicted with avian pox are what scientists call “gnarly” and would make anyone nervous.

But don’t get your chakras in a twist: On the list of virus families you should be worrying about, the genus Avipoxvirus (comprising fowlpox, pigeonpox, turkeypox and more!) doesn’t even crack the top 10.

For starters, it’s usually not life threatening, even for the birds. Admittedly, the cosmetic effects are pretty brutal while they last, and I can certainly imagine a teenage bird looking at its lesion-studded face in the mirror and thinking, “My life is over.” But as long as the lesions don’t interfere with the bird’s feeding

(or breathing), they usually go away on their own after a few weeks, with no lasting harm save some minor scarring.

As to your most pressing question, there are many good reasons not to make a habit of festooning your home, larder or body with the carcasses of diseased wildlife, but the fear of getting bird pox shouldn’t be one of them.

Avipoxviruses aren’t transmissible to humans.

“Sure,” I hear you saying, “and bat SARS wasn’t transmissible to humans either, until it was. What if bird pox jumps species?”

Well, anything is possible. But COVID is an RNA virus—a fast-mutating type prone to species jumping—and bird pox isn’t. In many cases, it hasn’t even managed to jump species between different kinds of birds, which is why quailpox, sparrowpox, juncopox, penguinpox, and flamingopox (I swear I’m not making these up) are all separate viruses.

It could still happen, of course, but it’s no more likely than someone catching distemper from their dog, or hoof-and-mouth disease from their cow, or the zoomies from their cat.

Finally, at the risk of belaboring the obvious, it’s even less likely that the pox’s DNA will combine with that of the crow, the worm and the apple to make some kind of flying, shit-eating Honeycrisp shoggoth. Plant at will.

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

MURMURS C O U R T E S Y O F T H E C A N D I DAT E

DUNCAN HWANG COVID-19 TESTING COMPANY UNDER STATE INVESTIGATION: A COVID-19 testing company operating three sites in the Portland metro area, as well as 300 across the country, is now under investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice.

The company, Center for Covid Control, is already facing investigations in multiple states. The DOJ shared two complaints lodged against the company, both filed in October and alleging test kits were improperly handled. All three of the Portland locations were closed Jan. 10, according to the company’s call center, but the representative on the line could not say why. Allegations in other states include the company failing to report results to health authorities and emailing results to patients before tests were performed. The company says in an email to WW: “We are absolutely not conducting fake tests. Our employees and the employees of our independent operators are risking their lives every day to provide testing for patients.”

LAWSUIT AGAINST AUDITOR BOUNCED: On Dec. 30, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut dismissed a federal lawsuit against Portland City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. At issue was a 2020 report to the auditor’s fraud hotline raising questions about Kathryn Koch, a manager in the city’s Water Bureau. Koch’s husband worked for a company that sold $182,000 worth of machinery to the bureau without a competitive bid and in increments just below the $10,000 that would have triggered competitive bidding. Hull Caballero’s staff investigated the allegations, published a report, and referred the matter to the Portland Police Bureau and the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.

In her lawsuit, Koch alleged Hull Caballero’s actions discriminated against her on the basis of her marriage and defamed her as she was never disciplined by the Water Bureau. Immergut agreed with the City Attorney’s Office that Hull Caballero was simply doing her job and that the lawsuit lacked merit. Hull Caballero declined to comment. Koch, who retired in October, says she’s disappointed the auditor’s office never interviewed her: “That is unfortunate as this all could have been avoided.”

INTEL ENGINEER RAKES IN CASH FOR CONGRESSIONAL BID: Matt West, an Intel engineer running for Oregon’s newly created 6th Congressional District, is announcing a sizable haul for his first quarter of fundraising: $619,000. Of that, $437,000 is from the candidate himself, the

campaign tells WW. The numbers put the political outsider into serious contention in the Democratic primary, where he will face state Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Lake Oswego) and former Multnomah County Commissioner Loretta Smith. Neither Salinas or Smith has reported fundraising from the latest quarter, though Smith reported earlier and raised $115,000 by the end of September.

West tells WW he’s spuured to run by the climate disasters Oregon has faced in recent years as well as the pandemic. “It became clear to me that what we needed in Washington was more people with a scientific mindset to solve these problems at their source,” West tells WW, adding he hasn’t ruled out further donations to his own campaign.

BETSY JOHNSON ATTRACTS ENDORSEMENTS: Given that she’s abandoned the Democratic Party after 20 years in the Legislature to run as an unaffiliated candidate for governor, Betsy Johnson has faced questions whether she can attract the kind of endorsements that signal to partisan voters it’s OK to deflect to her. Johnson has already raised more than $3 million since entering the governor’s race, and this week she released a list of endorsements by two-dozen former elected officials, including two former Republican speakers of the House, Larry Campbell (R-Eugene) and Bev Clarno (R-Bend), and two pioneering Black lawmakers: Avel Gordley (D-Portland), the first Black woman elected to the Senate, and former Democratic Party of Oregon Chair Margaret Carter, the first Black woman elected to the Oregon House. “I’m excited for an independent governor liberated from party politics who will bring all voices to the table,” Carter says.

METRO COUNCIL APPOINTS DUNCAN HWANG: The Metro Council voted 5-1 on Jan. 11 to appoint Duncan Hwang to the District 6 seat left vacant when Councilor Bob Stacey resigned in October because of his health. After Tuesday’s council vote, Hwang also announced his campaign to keep the District 6 position. Hwang’s appointment runs until December 2022, according to Metro’s website, meaning he must win a special election in May if he wishes to complete Stacey’s term through December 2024. Hwang, who earned a law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School, is also interim co-executive director of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon. “Our region urgently needs solutions to address our overlapping crisis of homelessness, affordable housing and climate action,” Hwang says.

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5

NEWS

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEK

FALLOUT

Tightrope

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

njaquiss@wweek .com

It’s hard to remember a time in Oregon politics when three momentous decisions came in such short order as they did last week.

It started Jan. 5, when Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem), 78, whose colleagues put him in charge 20 years ago, announced he would retire at year’s end.

The next morning, Secretary of State Shemia Fagan dismissed Democratic candidate for governor Nicholas Kristof’s argument that he meets the state’s residency requirement to run for governor.

Less than two hours later, House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland) announced her resignation from the position she’d held longer than any previous Oregon speaker—in order to concentrate on her own bid for the governor’s mansion.

Lawmakers will replace their leaders: Kotek in January, Courtney next fall. But Kristof’s fate still hangs in the balance.

Fagan handled her decision decisively—less than 72 hours after Kristof, the former New York Times journalist, submitted evidence to substantiate his residency. But her office’s letter disqualifying him acknowledged uncharted territory, admitting, “Oregon courts have not interpreted the constitutional residency requirement for gubernatorial candidates.”

Here are three questions that now loom over the state as Kristof’s appeal likely heads into a courtroom.

How might Kristof’s exit change the governor’s race?

Although a first-time candidate, Kristof grabbed a funding lead over his two top rivals, Kotek and State Treasurer Tobias Read. “They both benefit if he’s off the ballot,” says lobbyist Len Bergstein. Kristof has run as a moderate, so Read, more centrist than Kotek, may inherit some of Kristof’s backers.

But the candidate who could benefit most from Kristof’s departure is Betsy Johnson, the former Democratic state senator who is running as an unaffiliated candidate. “The Democrats go left, the Republicans go right,” Bergstein says, “and she’s alone in the middle.”

THE BIG NUMBER

6

NASHCO PHOTO

The potential disqualification of gubernatorial candidate Nicholas Kristof adds uncertainty to the May election.

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

last week that her Elections Division consulted DOJ “repeatedly” in arriving at its conclusion. But Fagan acknowledged it was based neither on a written DOJ opinion nor on court precedent.

Fagan said Kristof’s having voted in New York in 2020—a fact first reported by WW in August—means he fails Oregon’s threeyear residency requirement for gubernatorial candidates.

Harry Wilson, an elections lawyer with the Markowitz Herbold firm who has contributed to Kotek and Read, says North Dakota and Indiana have set precedent by making where a candidate voted previously a threshold issue. “Fagan got it right,” Wilson says. “Where you vote really matters.”

Fagan said Kristof’s having voted in New York in 2020—a fact first reported by WW in August— means he fails Oregon’s threeyear residency requirement for gubernatorial candidates.

Mick Gillette, who served 25 years on the state’s highest court and is now in private practice, says after reading case documents, he’s not sure voting in New York is more important than Kristof’s claim that he’s always considered Oregon home. “The argument that Mr. Kristof has returned to Yamhill County frequently and spent more time there in recent years seems particularly useful,” Gillette says.

How will Kristof’s legal challenge work?

On Jan. 7, Kristof’s attorney Misha Isaak sought immediate review of Fagan’s decision by the Oregon Supreme Court.

The court gave the Oregon Department of Justice until Jan. 14 to file a reply.

Before the case proceeds, lawyers say, there may need to be an intermediate step to establish an evidentiary record: The case could be sent down to a circuit court or the Supreme Court could appoint a “special master” to collect evidence, or it could just weigh the existing record.

Isaak is uniquely well suited to plead Kristof’s case to the high court: As counsel to Gov. Kate Brown, he vetted and helped select four of the court’s six justices (the seventh seat is currently vacant).

While Isaak has spelled out Kristof’s case in lengthy memos, the state’s legal argument is less voluminous. Fagan said

That’s the percentage by which fully-vaccinated people had a lower chance of being hospitalized with COVID-19, compared with the unvaccinated in New York State, according to official data released for the week ending Jan. 2.

The data from a state hit early by the Omicron variant shows that, for the most recent week, the rate of hospitalizations was 58.27 people per 100,000 for the unvaccinated. That’s

13 times greater than the rate for the vaccinated—4.59 per 100,000.

Numbers in places like New York provide some guideposts for what Oregon should expect as the Omicron variant takes hold. As of Jan. 10, Portland-area staffed intensive care unit beds were 94% occupied.

COVID-19 cases are no longer predominantly among the unvaccinated, in part because Omicron evades the protections

Why does Fagan’s decision matter?

Although Fagan, the state’s top elections official, briskly dismissed Kristof’s case, saying it “wasn’t a close call” and “didn’t pass the smell test,” she’s wading into a larger debate about ballot access.

On Dec. 19, Jeanne Atkins, Bill Bradbury and Phil Keisling, all former Democratic secretaries of state, weighed in. “Oregon and its voters would be best served if we continue to make inclusion—and not exclusion—the guiding principle of our participatory democracy,” they wrote in The Oregonian.

Since Fagan’s ruling, the Bend Bulletin and Portland Tribune have editorialized against her decision. “Fagan should let voters decide if they consider [Kristof ] enough of an Oregonian to entrust him with the state’s most important leadership role,” the Tribune wrote Jan. 9.

Some suspect her decision was motivated by political allegiances—including Kristof, who darkly implied as much in a Jan. 6 press conference.

Portland lawyer Nick Kahl, a Kotek supporter who argued in a memo to Fagan’s office that Kristof should be disqualified, says the former journalist’s argument is based on the privilege of being wealthy enough to afford multiple homes and has nothing to do with access to democracy.

“Kristof’s Trump-like claim that he is the victim of a conspiracy by the political elites is pretty ironic, given that he and his funders are about as elite as you can be,” Kahl says.

“As is his argument for being allowed on the ballot.”

of vaccines. Vaccines are still effective at preventing the worst outcomes, but with millions of Americans (and thousands of Oregonians) still unvaccinated, hospitals are expected to continue to fill to capacity. On Jan. 9, the number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 exceeded the previous peak nearly a year ago—before vaccines were available to anyone (over age 5) who wanted one.

Even so, those who have

followed public health advice to get vaccinated have reason to take heart. “Vaccination remains the best protection against getting really sick and dying of COVID-19,” says Oregon Health & Science University professor Dr. Bill Messer. He was encouraged by the increase in vaccinations during the last month. “Even though it can feel like you’re shouting into a hurricane, there is movement.”

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

When Should Schools Close?

We asked the leading candidates for governor what the threshold should be for a return to remote learning.

One-third of Portland’s high school students were no longer in classrooms as of Jan. 10 after Portland Public Schools shuttered three large campuses.

Shutting down schools has become a political vulnerability for Democrats, who in 2020 shuttered classrooms to halt the spread of COVID-19— and then kept the schools closed for a year.

Now, in a public health environment where vaccines square off against a new variant of the virus that spreads faster than ever, shutdowns of businesses and schools are recurring as staffing becomes impossible.

The school district cited significant student and staff absences, on the order of one 1 of 4 students and teachers, as it closed McDaniel and Cleveland high schools last week, then followed up with Roosevelt High School and Ockley Green Middle School over the weekend.

WW surveyed leading candidates for governor whether they supported Portland Public Schools’ decision to close classrooms and move online for a week, given those stats. R AC H E L M O N A H A N .

We asked: “Portland Public Schools closed several schools when absences rose to 1 in 4 students and staff. Do you support the district’s decision—yes or no?”

YES Former New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof (D) School districts should prioritize in-person instruction, which yields the best student outcomes.

If COVID-related staff shortages don’t allow that, districts should be empowered to close schools temporarily, restoring in-person learning as quickly as possible, with an eye toward student and educator safety and in accordance with the Depart-

POLICY

ment of Education’s health and safety protocols.

The goal needs to be a quick and safe return to in-person learning, prioritizing equity and protecting our most vulnerable communities such as low-income students and students of color. But because of insufficient resources and staffing shortages, school districts may be forced to close temporarily.

DECLINED TO SAY Former House Speaker Tina Kotek (D) I support doing everything possible to maintain in-person instruction, because we know this is critical to the educational success and mental health of our students.

I appreciate the work that PPS leaders, teachers, staff and families are doing to prioritize the well-being of our students amidst the ever changing and unpredictable challenges of the pandemic.

Everybody is trying to do what is best for students, but when districts don’t have enough staff because people are out sick with COVID, they simply can’t stay open. That’s the reality of the crisis we currently find ourselves in.

NO State Treasurer Tobias Read (D) No, because we have not exhausted everything in our power to keep schools open. There are billions of dollars from the federal government available to update our schools’ ventilation systems, purchase high-quality N95 masks for teachers and students, add testing capacity, and create safe outdoor eating areas for children. As always, it’s not just about allocating dollars, it’s about follow-through and execution.

As long as cases of hospitalizations among school-age children remain exceedingly low, we should mitigate risk with vaccine and mask mandates, regular testing and better ventilation.

Closing schools has to be an absolute last resort.

Former Democratic state Sen. Betsy Johnson (unaffiliated) Absolutely not.

The benchmark should be five-days-a-week, in-person learning for our children. That is what is best for our kids, our community, and what our government needs to deliver. We need to manage this virus and not allow it to manage us.

Kids need teachers, families need schools.

Rep. Christine Drazan (R-Canby) We have to lead with facts, not fear. The facts are that vaccines and treatments are readily

A QUIET PLACE

Multnomah County saw a record number of new COVID-19 cases last week, and the reported figures may be low due to delayed reporting.

But no one knows how many county residents have tested positive at home.

That’s because at-home tests don’t have to be reported to health authorities if you live in Portland; and even if you wanted to self-report to Multnomah County officials, there’s no way for you to do so.

In one Oregon county where self-reporting is allowed, 9% of confirmed cases were the result of at-home tests, according to data obtained by WW. That offers a

snapshot into just how many athome cases might go unreported in Portland and other portions of the state where self-reporting isn’t an option.

Oregon expects to receive 12 million at-home tests sometime this month that it bought to distribute to schools, health agencies, Indigenous tribes and community organizations that serve farmworkers and homeless Oregonians. Retail stores like Walgreens and Walmart that sell at-home tests are consistently sold out because of high demand.

But as a new batch of at-home tests are set to flood the state, Oregon is letting counties decide whether to accept self-reported

available. Given what we know about the virus and how to treat it, we cannot respond like it is still March 2020. We cannot sacrifice their future.

Our kids have already paid far too high of a price.

We must acknowledge the harm closures have caused. Instead of closing schools, let’s take a balanced approach: maintain existing protocols for symptomatic individuals, offer a remote option for those at home, and ensure voluntary vaccines, regular testing and treatments are available and accessible.

Students need schools to remain in person.

Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam (R) I completely support those parents who want to keep their children home for whatever reason, but schools must remain open.

Policymakers should be focusing on the supply side of the problem (increasing staffing), not restricting the demand (closing schools).

Up until now, we have prioritized slowing the spread of the virus when we should have been balancing that with other factors like mental health, cognitive development, the economy, and more.

[We should close schools] only if a new variant proves to be devastating to a youthful, healthy population.

Other than that, we need to be on a steady path to returning our students to normalcy, including unmasked in-person learning, extracurricular activities, and sports.

Salem oncologist Dr. Bud Pierce (R) The risk of serious harm from COVID-19 infection to our students is low, but the risk of serious harm to our students by missing in-classroom educational instruction is high. Principals should only close their individual schools if there is inadequate staff to perform their educational mission in a safe fashion. As long as students are able to attend school, they should be taught in the classroom, and schools must remain open.

West Linn political consultant Bridget Barton (R) I was a working parent raising two kids. Oregon parents and kids deserve certainty right now. We can’t have a state full of parents worrying whether their child’s school will be closed the next day.

Our kids have already missed too much school, so the PPS benchmark seems too low. But it’s a local decision. As governor, I would not mandate statewide school closures.

Multnomah County won’t accept self-reported COVID diagnoses. results.

Multnomah County health officials say at-home results aren’t crucial to understanding COVID trends.

“At this point in the pandemic, our health department does not need to know about every COVID test result,” says department spokeswoman Kate Yeiser. “Test data that gets reported to us from labs includes both positive and negative, so we get a decent snapshot of disease activity in the community. As cases become very common due to Omicron, we will be watching indicators like hospitalizations to see how we are doing. We don’t anticipate a change to this approach, because it is a

MULTNOMAH COUNTY Cases since Jan. 1

13,405

Self-reported cases

0

LINCOLN COUNTY Cases since Jan. 1

266

Self-reported cases

24 (9%)

JOSEPHINE COUNTY Cases since Jan. 1

699

Self-reported cases

<20 since Nov 2021

step toward living with COVID.” But looking at other counties that have set up a mechanism for self-reporting offers some insight into what those figures might look like here. S O P H I E P E E L .

DONOR

Contribution of the Week

HOW MUCH? $150,000 WHO GOT IT? State Rep. Christine Drazan (R-Canby), who is running for Oregon governor.

WHO GAVE IT? Adam Wittenberg, a Keizer businessman, through his company Team Management LLC. WHY DOES IT MATTER? Drazan, the former House minority leader, entered the GOP primary for governor later than several other Republicans. (Political consultant Bridget Barton, Baker City Mayor Kerry McQuisten, Salem oncologist and 2016 nominee Dr. Bud Pierce, and Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam had been in the race for months.) Drazan’s later start and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson’s prodigious fundraising (nearly $3 million so far, much of it from GOP donors) raised questions about whether there was donor appetite for Drazan’s candidacy. But her first round of contributions, totaling more than $530,000, came in over the past month, showing that she’ll have the resources to run a competitive race. She now has nearly twice as much cash on hand as her closest GOP rival.

WHAT DOES WITTENBERG SAY? Wittenberg, whose family formerly owned the Wittenberg Inn, a hotel in Keizer, hasn’t made significant contributions to Oregon or national races before. He did not return a call seeking comment.

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

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

7

NEWS

Squished Gummies Soon to be banished from grocery shelves, makers of some hemp-infused candies are threatening to leave Oregon. speel@wweek .com

Last year, Christine Smith put a new candy of hers on the shelves of New Seasons Markets.

The Snooze Fruit Chews promised restful sleep.

In the past 18 months, Smith’s chews have become a tentpole of her Portland business, Grön Chocolate, a local maker of chocolate bars and fruit chews infused with compounds from marijuana and hemp plants.

Snooze Fruit Chews on grocery shelves make up one-third of Grön’s $3 million in annual sales outside of dispensaries. The gummies can be found at New Seasons and other health food stores, just like any other CBD product that isn’t intoxicating.

But the chew, which is infused with compounds derived from hemp, not marijuana, doesn’t contain only CBD, or cannabidiol.

Its main draw is that it also contains CBN, or cannabinol: a derivative of hemp processed through a machine that prematurely ages CBD. And while CBN does not have intoxicating properties, it is, according to the state cannabis regulators, an artificial ingredient.

Those regulators now say Smith and other edible companies have, in effect, been selling a manufactured additive on grocery shelves. And they’re removing CBN products from grocery stores July 1, limiting future sales to marijuana dispensaries.

The two biggest CBN edible makers in the state, Grön and Wyld CBD, are threatening to leave Oregon—the only state in the country that has raised a red flag about CBN—over the ban.

“We’ve been based in Oregon forever,” says Gabe Parton Lee, director of compliance for Wyld CBD. “But if this is the way the state of Oregon addresses cannabis policy going forward, why would we be interested in sticking around here when we could find any other state that has a much more progressive view?”

The fight over CBN showcases the speed at which Oregon cannabis companies are discovering new uses for their plants—and the scramble by regulators to determine whether the risks to consumers outweigh the touted health benefits.

While known for decades, CBN became a popular ingredient in edibles only two years ago, when several companies created new production methods for processing it. With the July 1 rule, Oregon became the first state to ban the substance from grocery shelves—an example for other states to prioritize consumer health over the profits of cannabis companies, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission says.

“It’s not the standard of any other food or dietary supplement ingredient—let’s sell something for 18 months, and if it’s OK, keep selling it,” says TJ Sheehy, compliance director for the commission. “The whole premise is that we don’t experiment on humans when we sell things.”

8

BRIAN BRENEMAN

BY S O P H I E P E E L

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

“ We’ve been based in Oregon forever, but if this is the way the state of Oregon addresses cannabis policy going forward, why would we be interested in sticking around here when we could find any other state that has a much more progressive view?”

Two laws passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2021 authorized the OLCC to develop more oversight over the cannabis industry. On Dec. 28, the agency finalized its resulting slate of new rules and regulations.

Some rule changes relaxed standards for the cumbersome seed-to-sale tracking system, softened penalties for minor rule violations, and raised the limit for how much THC makers could put in edibles.

But the new CBN rule is clearly the most controversial. It applies to any substance that the OLCC deems an “artificially derived can-

nabinoid”—that is, any compound derived from cannabis that undergoes a molecular change during processing.

That includes delta-8-THC, a highly intoxicating substance derived from the hemp plant that was previously unregulated at the state or federal level.

It also includes CBN. Edible makers say CBN sold on grocery store shelves helps users sleep without any intoxicating effects. Because it doesn’t get anyone high, they argue, the commission should leave CBN alone. “It’s worrisome to

see the OLCC is using its new authority to arbitrarily ban things,” says Parton Lee of Wyld.

But state regulators argue that any chemistry experiments on hemp need government supervision—and, until then, shouldn’t be sold next to Burt’s Bees lip balm in grocery stores.

“Whether it’s intoxicating or not, that’s kind of a secondary concern,” says Steven Crowley, the OLCC’s hemp specialist. “The primary concern is whether it’s manufactured in a way that’s safe to consume.”

Alleh Lindquist, co-founder of FloraWorks, a Portland processing company that started producing CBN in 2019, says the commission’s apprehension about chemically altered cannabinoids is legitimate. Yet he still thinks the state is overreaching.

“From a chemist’s perspective, I see the concern, that you can make anything and sell it to people,” says Lindquist. “But the OLCC made all [cannabinoids] fall into the same category, whether intoxicating or non-intoxicating.”

Come July 1, 2023, the rules get even stricter.

Beginning on that date, CBN products can only be sold at dispensaries if they get a federal designation declaring them “Generally Recognized as Safe” or if they get approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a “new dietary ingredient.”

That’s unlikely. The makers of CBN candies believe their best strategy is to self-publish toxicology and health data showing their product is safe—a GRAS self-determination— and avoid a judgment by the feds. Even then, the OLCC says it will require a copy of the evidence.

For the already reeling hemp industry, the new rule is a nightmare.

In 2019, the price for a pound of hemp was $43. By late 2021, it had dropped to $1.50.

CBN edibles were one remaining market for hemp. According to a data firm who looked at sales across four states, CBN products that also contain THC generated $8.4 million in revenue in the first nine months of 2021 (this could be an undercount, as the firm only looked at sales of the top 20 leading brands).

Grön’s CBN products, including the non-intoxicating chews at New Seasons and the CBN chews sold in dispensaries (which contain THC and are intoxicating), make up 30% of Grön’s total annual revenue of $14 million.

“It’s causing us to question whether or not Oregon is a great place for us to base our headquarters out of,” says Smith, whose biggest buyer for CBN products is New Seasons. “On the open market, I am considering shuttering our CBD business, or just letting it sleep for a while, because of this ban.”

And Parton Lee says Wyld is exploring legal options “to see if there is a way to prevent the enforcement or the implementation of the rule in July.”

Sheehy thinks they’re bluffing. He says the industry threatened to leave the state before when the OLCC banned some additives after nearly 20 users fell ill, and two died, during a rash of vape-related illnesses in 2019.

“We had additives companies saying that if these rules were passed as written, ‘We wouldn’t be able to comply with them, we’ll move out of state,’” says Sheehy. “Even the people who said those comments are now complying with our rules, and those products are still on the market.”

NEWS AARON LEE

to connect with hard-to-reach groups.

“Approximately 50% of our team hold language and/or culture KSAs,” the Jan. 3 letter from the workers says.

The 115 limited duration employees have filled a variety of roles, county spokeswoman Julie Sullivan-Springhetti says, including “contact tracing, congregate care setting response, vaccination clinics, testing, shelter operations, administrative and clerical functions, and emergency response work.”

On Nov. 23, Hyatt contacted county chief operating officer Serena Cruz warning her of what he called in an email a “potential iceberg ahead that the county should be able to steer around.”

Specifically, the county had notified employees working at home because of the pandemic that they would get either a $500 stipend for home office equipment or $40 a month to defray internet costs.

Limited duration employees weren’t offered that compensation, despite facing the same expenses.

“While many permanent employees were able to take desks, monitors, chairs and essential equipment from the office,” the Jan. 3 letter to the commissioners noted, “many of us had to equip our homes to accommodate teleworking.”

In his communication with Cruz, Hyatt, who is also executive director of the Black American Chamber of Commerce, cited the national context.

“Currently the country is on the crest of a wave, with the verdict of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the impending Ahmaud Arbery verdict, many are emotionally primed,” Hyatt wrote.

“Where I see the biggest risk to the county is in all these events crashing into each other. I see a path forward that can calm the issue before it becomes a roar.”

“They sent out a communication announcing a win for employees, but [temporary employees] said, ‘Hey, we were excluded.’”

LOOKING FORWARD: Jesse Hyatt warned county officials of a looming “iceberg.”

Who Benefits

Multnomah County temporarily hired people of color to help with COVID-19 but denied them bonuses that full-time employees got.

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

njaquiss@wweek .com

The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, which perhaps more than any government body in Oregon has strived for racial equity, finds itself accused of discriminating against a group of temporary employees hired for their culturally specific identities or skills.

These workers, called “limited duration employees,” got the same base pay, benefits and union protections as permanent county employees—and did much of the same work.

But in an indignant letter they sent to commissioners last week, the limited duration employees say they didn’t receive the same extra compensation as permanent employees also working to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are experiencing real-time the exploitation of a diverse workgroup through intentional actions and inactions of various levels of health department leaders,” the employees wrote in the Jan. 3 letter.

The charge of exploitation highlights the challenge the county faces in convincing its workforce that its actions match its rhetoric.

In 2017, Tricia Tillman, who had just been ousted as the county’s public health director, leveled charges of systemic racism at the county, an accusation that caused the resignation of her

boss. After a hearing in which a dozen employees testified about similar experiences, County Chair Deborah Kafoury pledged reforms. “I am promising that we can and must do better for people of color,” Kafoury said then.

But Jesse Hyatt, one of the limited duration employees, says when the county late last year announced extra compensation for employees affected by the pandemic, it stiffed those who’d been brought on specifically to help with COVID-19.

“They sent out a communication announcing a win for employees,” Hyatt says. “But [temporary employees] said, ‘Hey, we were excluded.’”

As the Omicron variant spikes COVID-19 infections to record levels, some things have not changed: White, middle-class Oregonians are more likely to get vaccinated, less likely to get infected, and less likely to get hospitalized or die if they do contract the virus.

Early on, Multnomah County recognized the pandemic was poised to exacerbate health disparities—and staffed up accordingly.

The county sought new recruits equipped to help reach communities of color, immigrants and other groups disproportionately at risk from the virus. In human resources terminology, those job candidates possessed “knowledge, skills and abilities”

But in a response that took nearly a month to deliver, Cruz said she couldn’t help.

“This is a matter that must be negotiated with our unions,” Cruz wrote Dec. 22. “I am hopeful that we may come to an agreement, but I ask you for your patience, because it may take some time.”

Hyatt says given the large budget surplus the county announced late last year and the massive federal stimulus and COVID-19 money flowing through county coffers, he found Cruz’s response disappointing.

“We are all very frustrated,” Hyatt says. “Given the circumstances, we’re being treated like second-class citizens.”

Sullivan-Springhetti notes that all employees, whether they are limited duration or not, did get a one-time, $1,500 hazard paycheck. She denies the county is discriminating against anybody and says, according to the terms of its contract with AFSCME, the county cannot unilaterally compensate limited duration employees.

“The rules are the same for all limited duration employees, whether or not they have a culturally specific skill requirement,” Sullivan-Springhetti says. “Decisions on offering the telework stipend also were not based on employee demographics but the limited expected length of service.” She adds the county is currently talking to the union about paying stipends to the aggrieved workers.

Hyatt says it’s hard for him and his colleagues, who are disproportionately people of color, to accept how they’ve been treated.

He says the county’s actions speak louder than its words. “This disconnect,” he says, “is just another example that highlights systemic issues that still permeate the fabric of the county today.”

Kafoury says such complaints aren’t consistent with the culture she’s built over the past four years through investments in training, education and compliance.

“I have kept my promise to our workforce and community to do everything I can to promote equity in the Multnomah County workforce,” she says. “This transformation is not complete, but it has profoundly changed our organization and, as a result, we are much more effective in our ability to serve our community, especially during a once-in-a-century pandemic.”

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

Everybody Wants You

A historic labor shortage is making Oregon employers downright desperate.

Illustration by Sunny Eckerle Right now, there are a record number of job openings in Oregon. “In the summer, we hit 107,000 and that’s just private sector,” says Gail Krumenauer, an employment economist for the state of Oregon.

“For every seven unemployed people, there are 10 jobs available.”

It’s a national trend, according to Krumenauer. The nation’s unemployment rate hovers at 3.9% and Oregon’s is just a little over that, at 4.2%. “That’s within striking distance of a record low,” Krumenauer tells WW. ”It’s highly unlikely that there was ever a more advantageous time to find a job in the state of Oregon.”

With that advantage in mind, this year’s Jobs Issue hopes to guide job seekers, job switchers or the just plain job-curious through this momentous period of possibility.

In this issue, you’ll find stories about professions that are so hard up for workers they’re paying hiring bonuses ranging from $500 to upwards of $30,000 just to start (page 12). And arguments by labor reporter and author Sarah Jaffe about looking beyond purely material satisfaction in the workplace (page 16).

You’ll find medical staff describing the ways telehealth changed their workspaces for the better—both for workers and patients—and how that might never have happened without the pandemic (page 13).

We spoke with Portland’s professional cuddlers about the contradictory supply and demand issues they’ve faced: booming lists of clients created by pandemic isolation and satisfied by remote intimacy (page 14).

We also have an introduction for you: a local startup changing the way we work from home—by renting out someone else’s home (page 15).

It’s a fascinating time to look at the workplace, where it can go and what it can give. To start out, read up on why this is all happening, in the first place (page 12). Shocking twist: It’s not just the pandemic.

—Suzette Smith, WW Arts & Culture Editor

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

11

We Didn’t Start the Labor Shortage COVID fear, boomers, stimulus payments, families with kids, and families without them are all causes of Oregon’s labor shortage.

BY S U Z E T T E S M I T H

Oregon employers will put thousands of dollars in your pocket if you get hired.

suzette@w week .com

This summer, Oregon set a new record for job openings. Some of that was related to factors economists have anticipated for years, but a sizable amount is because of the pandemic and the slow-trickle return of workers to the labor force.

“There are currently more job openings than there are unemployed workers,” Gail Krumenauer, an employment economist for the state, tells WW. That isn’t necessarily because there are more jobs. For a variety of reasons, there are now less workers, not just in the state of Oregon, but also on a nationwide scale.

“Everybody who’s been closed down is rehiring,” Krumenauer says, outlining a variety of reasons the job market currently skews in favor of the workers. “But also, we are not having as many children, and we haven’t been for decades. The boomers are retiring. Plus, there’s been very low immigration—during the pandemic period, in particular.”

“I don’t think businesses are trying to grow or boom,” Josh Lehner, an economist at the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, tells WW. “They’re really just trying to get back to where they were pre-pandemic.”

The December 2021 Oregon Economic and Revenue Forecast—released by Lehner’s office—describes the labor shortage, and observes that “workers are returning at a much slower rate than anticipated,” describing the pattern as “more of a steady stream rather than a sudden rush.”

Higher wages may be contributing in unexpected ways, making it easier for families to live on one earner’s income: “A second adult does not need to return to work as quickly to pay the bills,” the report notes. “Especially if there is any other concern related to the pandemic, child care, or the like.”

Enhanced unemployment, paid out over the course of the pandemic, in addition to rounds of stimulus, left many workers with above-average savings. That’s also part of the reason families have been able to make due with one earner, for the time being. The forecast was careful to note that while enhanced payments enabled some workers to stay out of the job market, it doesn’t explain the entire labor shortage.

“COVID fear is still very real,” Krumenauer says.

In a cyclical way, the stimulus money also exacerbated the labor shortage.

“Where you really see this turn is in the spring of 2021,” Krumenauer says. “All the stimulus put money in people’s pockets.”

Consumers still wanted goods, and they wanted more services. That drove up demand for workers to provide those things.

“We were already driving up the demand for workers with the money we were spending at home,” Krumenauer explains.

“Then we could go out again.”

12

6

Professions That Desperately Want You

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

BY T E S S R I S K I

and

AARON MESH

5 0 3 -2 4 3 -2 1 2 2

Oregon employers are getting desperate.

In October, 56,000 Oregonians quit their jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s 3% of the state’s workforce—and a higher rate than the rest of the nation, which just set its own record for resignations.

Workers looked at a reopened state and realized they have options.

They’re taking them. The same stores that ran out of toilet paper during one chapter of the pandemic are now without clerks to stock it.

“The tight labor market is impacting all industries,” says state economist Josh Lehner. “It’s hard to find accountants. It’s hard to find movie concession stand workers. It’s hard to find anybody.”

Like contestants on The Bachelorette frantic for attention, Oregon companies are making extraordinary offers to lure replacements for the employees they lost. The most conspicuous? Signing bonuses: cash up front as an incentive to take a job.

That means they’ll pay you today for work you do tomorrow.

Lehner started seeing such bonuses last fall, mostly at restaurants that needed line cooks. Now the practice has expanded across dozens of industries—and it isn’t a cheap substitute for higher wages, but piled on top of pay hikes.

“Human nature is, we do like those bright shiny objects we can touch,” Lehner says. “We would like a thousand dollars in our pockets next month. Whatever it takes to bring workers through the door, I think the firms are trying it.”

WW spent a few days this month on Indeed, Ziprecruiter and other job-hunting sites, looking for the most enticing listings in Oregon.

What we found reflected the industries most anxious to hire.

Here’s what you can get in addition to the job offer.

Commercial truck driver: Upwards of $30,000

In the fall, the American Trucking Associations announced a historic shortage of 80,000 drivers nationwide. That has a butterfly effect throughout the economy, because it exacerbates the national supply chain crisis.

“The industry is raising pay at five times the historic average, but this isn’t just a pay issue,” ATA chief economist Bob Costello said in October. The shortage is most acute among long-haul drivers, who are aging, mostly male and have to spend days at a time on the road.

Portland-area trucking companies are offering signing bonuses ranging from $3,000 to $30,000—and that’s in addition to an average hourly wage of $23, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The US Foods outpost in Woodburn is offering a $22,500 sign-on bonus, as well as relocation assistance for eligible new hires. “Conveniently Located near PDX Airport,” the job posting says. “Top performers can make up to $27.10/hour plus incentives.”

The Portland division of the U.S. Xpress trucking company is offering even more: $30,000. “Drive the newest 2019-2020 trucks!” the posting says. “Hazmat Teams earn $150 Extra per Hazmat load.”

officers or public safety specialists, known as PS3s.

At the time of the proposal, the mayor acknowledged the city needs to tick several boxes before it can officially offer such bonuses. “It will likely require [City] Council approval, and there are probably some legal issues that need to be hashed out as well,” Wheeler said in November.

Former Mayor Sam Adams, who is the director of strategic innovations in Wheeler’s office, says the city is still working out the details of the bonuses, such as the number of recruits who will get them and the amount.

“The key there is ‘up to’ $25,000,” Adams tells WW. He adds that seeing the Seattle Police Department offer $25,000 sign-on bonuses last year was a “wake-up call” for the city of Portland to be as competitive as possible in order to attract the best candidates in the Pacific Northwest.

Portland police officer: Upwards of $25,000

Nurse: $10,000

The Portland Police Bureau has been steadily hemorrhaging officers since June 2020, when nightly racial justice protests began and the City Council voted to cut the bureau’s budget by $15 million.

The Police Bureau says it currently has 97 sworn-officer and 60 professional staff vacancies.

In response to that shortage, the city’s police union has advocated hiring 800 sworn police officers over the next five years. But even if the city could fund the hiring of that many new recruits, it still faces an uphill battle getting candidates to apply in the first place.

That’s why, in November, Mayor Ted Wheeler proposed that the city offer $25,000 sign-on bonuses for the first 50 qualified PPB

It’s no secret that health care is a risky and difficult profession as the state enters its third COVID surge.

By 2026, Oregon could have a shortage of 1,000 registered nurses and 31,000 lower-wage health care workers like medical assistants and home health aides, according to research conducted last year by the human resources firm Mercer.

“In Oregon, we were looking at a shortage, but a manageable shortage. Nationally, we were looking at a big shortage, but coronavirus has turned our small shortage into a big shortage, and the national shortage into a giant chasm,” says Kevin Mealy, spokesman of the Oregon Nurses Association.

Doctor in a Box Factors driving the shortage include burnout and retirements, Mealy says. To combat it, some Oregon hospitals are offering cash up front.

Providence, for example, is advertising $10,000 hiring bonuses for multiple positions, including an opening for a registered nurse fellow in Medford. Job postings for Swedish Health Services advertise an $8,000 hiring bonus for a night-shift registered nurse position in the maternity unit in Seaside, and $10,000 for a registered nurse to work in the rehab and long-term care unit at the hospital’s Mount Angel location.

Mealy says this is a new phenomenon, and it’s partly a response to the recent proliferation of travel nurses, who can earn up to $5,000 more a week for temporary gigs than their permanent counterparts.

“For your rank-and-file nurse, hiring bonuses were not the norm pre-pandemic,” Mealy says. “These hiring bonuses are an attempted Band-Aid, but they’re often ineffective. What I would urge hospitals to do is to first look at retention bonuses. I think the best and most important nurse you could have tomorrow is the nurse you have today.”

Sawmill worker: $3,000

Among the peculiarities of Oregon’s job crunch: Companies that stock things—think warehousers like Walmart and Amazon—are poaching workers from businesses that make things.

Lehner says the employment shift is a result of warehousing jobs paying $2 an hour more than their manufacturing counterparts. It doesn’t hurt that Amazon will reimburse the costs of college tuition for its hourly employees.

That explains why Vancouver, B.C.-based lumber giant Interfor will pay a $3,000 signing bonus—in increments over a year—to entice a worker to its sawmill in Molalla (“a 45-minute commute from Portland,” the posting notes). That’s exactly the same bonus Amazon is offering recruits.

What’s the job, exactly? Among the duties are “shoveling wet and dry sawdust” and monitoring the mill so it doesn’t catch fire.

TriMet bus driver: $2,500

On Jan. 10, TriMet reduced the frequency of service on 20 of its 84 bus lines. That’s because, on any given day, Portland’s regional transit agency is 45 bus drivers short of the 970 it needs behind the wheel.

“Forty-five operators would bring us back to the baseline,” says TriMet spokeswoman Tia York. “But in our current COVID climate, some people are taking off work because they feel sick, or they have a child who’s sick. So many factors could erode that number.”

Driving buses is a job requiring a lot of personal contact with people who can’t afford to remain encased in their own car. It pays $68,000 a year—and now comes with a $2,500 signing bonus at the front end.

A commercial driver’s license is no longer a prerequisite: TriMet will pay for training and testing.

The famed Portland custom of thanking bus drivers might also help with recruiting—if that appreciation doesn’t dissipate while waiting longer for the bus. “I understand that people want to vent to the next bus driver who does show up,” York says. “We totally get it. We’re just asking people to continue to show kindness and compassion to bus operators.”

Blazers concessions cook: $500

Federal figures show most employees who quit their jobs this winter worked in hospitality and other low-paying fields. That helps explain why restaurants across Portland—from Mother’s Bistro downtown to a Starbucks drive-thru in Hazelwood—are unexpectedly closed during typical business hours, as Omicron further reduces staffing.

Little wonder that a $500 hiring bonus has become the industry standard offer for Portland cooks. Pine State Biscuits is offering it.

So is Elephants Delicatessen. McMenamins will double that.

Some employers don’t just want to hire—they want commitment.

Take the case of Levy Restaurants, the contractor that runs concessions at two Portland stadiums, Moda Center and Providence Park.

Levy is offering the standard $500 bonus to flip burgers. But it will also add a “stay bonus”: an additional $2.75 an hour, delivered in a lump sum, if a cook stays through the end of the Blazers season.

Expect the crunch to last longer than that. “The tight labor market is here to stay,” Lehner says. “We’ve got a lot of baby boomers retiring for the next decade. We are seeing tremendous wage gains—particularly at the lower end of the spectrum.”

Telehealth and remote appointments have changed medical practice, and we have the pandemic to thank for that.

BY C O R B I N S M I T H

It’s strange to look at anything related to medical care with optimism right now. Between reports of hospital staff burnout and exhaustion, and now—due to the Omicron surge—the reemerging threat of emergency room overrun, it doesn’t seem there are any possible wins to celebrate.

But if the mad scramble to adapt to the reality of the past nearly two years had one silver lining, it’s that it made one aspect of medical professional jobs easier—telemedicine is now a part of almost every patient’s life, in large part because it had to happen.

Back in March 2020, when the novel coronavirus began rampaging through the U.S., clinics and hospitals still needed to see patients for all kinds of stuff: coronavirus, yes, but also medication refills and check-ins.

“The ramp-up was pretty quick, Zachary Nelson, a patient services specialist and union steward at the University of Washington, tells WW. “Within the first few weeks of March of 2020, we were rolling out telemedicine and educating patients about it. Doctors were converting pretty much all of their appointments to telemedicine. Any appointment that didn’t require a physical component, if you didn’t have to check, for instance, that someone had a torn ACL or MCL, we conducted it with telemedicine.”

The adjustment period was “pretty rough,” Nelson adds. Before teleconferencing was folded into the software suite that UW used, it would have to send out individual Zoom links to every patient. It could be…a little awkward.

“A lot of the Zoom we had wasn’t HIPPA approved.” Nelson says. “We had occasional instances of patients showing up for their appointment and dropping into an appointment that was already happening.”

Before the pandemic, providers had been toying with telemedicine in small doses, mostly for rural patients and the homebound. There was a desire for online doctor visits, especially for benign, commonplace appointments—anything that didn’t require a doctor to check a patient’s vitals or run lab tests. But widespread adoption of the practice ran up against the American insurance complex’s ambivalence toward the practice (there weren’t even billing codes for telemedicine visits until the pandemic) and the lack of dedicated, secure video conferencing software designed for use by medical professionals.

Only about 1.6% of Oregon Health & Science University’s appointments were being conducted over the internet at the time. But when

the COVID wave crashed into the boardwalk, everyone in the medical field had to adjust, fast. In the early days, when reducing contamination was the only thing on anyone’s mind, OHSU had a few days when it was seeing around 65% of its patents remotely. In the intervening months, as the pandemic reached its terrifying heights, that number evened out to about 40%.

Nowadays, OHSU is conducting 28% of its appointments with telemedicine—more than 20,000 appointments a month. There are some disadvantages. “You can’t do a physical exam,” says Dr. Anthony Cheng, a mountain biking enthusiast and family medicine provider at OHSU. “You can’t administer procedures or vaccines or draw up lab tests. In family medicine, we really like to have comprehensive services. When someone comes in the door, we try to get as much done as possible in one visit. You can’t do that same scope of care in a video visit.”

But for follow-ups, or anything that doesn’t require the laying on of hands? Cheng is unambiguously enthusiastic. “Love it. Say you’ve got someone who sees you for depression and you start them on medication and you want to check in with how it’s going. That’s a conversation. It doesn’t have to be a visit.”

Mark Lovgren, OHSU’s director of telehealth, is optimistic that this status quo can continue even after the heady days of the pandemic are over. Oregon law already required insurance companies, famously fond of seeking loopholes to avoid paying for services, to cover telehealth visits, and in April 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2508, which provides coverage for phone visits and some forms of email exchange.

One of the results is that Nelson says his office is far more flexible now, able to reduce canceled appointments on the fly by simply shifting them over to telemedicine. It clears out his schedule, too. “Once the patient is in the system, it’s more hands off,” he says. “We do a batched check-in of all our telemedicine appointments at the beginning of the day, all in at once.

“Our priority is always going to be the patient in front of us. But with the patient not physically there, it increases the amount of time we have at the front desk to answer messages, referrals, stuff like that.”

Lovgren would like to see this flexibility more evenly applied because what impacts patients often impacts their medical providers. “Where we see there needs to be more work is at the federal level, with Medicare,” he says.

Medicare fee-for-service patients are currently covered by a waiver that allows them to be seen in the home, but that waiver isn’t backed up by any legislation and could be subject to dismissal by whatever executive figure occupies the White House at any given time.

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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The Economics of Touch What the cuddling industry can teach us about supply, demand and a statewide rebound of the self-employed.

BY C A L L E Y H A I R

@calleynhair

It’s rare to find an industry that wasn’t steamrolled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But for professional cuddler Samantha Hess—whose job relied on engaging in hours of sustained physical contact with a dozen clients per week—the complication posed by a global, highly contagious virus bordered on ludicrous.

Hess founded Cuddle Up to Me in 2013 as a service to impart physical touch to clients, platonically. Over the years, her repertoire expanded to include 92 different cuddling poses and adaptations to fit the needs of her individual cuddle partners. Hess says every client needs something a little different. Some clients are just searching for a good listener. But pre-pandemic, nearly all her cuddle sessions involved at least some physicality.

Virtually overnight, her business model crumbled.

“The pandemic really decimated the field,” Hess tells WW. The experience was universal, throughout the fledgling professional cuddling industry.

Cuddlist, an online service that connects clients and professional cuddlers across the country, reported that its volume of postings and inquiries grew steadily between 2015 and 2020, as the industry gained more attention and legitimacy.

“The pandemic hit, then we tanked,” Cuddlist director of development Keely Shoup tells WW. “We were doing worse than we were in our second month as a company.”

In the first wave of the pandemic, professional cuddlers pivoted in a direction that’s become so familiar it’s almost a cliché: They switched to Zoom.

Shoup, who also works as a professional cuddler, says she would ask clients to report which virtual techniques resulted in the desired oxytocin release.

“You can experience oxytocin. It takes 30 seconds to a minute to get over how strange it is,” Shoup explains. “But once your body adjusts and it isn’t so foreign and new, you can experience that kind of lovely, light euphoria feeling you would get from cuddling.”

Hess also started holding remote sessions, with her Patreon subscribers, forging intimacy virtually—through eye-gazing and guided self-touch. She also downsized the business from its 1,800-square-foot studio on Northeast Halsey Street, moving

to a smaller space in Southwest Portland.

In summer 2020, Hess started experimenting with outdoor, masked sessions with clients in public parks. She kept the in-person meetups brief—pre-pandemic, she’d offer sessions of up to five hours—to minimize the chance of exposure. It was fairly effective at keeping her and her clients safe, she adds.

“I’ve not had any big scares,” Hess says.

“In Portland, people are pretty considerate.”

Cuddlist spent those first few months in triage mode. The strategy was to wait out the worst of the pandemic.

Around winter 2020, however, the company noticed a shift. Clients were coming back much faster than practitioners.

Shoup chalks up the discrepancy to “a different perception of risk.”

“We started seeing, initially, a surge in requests,” Shoup says. “But the site was still pretty lean because practitioners hadn’t come back yet. People doing this as a job were still hesitant.”

Supply wouldn’t start to catch up with demand until around April, matching the rollout of vaccines. But then the industry was faced with a secondary hurdle: Should cuddlers mandate vaccinations?

For Hess, the answer was yes. She requires each of her clients to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to book an in-person session. She’s resumed indoor appointments at Cuddle Up to Me’s new location and occasionally travels to clients’ homes.

Among client-provider connector companies like Cuddlist—as well as a host of other websites like Cuddle Comfort, Cuddle Companions and Snuggle Salon—the vaccine question was more complicated.

“Our practitioners are not employees.

They’re all independent contractors,” Shoup says.

The company settled on a transparency policy: Practitioners and clients must clearly disclose their vaccination status in order to book sessions through the Cuddlist website.

“We train them, then act as a listing service. But also with the social ethics, it’s been an interesting thing to navigate,” Shoup says.

Professional cuddling follows the same economic rules as any other industry: It responds to changes in supply and demand. And soon after the number of service providers fell off a cliff, the number of quarantined, touch-starved clients mul-

tiplied. As a result, platonic human touch became a very hot commodity in the past year and a half.

Cuddlers also fall into a wider economic narrative that’s emerging during our uneven, ongoing pandemic recovery. With more people leaving the traditional 9-to-5 workforce, niche freelance and self-employment is booming.

According to Josh Lehner, an economist at the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, the state’s payroll jobs are still 3% lower than pre-pandemic levels, amounting to around 70,000 unfilled positions.

Comparatively, self-employment numbers are much stronger.

“Nationally, it’s more than fully recov-

ered,” Lehner wrote.

“Startups, or new business formation, has been very strong during the pandemic. That’s encouraging [from an] economic view. New firms tend to drive productivity gains.”

Now, as the industry rebounds, it’s spurred by the surge in demand, the availability of vaccinations, and a shrinking stigma among the general public about what professional cuddling actually entails.

“More people are understanding, on a different level, a visceral need for human touch,” Shoup says. “The entire population for the most part can say, ‘I get how awful that was.’”

The Top 10 Employers in the Portland Metro Area Every year the Portland Business Journal compiles an exhaustive list of the city’s largest employers—ranked by the number of workers they employ in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties.

This year’s list, published Sept. 17, 2021, was researched by PBJ’s data editor, Brandon Sawyer.

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Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

Intel

Portland-area employees: 21,000 What does it do? Semiconductor chip manufacturer and microprocessors developer, both of which are used in computers.

Providence Health & Services

Portland-area employees: 21,000 What does it do? Nonprofit Catholic health care system that also operates hospitals across seven states.

Oregon Health & Science University

Portland-area employees: 18,048 What does it do? A research university that also operates two hospitals.

Nike Inc.

Portland-area employees: 13,964 What does it do? Designer and manufacturer of shoes and other athletic wear.

WORKING OUT: Renting out an ADU for office work was a lot less risky and required less cleanup during the pandemic. The idea is the brainchild of Radious founder Amina Moreau (bottom left). The site to book office space (bottom right) works similarly to Airbnb.

A New Lease on Workspace

Portland-area startup Radious found a better place to work from home: someone else’s home.

Portland startup entrepreneur Amina Moreau wants you to push back your return-to-office plans indefinitely.

And she has good reasons.

After all, for nearly two years, virtually every employed American who could ended up taking their work home to help quell the spread of COVID-19.

What was supposed to be a brief arrangement for cubicle laborers has slowly morphed into a more permanent way of working. Even as business owners set dates when they wanted staffers back at their desks—sans pandemic sweatpants—the coronavirus has always kept its own schedule.

That stark reality created the need for a new type of office—one that is temporary, one that is limited to small groups as the virus continues to surge, and one that doesn’t require 45 minutes in traffic to get to. In other words, if an employed cohort all happened to live in, say, Lents, could those individuals find an alternative to the traditional corporate space where they could collaborate without having to drive across town?

Enter Radious (radious.pro), a company that aims to easily connect people with meeting spaces and workstations with the click of a mouse. Modeled after overnight rental sites like Airbnb—in fact, most of the current hosts have experience with that particular lodging marketplace—the year-old company allows property owners to similarly list everything from their backyard granny flat to an entire five-bedroom house for individuals to book as quiet, solo work retreats or a business to reserve for small team meetings.

“Many employees, even if they do love working from home, after two years of doing it, they’re starting to realize that it’s not the end-all, be-all,” says Moreau. “Sometimes you have to see another person. And sometimes you have to get a change of scenery.”

Being confined to her own home during the early days of the pandemic is partially what inspired Moreau—a former marketing and advertising consultant and filmmaker—to come up with the idea for Radious. But primarily she was motivated by months of missing income normally generated through Airbnb by her downstairs studio apartment.

Legacy Health

Fred Meyer Stores

BY A N D I P R E W I T T

aprewitt@wweek .com

Portland-area employees: 13,772 What does it do? A local nonprofit health care system that also operates several local hospitals.

Kaiser Permanente

Portland-area employees: 11,163 What does it do? A consortium of for-profit and nonprofit systems that provide health care, hospitals and a larger system of medical groups.

Portland-area employees: 9,525 What does it do? A locally founded national chain of grocery stores and supermarkets.

Portland Public Schools

Portland-area employees: 6,847 What does it do? The city’s public K-12 school district.

“I was feeling the pinch,” Moreau explains. “We didn’t feel safe renting it out [overnight]. We were losing income, and so we just thought, ‘How can we get creative and host in a different way that feels safer?’”

Moreau first tested her concept with her own studio by inviting close friends, family and neighbors to tap away on their keyboards there for a few hours at a time. She also worked in the room, assessing everything from the adequacy of the Wi-Fi speed to the comfort of the tabletops.

Not long after those experiments proved promising, Moreau started recruiting hosts through a nonprofit trade association for the short-term rental community and Facebook groups. Her pitch included incentives: Office workers leave less mess to clean once they leave, practically no laundry, and less wear and tear on the property.

“These are working professionals in your home versus just some random traveler who wants to crash at your place,” she explains. “We believe that the renters on our platform are more conscientious and more responsible than in a greater vacationing sort of context.”

“ Sometimes you have to see another person. And sometimes you have to get a change of scenery.”

So far, those assurances have led dozens of hosts to sign up, with the potential for even more to join now that Radious has rolled out a new feature that syncs its reservation calendar with other rental sites, preventing double bookings.

For relatively new host Maria Grzanka, who has listed the entire first floor of her eclectically decorated home on Radious, joining the program was a financially driven decision. Once her roommate moved out, she didn’t feel comfortable allowing a stranger to take up residence during the pandemic.

“People that I rented the room to have mainly been friends of mine,” says Grzanka. “So, in this case, it seemed more appealing to have somebody I don’t know in and out, and maybe not here forever.”

On the other side of the equation, Moreau adds, is that renters may also feel safer meeting a handful of vaccinated team members in a private dwelling during the outbreak, when crowded coffee shops and coworking spaces can come off as riskier propositions.

But aside from the more serious factors to consider, Radious rentals just flat out look like more fun.

For instance, you can book a board meeting inside a gutted train car—still parked on the rails—that’s now outfitted with a conference table, four sit-stand desks, a kitchenette, restroom and air conditioning. There are also cute tiny homes, multiple covered outdoor courtyards, and even a renovated 1970s Airstream trailer all ready for stuck-at-home office workers looking to venture outside their own four walls.

“It’s about experiences, too, not just productivity,” Moreau says. “Imagine being in a space that’s inspiring and different, and one that makes you want to take selfies in it and send it to your friends to make them jealous that you’re in this really cool space. That’s kind of the point, because the corporate office, most of the time, is a little boring.”

City of Portland

Portland-area employees: 6,635 What does it do? The city’s government system.

Multnomah County

Portland-area employees: 5,096 What does it do? The county’s government system.

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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another thing that people throw around as a synonym for neoliberalism. But when I’m talking about neoliberalism, I mean a sort of particular political project, with two goals. One is to destroy, once and for all, the ideals of socialism, or communism, or any sort of social solidarity that one might build a society around.

And the other one is to reinscribe profit.

So to do that, neoliberalism becomes a political project, with the goals of putting the market in everything. Something like charter schools are a perfect example of a neoliberal way of thinking about education, that rather than put funding into public schools—which are an institution of solidarity, which are available in theory to everyone—we create charter schools where kids compete to get into the good schools and thereby get out of the supposedly bad public schools.

Right now with teachers, with a new COVID wave, there’s a battle yet again over whether we should force everyone back into public schools. And they keep saying that teachers are lazy and don’t want to work, when in fact, the teachers are saying, “We don’t want to give COVID to our children. And therefore, we are working. And we’re working harder because teaching virtually is actually very hard.” The language of loving your job goes hand in hand with the project of privatizing the public school, making profits for some people, and getting work for less out of the teachers who do it.

The language of loving your job seems so pervasive.

There’s this phenomenon of employers trying to sweeten the deal with kombucha on tap in the break room or company retreats. And it creates this pissing contest of trying to prove your employer actually cares about you. Do you think this is ever coming from an authentic place?

WORK IS WORK

BY M O R G A N T R O P E R

Work Won’t Love You Back is a harrowing read with hope for the future.

@mo_troper

I have had good bosses and bad bosses in basically every industry I’ve worked in, from journalism to waiting tables, who were genuinely lovely people, who genuinely tried to take care of us.

Some of the employers who put together cool perks—kombucha on tap, Friday night happy hour on the company tab, or whatever—are genuinely trying to be nice bosses. This is particularly true in the nonprofit sector, where the boss genuinely believes in the cause. These are structural issues.

Quitting to find another job is exactly what the labor-of-love ideology tells us to do.

The problem is, with capitalism, you can’t escape it. You can’t clock out of it. You can’t find a job that is somehow outside of it. Nonprofits are theoretically not for profit—however, where does the money come from? The money comes from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and all the rest of them. Where did they make their money? How do they expect the nonprofit to be run and come up with reports and deliverables and all that bullshit?

The Italian communist Antonio Gramsci, who wrote mostly in a fascist prison, writes about common sense as something that has political material. The common sense right now is that you should love your job and work to find meaning. That’s a common-sense thing that’s really hard to challenge. But it’s becoming clear that the common sense is actually not true. It’s not enough to shake off the common sense, it’s actually a force of change. You can’t just be like, “I am now awakened.” It requires actual political struggle.

In her latest book Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exhausted, Exploited, and Alone (Bold Type Books, 432 pages, $30), labor reporter Sarah Jaffe paints a grim portrait of late American capitalism. “It’s become especially important that we believe that the work itself is something to love,” she writes. “If we recall why we work in the first place–to pay the bills–we might wonder why we’re working so much for so little.”

In short: Your job probably doesn’t “love you,” and gratifying work hardly justifies ridiculous hours and stagnant wages. As Jaffe describes it, the industrial work ethic has morphed into a “labor of love” ethic: the fantasy that society has advanced beyond rote factory work, that capitalism in its current state allows all workers to parlay their specific interests into a career, and that flexible side hustles are worth it, even when they come at STREAM: Sarah Jaffe the expense of benefits or basic employee protection.

WW spoke to Jaffe about the core of her new book’s thesis, its connection discusses and reads to the endless controversy surrounding virtual learning in a locked-down from Work Won’t Love world, appreciating print journalism as an essential community service, You Back at 5 pm Tuesday, Feb. 22. Register and more. The conversation has been condensed for readability. for the Zoom event at powells.com. Free.

WW: You offer a definition early in the book of neoliberalism, a term that gets thrown around a lot. How would you describe neoliberalism in the simplest terms, and how does it connect to your thesis that work won’t love you back?

Sarah Jaffe: A lot of people use it to just sort of mean capitalism. “Late capitalism” is 16

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

What we’re doing right now is my side hustle. But I prioritize this type of work over writing ad copy or whatever because it’s more interesting and gratifying, even though I could make a lot more money doing something else. To put it bluntly: Am I insane?

The industry of journalism is socially important, necessary work that shouldn’t become a luxury product for rich people. It used to be that there was a newspaper in every town—you had the people who were the firefighters, you had the people who were the teachers, and you had the people who were journalists, and those are all necessary things to make your town function.

The pandemic gave us interesting language to talk about essential work. We had a real experience of asking ourselves, “What do we need?

What is actually necessary for sustaining human life? What is the work that is actually necessary to do, and how do we distribute that work?” And right now, the necessary work of journalism is being done in a handful of places as a luxury product. You’re getting this downward pressure on the thing, which means downward pressure on the quality of the product. Journalism is a vital resource to having an informed society, and with the death of local journalism, look at our politics! These things are connected.

STREET

OREGON FLEA MARKET Photos by Brian Burk On Instagram: @bpburk

If you’re looking for a good price on a plush, avocado backpack, stuffed Pokémon or Russian saint doll, the Oregon Flea Market is the place to look. Located for over a decade in Portland’s Rockwood neighborhood, the Oregon Flea has long been the place to seek out everything from communion dresses to fresh cut fruit, authentic Mexican food or a ceramic Jesus statue for any-sized room.

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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Music

Millennium

Elvis Costello & The Imposters The Boy Named If

Out 1/14

indie exclusive Limited Edition purple 2lp

The Boy Named If, an album of urgent, immediate songs with bright melodies, stinging guitar solos, and a quick step to the rhythm.

Costello Says,

“The full title of this record is ‘The Boy Named If’ (And Other Children’s Stories).

‘IF’ is a nickname for your imaginary

friend; your secret self, the one who knows everything you deny, the one you blame for the shattered crockery and the hearts you break, even your own.”

Voting is open for our Portland Pet Pageant!

VOTE NOW AT PETS.WWEEK.COM

PRESEN T ED BY

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Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

Willamette Week Reporting Gets Results.

Support Local, Independent Journalism That Makes a Difference.

PLEASE DONATE:

SCAN ME!

For more information, please visit: wweek.com/support

VOLUNTEER GUIDE SPONSORED BY

Below you'll find 23 Portland nonprofits that need help.

Volunteering your time and energy is invaluable to these organizations.

If you can fill one fo the positions, terrific! If you know someone else who can, point them to this guide.

Keep these opportunities in mind and support these nonprofits who are doing great work.

ABOUT OUR SPONSOR: Subaru of Portland is deeply committed to volunteerism. Through their Subaru Love Promise, Subaru donates annually to local nonprofits that serve the Portland community.

But giving back doesn’t stop at financial contributions.

Subaru team members are doing hands-on work with many local organizations and community projects each year. “Volunteering is our way of building strong bonds with our community.” says General Manager, Chris Borquist. Through SOLVE, Subaru helped clean up over 1,287 pounds of garbage in the neighborhood around their dealership in the SE waterfront. Their team has donated hundreds of science books to Alameda Elementary K5, helped raise money for the Oregon Humane Society Doggie Dash, and collected clothing and sundries for the Portland Gospel Mission. Volunteerism is part of DNA at Subaru of Portland, and they are committed to expand that reach by sponsoring this year’s guide. Learn more at subaruofportland.com/subaru-love-promise.htm

Aging and Disability Services DISABILITY SERVICES ADVISORY COUNCILS How does your organization help Portland?

Aging and People with Disabilities advisory groups, including the Oregon Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Advisory Committee, Oregon Disabilities Commission, the Governor’s Commission on Senior Services and Disability Services Advisory Councils provide feedback on state policy guidelines and issues that affect older adults and people with disabilities. These advisory groups work closely with state and local agencies throughout Oregon to promote person-centered services, independence, and improved quality of life for older adults and people with disabilities.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers can make a difference in their community by applying for membership on advisory groups and sharing their diverse perspectives and experiences. Members support quality of life and services for older adults and people with disabilities by learning about the political process, and advising, educating and advocating to others about local service delivery options.

Contact: GCSS.Info@dhsoha.state.or.us odhhs.info@dhsoha.state.or.us OregonDisabilities.Commission@state.or.us Oregon.DSAC@dhsoha.state.or.us

SENIOR HEALTH INSURANCE BENEFITS ASSISTANCE (SHIBA) How does your organization help Portland?

The Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance (SHIBA) program is a statewide network of certified counselors who volunteer their time to educate and advocate for people of all ages who have Medicare. People who contact SHIBA can get their Medicare related questions answered, ensuring they select the best coverage options for their health care needs. Information and counseling services provided through SHIBA are free.

How can volunteers help?

SHIBA’s success is built on a statewide network of certified Medicare counselors who volunteer their time. Counselors help people in their community understand their Medicare insurance choices and their rights by offering one-on-one counseling, classes, and referrals. SHIBA counselors are required to complete an online training program and 10hour internship as part of their certification.

Contact: SHIBA.Oregon@dhsoha.state.or.us

Animals CAT ADOPTION TEAM (CAT) catadoptionteam.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Together with our community, Cat Adoption Team strives to make the Portland metro area one of the best places in the country for cats and the people who care for them.

They offer adoption, foster, medical care, and low-cost spay/neuter programs, plus other high-quality services to help make life better for cats and people. Join us in saving lives! Cat Adoption Team is a Give!Guide 2021 nonprofit.

How can volunteers help?

Make matches as an adoption counselor, become a foster parent, represent CAT at events, provide daily care for shelter cats, assist spay/ neuter clients, help with administrative tasks, or be a kitty chauffeur. Bring your people skills and compassion for cats to CAT and let’s save lives together!

Contact: Nancy Puro, Volunteer Manager volunteer@catadoptionteam.org | 503-925-8903

Community BLANCHET HOUSE blanchethouse.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Blanchet House alleviates suffering in our community, one relationship at a time, through food, clothing, and transitional shelter programs. We serve anyone who comes to our doors without judgment because we believe everyone deserves dignity, hope, and community.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers are needed to serve meals and drinks to people experiencing homelessness Mon-Sat, 6-7:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or 5-6 p.m. Sign up and orientation is done online at BlanchetHouse.org/Volunteer.

Contact: Jon Seibert | jseibert@blanchethouse.org | 503-241-4340

BROWN HOPE brownhope.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Brown Hope is planting and nurturing seeds for racial justice and healing. They serve and mobilize communities, specifically black brown and indigenous communities.

Brown Hope is a Give!Guide 2021 nonprofit.

How can volunteers help?

Brown Hope has all kinds of different areas for volunteers to engage. From communications, data, our Black Resilience Fund, and Solidarity Squad which runs our Free Store for black, brown and indigenous community members.

Contact: Carlee Roberts | volunteer@brownhope.org | 971-408-7574

SPONSORED SPECIAL SECTION Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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CASA FOR CHILDREN OF MULTNOMAH, WASHINGTON, & COLUMBIA COUNTIES casahelpskids.org

How does your organization help Portland?

CASA for Children recruits, trains and supports community volunteers to speak up for abused and neglected children who are under court protection. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) volunteers help provide a stable, caring presence in these children's lives, giving them hope for the future by ensuring that their educational, emotional, medical and practical needs are met while they are living in foster care.

CASA for Children of Multnomah, Washington, & Columbia Counties is a Give!Guide 2021 nonprofit.

How can volunteers help?

CASA for Children volunteers get to know each child by visiting them and speaking to those involved in the child's life.

CASAs monitor the case by attending meetings and hearings, provide an objective opinion to the court, and make recommendations to ensure that each child's need for a safe, permanent home is met as quickly as possible. Minimum age: 21.

Contact: Jazmin Roque (she/her/ella) | jroque@casahelpskids.org 503-988-5115

CLACKAMAS WOMEN’S SERVICES cwsor.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Clackamas Women’s Services provides resources for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, child and elder abuse, stalking, dating violence, and trafficking. Serving more than 10,000 adults and children annually, their services include emergency shelter and housing resources, 24/7 crisis and support line, mental health counseling and support groups, civil legal services, youth violence prevention education, family empowerment, and community engagement. Clackamas Women’s Services is a Give!Guide 2021 nonprofit.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers help by creating a community of care! From organizing a donation drive for families in their emergency shelter and other programs, joining our Board of Directors, inviting CWS to speak at your workplace, assisting with administrative projects, and supporting children at Camp HOPE Oregon, there are many ways to support survivors by volunteering with Clackamas Women’s Services.

Contact: Brenda Kinoshita | brendak@cwsor.org | 503-557-5820

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PORTLAND REGION RESTORES habitatportlandregion.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Every item donation and every ReStore purchase helps fund local Habitat for Humanity home building programs. ReStores diverted 7,263 tons of reusable materials from landfills last year. They have four ReStore locations: Beaverton, Gresham, Portland, and Vancouver.

How can volunteers help?

As a volunteer driven organization, Habitat for Humanity’s Portland Region ReStores rely on people like you! Volunteer tasks include processing and pricing donations, merchandising, greeting customers, helping keep the stores organized, recycling metal, providing helpful customer service, and more. Gain new skills, meet new people, and have fun all while making a difference! No experience is required. Volunteer at one of Habitat for Humanity’s four ReStores, warehouse, or out in the community with their drivers.

Contact:

HUMAN SOLUTIONS

OREGON FOOD BANK

humansolutions.org

oregonfoodbank.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Human Solutions expert and caring team eases the housing and homeless crises by providing key services: 1. Shelter and rapid rehousing for people experiencing homelessness. 2.

Services for people to maintain their housing and strengthen their finances. 3. More affordable housing to end our housing and homelessness crises. They also work towards systems change so everyone has the stability of home. Human Solutions is a Give!Guide 2021 nonprofit.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers can help build community with Human Solutions in several impactful ways: 1) Prepare a dish for Human Solutions shelter meal program, 2) Drive to retrieve and deliver donations, 3) Host a donation drive for needed items like diapers, coats/hats/scarves/gloves, canned food, and hygiene items.

Contact:

How does your organization help Portland?

Oregon Food Bank believes that food is a basic human right. Hunger is not just an individual experience; it is a community-wide symptom of barriers to employment, education, housing and health care. That's why they're dedicated to helping people access nutritious food today AND building community power to eliminate the root causes of hunger together. Oregon Food Bank is a 2021 Give!Guide nonprofit!

How can volunteers help?

Oregon Food Bank seeks volunteers and advocates to help build a powerful movement to eliminate hunger for good!

There are many ways to help end hunger in our communities — their volunteers are from all walks of life with different abilities and schedules. Whatever your skills or interests, they welcome you. Join Oregon Food Bank for an on-site food repack/sort or seasonal garden shift, or off-site at one of our Partner Agencies. Or from the comfort of your own home, you can join us for online fundraisers & advocacy initiatives.

Contact:

Brielle Jones | volunteer@humansolutions.org | 971-806-7759

LUTHERAN COMMUNITY SERVICES NORTHWEST lcsnw.org

How does your organization help Portland?

LCSNW works for health, justice and hope. Our services include behavior health, family & community support, refugee & immigrant services, child welfare, aging & independent living, and crime victim services without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious belief, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, ability, military or veteran status, source of income or political affiliation.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers provide a lot of support to our agency, specifically in the resettlement process for refugees and immigrants.

From welcoming new arrivals at the airport and transporting them to their new home, to providing a warm welcome meal, there are many needs in the first 90 days after arrival. We put on a quarterly volunteer orientation and training that provides further information about opportunities and what to expect for those that are interested.

Contact: Anna Poole | volunteermanagement@lcsnw.com | 503-231-7480

MEALS ON WHEELS PEOPLE mowp.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Meals on Wheels People enriches the lives of seniors, and assists them in maintaining independence, by providing nutritious food, human connections and social support.

They also use their expertise and capacity to serve other nutritionally at-risk populations. Meals on Wheels People is a Give!Guide 2021 nonprofit.

How can volunteers help?

Meals on Wheels People available volunteer opportunities are: Meal Delivery, Meal Packing, Cleaners 4 Kids, Friendly Chats phone calls and Wellness Check calls. Meal Delivery consists of delivering meals to homebound seniors in our community. Meal Packing consists of packing meals in bags that meal delivery volunteers will use to deliver meals. Their Cleaners 4 Kids opportunity consists of prepping and cleaning the cooler bags that delivery volunteers use to deliver meals to families in the Portland metro area. Friendly Chats phone calls aim to alleviate social isolation through phone conversations with seniors in our community and Wellness Check calls consist of structured conversations where volunteers will ask seniors specific questions regarding their over all wellness.

Contact: Nick Price | volunteer.coordinator@mowp.org

SPONSORED SPECIAL SECTION Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

THE BLACK UNITED FUND OF OREGON bufor.org

How does your organization help Portland?

The Black United Fund is the only BIPOC-led foundation in Oregon and one of the last culturally-specific organizations remaining on historically-Black NE Alberta Street. For almost 40 years, BUF has supported an equitable and resilient future for Portland through programs that have increased postsecondary success for youth, provided philanthropic support to traditionally marginalized communities, and supported small, BIPOC and/or women-led and serving nonprofits and businesses.

How can volunteers help?

The Black United Fund of Oregon is always looking for volunteers, who are critical to our work! BUF welcomes both direct service and behind-the-scenes support. Their greatest volunteer needs include archivists, to support the preservation of the Foundation's history, and those interested in providing mentorship and/or educational opportunities via workshops to our BIPOC youth pursuing diverse post-secondary options. Finally, their Executive Board of Directors has multiple sub-committees as an entry and pathway to board leadership as well.

Contact: melissa@bufor.org | 503-280- 1978

TRANSITION PROJECTS tprojects.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Transition Projects provides individuals with the services they need to end their homelessness, secure housing, and maintain that housing. Serving over 10,000 people annually through street outreach, a resource center, shelters and supportive services, Transition Projects helps Portland’s most vulnerable neighbors start their journey toward stable housing. Transition Projects is a 2021 Give!Guide nonprofit!

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers are critical to Transition Projects’ mission, helping us sustain key areas of our work. There are year-round opportunities for both individuals and groups to get involved in weekly, on-call, or one-time volunteer roles. Individuals are especially needed in our Resource Center, to assist participants accessing both mail and clothing services. Groups are especially needed to support our meal provider program, to bring healthy, nutritious dinners to our shelters.

Contact: Emily Coleman | emily.coleman@tprojects.org | 503-488-7745

Volunteer Programs Team volunteer@habitatportlandregion.org | 503-287-9529 x 40

20

Laura Yeary | volunteer@oregonfoodbank.org | 503-282-0555

TRAUMA INTERVENTION PROGRAM NW

SCHOOLHOUSE SUPPLIES

GUARDIAN PARTNERS

schoolhousesupplies.org

guardian-partners.org

tipnw.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Since opening their doors in 1999, the Schoolhouse Supplies mission remains the same: to support public education in the Portland area by providing free school supplies to under-resourced students through supply donation programs and our Free Store for Teachers. They believe every child deserves the right to a quality education regardless of their family’s income or racial/ethnic identity. Schoolhouse Supplies is a 2021 Give!Guide nonprofit!

How can volunteers help?

Every pencil, notebook, and crayon that volunteers touch will wind up in the hands of a student who otherwise would not have had the tools needed to learn. Volunteers can help individually or with a team or organization. Schoolhouse Supplies has many different kinds of opportunities and activities to choose from—some of the opportunities include Warehouse Assistance, Front Desk Greeter at their Free Store for Teachers, Data Entry, or Sorting Books and Supplies.

Contact:

How does your organization help Portland?

Guardian Partners mission is preventing abuse of adults with cognitive and/or developmental disabilities through guardianship case monitoring and education. Guardian Partners is a 2021 Give!Guide nonprofit!

How can volunteers help?

Guardian Partners trains volunteers to conduct thorough wellness interviews for adults with disabilities to be sure they are being properly cared for by their guardians. Their volunteers make recommendations to the Court, provide resources and referrals. Any problems observed are reported to Guardian Partners staff and the Court for assistance or intervention.

Contact:

How does your organization help Portland?

Trauma Intervention Program NW is a group of specially trained volunteers who provide emotional and practical support and resources to victims and survivors of traumatic events and in the first few hours following a tragedy. Requested by the emergency response system, schools, businesses, other local non-profits and more, TIP Volunteers respond to 170+ calls per month in the Portland area. Trauma Intervention Program NW is a 2021 Give!Guide nonprofit!

How can volunteers help?

Learn more and register online at tipnw.org for the next TIP Volunteer Training Academy in March 2022.

Contact: June Vining | tipstaff@tipnw.org | 503-823-3937

Education COLLEGE POSSIBLE collegepossible.org

How does your organization help Portland?

College Possible makes college admission and success possible for students from low-income backgrounds through an intensive curriculum of coaching and support. We address the educational opportunity gap by supporting students from their junior year of high school through college graduation. Our near-peer coaches provide historically underserved students with the resources they deserve to navigate the complex college-going process.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers can help staff events, lead mini sessions at family workshops, create gift bags for students and work one-on-one with a high school senior as they complete necessary steps to enroll in college for the fall. We’re also actively recruiting young professionals under the age of 40 for our Ambassador Board that focuses on spreading awareness and raising funds for College Possible. All opportunities are currently virtual until it is safe to return in person.

Contact: Christina Carl | CCarl@CollegePossible.org | 971.407.2975

PORTLAND WORKFORCE ALLIANCE portlandworkforcealliance.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Portland Workforce Alliance believes in big dreams and good careers for all high school students. PWA builds enduring partnerships between local businesses and Portland-area high schools to create opportunities for students to develop career aspirations. By providing students with real-life work experiences and career-learning opportunities, PWA enriches academic knowledge, inspires graduation and helps students make informed choices after high school.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers can share their career journey(s) by participating in mentorships, career days, mock interviews, and the annual NW Youth Careers Expo.

Contact: Katrina Machorro, Partnerships Director career@portlandworkforcealliance.org | 971-220-6260

Colleen Connolly | volunteer@schoolhousesupplies.org 503-249-9933

Environment FRIENDS OF TREES friendsoftrees.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Friends of Trees inspires people to improve the world around them through a simple solution: Planting trees. Together.

Trees play a vital role in our region’s livability. With the help of thousands of volunteers, Friends of Trees plants trees in neighborhoods and natural areas in an effort to build community, fight climate change, and bring the benefits of trees to everyone. Friends of Trees is a 2021 Give!Guide nonprofit!

How can volunteers help?

Friends of Trees has events throughout the Portland metro region every Saturday, October to April. Family friendly, ages 6+ welcome, and no experience necessary–just weather appropriate attire and sturdy footwear. They provide tools, instructions, and leadership so that you have an awesome time planting. Want to get even more involved? You can become a Crew Leader!

Contact: Jenny Bedell-Stiles | volunteer@friendsoftrees.org 503-595-0213

Health & Wellness DOUGY CENTER dougy.org/volunteer

How does your organization help Portland?

Dougy Center provides peer grief support groups for families, including programs for after a death, Esperanza for support in Spanish, and Pathways for families living with advanced serious illness.

Groups meet every other week and are led by master’s-level Group Coordinators and supported by Volunteer Group Facilitators and are of no cost to participants.

How can volunteers help?

Volunteers can apply for training to be a Group Facilitator at any of our 3 locations: Canby, Hillsboro, or SE Portland. More info can be found here: www.dougy.org/volunteer We also welcome volunteers for office/facility and event assistance.

Contact:

Jeni Bennett | staff@guardian-partners.org | 775 - 863-8773

STORE TO DOOR How does your organization help Portland?

Store to Door is a personal, affordable, volunteer-based grocery shopping and delivery service for homebound seniors and people living with disabilities.

How can volunteers help?

Store to Door needs volunteers in a variety of positions, both in-person and remote. Their program has order takers calling clients on Mondays and Tuesdays, grocery shoppers and delivery drivers at two locations on Wednesdays and Thursdays, along with volunteers calling clients on Fridays for a friendly chat. Store to Door grocery shoppers can sign up whenever their schedule allows; other positions require an approved background check and minimum service commitment.

Contact: Carolyn Reed | Carolyn@storetodooroforegon.org 503-200-3333 ext. 113

Youth NORTHWEST OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL nwobs.org

How does your organization help Portland?

Northwest Outward Bound School’s Public Schools Program connects underserved urban youth with the natural environment and with their own potential, cultivating students’ self-confidence and interpersonal skills while sparking motivation to face and overcome challenges. Students participate in classroom sessions and outdoor challenge days focused on teamwork, courage, and social-emotional learning. Students test their strengths and challenge their fears.

How can volunteers help?

Northwest Outward Bound School offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. Volunteers can assist in seasonal event help, participate in quarterly community stewardship days, provide assistance to the Public School Program team, and more! If you have a passion and strongly believe in experiential outdoor education and supporting youth, please volunteer!

Contact: Valerie Plummer | vplummer@nwoutwardbound.org 503-459-3515

Valenca Valenzuela | valenca@dougy.org | 503-775-5683

SPONSORED SPECIAL SECTION Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

21

STARTERS

T H E MOST I MP ORTANT P O RTLA N D C U LTU R E STORI E S OF T H E W E E K—G RA P H E D .

R E A D M O R E A B O U T TH E S E STO R I E S AT WW E E K .CO M .

RIDICULOUS

BABY BLUE PIZZA

HOLOCENE

Society fails an innocent vegan pizza cart as Baby Blue Woodfired Pizza announces it will close at the end of January.

Nightclub Holocene begins to require proof of booster shots in addition to COVID vaccination.

January 21 | $8/$11

Featuring Gabe Ballard, Trent Toney, Ellie Hartman, & Kyndel James

Centro Cultural Presents: Barrio Mestizo January 28 | $20/$25

Fusion of Latin Music, including Salsa, Cumbia, Bolero, & More

Eugenie Jones

February 4 | $18/$22

The Arch Cape Trail in Oswald West State Park reopens to hikers following 15 months of repairs after it was damaged in 2020’s Labor Day windstorm.

Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Great American Songbook

Purchase Tickets Online: Hillsboro-Oregon.gov/ WaltersConcerts

Walters Cultural Arts Center | 527 E. Main St, Hillsboro

LOTTIE & ZULAS

PBOT

21+ TAPROOM & PATIO FEATURING CRAFT BEER, ARTISANAL SANDWICHES & COCKTAILS, PLUS AN EXTENSIVE GIN LIST.

Across the city, restaurants wrestle with staffing shortages and Omicron scares.

Biketown expands its service area 9 square miles, but all your stuff will still fly out of the front basket.

E M I LYJ O A N G R E E N E

RUSTY TENNANT

Theater company Fuse postpones its debut production The Queers by two months due to Omicron.

ECLIPTICBREWING.COM 22

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

930 SE OAK ST.

SERIOUS

AW F U L

VISIT ECLIPTIC BREWING'S NEW SOUTHEAST LOCATION!

Dottir, the Nordicinfluenced restaurant inside Kex hotel, closes up shop after one last New Year’s Eve bash in which WW’s Arts & Culture editor eats perhaps the last Blooming Onion it ever produced.

AW E S O M E

Local SingerSongwriter Night

J U S T I N K AT I G B A K

IAN WHITMORE

2022 Walters Performance Series

Ken’s Artisan Pizza founder Ken Forkish sells his business and retires, but assures us the pizza remains in good hands.

GET BUSY

Winter Sale!

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

Ends Sat Jan 15th

☛ DO | Sun Club Kids’ Fundraising Salad at Evergreens Whether you’re committed to eating better this month because of a New Year’s resolution, or the lingering pandemic has simply forced you to reckon with your health, a new easyto-go item has appeared on the menu of a Northwest salad chain at just the right time.

Evergreens has partnered with local nonprofit Growing Gardens to feature a dish to raise money for its Youth Grow program, which teaches students to cultivate produce that’s then donated to school cafeterias. Budding gardeners at Faubion School created the new menu item, the Sun-Hit Wonder, which is loaded with fire-roasted corn, apples, white cheddar and bacon. One dollar from every salad will support kids with a green thumb. All Portland-area Evergreens in the Lloyd District, Cedar Hills Crossing, Hillsboro and Portland International Airport, evergreens.com. Through Feb. 1.

969 SW Broadway 503-223-4976 Hours: Mon-Sat 10-5 www.johnhelmer.com COMFORT SHOES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Mon-Sat 10-6pm Sunday 11-5pm

1433 NE Broadway St Portland • 503 493-0070 CRITERION

Winter Sale!

Ends Sat Jan 15th

969 SW Broadway 503-223-4976 Hours: Mon-Sat 10-5 www.johnhelmer.com “GLORIA is a work not to be easily forgotten.”

SEE | Down by Law

When three strangers (Tom Waits, John Lurie and Roberto Benigni) are wrongfully arrested and put in a New Orleans jail cell together, the men hatch a plot to escape. The black-andwhite indie is unconventionally (and refreshingly) focused on the interpersonal relationship between the leads, rather than the mechanics of the jailbreak itself. Screens as part of the Clinton’s Jim Jarmusch Festival. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 503-897-0744, cstpdx.com. 7 pm Friday, Jan, 14. $5-$8.

–Hollywood Reporter

Winter Sale!

Ends Sat Jan 15th

SEE | Misery

For the next couple of weeks, Portlanders will be staying outdoors to socialize—avoiding close quarters with the Omicron variant. Psychic Bar answers that need with a series of outdoor Sunday night movie screenings on its heated patio. Get creeped out to your core by the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King’s novel Misery. OG stan Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) holds her favorite author (James Caan) hostage and forces him to write a novel. The following two Sunday showings feature Burn After Reading and Fargo. Psychic, 3560 N Mississippi Ave., 971-258-0566, psychicbarpdx.com. 7 pm Sunday, Jan. 16, 23 and 30.

�GO | Keep Alive the Dream

POWEELS

The World Arts Foundation’s annual tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—a six-to-eight-hour extravaganza featuring live performers, speakers and vendors that dates back to 1978—has now been transformed into a documentary. The hourlong film was part pandemic pivot, but also a way to archive four decades of art and activism. It opens with a brief history of Portland’s Black community: from the repeal of Oregon’s Black exclusion laws, to the flooding of Vanport to the vibrance and civic neglect of North Portland to modern gentrification.

From there, it’s segmented into sermons, music, the program’s generational impact, and the inclusion of multicultural art from outside the African American community. Stick around after the screening for a Q&A. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 3 pm Monday, Jan. 17. Admission is free, but a ticket needs to be claimed for entry.

969 SW Broadway 503-223-4976

GLORIA

Hours: Mon-Sat 10-5 www.johnhelmer.com

WRITTEN BY

BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS DIRECTED BY

JOSH HECHT

�VIRTUAL | Michelle Tam

JAN 13-30, 2022 at IMAGO THEATRE 17 SE 8th AVENUE

•••••••••••••

Home cooks and paleo-heads, rejoice! There’s a new Michelle Tam cookbook on the shelves. Tam’s simple-to-cook, multicultural approach to the paleo diet made her first book, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans, a New York Times bestseller and common sight in foodie homes. Her new work, Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go!, was co-written with her husband, Henry Fong. Tam appears remotely in conversation with chef Gregory Gourdet. Register for the Zoom at powells.com. 5 pm Tuesday, Jan. 18. Free.

Obie From th -w e of A inning w N OC TO riter and EVER ROON YBO DY

TICKETS at 503.242.0080 & PROFILETHEATRE.ORG

PROFILE T H E AT R E

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

23

FOOD & DRINK

Top 5

Buzz List 1. WEDGEHEAD

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

COURTESY OF NACHEAUX

3728 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-477-7637, wedgeheadpdx.com. 4-11 pm Monday-Saturday, 3-10 pm Sunday.

It isn’t on any of the delivery apps, but Wedgehead is still working a solid takeout cocktail game. Thanks to canned cocktail brand Little Hands Stiff Drinks, the Hollywood neighborhood bar has some of the best mobile drinks around. Case in point, the Hot Teddy: a deft mixture of Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, housemade ginger-turmeric syrup, cinnamon honey and fresh lemon. It will cure what ails, every time.

2 . H I -T O P TAV E R N

5015 NE Fremont St., 503-206-4308, hitoptavern.com, 3-11 pm Monday-Friday, 2-11 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Coffee, tea or whiskey? No need to choose at Hi-Top, which until recently was the baby of the Old Gold-Paydirt-Tough Luck family (a fifth sibling, Holy Ghost, just opened in Southeast). The Chai Me is chai-infused rye whiskey with vegan hot butter mix, chocolate bitters and orange zest, while the amaretto coffee spikes a steaming cup of Stumptown Hair Bender with the almondy liqueur.

3. SMITH TEAMAKER

500 NW 23rd Ave.,503-206-745, smithtea.com. 9 am-6 pm daily.

Located on Northwest 23rd, the first-ever Smith Teamaker cafe is a quiet space on the busy boutique street. The cafe serves 30 kinds of hot tea, but the curious come in for colorful lattes and aromatic tea mocktails. The Golden Light Latte is a major favorite and can be served iced or hot. It’s made by pulling Smith Golden Light tea—with turmeric, sarsaparilla root and black pepper—through an espresso (or “teapresso”) machine, then adding maple syrup and dousing the blend with oat milk. The result is beautiful, complex, sweet and softly spiced.

NOW THAT’S GARNISH: Nacheaux’s 12hour stewed gumbo with fried chicken.

At the Sign of the Dabbing Unicorn

food or drinks. But it’ll be inspired positioning come summer, when heat brings crowds with an insatiable bloodlust for ice cream. The churro beignet and scoop of oatmeal cookie ice cream were both sweet and delightful, worth popping in for whenever you want something quick to spoil yourself.

Next up is the order window for Nacheaux. Even with the new brickand-mortar location, Nacheaux hasn’t shed its vibrant food truck vibe. You can watch the kitchen crew hustling up your grub through a window as you order.

The cart is the heart of the food hall, and it’s still the main reason to visit Unicorn Creationz.

Much has already been written about Brown’s indulgent, inventive and flavorful meals. From the Cajun shrimp cocktail to the spicy chorizo burrito, Brown is whipping up food you’ll wind up talking about—and that’s how the legend of Nacheaux spread across this land. There’s always a new special on the board, especially on the brunch menu, which changes every week.

Bourbon St. Bar completes the trio, serving brunch cocktails and a regular list of signature selections—including a terrific bloody mary with a Cajun kick. The bar’s boulevardier is without gimmick but pitch-perfect. For those looking for sweeter booze—complete with flashing lights in your glass—this is also on order. And all of the aforementioned fall into a very reasonable $10 range.

While the drinks were well made, Unicorn Creationz isn’t a hangout bar. It’s not much of a bar at all. You aren’t meant to have a night out drinking with your friends here.

You’re in a food hall, and the atmosphere doesn’t let you forget it. While the hall presents plenty of seating—tables and big booths—and easily accommodates groups, we wished that some of the cuisine’s clear New Orleans inspiration were evidenced in the ambience.

However, it’s clear the Browns wanted to keep the original food hall energy intact. We also wished to somehow order from all three at once. It’s a little annoying to purchase food, drinks and desserts piecemeal.

Though it’s a bit fractured at the moment, Unicorn Creationz has a lot of greatness on offer, and it’s worth the visit if you’re in the neighborhood. Let that unicorn dab on your taste buds.

4 . NALU

722 N Sumner St., 503-519-3415, nalukava.com. 5-11 pm Thursday-Monday.

Up a steep flight of stairs reached through an alley behind North Portland’s Cherry Sprout Produce, you’ll find an intimate, homespun tea room. The interior sports a few tables and a canopied pillowed nook. It’s a small operation, but under the right conditions it might have red lentil soup. There’s always plenty of elixirs on the menu or a shot of fire cider to chase away the winter blues. But what you really need right now is probably Sun on the Mind, a loose leaf tea blend with turmeric, ginger, black pepper and coconut flakes.

5. PINK RABBIT

232 NW 12th Ave., 971-255-0386, pinkrabbitpdx.com. 4 pm-midnight Monday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday, 6 pm-midnight Sunday.

Even before Pink Rabbit transformed its curbside patio into an outdoor discotheque, the Pearl District bar’s collection of picnic tables were consistently full. But now, with a weather-fortified patio full of mirror balls, string lights, additional speakers, and living plant installations, you can safely anticipate a wait for the top-shelf toddy, which sips like counterprogramming—restrained, mellow and deeply comforting.

Unicorn Creationz is like having a food, drink and dessert Nacheaux in one food hall.

BY C A M P Y D R A P E R

@campydraper

It was brunch time and a cartoon unicorn was dabbing in my face. “Sorry. We ran out of food,” read the sign outside Unicorn Creationz. A total lack of food isn’t exactly what you want to see when you’re hoping to check a place out, but it can be a promising indication that the eats are good.

We scheduled a return visit.

Despite its name, Unicorn Creationz is more of a triceracorn. The bar/restaurant is split into three distinct-ish concepts.

Occupying the old Alameda Hop food hall on Northeast Fremont is food cart favorite Nacheaux—whipping up breakfast and lunch and, if you make it there in time, brunch. There’s a bakery/dessert shop called Karnival Kreations and a Bourbon St. Bar to sling drinks.

It’s clear this wasn’t the original plan, and they’re still working out the kinks.

In 2020, a brightly painted, teal cart called Nacheaux introduced Portland to owner-chef Anthony Brown’s culinary explorations of Southern food and Cajun-Creole flavors. The cart took off and, not even a year later, Brown moved his business into a food court—with two other fledgling businesses.

But when those two both dropped out, Anthony and his wife, Stephanie Brown, took over the whole court, christening it Unicorn Creationz in September 2021.

Upon entering Unicorn Creationz, you find yourself face to face with the delicious beignets, cookies, cakes and ice creams of Karnival Kreations—the dessert part of the court. The confections fall into the $4-to-$7 range and rotate frequently—one day you’ll have peanut butter Oreo tacos, on another strawberry curry caramel fudge.

At first, it seemed odd to be faced with the dessert counter right away, when you might be primarily seeking 24

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

EAT: Unicorn Creationz, 4765 NE Fremont St., 971- 3191134, nacheauxpdx.com. 4-8 pm Wednesday-Thursday, noon-8:30 pm Friday, 10 am-4 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Top 5

Hot Plates

WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK. 1. XINH XINH VIETNAMESE BISTRO

970 SE Morrison St., 971-229-1492, xinhxinhbistro.com. 11 am-8 pm Monday-Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday; 11 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday.

Tucked inside a small strip of businesses on Southeast Morrison, Xinh Xinh is best known for its banh mi and soups. It makes some of the best vegetarian pho in town. The broth puts less emphasis on anise and more on clean, herbal notes. In person, its bowls overflow with fresh broccoli, carrots, bok choy, mushrooms and green onions. When packed to go, it’s like Christmas morning—so many presents to open!

2 SARI R AMYUN

2713 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-841-5149, sari.smartonlineorder.com. 11 am-8 pm Sunday-Thursday, 11 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday, 11 am-8:30 pm Monday.

Typically, “ramyun” refers in Korea to instant noodles, the peninsular answer to Top Ramen. But chef Tommy Shin’s stall in the Zipper food court specializes in a chicken noodle soup—well, technically chicken and beef broth, with melt-in-your-mouth brisket slices floating on top. This is a heretical opinion, given the proximity of Basilisk, but Sari makes the best chicken in the Zipper.

3 . H A PA P DX R A M E N & W H I S K E Y

3848 SE Gladstone St., 503-376-9246, hapapdx.us. 11:30 am-2 pm and 5-9 pm Wednesday-Friday, 5-9 pm Saturday and Monday, 5-8 pm Sunday.

Lots of food carts make the leap to brick-and-mortar, but rarely is the effect quite so sexy as it is at Hapa. The soup here is a blend of two beloved cuisines: In the “G-Special” ramen, you’ll recognize elements of a Hawaiian plate lunch and a Tokyo ramen. But this is very much an izakaya, and drinks are as much the attraction as the soup: The ginger ale-sake highball is worth traveling across town for.

4 . N A K WO N

4600 Watson Ave., Beaverton, 503-646-9382. 5-8:30 pm Monday-Saturday.

One of the area’s best Korean spots is back—finally. After a prolonged reopening process following the initial statewide pandemic lockdown, Nak Won has returned, now just a pot sticker’s throw from Old Town Beaverton’s impressive new outdoor dining hall that features several Portland standouts.

Despite the new neighbors, though, Nak Won remains the king of the ’hood, serving authentic, tasty bites, along with the best soup names in town: Comfort Buttercup, When Miss Piggy Met Hot Potato, etc.

5 . C U L LY C E N T R A L

4579 NE Cully Blvd., 503-206-8911, cully-central.business.site. 4-9 pm Monday-Friday, 11 am-9 pm Saturday, 11 am-8 pm Sunday.

Cully Central is something unique in Portland: a Lao beer bar with 20 handles boasting favorites from Breakside and pFriem. It turns out dishes you can’t find anywhere else, in particular a subtle khao piek sen chicken noodle soup with thick and chewy rice noodles and a light cinnamon and pepper broth.

POTLANDER

That Sick Weed

Cannabis remedies to temper certain cold and flu symptoms.

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

Whether you’re concerned about flu season or a protracted pestilence that has likely kept you masked and hypervigilant, if not in quarantine mode, a robust cannabis medicine cabinet can help you through the first bacterium equinox of 2022.

Cannabis is by no means a cure-all, but you can use it to temper certain cold and flu symptoms much in the same way you might with an over-the-counter remedy—no astro traveling necessary. Furthermore, CBD acts as a unique immune system supporter, functioning as an anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressant and immunomodulator, conceivably keeping your immune responses evergreen (as in perennially resilient AF).

For the uninitiated, just as recreational cannabis is more than skunky blunts and milky bong hits, contemporary therapeutic cannabis is much more than inky tinctures and skunky salves. In fact, therapeutic hemp can be delivered in a number of holistic, novel and cutting-edge ways. Here are some standouts from our own cannabis medicine cabinet.

Identity CBD Bone Broths

Mercer Island, Wash.-based wellness brand Identity produces a number of alternative CBD-infused products, including an obsession-worthy Norwegian bone broth packet infused with 10 mg Oregon hemp CBD. Each package contains enough canna-bone bouillon for a relatively rich mugful of aromatic broth or toothsome addition to a more complex soup recipe.

Officially, the packages are meant to be mixed with 1 cup of water for a potent stock, but when mixed with 1.5 cups of water are much more sippable as a straight-up broth. The broths come in three flavors: Chicken, Chanterelle Mushroom and Ginger Ramen, with the mushroom being my own personal sick day standout.

Get it from: identitylife.com

Green Heffa Fixitea

A soothing cup of tea is a sick day necessity; Green Heffa’s Fixitea Herbal “Steam” Blend is a peppermint panacea complete with soothing antiseptic, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties.

Green Heffa is a family owned and operated farm, producing not just hemp cannabis, but all the botanicals in its teas. The brand’s founder, Farmer Cee, uses Indigenous, heritage farming techniques across Green Heffa’s 14 acres, even calling on the quilters of her hometown of Wilcox, Ala., to produce the brand’s vibrant, Afro-centric packaging. Each of the brand’s teas are built upon unique therapeutic botanical medleys, so if minty relief isn’t your bag, there are multiple other tableaus to choose from.

Get it from: greenheffafarms.com

Elixinol Everyday Rapid Reset

The oil-based cannabis tincture is a ubiquitous medicine cabinet addition, but Elixinol’s Rapid Reset absorption-ready CBD liposome stands apart from most dispensary tinctures for its water solubility. That means this tincture—unlike its oilier counterparts—will blend as seamlessly with a glass of plain, flat water as it will with more texturally complex drinks like smoothies or frothy hot drinks. The 1 mg of CBD in each pump is a low enough dose for beginners or those with THC aversions.

It’s also easily buildable for users with more established cannabinoid tolerances.

Get it from: elixinol.com

Mr. Moxey’s Lavender Dream Mints

Cannabis users unable to partake in their nightly weed rituals due to illness might find comfort in Mr. Moxey’s Dream Lavender Mints. The pastilles contain a low 5 mg THC dose alongside measured 2.5 mg doses of CBD and CBN, respectively. If lozenges are already part of your DIY treatment plan, swapping out a couple of throat openers for these sleep-supporting, immunity-modulating, slightly spacey, Altoid-esque edibles might ensure some restful sleep as well as therapeutic assistance. Even cannathusiasts with higher tolerances can bank on the sleep support provided by a solid dose of CBN, and the 5 mg of THC is just potent enough to make Wheel of Fortune as enthralling as it was during grade-school sick days.

Get it from: Weed Land, 4027 N Interstate Ave., 541-904-0000.

Lazarus Naturals Fruit Tarts

These eensy fruit candies are a secret weapon in my arsenal of cannabis remedies. Reminiscent of SweeTarts, with a punchy, puckering aftertaste that belies their therapeutic efficacy, Lazarus Natural’s Fruit Tarts are great for relieving sudden bouts of anxiety. They’re also excellent stand-ins for over-the-counter pain relievers like aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Since discovering them, I’ve kept one of the lip gloss-sized pots on my person whenever I’m out and about, just in case a headache or body ache begins to percolate. Similarly, I offer them readily to anyone experiencing avoidable discomfort, and as such have created even more Lazarus devotees.

Get it from: lazarusnaturals.com

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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PERFORMANCE

MUSIC

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

A S H L E Y WA LT E R S

Now Hear This Listening recommendations from the past, present, Portland and the periphery.

BY DANIEL BROMFIELD // @BROMF3

SOMETHING OLD

Nate Scheible’s 2017 album Fairfax is due a reissue in February on Warm Winters Ltd. It’s based on audio diaries from the mysterious woman known only by the name of the Virginia town where she lives, and though her narration is cryptic enough at first to suggest Scheible is aiming for an oneiric creepiness, the album gradually becomes almost unbearably poignant as we get to know the circumstances of her life. It’s a real tear-jerker, and a cult classic in the making.

SOMETHING NEW

MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS: A new installation created by Samuel Eisen-Meyer confronts the systemic evils of our time via paintings, videos and an immersive soundscape.

World on Fire Samuel Eisen-Meyer’s art installation Walking the World With This Fire is an explosive portrait of American imperialism.

BY B E N N E T T C A M P B E LL FE RG U SO N

There are no actors in Walking the World With This Fire, Samuel Eisen-Meyer’s art installation about American cruelty through the ages, but it is filled with people. You can feel their presence—people who lived, people who died, and people for whom life was a living death.

A multimedia extravaganza about capitalism, bigotry and beyond would be a tough sell at any time, let alone during the rise of the Omicron variant. Yet Walking the World, presented by CoHo Productions, is worth seeking out, not least of all because it offers audiences a relatively safe opportunity to engage with a compelling and confrontational work of art.

To experience Walking the World, you step through a shadowy entryway and onto an intimate stage, where you find yourself surrounded by oil paintings, videos and a soundscape that encircles you with bangs and whispers. Eisen-Meyer spent nearly two years creating the installation—and it shows.

While you can enter or exit Walking the World at any given moment—the videos and sound effects are played on a loop—it demands and rewards your patience and attention. I spent about 45 minutes wandering and observing, but left with the nagging feeling that there were dozens of details I had missed.

Eisen-Meyer’s creations are like riddles 26

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

that grow more complex as you look closely.

A silvery sculpture of a man’s head is striking, but pass it too quickly and you might miss the smartphone jutting out from beneath his chin, near where his heart should be. It’s a chilling reflection of America’s dependence on technology—and the dehumanizing rituals of mass production feeding that dependence on a daily basis.

While the sculpture is best seen up close, other elements of Walking the World require a broader perspective, including a painting of a burning American flag that looks as if it is transforming into a wolf. From a short distance away, the creature’s eye appears to be a hole in the flag, but stand back and you see a vision of how patriotism can prey on instincts that are animalistic in the worst sense of the word.

All of this might be obvious to some audiences, but knowing isn’t the same as understanding—or hearing, for that matter. If Eisen-Meyer has crafted a work that is less an exhibit than an experience, it is because of his ingenious use of sounds, like crashing waves and machinery and a mantra quietly repeated throughout: “There has to be another way.”

The correct response to that is, “A way out of what?” If the description of Walking the World on CoHo’s website—“a meditation on the psychology and deception of United States domestic imperialism”—sounds amorphous, it’s because Eisen-Meyer isn’t

content to take on one systemic evil at a time.

He prefers to battle them all simultaneously.

Walking the World doesn’t try to win that battle—it’s more interested in identifying enemies than solutions. It’s about what we’re up against, from the lingering legacy of slavery to the machinations of the Supreme Court, which are alluded to with an animation of nine hooded, gavel-wielding figures who resemble the Dementors from Harry Potter.

While audiences looking to Walking the World for ideas to cure the ills it depicts might feel unfulfilled, the craftsmanship behind the installation is inspiring. You may, for instance, despair at the implications of Eisen-Meyer’s decision to replace the Statue of Liberty’s torch with a menacing-looking gold chain, but you can still be heartened by the brilliance of his symbolism.

Like many works produced by Portland companies during the past two years, Walking the World straddles the divide between theater and visual art. It probably exists because of the pandemic, but it is not defined by it—and above all, it is a masterpiece that can be experienced without submitting to the terror of sitting in a crowd.

SEE IT: Walking the World With This Fire plays at CoHo Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 503-220-2646, cohoproductions.org.

The gallery is open to the public 4-9 pm through Jan. 15. Free.

Bay Area-via-Texas producer Seven Davis Jr. makes rhythmically tricky house music treated with so much compression that it sounds like it’s ducking in and out of a black hole. His singing on his new album, I See the Future, evokes classic, pitched-down minimal-house vocal performances from artists like Matthew Dear and Nicolas Jaar, but his beats draw from a rich tradition of freaky funk and acid rock, full of synth squiggles and thick layers of stoned ad libs.

SOMETHING LOCAL

As OAA, local producer AJ Wilson makes electronic music that sounds like it’s been washed in an industrial-strength bath of corrosive chemicals. Every kick drum and snare is like a bumped elbow or stubbed toe. And if you don’t mind being battered and bruised a bit, his album Contracted Reality from last year is for you. Watch out for Enemy of Love, his just-announced collab album with local heavy noise-rockers the Body, which drops Feb. 18.

SOMETHING ASKEW

KMRU’s Peel sounds like what a GameBoy dreams about. His slabs of slow-moving drone are as static and glacial as ambient music gets, but they’re treated with a layer of distortion that makes them sound like they could be sourced from a circuit-bent game console. It’s bliss-out music with an edge, and it’s no wonder he was one of the last artists personally signed by late experimental-music titan Peter Rehberg to his influential Editions Mego label.

C O U R T E S Y W O R L D A R T S F O U N DAT I O N

MOVIES

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

SCREENER

attend Catlin Gabel School.

“We wanted to do something to support the community and Portland Public Schools as well,” says Berry, a four-decade veteran of public education and executive producer of the Keep Alive the Dream celebration.

The annual tradition became formalized with Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1985 and evolved into a sixto-eight-hour extravaganza featuring live performers, speakers and vendors. Now, upended by the pandemic for yet another year, Keep Alive the Dream, hosted by World Arts Foundation Inc., has been translated into documentary form. The result is an hourlong archival film, set to screen at Hollywood Theatre on Jan. 17 and air via OPB Plus and Open Signal the same day along with its annual audio program on KBOO. The free screening will also feature a Q&A and live music.

The film opens with a brief history of Portland’s Black community: from the repeal of Oregon’s Black exclusion laws, to the flooding of Vanport, to the vibrance and civic neglect of North Portland, to modern gentrification.

From there, it’s segmented into sermons, music, the program’s generational impact, and the inclusion of multicultural art from outside the STONE OF HOPE: Portland’s Black community is highlighted in a documentary paying tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. African American community.

Overall, Keep Alive the Dream functions as both a snapshot and highlight reel of four decades of arts and activism, digitized from 16 mm film, U-matic tape cassette, and VHS. The condensation from several hundred hours of footage to a 57-minute documentary was an act of marathon curation for director Elijah Hasan.

“When I step back and take a breath,

BY CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER @chance_s_p it was really like a rite of passage,” says Hasan, who began chronicling Keep Alive the several winter weeks in a basement, alongside Dream as a volunteer photographer in the early Nearly a decade before Dr. Martin Luther fellow Black community leaders Michael Grice King Jr.’s birthday became a federal holiday, and Herb Cawthorne, conceptualizing a live 2000s. “If you would’ve told me it would be an hourlong show in the beginning, I couldn’t have Ken Berry celebrated the minister’s legacy program to commemorate Dr. King’s dream imagined how that would even be possible.” with Portland in mind. In 1978, Berry spent while raising funds for students of color to

They Have a Dream

Keep Alive the Dream continues the World Arts Foundation’s annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., now in its 44th year.

Center stage in the doc is the history of Black music in Portland, with appearances by influential artists like Thara Memory, the Legendary Beyons, Janice Scroggins and Ken Berry himself, seen serenading his then-infant son Cedric with “The Greatest Love of All.” Many are among the musicians Keep Alive the Dream producer and XRAY.fm host Bobby Smith documents through the Albina Music Trust initiative.

“I love this film for the music,” Smith says, “but the impact of that music is taken to greater heights in this context.”

Among the dozens of artists who made it into the film, Hasan highlights musical prodigy “Master” Goldie Irby as showcasing the event’s sheer depth of talent. Nine years old when he commanded the stage in 1989, Irby’s gospel virtuosity represents a musical through line for Keep the Dream Alive.

“His genius and level of talent at such a young age was on a level with Stevie Wonder—if not better than Stevie Wonder—as a kid,” Hasan says. “To me the central theme or genetic consistency was just soul. That is the determining factor: the feeling.”

While longtime attendees of Keep the Dream Alive may sorely miss the marathon volunteer spirit that fueled the live celebration before the pandemic, 2022’s documentary version could be a fitting time to reflect, as Berry tries to hand the stewardship of this dream to the next generation. In the coming months, Smith will help launch the Albina Community Cultural Archive—“an online library of sorts,” as he puts it—with mountains more footage and documentation of Albina District history.

“Maybe it needs to take on a new version,” Berry says. “I think there’s still a lot of material we haven’t even tapped into yet that could possibly be used in a part two down the road.

My goal is to let the [World Arts Foundation] board decide what they want to do. It’s time to pass it on now.”

SEE IT: Keep Alive the Dream screens with a Q&A at Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 3 pm Monday, Jan. 17. Admission is free, but a ticket needs to be claimed for entry.

Get Your Reps In CRITERION

One of the most influential films of all time, inspiring prolific artists ranging from Kate Bush to Martin Scorsese, this sumptuous drama follows a ballerina (Moira Shearer) who’s torn between her love for a man and her love for dance. Features an unforgettably surreal 17-minute original ballet sequence. Free for Hollywood Theatre members!

Hollywood, Jan. 13.

French New Wave pioneer François Truffaut directed this classic romantic drama, set during World War I and centered on a tragic love triangle between the extroverted Jules, the introverted Jim, and the free-spirited Catherine (Jeanne Moreau).

Yet another big inspiration for Martin Scorsese, specifically the voice-over narration, quick cuts and freeze frames in Goodfellas. Clinton, Jan. 13.

Down by Law (1986)

When three strangers (Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni) are wrongfully arrested and put in a New Orleans jail cell together,

the men hatch a plot to escape. The black-and-white indie is unconventionally (and refreshingly) focused on the interpersonal relationship between the leads, rather than the mechanics of the jailbreak itself. Screens as part of the Clinton’s Jim Jarmusch Festival. Clinton, Jan, 14.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Huge shout-out to director Alfonso Cuarón for breathing new life into Harry Potter; his film is undoubtedly the best of the series, successfully helping the wiz kids’ transition from saccharine childhood to pensive pubescence. Special

mention to David Thewlis for nailing his scrappy portrayal of professor Remus Lupin!

Academy, Jan. 14-20.

FA N D O M

The Red Shoes (1948)

Jules and Jim (1962)

guy has a taste for human blood, which develops into a taste for human flesh. Even though they don’t sing “Skid Row” in this one (or sing at all), it’s a delight nonetheless.

Hollywood, Jan. 18.

ALSO PLAYING:

Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

It’s the original horror comedy that spawned the eponymous 1986 movie musical! When a meek, young florist stumbles upon a peculiar plant, he soon discovers that the little

Academy: Waterworld (1995), Jan. 12-13. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Jan. 12-13. Mad Max (1979), Jan. 14-20. Clinton: Blood Simple (1984), Jan. 14.

Babette’s Feast (1988), Jan. 15. Buena Vista Social Club (1999), Jan. 16. King: A Filmed Record (1970), Jan. 17. Harlan County USA (1976), Jan. 18.

Hollywood: My Man Godfrey (1936), Jan. 15-16.

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

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MOVIES TIFF

NOW PLAYING TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

A Hero

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi seems poised to become a household name among film buffs around the world following the release of this latest project. He’s already snagged two Academy Awards, most recently won the Best Director Award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in November 2021, and A Hero is now a leading Oscar contender in the Best International Feature Film category. It begins simply with the main character, Rahim, played with a quiet grace by acclaimed Iranian theater and film actor Amir Jadidi, walking out of prison and into the Iranian urban landscape. Over the course of two days, we learn Rahim was incarcerated because he couldn’t repay a debt and, upon his release, he attempts to start fresh and even performs a good deed. Of course, as the saying goes, such righteous actions never go unpunished. Farhadi never insults his audience with obvious exposition. The viewer is left to discover who Rahim is, the various characters’ motivations, and who the stories’ villains and heroes are. All of the film’s atmosphere and emotional drive is delivered with naturalistic faithfulness by the actors, and ambient street noise replaces a contrived score to emphasize that tone. The story unfolds exactly how it’s introduced by the main character. With a quiet grace. PG-13. RAY GILL JR. Amazon Prime, Living Room

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. : THIS MOVIE IS A STEAMING PILE.

ALSO PLAYING The Tragedy of Macbeth

At once dignified and deranged, Denzel Washington’s Macbeth is just one of countless pleasures to be found in The Tragedy of Macbeth, director Joel Coen’s gorgeously austere adaptation of Shakespeare’s spooky saga about power and madness. The hurly burly is the same—once more, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand) plot to murder the rightful king of Scotland—but with the help of cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel (Amélie) and production designer Stefan Dechant (The Call of the Wild), Coen brings a fresh sheen of grim beauty to the Bard’s text, using stark shades of black and white and eerily barren sets to deliver a master class in menacing minimalism. Even better are the performances, with Washington playing Macbeth as a creepily affable chap—“if there’s power to be had, why shouldn’t I have it?” he seems to wonder—and McDormand singeing the screen with steely terror.

She understands that Lady Macbeth’s defining characteristic is her impatience with her husband’s pesky conscience, which makes it all the more haunting when she discovers a conscience of her own. She, Washington and Coen comprehend the play through and through, which is why The Tragedy of Macbeth is more than a movie. It’s a proper Macbeth. R. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Cinema 21, Hollywood, Living Room, Studio One.

The Matrix Resurrections

When the fourth install-

28

ment of The Matrix franchise begins, we join white rabbit-inked hacker Bugs (Jessica Henwick) as she scrutinizes the epochal 1999 blockbuster’s still-breathtaking opening footage from wholly new angles just before inadvertently reanimating Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus within a faux FBI drone/sentient malware (Yahya Abudul-Mateen II). In the first feature directed without her sibling and lifelong collaborator, Lana Wachowski has a surprisingly droll touch and truly shines during trademark bursts of balletic shoot-’em-ups seemingly plucked from some near-future, zero-gravity fashion week. Now that the franchise has granted our heroes unlimited lives (and the world has proven itself to be all too eager to repurpose anti-authoritarian sloganeering for crypto-fascist ends), it’s hard not to notice the film drifting away from super-chic ultra-violence absent any semblance of consequence. In the weirdest way, though, the de facto immortality of Neo and Trinity renders their autumn romance all the more meaningful. However daft the narrative, which demands that Keanu Reeves, reborn as a celebrity game designer, spend each morning gazing wistfully at Carrie-Anne Moss’s latte order as a Bay Area supermom, his unconditional yearning echoes her eroticized devotion that defined the original. That should push the buttons of every aging cynic holding out hope that their first love might yet prove savior.

There is spooning. Take the little blue pill. R. JAY HORTON. Bridgeport, Cedar Hills, City Center, Eastport Plaza, Evergreen Parkway, Fox Tower, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Movies on TV, Pioneer Place, Sherwood, Studio One, Tigard.

Willamette Week JANUARY 12, 2022 wweek.com

Red Rocket

Red Rocket opens in July 2016, as adult film actor Mikey Saber (Simon Rex), bruised from a recent misadventure, returns to his hometown on the refinery coast of Texas. A compulsive con man, Mikey pries a fingernail of trust from his estranged wife, Lexi (Bree Elrod), and her addict mother, Lil (Brenda Deiss), hustling to get back on his feet in a brisk, comic opening act before the film reveals what it’s really about. Cinematographer Drew Daniels’ 16 mm photography conjures the sweat of an East Texas summer, and director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine) excels at casting local nonprofessionals—although Mikey has somehow irrevocably code-switched himself into a SoCal boy. Baker treats even the most flawed of his characters with nuance and empathy.

Less nuanced and more questionable are the glamorized sex scenes between 40-something Mikey and the high school junior he grooms, Strawberry (Suzanna Son, an adult at the time of filming). Nods to Trump’s looming ascendancy are a smokescreen—the relentlessly exploitative Mikey is no demagogue in the making and may instead be an avatar of Baker’s own instincts. How different is Mikey “discovering” Strawberry at a doughnut shop than Baker recruiting Son at a Gus Van Sant screening? How different is a director from a “suitcase pimp” after all? Mikey and Baker may not have the answers, but their struggle makes for compelling viewing. R. NATHAN WILLIAMS. Bridgeport, Cascade, Cinema 21, Clackamas Town Center, Dine-In Progress Ridge, Fox Tower, Hollywood, Living Room, Movies on TV.

Swan Song

When one performer plays identical characters in a movie, it’s often a contorted acting showcase: from Dead Ringer (1964) all the way to Dead Ringers (1988). But rarely, if ever, has it been done with the nuance and composure of Mahershala Ali in Swan Song. In this Apple

TV+ sci-fi drama, the two-time Oscar winner double-embodies Cameron Turner, a terminally ill husband and father debating whether to clone himself (consciousness included) for his family’s benefit. In the frosty, minimal calm of Benjamin Cleary’s directorial debut, Ali’s performance sets the entire tone with each conflicted breath, working out the exact variation between the two Camerons. The original aches to control a process beyond his control (nod to Glenn Close as the preeminent should-we-trust-her cloning scientist), while the genetically unsick version pines to build on the memories of Cameron’s wife (Naomie Harris) and son (Dax Rey) they now both share. At a distance, Cleary has trouble balancing whether we’re watching an almost hokey tech-overreach thriller or almost maudlin memory piece (some discomforting mix of Alex Garland’s Ex Machina and Never Let Me Go), and it’s sometimes unclear from shot to shot with whom we should identify. But the genre particulars hardly matter.

It’s a Mahershala Ali movie— twice over. R. CHANCE SOLEMPFEIFER. Apple TV+.

The Tender Bar

Ever since Uncle Charlie (Ben Affleck) flatly declared his little nephew hopeless at sports and pointed him toward a book-stuffed closet instead, J.R. Moehringer (Daniel Ranieri) was set on the path toward writerdom. And when The Tender Bar is about J.R. living a life worthy of its namesake 2005 memoir, the film is irresistibly charming. Abandoned by his radio DJ father, J.R. and his mother (Lily Rabe) move into the tough-loving extended family’s Long Island home, cramped with outsized personalities like Grandpa (Christopher Lloyd) and Uncle Charlie. Helmed by George Clooney, who has been on a directing cold streak dating back to 2005, The Tender Bar wisely tunes itself to the avuncular wit that a nearly 50-yearold Affleck inherits from leading men just like Clooney—quick

with a line, a wink and (in this case) a free round at the family bar. While Tye Sheridan (as college-age J.R., flirting quite well at Yale) is by no means to blame for the movie’s shortcomings, its homestretch unwisely fixates on J.R. planning to write The Tender Bar and—even more bizarrely— on the memoir’s industry viability. That self-reflexive turn is nearly soul-sucking, presuming we cared about J.R.’s book more than J.R.’s family. Luckily the soul-sucking isn’t fatal; this one’s all heart. R. CHANCE SOLEMPFEIFER. Amazon Prime.

Licorice Pizza

Imagine a teenage boy telling one of his parents about a woman he has a crush on. “She’s in her 20s,” he sighs. “I think I’m in love.” “It’s never going to happen,” the parent sternly replies. “Oh, I don’t know,” the boy says. “She did show me her breasts.” That conversation never happens in Licorice Pizza, but it could have. Set in 1973, the film rambles and roams through the San Fernando Valley, where 15-year-old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) sells water beds, opens a pinball parlor, and falls for 25-yearold Alana Kane (Alana Haim of the band Haim). While Gary and Alana never officially date, director Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread) repeatedly presents them as a potential cute couple, unable or unwilling to admit he’s made a movie about an adult preying on a child. There may be debate among moviegoers whether Anderson understands the sinister nature of their relationship, but there’s nothing in the film to suggest he does. Despite a gloriously strange subplot involving Sean Penn, a motorcycle and a wall of fire, Licorice Pizza isn’t cinema.

It’s gaslighting on an epic scale. R. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Bridgeport, Cascade, Cedar Hills, Cinemagic, Clackamas Town Center, Eastport Plaza, Fox Tower, Hollywood, St. Johns Twin Cinemas, Studio One, Vancouver Mall.

JONESIN’

FREE WILL

B Y M AT T J O N E S

"The Best of 2021"--keeping things positive.

ASTROLOGY ARIES

(March 21-April 19): In October 2021, the Vancouver Canucks hockey team played the Seattle Kraken team in a Seattle arena. A fan named Nadia Popovici noticed that the Canucks' equipment manager Brian Hamilton had an irregular mole on the back of his neck—possibly cancerous. She found a way to communicate her observation to him, urging him to see a doctor.

In the ensuing days, Hamilton sought medical care and discovered that the mole was indeed in an early stage of melanoma. He had it removed.

In the spirit of this inspiring story, Aries, I invite you to tell the people in your life things they should know but don't know yet—not just what might be challenging, but also what's energizing and interesting. Be their compassionate advisor, their agent for divine intervention.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Canadian-Jamaican

songwriter and recording artist Kreesha Turner isn't a mega-star like Beyoncé or Rihanna, but she has had a successful music career. What's the secret to her constant creative output? Here's what she has said: "I love to surround myself with people who are the best at what they do. My idea is I want to be a sponge and absorb everything they teach, experience their energy, view them in their element, and have the opportunity to ask them questions." The coming year will be one of the best times ever for you to emulate her strategy, Taurus. And now is a perfect moment for formulating plans to make it happen.

GEMINI

ACROSS 1 Kerosene lantern material 6 Invitation's request 10 Current measures?

14 Displeased with 15 "A Change is Gonna Come" singer Redding

57 2021 Adele chart-topper that broke records on streaming services

30 "American Idol" winner Studdard

62 2021 Netflix series that made Lee Jung-jae a star outside South Korea

34 Protagonist of the "Street Fighter" series

65 Scheduled to arrive 66 Baseball scoreboard data

16 Cafe supplement

67 Make Kool-Aid

17 Basketball venue

68 First class, briefly

18 Gymnastics gold medalist who made news in 2021 as the first Hmong-American Olympian

69 Squirrel's home 70 Where a Yankee follows November?

71 Ford's failure

31 Sudden fright

35 Bounced-check abbr.

36 Shipping option that skips air travel 40 Eggs in the water 41 Moldova's cont.

42 Shady tree 44 Postgrad degrees 45 Metal minerals

20 Horror movie revived in 2021 (with a script cowritten by Jordan Peele)

DOWN

22 "The _ _ _ Ballerina" (Degas work)

1 Auto financing co., formerly

47 Matchless

23 Luggage checkers, for short

2 "Tomb Raider" protagonist Croft

52 Jefferson, by belief

24 Crash maker

3 Yemeni port on the Red Sea

25 Low poker hand 28 Swampy land 32 Young _ _ _ (small children) 33 British tennis star who won the 2021 U.S. Open, only the second Grand Slam tournament she had entered

5 Sticks around

57 Cast forth

6 "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" detective Diaz

58 Dynamic prefix

7 Shock and amaze 8 Diesel in an automotive vehicle?

9 Pressure unit, briefly 10 Warning signal

39 Rampageous revelry

11 California surfers' mecca

43 2021 documentary directed by Questlove about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival

12 Nursery rhyme merchant

46 Dad joke, generally

21 One of the Berenstain Bears

51 Battery poles 54 Occupational suffix 56 Prepared potatoes, as for hash browns

53 "Ed, _ _ _ n Eddy" (Cartoon Network series) 55 "Blame It on the Bossa Nova" singer Gorme

38 Judges' gp.

50 Sanitizer's target

48 "Wait your turn!"

4 Course hazards

37 Full of energy

49 Ed of "Up," "Elf," and "JFK"

46 "Winter Wonderland" clergyman

13 Swipes 19 Person with intelligence?

24 Dance step syllable 25 Treat in collectible dispensers 26 "_ _ _ seeing things?"

27 Rapscallion 29 Surname shared by two presidents

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

59 Court dividers 60 Swampland 61 Organic compound 63 Channel that aired "Lingo" (which is pretty much what all your Wordle results posts are) 64 _ _ _ high level

last week’s answers

(May 21-June 20): Gemini author Lisa Cron says that when we're telling a story, we should give each successive scene "new information, rather than rehashing things we already know.

Never tell us the same fact twice. Because it’s boring and stops the flow of the story. Never tell us the same fact twice. Because it’s boring and stops the flow of the story." In accordance with astrological omens, Gemini, I suggest you apply this counsel to everything you say and do in the next three weeks. Don't repeat yourself. Keep moving right along. Invite novelty. Cultivate surprises and unpredictability.

CANCER

(June 21-July 22): Years ago, I reluctantly gave up my music career. To do so was sad and hard. But it enabled me to devote far more time and energy to improving my writing skills. I published books and developed a big audience. I'm glad I did it. Here's another redemptive sacrifice I made earlier in my life: I renounced the chaotic pleasure of seeking endless new romantic adventures so I could commit myself to a relationship with one particular woman. In so doing, I learned a lot more about how to be a soulful human. I'm glad I did it. Is there potentially a comparable pivot in your life, my fellow Cancerian? If so, the coming weeks and months will be a favorable time to make a move.

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22): Leo actor Claudia Christian has appeared in over 50 films, including many in the science fiction genre. She has played a variety of roles in movies with more conventional themes. But as for the sci-fi stuff? She says, "Apparently, I’ve been typecast: I’m a Russian bisexual telepathic Jew." If Christian came to me for astrological advice right now, I would suggest that the coming months will be an excellent time for her and all of you Leos to slip free of any pigeonholes you've been stuck in. Escape the mold! Create niches for yourself that enable you to express your full repertoire.

VIRGO

(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming weeks will be a favorable time to meditate on your job and your calling—as well as the differences there may be between your job and your calling. In fact, I regard this as a phase when you can summon transformative epiphanies about the way you earn a living and the useful services you provide to your fellow humans. For inspiration, read this quote from photographer Margaret BourkeWhite: "Even while you're in dead earnest about your work, you must approach it with a feeling of freedom and joy; you must be loose-jointed, like a relaxed athlete."

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smallest error falsifies it, the slightest hesitation alters it, the least heaviness spoils it, the slightest stupidity brutalizes it." If what she says is true, it's bad news, isn't it? She makes it seem like cultivating joy and well-being is a superhuman skill that few of us can hope to master. Personally, I am not as stringent as Yourcenar in my ideas about what's required to generate happiness. But like her, I believe you have to work at it. It doesn't necessarily come easily and naturally. Most of us have never been taught how to cultivate happiness, so we must train ourselves to do it and practice diligently. The good news, Libra, is that the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to upgrade your happiness skills.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In 1891, a cultural

organization commissioned Scorpio sculptor Auguste Rodin to create a statue of beloved French author Honoré de Balzac. The piece was supposed to be done in 18 months, but it wasn't.

For seven years, Rodin toiled, producing over 50 studies before finally finishing the piece. We shouldn't be surprised, then, that one of his mottoes was "Patience is also a form of action." I'm recommending Rodin-like patience to you in the coming weeks, Scorpio. Yours will be rewarded long before seven years go by.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "I am ashamed of

confessing that I have nothing to confess," wrote author Fanny Burney. Actor Jennifer Lawrence said, "I started to write an apology, but I don't have anything to say I'm sorry for." I nominate these two souls to be your role models for the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, you are currently as immune to karmic boomerangs as it's possible to be. Your guilt levels are abnormally low. As far as I can determine, you are relatively free from having to answer to the past or defend your actions. How do you plan to make maximum use of this grace period?

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): "New truths become evident when new tools become available," declared Nobel Prize-winning medical physicist Rosalyn Sussman Yalow (1921–2011). She was referring to developments in science and technology, but I think her idea applies to our personal lives, too. And it so happens, in my astrological opinion, that the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to acquire new tools that will ultimately lead you to discover new truths.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Self-help teachers

and New Age gurus are fond of using metaphors about opening doors. They provide a lot of advice that encourages us to knock on doors, scout around for doors that are open just a crack, find keys to unlock doors, and even kick down doors. I will not be following their lead in this horoscope.

In my opinion, the coming days are an excellent time for you to heed the contrary counsel of author Paulo Coelho: "Close some doors today. Not because of pride, incapacity, or arrogance, but simply because they lead you nowhere." Once you carry out this assignment, Aquarius, I believe you'll start finding interesting new doors to open.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 2017, Piscean film

director Jordan Peele released his debut film, Get Out. It was a success with both critics and audiences. A year later, Peele became the first Black screenwriter to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. As he accepted the Oscar, he said, "I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible." Personally, I'm glad Peele didn't give up his dream.

Here's one reason why: He will serve as an excellent role model for you throughout 2022. As you reinvent yourself, Pisces, don't give up pushing ahead with persistence, courage, and a quest for what's most fun.

Homework: What's the best blessing you could bestow on yourself right now?

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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Author Marguerite Yourcenar wrote, "All happiness is a work of art: The

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