Willamette Week, August 17, 2022 - Volume 48, Issue 41 - "Chasing Ghosts" by Willamette Week Newspaper

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY 08.17.2022VOLWWEEK.COM27P.DUDE.”NOBODY,I’MVAN.AINCOMICBROKETHIS“I’M48/41 NEWS: Betsy Johnson Hides Her Taxes. P. 9 EAT: The Tito’s Taquito Diet. P. 20 THEATER:BilingualBag&Baggage’sTempest.P.26 You pointed us to the eeriest vacant buildings in Portland. We found out why they’re empty. PAGE 12

2 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

VOL.

3Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com FINDINGS

15 Merlin Radke donated his auto parts shop to Warner Pacific University. 16 Strawberry Pickle closed her in-home preschool to open an all-ages arts venue in China town. 17 SantaCon fans: There’s a new costumed bar crawl coming to town that asks you to ditch the red suit and dress up like a granny. 19 Tito’s Taquitos was so popular, it had to close for seven months to find a bigger food cart. 20 Cannaclusive’s website has a page that maps out minority-led dispensaries in every legal state. 23 Bag&Baggage’s production of The Tempest features a Span ish-speaking Prospero and Miranda 26 Courtney Barnett is coming to Cinema 21 with a self-doubtfilled documentary. 28

Classifieds

Willamette Week welcomes freelance submissions. Send material to either News Editor or Arts Editor. Manuscripts will be returned if you include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. To be considered for calendar listings, notice of events must be received in writing by noon Wednesday, two weeks before publication. Questions concerning circulation or subscription inquiries should be directed to Jed Hoesch at Willamette Week. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Willamette Week, P.O. Box 10770, Portland, OR 97206. Subscription rates: One year $130, six months $70. Back issues $5 for walk-ins, $8 for mailed requests when available. Willamette Week is mailed at third-class rates. Association of Alternative Newsmedia. This newspaper is published on recycled newsprint using soy-based ink. PROVIDENCE BRIDGE PEDAL, PAGE 18 ON THE COVER: Chasing the ghost buildings that haunt cityscape,Portland’sphoto by Michael Raines OUR MOST TRAFFICKED STORY ONLINE THIS WEEK: Beaverton police nab $22 million catalytic converter ring. Masthead EDITOR & PUBLISHER Mark Zusman EDITORIAL News Editor Aaron Mesh Arts & Culture Editor Andi Prewitt Assistant A&C Editor Bennett Campbell Ferguson Staff Writers Anthony Effinger, Nigel Jaquiss, Lucas Manfield, Rachel Monahan, Sophie Peel News Interns Ekansh Gupta, Helen Huiskes, Ethan Johanson Copy Editor Matt Buckingham ART DEPARTMENT Art Director Mick Hangland-Skill Graphic Designer McKenzie Young-Roy ADVERTISING Director of Sales Anna Zusman Advertising Media Coordinator Beans Flores Account Executives Michael Donhowe, Maxx Hockenberry OUTREACHCOMMUNITY Give!Guide Director Toni Tringolo Podcast Host Brianna Wheeler DISTRIBUTION Circulation Director Jed Hoesch Entrepreneur in Residence Jack Phan OPERATIONS Accounting Director Beth Buffetta Manager Informationof Services Brian Panganiban OUR MISSION To provide Portlanders with an independent and irreverent understanding of how their worlds work so they can make a Thoughdifference.Willamette Week is free, please take just one copy. Anyone removing papers in bulk from our distribution points will be prosecuted, as they say, to the full extent of the law.

The Oregon Lottery’s CFO is working from Texas 6 A 2015 police union banquet at the Wilsonville Holiday Inn took a dramatic turn. 7 Betsy Johnson’s investment portfolio includes Boeing, Global Partners and Weyerhae user. 9 Portland’s only bookmobile was stolen from Ladd’s Addition. 11 “Hal” Hulburt built Poor Richard’s on two-for-one steak dinners. Mormons13are ﬂeeing Oregon. 14 A housing nonproﬁt’s $20 mil lion in assets includes a decrep it ranch house with suspected squatters.

CITY OF ROSES MEDIA COMPANY P.O. Box Portland,10770OR97296. line phone: (503) 243-2122 fax: (503) 296-2874 phone: (503) 243-2122 fax: (503) 296-2874

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER 48, ISSUE 41

BROSEBRIAN WEEKLYPUBLISHEDWEEKWILLAMETTEISBY

Main

Last week’s WW cover story examined the list kept by Multnomah County prosecutors of local police officers whose past actions could raise questions if they testify in court (“The Odd Squad, Aug. 10). Such lists are commonly known as Brady lists, although the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office says its is broader than is typical. Funny, that: Just three current Portland police officers are on the list, two of them for drunken driving convictions. Readers were struck by the brevity of the list, as well as Officer Andrew Caspar’s false claim he couldn’t chase a theft suspect because of Obama administration policies. Here’s what our readers had to say:

PDXBILL, VIA WWEEK.COM: “The common thread in this article is public employee unions defending the out rageous behavior of their members. From what I have personally seen, ﬁreﬁghters are as corrupt as the police. If you want my respect and support, discipline your own ranks.”

What’s the deal with those goofy-looking towers with the ﬂash ing blue lights and solar panels in Fred Meyer parking lots? I gather that they’re some kind of security camera, but why not just plug them in to the same power the overhead parking lot lights use? —Insecurity O cer

They may look like an o shore drilling rig got a little bit too drunk in a hotel room with the Mars Polar Lander, but actually those goofy towers are quietly taking over the world. Cumulatively, the LiveView Technologies D3 (“Detect! Deter! Defend!”) already casts its Orwellian pall over an area twice the size of Multnomah County, and the company is growing at a rate of 30% a year. For the record, the D3’s ostentatiously post-apocalyptic appearance is intentional. Wrongdoers, the theory goes, won’t do wrong if they know they’re being watched—and whatever you may think of a giant robot camera covered in flashing blue lights, even the most hopelessly stoned criminals probably find it hard to miss. And if they do miss it, there’s a two-way loud speaker! I’ve never seen it in action (although I’m dying to), but apparently a D3 operator can get on the speaker like RoboCop: “Please return the unpaid Mallomars. You have 20 seconds to comply.” (Of course, this only works if someone is actually watching the feed, which—ahem—is exactly the same problem regular security cam erasAnyway,have.) none of this explains why the D3 needs to be solar-powered. Do they really think the guy sticking Mallomars down his pants is part of some Ocean’s Eleven-style heist crew that would just cut the power to a conventional security system? (“Dammit! They’ve got solar backup—abort!”) Solar clearly adds to the cost— why do Maybeit?because sometimes it’s easier for a bureaucracy to spend a million dollars than to make a decision. Sure, you could wire up your own cameras for a few hundred bucks—but first you’ll need a plan for where to wire them up. And before that, you’ll need a procedure for making the plan, etc. Far better, then, to rent huge robots that don’t have to be plugged in anywhere in particu lar. (They get their power from the sun and their connectivity from the cellular network.) Then you can just leave them wherever they land, with no plan at all!! Sure, it’s $3,000 a month per robot—but what’s that among friends (and/or shareholders)? Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include the author's street address and phone number for veriﬁcation. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: PO Box 10770, Portland OR, 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com

Dr. Know

WATCH,TOMPETERSONWRIST-VIAWWEEK.COM: “Worth mentioning, three individuals on the list (Timeus, Stradley, Reeves) were with West Linn PD, and are on that list due to the well-covered scandal involving their illegal arrest of Michael Fesser utilizing [the Portland Police Bureau’s] assistance (Maxine Bernstein did a terriﬁc job covering it and the aftermath up until recently). Stradley, of course, had a long, storied career at PPB before retiring and joining West Linn, and used his connections with PPB to facilitate Fesser’s arrest in Portland.”

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

4 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com DIALOGUE

TEDSFAUSTIANBARGAIN, VIA WWEEK.COM: “Ah, when the city drops even the pretense of having a reason to pay someone six figures plus benefits.” DUBIOUS, VIA WWEEK.COM: “It’s disturbing to see how many chances local public employees get before they’re fired. It reminds me of the investiga tion into the Hardesty false hit-and-run story; when they investigated the folks in the call center, nearly every one of them had numerous past disciplinary infractions on their records. I’ve worked for different governments at various levels and I have never seen the level of forgiveness, and monetary rewards, present in Portland HR decisions.”

RIDDLE ME THIS, VIA WWEEK.COM: “I had to check my calendar…WW doing smart investigative reporting? Did I wake up in 2003?”

BILL GREEN, VIA TWITTER: “I don’t have an issue with WW applying scrutiny to the PPB. But I really, really wish they had the same zeal for looking at the byzantine array of PDX nonproﬁts and government agencies that are ostensibly providing services to the home less/drug addicted/mentally unwell.”

STEPHANIE DUECK, VIA FACEBOOK: “That was a sad and eye-opening read.”

TK, VIA WWEEK.COM: “[Ofﬁcer Andrew] Caspar and his ‘hurry up and wait it out/ let’s get out of the area before we have to take the call’ tactic is hardly some outlier in police circles. They’re human, and humans love to take the path of least resistance. Unfortunately, it’s absolutely the wrong job for those humans.”

BLIXSETH’S TIRE PILE IS LEGAL: Piling up tons of shredded tires along the Willamette River where they can be loaded onto a cargo ship is allowed, according to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Inspectors showed up unannounced at the old Louis Dreyfus grain terminal just north of the Steel Bridge on Aug. 4 but found no violations, DEQ spokeswoman Lauren Wirtis says. “They observed two piles of tire-shred product,” Wirtis wrote in an email to WW. “No tire shreds were visible outside of the two piles. DEQ inspectors did not observe any visible dust or odor during their visit.” The DEQ inspection came after a Portland resident told WW he went on a run past the terminal in July and encountered dust and the stench of rubber (“Rubber Room,” WW, July 27). One thing had changed in the interim: A ship taking on tire shreds had left two weeks earlier. Willamette Riverkeeper Travis Williams says he wonders if the DEQ inspectors looked at stormwater containment. “That would be a potential water quality impact,” Williams says. The Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, which regulates stormwater at the site, says the terminal doesn’t need a permit because it’s not a manufacturer. The terminal is owned by Beau Blixseth, son of Oregon timber speculator Tim Blixseth, and Chandos Mahon, a shredded-tire magnate.

LAWMAKERS SEEK TO TOW ABANDONED RVS : A group of lawmakers and local o cials are moving toward legislation that would expedite the cleanup of abandoned recreational vehicles. Tom Holt, a lobbyist for the Oregon Tow Truck Association, says there are hundreds of abandoned RVs in the metro area, but the problem extends throughout the state to parks, forests and wildlands. “They are everywhere,” Holt says. WW reported earlier that the Department of State Lands is moving toward a massive cleanup of abandoned boats on state waters. Holt says current laws regarding abandoned cars and trucks provide an e cient way to move them along, but the laws regarding RVs are less helpful. A group of three dozen stakeholders is working toward a funding proposal and rules that would allow speedy cleanup—although only for RVs that have been abandoned. “We are taking care not to disrupt people who are using them for shelter,” Holt says.

GENDERED FUNDRAISER RAISES EYEBROWS: Democratic lawmakers have made equity a huge focus in recent sessions—passing pay equity, family medical leave, criminal justice reforms and other laws aimed at ensuring equal treatment for all Oregonians. So several lobbyists are scratching their heads at an upcoming fundraiser organized by FuturePAC, the House Democrats’ campaign operation. Lobbyists got invitations to a Sept. 6 event titled “A Celebration of Womxn in the State House hosted by Future PAC!” Guests are invited to “join Majority Leader Julie Fahey and other womxn members of the Oregon House to celebrate our womxn-led majority and our fantastic womxn candidates.” (Tickets range from $50 to $10,000.) One female lobbyist, who requested anonymity to avoid o ending lawmakers, commented on the paradox: “Seriously? What if the invitation were for ‘men in the State House’?” FuturePAC spokesman Andrew Rogers says the organization began holding such events in 2018 and it’s entirely appropriate. “The audience for this event tends to be folks who support organizations like EMILY’s List, WINPAC and Emerge Oregon—the goal being to connect folks who care about electing women to o ce with women candidates running,” Rogers says. “The invite went out to the entire lobby, all candidates, and supporters.”

CITY’S DOWNTOWN CLEANING AND SECURITY LIAISON DEPARTS: Shawn Campbell, coordinator for the city of Portland’s three enhanced service districts, left his job last week. The city declined to answer questions about Campbell’s departure and whether it was voluntary, but it comes at a curious time: The city is undergoing a community review of a scathing 2020 audit that revealed accountability and transparency issues within the districts. Such districts—in which business owners agree to pay a fee for extra cleanup and security services— have long been controversial. In addition, a local security company ﬁled a complaint in July with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that Clean & Safe, the organization that runs the downtown district, entered into an unlawful agreement with Service Employees International Union Local 49 that resulted in the company losing a contract to an international security conglomerate. (SEIU denies the allegations. Clean & Safe and the Portland Business Alliance have not responded to requests for comment.)

RVs AT DELTA PARK GEHRKESAM 5Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

2. The city would scrap its commission form of government. This would free up City Council members to focus on policy and legislation rather than day-to-day management of city bureaus. Instead, a city administrator chosen by the mayor and conﬁrmed by the City Council would run the bureaus and handle daily administrative tasks. Perhaps the most pow erful ﬁgure in the city, if the measure passes, wouldn’t be elected by the people of Portland.

The lottery’s HR director, Janell Simmons, who now lives in Florida, agrees: “Hybrid and remote work, when the position allows, is good for employees and good for business. It has dra matically expanded our talent pool for new recruitments.”

6 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEKNEWS

Here’s the new deal:

A new state policy allows senior Oregon Lottery managers to live in Sun Belt states with no income taxes.

Name: Kathy Ortega Title: Chief ﬁnancial o cer, Oregon Lottery Salary: $199,068 Left Oregon: Nov. 19, 2021, per voting records Now lives in: McKinney, Texas 2022 travel to Salem costs: $2,064

“You can’t run all state agencies like a business, but you sure can with lottery,” Shelby says. “Like other companies, lottery has found hybrid and remote work, when possible, expands our talent pool and provides greater ﬂexibility for staff.”

There’s some grumbling around the water cooler at Oregon Lottery headquarters in Salem. None of the aggrieved parties would speak for attribution, but the source of their discontent is a matter of public record: Two of the agency’s top employees have moved permanently to sunnier climes far from Oregon—and to states where there’s no personal income tax. (Oregon’s rate tops out at 9.9% for residents making over $125,000. Both employees make more than that.) Lottery spokesman Matt Shelby confirms that the agency’s chief financial officer and director of human resources have both left Oregon. But Shelby says the moves are in keeping with new lottery and state policies that changed in recognition of the realities of COVID-19, a mobile workforce, and the benefits of remoteShelbyemployment.saysthelottery put new policies into place a year ago that expand opportunities for remote work. The Oregon De partment of Administrative Services, whose policies govern most other state agencies, followed last December. There are now nearly 500 state employees living in other states full time, officials say. That’s less than 2% of all state employees. Managers still must approve remote work on a case-by-case basis. The lottery, which is the state’s second-largest source of revenue after income taxes, operates in a competitive mar ketplace with other state lotteries and rapidly expanding pri vate-sector gambling.

That’s the question you’ll see on your Novem ber ballot when deciding whether to overhaul Portland’s system of government. On Aug. 15, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Stephen Bushong ruled that the sweeping char ter reform ballot measure crafted by a 20-mem ber commission over the past year will appear on the November ballot as one question. In July, the Portland Business Alliance sued the city over the ballot measure, alleging that the bundled package violated a state law man dating that ballot initiatives may present only one topic, not several. At issue for the PBA, and for other detractors of the reform package, is combining all three reforms into one yes-or-no question.Bushong ruled that because all of the reforms fell under a “unifying” theme, the measure could remain as is—with subtle language tweaks that have nothing to do with the substance of the measure itself. Bushong ordered those changes in a second ruling on Monday. The measure has survived a legal ﬁght. Now it faces a more daunting challenge: matching the will of Portland voters come November. As the pro and con campaigns kick it into high gear, take a moment to cancel out the noise and focus on what we know: the three changes proposed in the all-or-nothing deal. Here are the three major provisions brieﬂy explained. SOPHIE PEEL.

DOING GOOD THINGS: The Oregon Lottery is ﬂexible. FILES

1. The city would be split into four geographic regions. Voters in each dis trict would elect three council members to represent that portion of the city, expanding the Portland City Council to 12 members. The mayor would act as a tiebreaker but would have no veto powers.

BY NIGEL JAQUISS njaquiss@wweek.com

3. Portlanders would use ranked-choice voting to elect the City Council and the mayor. They would rank candidates on a numbered list. Voters could write as many or as few candidates as they wished on their ballot.

Name: Janell Simmons Title: Chief human resources o cer, Oregon Lottery Salary: $199,068 Left Oregon: Oct. 18, 2021 Now lives in: Merritt Island, Fla. 2022 travel to Salem costs: $1,963

Jody Wiser of the watchdog group Tax Fairness Oregon is nonetheless skeptical that elite employees whose salaries and princely beneﬁts come from Oregon taxpayers should be allowed to live income tax free elsewhere. “It seems unfair,” Wiser says. She’s also critical of the lottery’s decision to pay the travel costs of senior employees when they visit Salem. “When you work remotely, it seems to me the cost should be on your own back,” Wiser says “After all, local employees don’t get paid for the cost of commuting.” But Liz Merah, a spokeswoman for Gov. Kate Brown, says the policy shift reﬂects new realities. “The governor recognizes that one positive aspect of the pandemic is that it has changed how we approach the modern workplace,” Merah says. “Within state government, we have evolved to a place where remote and hybrid work is encouraged when feasible.”

One Scratch-OffsQuestion

“Should Administrator manage city government, 12-member Council (three from each district) make laws, voters elect ofﬁcials using ranked choice process?”

A judge tees up the big decision you’ll make about Portland’s future.

PERSONNEL

COMING EVENTS HANGLAND-SKILLMICK

BURKBRIAN BY THE NUMBERSTwoRailroadedformerlawmenonanunﬂatteringlistfoundnewjobsatTriMet.

Last week, WW published a list of public safety officers with ugly histories that county prosecutors say they might need to disclose to defense attorneys in the event the officers were called to testify in court (“The Odd Squad,” Aug. 10). Some had DUIIs, others were caught lying. WW identified seven who are currently employed by local government agencies, and profiled five. The remaining two lost their jobs at their previous agencies. Both are now employed by TriMet, the regional transit agency.

Name: Nicholas Markos Hired: 1996 Agency: Washington County Sheri ’s O ce Placed on the list: 2021 Status: Fired What he’s doing now: TriMet rail supervisor Multnomah County prosecutors added Nicholas Markos to their list last year, citing the state’s decision to revoke his police certiﬁ cation for “misconduct and dishonesty.” He lied, prosecutors say, about “injuries he sustained in a domestic altercation” and leaking information to the media.

A MAX

7Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

In fact, no one on the Multnomah County DA’s list is banned from testifying. The list merely ﬂags a name for further review. If Cagle is ﬂagged, prosecutors said they would consider disclosing his alleged misconduct, but would do so along with a letter he wrote in his defense. After interviewing Cagle, WW requested a copy of that letter. Cagle declined, saying he was “tired of litigating this over yet again.”

Name: John Cagle Hired: 1997 Previous agency: Kent Police Department Placed on the list: 2022 Status: Resigned What he’s doing now: Customer safety supervisor at the TriMet Police Division John Cagle was accused by the Kent, Wash., Police Department of “taking care of” a parking ticket for a friend and later lying about it while employed as a police sergeant, according to records obtained from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. Cagle resigned rather than be fired, the records say. Cagle tells a different story. In an interview with WW, he say he did try to help a friend get out of a parking ticket—because the ticket was invalid due to incorrect signage. But he was unable to fill out the necessary paperwork because he could not find a record of the ticket in the department’s system. He took a polygraph at the time to prove it, but failed the test. Cagle says he then resigned not because he knew he was going to be fired, but out of Washington’sfrustration.police certification commission reviewed Cagle’s res ignation but could not prove the department’s allegations, according to a letter it sent in 2010 to the Kent police chief. The commission declined to take the polygraph result into consideration without Cagle’s approval. On Aug. 27, 2020, Cagle did finally lose his certification due to in activity. He provided WW with a letter from the commission at the time saying his “certification is in good standing” and that it had no “allegations of misconduct” on record. Regardless, Cagle had been added to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office’s “Brady list.” The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office followed suit in May 2022. Multnomah County prosecutors took up Cagle’s case after someone sent them an email informing them of the King County decision. They reviewed the full internal affairs findings by the Kent Police Department, but didn’t release them to WW before deadline. Neither did the Kent police. Cagle now works at the TriMet Police Division as a “customer safety supervisor.” TriMet put him on paid administrative leave in June after learning he had been added to Multnomah County’s list. TriMet spokeswoman Roberta Altstadt said the DA’s office confirmed Cagle was on its “no witness list.” The transit agency put him on leave because “testifying is an essential function of his job.”

“I was retaliated against because I was a whistleblower,” Markos tells WW. “I did the right thing. But because it’s law enforcement, I’m a That’ssnitch.”nothow the state board that certifies law enforcement officers sawInit.2018, a committee at the state certification board voted in favor of revoking Markos’ certification. Garrett was a member but recused himself. The 14 other committee members voted unanimously to discipline Markos for gross misconduct, misuse of authority and dishonesty.TheWashington County Sheriff’s Office provided WW with a re dacted copy of Markos’ termination notice, dated Jan. 27, 2017. It’s signed by Garrett. A spokesman for the office, Sgt. Danny DiPietro, said over 100 pages of corroborating documents from the office’s internal investigation into Markos would be released later this week. The 10-page letter outlines various misconduct by Markos, in cluding lying and filming women having sex at another union party in 2014. It notes that even if Markos had intended to be honest, the “totality of his misconduct” warranted his firing. But, “most aggravating,” Garrett wrote, was the fact that Markos reported the criminal conduct in an anonymous letter to The Ore gonian and not to his superiors. The Portland Police Bureau also opened a criminal investigation into Markos as a result of the letter, according to legal filings. But Markos was never charged. In a lawsuit filed after his firing, Markos sued the sheriff’s office for retaliation and asked for $1 million in damages. He dropped the lawsuit the following year. Markos no longer works in public safety. He is a TriMet rail super visor. “All I do is make sure the trains keep moving,” he tells WW Multnomah County launches its free preschool program next month. Here’s what we know about the families who will help test it.

SOPHIE PEEL. How many families applied? 1,113 How many youngsters were accepted? Six hundred eighty-seven 3- and 4-year-olds will report to preschool next month, free of charge. The county will reimburse each provider $15,600 or $21,840 a year per child, de pending on the duration of care. Who are the families that accepted spots? 34% of the families have incomes below or equal to the federal poverty level for a family of four. (That comes to $27,000 a year.) 75% are BIPOC families. 36% of the families speak a primary language that is not English. Where are the facilities? North Portland: 4 Northeast Portland: 14 Northwest Portland: 2 Southeast Portland: 22 Gresham: 6 What kind of facilities are they? In-home provider: 24 Child care center: 14 In a school: 10

CANDID CAMERA: station.

In a month, Multnomah County’s bid to provide subsidized preschool for all children by 2030 launches its inaugural year. The program, which aims to provide preschool to 12,000 3- and 4-year-olds by 2030, is funded by a tax on high-income households that Multnomah County voters passed in 2020. The tax took effect Jan. 1, That2021.program set lofty goals: Flood the shrink ing preschool landscape with more teachers, pay teachers a livable wage so they remain in the busi ness, and provide quality care and education to every single preschooler across the county. That’s especially difﬁcult when the city is hemorrhaging child care providers: Between January 2021 and May 2022, the number of licensed preschool pro viders in Multnomah County dropped by more than one-third, from 1,242 to about 800. The program will be scaled up in the next decade, at which point the county aims to have capacity for the estimated 12,000 families who might want free preschool. While that’s still the goal, county ofﬁcials say that by next year they hope to have capacity for only 1,100 children. At that rate, the program would not serve 12,000 children until 2050. Chris Fick, chief of staff for Multnomah Coun ty Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson, who championed the measure, says 20% of preschool providers shuttered during the pandemic and have not reopened since. “So we recalibrated our goals to 1,100 for next year. We will try to exceed that goal—as we did with this year’s revamped goal,” Fick says. “But we’re in a good position to beat that goal by a considerable amount.” Here’s what we know about the 687 kids who will help launch the program and the facili ties that will care for them come September.

First, Markos’ termination letter provided by the Multnomah County’s Sheriff Office recounts a “domestic disturbance” in which someone attacked Markos after a union banquet held at the Wilson ville Holiday Inn in 2015. Markos was found “hiding in a bathroom” after being discovered “clandestinely together” with another person in a hotel room by someone who “pushed her way into the room” and then punched him multiple times in the face and chest. The names of the person and the woman were redacted. Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett accused Markos of at tempting to hide the incident so he didn’t have to implicate himself by reporting it to his superiors. Markos denied being injured when interviewed by investigators, despite testimony by multiple witnesses to the contrary. As for the leak: It was a letter sent in April 2015 to The Oregonian that outlined rampant sexual misconduct in the sheriff’s office, including deputies having sex with trainees and at least one instance of sexual assault. The sheriff’s office immediately announced an investigation. That letter was sent by a friend of Markos’, Samantha Parrish, at Markos’ urging, he tells WW It landed like a bomb in the sheriff’s office. At least three deputies were put on administrative leave. One, Sgt. Dan Cardinal, resigned a few months later. Cpl. Jon Christensen was fired later that year. The third, Deputy David Bergquist, retired the following year. All three had their state certifications revoked. And so did Markos.

LINEUP BABY STEPS

BY LUCAS MANFIELD lmanfield@wweek.com

8 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

The third, former state Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose), who is running unaffiliated with any party, declined to do so. “Betsy has always filled out the required financial disclosure forms to the Legislature and will continue to do so as governor,” says Johnson campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Sitton. “That is the sum total of the public’s interest. Betsy believes that whether you are voting for governor or running for governor, you continue to have a constitutional right to privacy, which most people value.”

BY NIGEL JAQUISS njaquiss@wweek.com

Third Way Two candidates for governor turn over their tax returns. Betsy Johnson declines.

Two of the three candidates for Oregon governor this year have turned over their tax returns at WW’s request.

The Drazans did not provide the schedules to the returns that would show itemized deductions, but Solomon says the amount they claimed was normal. “If I worked for the IRS or the Oregon Department of Revenue, there’s nothing in either of these sets of returns that would make me want to audit them,” he adds. Solomon says one of the beneﬁts of candidates disclosing their tax returns is that voters can see where a candidate’s income comes from. “I think the public is entitled to know that the senator from West Virginia [Joe Manchin] has substantial investments in coal, for instance,” Solomon says. “The decisions he might make in ofﬁce could affect his wealth.”

FULGENCIODANNY

In making that choice, Johnson deviated from recent norms in Oregon and across the country. In 2018, for instance, incumbent Gov. Kate Brown and Republican challenger Knute Buehler both shared their tax returns with the press, and in 2014, incumbent Gov. John Kitzhaber and Republican nominee Dennis Richardson shared their returns.

Paul Gronke, a professor of political science at Reed College, says such transparency has been the standard for at least 50 years. “Certainly since Nixon, it’s been a tradition at the presidential level, because of a desire for transparency, to avoid perceived conflict of interest and, really, just to reassure the public,” Gronke says. There has been one major exception, of course: Candidate and then President Donald Trump refused to turn over his tax returns in 2016 and again in 2020. Gronke says that refusal may have emboldened candidates in the governor’s race in Virginia last year and in Michigan this year. In Oregon, the Democratic nominee for governor, former House Speaker Tina Kotek, and the Republican nominee, former House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, agreed to share the past three years of their tax returns. Kotek provided state and federal returns; Drazan provided only her federal returns. The returns show that Kotek and her wife, Aimee Wilson, a counselor, jointly earned an average of $107,037 a year in gross income for the past three years. Their income remained stable over that time, dipping slightly last year when Kotek resigned her position as speaker to run for governor. Drazan, like Kotek, served as a lawmaker for the three years of returns she provided. Her husband, Dan Drazan, is a partner at Dunn Carney, a midsized Portland law firm. Their joint gross income was considerably higher, averaging $375,325 a year for the past three years. Reflecting the disastrous economy in 2020, however, the Drazans’ income showed far more variability than Kotek and Wilson’s: It sank from $428,109 in 2019 to $306,622 inDick2020.Solomon, a certified public accountant who has served on the Oregon Investment Council and the Oregon Lottery Commission, reviewed the candidates’ returns at WW’s request. “There’s nothing unusual or surprising in either of the returns,” Solomon says. “Dan Drazan earns a good living as a law firm partner, and the return shows they are saving a lot for retirement.”

9Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com NEWS

Solomon notes that neither the Drazans nor Kotek and Wilson reported any signiﬁcant investment income, relying almost entirely on their paychecks. That’s not true for Johnson, who hails from a wealthy Central Oregon timber family.

Johnson, like Kotek and Drazan, did submit the statement of economic interest required of many public officials in 2021. (She didn’t file one in 2022 because she resigned from the Legislature last year and isn’t officially a candidate until the secretary of state approves the signatures she needed to make theJohnson’sballot.) 2021 disclosure form shows that her husband, John Helm, has an ownership stake in five companies; that the couple owns seven properties in addition to their primary residence; and that she has trusts and an extensive portfolio of blue chip stocks. Johnson reported that 31 of those stocks generated at least $1,000 of dividend income each in 2021. Many of her holdings have significant legislative interests in Oregon. Three of them—Boeing, Global Partners (an oil transportation company) and Weyerhaeuser—have extensive operations in the state. Global, which has an oil terminal in Johnson’s former Senate district, has given her campaign $160,000.Without Johnson’s tax returns, it is impossible to know how much income she received from those three companies’ stocks or any of the other stocks she(Kotek’sowns. SEI contains no information not on her tax returns. Drazan’s shows that she and her husband own a beach house in Lincoln County but nothing else.) “Democracy depends on an informed electorate, which makes transparency critical,” says Kate Titus of Common Cause Oregon, a watchdog group. “Candidate tax returns help uncover potential conflicts of interest and redButflags.”Titus says the trend of candidates declining to share their tax returns is a bad precedent: “Clearly, this should no longer be voluntary, because that just allows the scofflaws to evade this publicGronke,trust.”who studies voting patterns and trust in government and the electoral process,“It’sagrees.disappointing to hear that Betsy Johnson is unwilling to release her returns,” he says. “It’s not a requirement, but it’s something most candidates have done.” conflicts of But Titus returns redinterestconfluncoverhelppotentialictsofandflags.”

Booking It

The Bookmobile Babe has been without wheels before. When Christie Quinn started a children’s book give away in the summer of 2018, she didn’t have a car. So she rode the MAX train, lugging a backpack heavy with children’s books, to Southeast Portland’s Creston and Lents parks and gave them away to kids who came to the city’s free lunch program. Over the next five years, Bookmobile Babe grew into a bona fide nonprofit organization, with two paid employees, 10 regular volunteers and, yes, an actual bookmobile.Thedonated 1999 Dodge Caravan had some flaws—200,000 miles on the odometer and the dash board display didn’t work, so Quinn had to guess when she needed gas—but it also had custom bookshelves in the back and a “Bookmobile Babe” magnet she could slap on the side. And now, Quinn is on foot again. The bookmobile was stolen July 9 from Ladd’s Addition from in front of a home where she is dog- and housesitting for the summer.Inacity rife with car thieves, not even the bookmo bile is Groggysafe.and in her pajamas, Quinn was grabbing her morning newspaper off the front porch when she looked up and saw the bookmobile was gone. She stood agape, staring at the empty parking space alongside the rose garden and then said “probably all the expletives.”

The Portland Police Bureau says 5,442 cars have been stolen in the ﬁrst half of 2022. For comparison, 3,406 cars were stolen in the ﬁrst half of 2021. That’s a 59% increase and means Portland is on pace to surpass last year’s number, which was the highest Portland had seen in 25 years. In the past year, 92% of stolen vehicles have been recovered—80% within 30 days of the theft. But that’s not because of investigations: The Police Bureau hasn’t had an auto theft unit since 2006. Instead, most vehi cles are found abandoned and no arrest is made.

The Portland Police Bureau says it doesn’t have enough officers for such a task force anymore. The bu reau is down to 324 patrol officers for a city of 650,000, says spokeswoman Terri Wallo Strauss. (The total number of sworn officers is 768; in 2006, there were 1,015.)“It’s really not about money, but manpower,” Strauss said. “Officers run call to call and have very little time for proactive work.”

Adding insult to injury: Last week, Beaverton police announced they had busted open the region’s biggest catalytic converter theft and fencing ring, which funded a rental home on the shore of Lake Oswego. Portland police and prosecutors watched as the suburbs took a victory lap for ﬁghting the city’s crime wave. But the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Ofﬁce responds that it has prosecuted more motor vehicle

Portland’s only bookmobile has been stolen.

10 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com NEWS

BY RACHEL SASLOW @RachelLauren12

Most of Quinn’s inventory was spared because she keeps her 5,000 books in two storage units on South east Belmont Street. “Frankly, would I want it back?” she asks. “The an swer to that is no. All my friends who have had this happen to them, if they get their vehicles back they are undrivable and in a horrible state.”

Bookmobile Babe runs a free summer reading camp Tuesdays and Thursdays at Lents Park at noon that coincides with the city’s Free Lunch + Play. Participants read a picture book on a particular theme (examples: Black Lives Matter, banned books, love the Earth), discuss it and do an art project. “What the Bookmobile Babe can do is incredible,” says Alicia Hammock, recreation supervisor at Portland Parks & Recreation. About two dozen children show up for the bookmobile, and this summer Quinn expanded the program to Gateway Discovery Park. “We are beyond thankful.” Now, Quinn’s nonproﬁt is “fundraising for our lives,” she says. Quinn set up a GoFundMe campaign (at press time, she’d raised about $1,500 of her $20,000 goal). She applied for three grants in one day. She has her eye on a Japanese ﬁre truck in Seattle that she could customize into a bookmobile. Quinn also dreams of a storefront in the Gateway neighborhood.“We’renotgoing to let a stolen van get us down,” Quinn says. “We have so many great things going on, and the community loves us so much.” “I didn’t want to waste anybody’s time looking for this thing.”

11Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

ever, the agency just announced a new Mobile Library, a custom RV outﬁtted with books, Wi-Fi, computers, printers and room for storytime. The Mobile Library route will prioritize communities that do not have close access to a library branch. “This is a unique opportunity for the library to expand our reach into the community,” says David Lee, mobile and partner libraries manager. “Expanding our library services with the Mobile Library to communities that have barriers coming in is just another way we will be able to do this.”

thefts (71% of cases referred to the office) in the last quarter of 2022 than at any point in the past three years.The office has been busy with the city’s surge in gun violence but “our prioritization of violent crime was never, ever at the expense of property crime or low-level crime,” says Elisabeth Shepard, spokeswoman for the DA’s office. “That is empirically and objectively untrue.”When the bookmobile vanished, Quinn found law enforcement’s response plodding. She turned to social mediaQuinninstead.sawthat she couldn’t file a police report online for vehicle theft, so she called the Police Bureau the morning she discovered the theft. She hung up after spending an hour on hold. That night, she was scheduled to work at the Portland Night Market at 100 SE Alder St. “I almost didn’t go because I was so devastated and stressed,” she says. She did, though, and she ended up chatting with a security guard who pointed her to a Facebook group for finding stolen vehicles. Quinn is pretty sure she saw the bookmobile—sans license plates but with some familiar dings on the bumper—being towed by a white truck in a photo sent to her by the Facebook group. When she finally met with a police officer three days after the van was stolen, she decided not to file a report. “I didn’t want to waste anybody’s time looking for this thing,” she says, assuming it would cost her more money to refurbish the van than it was worth. Quinn grew up in Greenville, S.C., and has warm memories of a bookmobile visiting her neighborhood when she was a child. A former high school English teacher, she volunteered as a weekend book shelver for the Multnomah County Library when she moved to Portland from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015. She learned the library had no bookmobile, and the idea for Bookmobile Babe was born. “We promote diverse literature and give it to underserved populations,” Quinn says. “I’m not here to give free books away to rich kids.”

SANS VAN: Christine Quinn hands out books at Gateway Discovery Park.

The Multnomah County Library’s last bookmobile service was in 1997, according to a spokesperson. How-

The service’s start date has not been announced.

BENARDBLAKE

BY MICHAEL RAINES

12 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

PHOTOGRAPHS

In Portland, where residential and com mercial real estate prices have marched con tinuously higher for decades, empty homes and storefronts make no sense, especially as thousands of unsheltered citizens bake in the summer heat. It’s true that boarded-up storefronts became a common sight during pandemic disruptions. But Portland still has one of the lowest residen tial rental vacancy rates in the country. Home prices have risen faster here than in all but five of the nation’s 40 biggest cities over the past two decades. And even with the current glut of office space, vacancy rates show we’re still better off than many cities. That’s why properties left empty over the long term are a mystery. That’s especially true if the empty building is owned by a nonprofit that only exists to put roofs over people’s heads, as is the case for one of the properties you are about to encounter, or if it’s located in a trendy part of town where retail is always at a premium, as is the case with another.Aswechecked around, we found numerous explanations, legal disputes, family dysfunc tion, incompetence, inertia—and perhaps the most galling factor: an uncaring bureaucracy. Rob Brewster, whose Seattle-based Interur ban Development rehabs old buildings around the Northwest—Pine Street Market and Under Armour’s West Coast headquarters are two Portland examples—owns one of the most visible ghost buildings, the former Gordon’s Fireplace shop at Northeast 33rd Avenue and Broadway.Brewster is beside himself with fury over the amount of time it’s take his company to get city permits to convert Gordon’s into a floor of retail and two of “Portland’shousing.byfar the worst city we do busi ness in terms of permitting,” Brewster says. “We don’t have a housing emergency here, we have a political crisis.” Others are more hopeful about the lonely spaces that dot the city. “You find them in every neighborhood,” Decker says. “You look at them and think, ‘If they stood that long, maybe they still have a future.”

Empty buildings are like missing teeth or blank pages in a photo album—the story lies in what isn’tTheythere.areuntapped potential, forgone wealth, and a narrative arc gone wobbly. Last month, WW chronicled two vacancies we found especially puzzling: the emptying of a downtown senior living facility called the Taft Home and the demolition of the Quali ty Pie building, which sat empty for 30 years on the corner of Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northrup Street. Then we asked readers to nominate the ghost buildings haunting their neighborhoods. They came forward with dozens. Doug Decker, a neighborhood historian who writes the Alameda Old House History blog, says it’s natural for people to be curious. “I think all of our older buildings are time travelers, and they all have stories to tell,” Deck er says. “When you see one that’s seen better days, you can’t help wonder what happened.”

Now a target for every tagger who can afford a spray can, the three-sto ry structure overlooking Sullivan’s Gulch began its life a century ago as a factory where homebuilder Oliver K. Jeffery briefly built airplane struts out of spruce—hence its current name, the Aircraft Factory. Rob Brewster bought the building for $2.7 million at the end of 2017 and says his first idea was to develop creative office space, but he and his partners have switched to two floors of housing—18 or 19 units—over retail. Then came the pandemic. Since then, he says, it’s been agony. City permitting officials didn’t raise any major concerns, he says, they just took a long time. “We were supposed to have been in and out of permitting in eight months,” Brewster says. “It was 14 months.”

Address: 3907 NE Broadway Year built: 1933 Square footage: 12,868 Market value: $6.9 million

Owner: Ben Bross Trust How long it’s been empty: 11 years Why it’s empty: Because a Port land institution died Just off Sandy Boulevard in Hollywood stood one of Portland’s most enduring restaurants: PoorHarlowRichard’s.Rudolph “Hal” Hulburt, a poor farm boy from Washougal, Wash., who worked as a torpedoman in the Navy and a ﬁsherman in Alaska, opened his place on June 17, 1959, at the then-bustling conﬂuence of 39th, Sandy and Broadway, according to a paid obituary. “PR’s,” as it was known, did well, but it really blew up in 1972 when Hulburt and business partner Stan Prouty started two-for-one din ners—one of many gimmicks they tried over the years to get diners in the door. The twofer included steaks, which were PR’s forte. They came with a baked potato, salad, and two onion rings perched on top. People mobbed the place. Hulburt had a clinical psychologist screen potential employees, according to a 2006 feature in The Oregonian. It appears to have worked. Some of them stayed for 40 years. Hulburt bought out Prouty and kept Poor Richard’s going until 2006, when he sold the restaurant and retired. New owners ran it until 2011, when Brett Kucera, owner of the Tony Starlight Showroom, tried to rent the space. “It was so out of date it was comical,” Kucera says. The deal fell through, and PR’s closed for good in September of that year. The owner of the building is Ben Bross Trust, which has an address in Charlotte, N.C. Property records show the trust bought the building, which also includes a Bank of America branch, for $2.03 million in 1987. The trust couldn’t be reached for comment. It’s up to date on its property taxes, according to county records.

You pointed us to the they’refoundinvacanteeriestbuildingsPortland.Weoutwhyempty.

ANTHONY EFFINGER. 13Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

During that time, inﬂation drove the price of everything higher and the Portland Bureau of Development Services slapped the developer with $50,000 in ﬁnes after complaints about the vacant structure. But now, workers are busy along the east face of the building be ginning the seismic upgrade of the shell and Brewster can see the future. “We are stewards of these properties which are part of the city’s infrastructure,” he says. “It’s up to us to make it better.” NIGEL JAQUISS.

Address: 3312 NE Broadway Year built: 1918 Square footage: 25,665 Market value: $2.15 million Owner: Interurban Development, Seattle How long it’s been empty: 6 years Why it’s empty: Red tape Gordon’s Fireplace Shop closed in 2016 after 61 years in business selling andirons, pokers, screens and other equipment necessary for burning trees indoors—as well as lamps, furniture and well, everything.

Owner: Sellwood Corner LLC How long it’s been empty: 8 years Why it’s empty: A diner’s legal battle On the same bustling block as a few historic mainstays of Hawthorne Bou levard—including McMenamins Bagdad Theater & Pub and Nick’s Famous Coney Island—lies a boarded-up building cov ered with graffiti. The vacancy makes lit tle sense considering its prime location in the middle of a hub for commercial activity and tourism. “It definitely jumped out at me that it was unoccupied,” says Chris Boyle, property manager of the nearby Bagdad. The property contained Tabor Hill Cafe, a breakfast and lunch spot that since 1986 was a neighborhood fixture, but in 2003, owner Mark Gearheart, a local physician, leased the property to Ngay Luong for 10 years. Bill White, owner of Fred’s Sound of Music, the business adjacent to Tabor Hill Cafe, says the creativity of the food declined under new ownership, but he remembers Luong and his family fond ly. “They were always friendly and nice people to work next to and always very courteous,” White says.

Address: 3766 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Year built: 1907 Square footage: 1,169 Market value: $650,930

In 2009, Bill Macfarlane went to pick up his dress shirts at Wash World on Belmont—and found the dry cleaner closed. “I called the number on my ticket and had to meet a guy in a parking lot to get my shirts,” Macfarlane recalls. “No advance notice that they were closing at all.” Ever since, he’s wondered why the property has remained fenced off and boarded up. Documents submitted to state environmental regulators provide someIndustrialclues. sites with suspected chemical contamination must submit a cleanup plan to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, especially if the owners seek to redevelop the land. For the better part of four decades, the Wash World on Belmont used a solvent called per chloroethylene, or PCE, to dissolve grease stains from suits and dresses. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says prolonged exposure to PCE causes neurological and liver damage. Probably cancer, too. So it was a problem when, in 2015, an environmental remediation ﬁrm found that “volatile PCE vapors have been detected in soil, gas and indoor air samples.”

The property owner at the time, a company called Alfa Belmont LLC, installed a “vapor extraction” system that pulls PCE gas from beneath the building’s concrete floor, treats the vapor and expels it outside. In 2016, Alfa Belmont sold the building to Mark Desbrow’s Green Light Development. In part to reduce exposure to PCE vapor, the developer planned to reverse the existing footprint: by erecting a five-story apartment building on what was once the parking lot. Six years later, that still hasn’t happened. The empty Wash World building is covered in brightly colored murals featuring an octopus, a trolley car, and a troubled-looking yellow duck. The building was sold again, for $2.2 million to Killian Pacific, the Portland developer best known for the Goat Blocks towers. Michi Slick, a principal of development at Killian Pacific, tells WW that two developers are now planning 32 units of rental apartments.

AARON MESH.

It’s true, Mormons are ﬂeeing. In the past two years, the church has lost 1.5% of its members in Oregon, which has long been one of the top 10 most Mormon states, according to an analysis of church data by the blog LDS Church Growth. Built in 1929 by Charles Kaufman, the tabernacle on Harrison is one of the two oldest remaining meetinghouses in the state, Noble says. It’s a victim of the Portland exodus, part of a larger trend of Mormons across the country moving out of urban areas and into the suburbs. Noble says the building is now for sale, a decision church leaders in Utah made a few months ago. And it’s not the only one. Noble’s congregation has had to move twice—and the Tabor meetinghouse has also closed. The buildings are among four Mormon churches in the Portland area that face uncertain future, according to church spokeswoman Irene Caso. She blamed “changing church member demographics” and noted the church is “still determining potential uses” for the tabernacle.Despitethe uncertainty, church membership is still growing world wide, and a 2020 investigation by Truth & Transparency, a nonproﬁt newsroom, valued the church’s land holdings alone at nearly $16 bil lion. It also holds around $100 billion in other investments, according to The Wall Street Journal Like all religious institutions, the Mormon church has paid no taxes on the property. The new owners could face a hefty tax bill, although if they decide to raze the building and start over, they’ll have limited options—the property is zoned for residential development only.

Address: 2755 SE Belmont St. Year built: 1968 Square footage: 4,500 Market value: $1.9 million Owner: Killian Pacific How long it’s been empty: 13 years Why it’s empty: Environmental pollution

The project is called Shortstack Housing, and is intended to ﬁll the “missing middle” of small-scale multifamily developments in resi dential neighborhoods. “The presence of site contaminants,” Slick adds, “which are required to be addressed with redevelopment of the property, make construction of any new building at the property more complex.”

Address: 2931 SE Harrison St. Year built: 1929 Square footage: 26,222 Market value: $11.4 million Owner: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints How long it’s been empty: 2 years Why it’s empty: Mormon flight For two years, one of Oregon’s oldest Mormon churches has stood empty. After its congregation left four years ago, the Gothic-style Portland Stake Tabernacle in the Richmond neighborhood of South east Portland was brieﬂy used solely as a library—until the pandemic closed that too. There weren’t enough Latter-day Saints to ﬁll its seats, explains Bishop Dave Noble, whose congregation once met in the 2,000-seat building.They’ve been scared away by the rioting and “political stuff,” Noble says. “They’re moving to Utah and Idaho.”

LUCAS MANFIELD.

14 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

Tabor Hill Cafe closed in 2014 when Luong’s lease expired. Gearheart filed a lawsuit against Luong in February 2020, claiming Luong’s disregard for maintenance was so egregious he had “left it uninhabitable.” The two sides reached an undisclosed settlement this February.Gearheart testified for the lawsuit he was trying to restore the property to a habitable condition. An advertisement posted online in 2018 by Gearhart Prop erties signaled he has also tried to sell it. In the meantime, the property suffers from broken windows and graffiti, says Veronica Douglas, manager of Cross roads Trading, a clothing store on the same block. White says his employees frequently pick up trash left outside the building. Its future remains unclear. “We see activity there once in a while,” White says, “but I’m not so sure what they’re doing.” ETHAN JOHANSON.

Address: 1485 NE 128th Ave.

Ferruzza and building owner Erzsebet Eppley ended up in court over another property a few months after Ferru zza closed his restaurant. It appears that Ferruzza rented both his business space and his home from Eppley. She evicted Ferruzza from a house on Northeast Tillamook Street in June 2014, according to court records. Eppley, who calls herself an “independent apparel and fashion professional” on LinkedIn, didn’t return emails seeking comment or messages left with her attorneys. Ferruzza didn’t return a call seeking comment, either. If you miss Al Forno Ferruzza on Alberta you’re in luck. Ferruzza has another location in Rhododendron. As for the once-lovely brick building? It’s decaying and is covered in grafﬁti. A sign with the name of a developer came down off the side recently, and Eppley owes two years of back property taxes totaling $2,397.56, according to Multnomah County records.

Horner did not say how many of the 1,000 units have been made available since the program launched in 2018, and funding for the project remains unclear. Horner says PCRI “applies for funding streams all across the board, we ask banks to donate to our organization, we’ve received funding from Meyer Memorial Trust, but it’s very expensive to develop hous ing...we’re constrained by ﬁnancial resources to develop.”

The house in Hazelwood was one of hundreds PCRI purchased from a predatory mortgage broker and real estate company called Domin ion Capital that went bankrupt in 1990. PCRI agreed to maintain the homes as deeply affordable housing—a costly endeavor that’s resulted in a number of PCRI-owned homes sitting vacant for years.

The pandemic brought something that residents of the Sunny side neighborhood hadn’t seen in decades: lights and activity at the long-shuttered western half of an assisted living center that city records say is the oldest and largest in Oregon. A Catholic-related organization called Mount St. Joseph owned the facility until 2005, when it sold the ground and turned operations of the senior care center to the ﬁrst of a series of for-proﬁt operators. (Avamere, a large Oregon com pany, currently runs it.) The sprawling, 6.19-acre property is bustling on its eastern half, but the older, western section is long dormant. In 2016, the Hong Kong-based owners went through a lengthy land use process with the city to add 112 new residential beds and 22 skilled nursing beds. That would have meant knocking down the hulking old structure on the west end of the property.

Horner declined to say when the home was last occupied, adding she could not answer WW’s questions by deadline because “as a smaller staffed non-proﬁt organization, time and resources are never plentiful.”

According to the most recent ﬁlings with the federal government, PCRI has net assets of more than $20 million and its executive director at the time was earning $189,000 a year. SOPHIE PEEL.

Owner: Erzsebet Eppley How long it’s been empty: 9 years Why it’s empty: Because a pizza place left The last tenant at this charming, dilapidated, two-story gem on Alberta and 28th was Al Forno Ferruzza, a Sicil ian pizza place that opened in 2009 and closed in 2014. At the time, owner Stephen Ferruzza said he had to close because a pipe burst and the landlord didn’t act in time to prevent an “excessive mold buildup” that “ren dered the building unsafe for our workers and customers.”

Address: 3060 SE Stark St. Year built: 1942 Square footage: 159,000 Market value: $18.2 million Owner: OR4Laurelhurst LLC, Hong Kong How long it’s been empty: At least 25 years Why it’s empty: Senior care management

Year built: 1952 Square footage: 1,000 Market value: $280,000 Owner: Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives How long it’s been empty: At least three years, but a neighbor says nearly 20. Why it’s empty: There’s no money to redevelop it. The decrepit ranch-style house with a collapsing garage, peeling teal paint, a moss-covered roof, and boarded windows looks tiny on its 7,000-square-foot lot. The home, situated in the deep East Portland neighborhood of Hazelwood, has been owned by Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives—a nonproﬁt that develops, maintains and rents affordable housing—since 1992. Because of its 501(c)(3) status, PCRI pays no property taxes on the lot. Nuisance complaints investigated by the city over the past 22 years include trash littering the land, suspected squatters, and a collapsing garage.Kymberly Horner, executive director of PCRI, tells WW the nonproﬁt is amid a plan to build, rent and sell 1,000 properties in 10 years, and adds this property is included in that plan: “Right now we don’t have the timeline set, but we do know we want to get some of our vacant properties under construction within the next two years.”

ANTHONY EFFINGER. 15Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

It hasn’t happened yet—neither Avamere nor representatives for the owners returned calls seeking comment—although the empty space came in handy during the peak of the pandemic when it served as a place to quarantine seniors with COVID-19. The long-term vacancy frustrates neighbors, however. “It really seems like our property tax system is structured wrong when properties can lay fallow that long,” says Jim Wood, who lives nearby and estimates the old part of the structure went dark more than a decade ago. NIGEL JAQUISS.

Address: 2738 NE Alberta St. Year built: 1917 Square footage: 4,748 Market value: $1.3 million

Address: 6666 N Columbia Way Year built: 1925 Square footage: 14,500 Market value: $2.4 million Owner: Antoine Dean How long it’s been empty: 7 years Why it’s empty: Donated to a college For decades, this curious, triangle-shaped build ing sandwiched between two high-traffic streets in St. Johns was home to an auto parts shop owned by an eccentric named Merlin Radke. When Radke died in 2017, he left much of his estate, including this beige, single-floor building to Warner Pacific University. (Radke’s attorney, Michael Peterson, recalls that Radke started attending church later in life. He never married or had Andreachildren.)Cook, former president of Warner Pacific, first met Radke on campus as she was walking to her car in 2006. “He stopped me and asked, ‘What would it take to get my name on a building?’ I learned a long time ago that you take every question serious ly. So I said let’s talk,” Cook recalls. “We talked about it off and on for 10 years, and ultimately he decided to give his assets to the university.” Warner Pacific, which never used the property, sold it last October to 29-year-old entrepreneur and self-dubbed “real estate mogul” Antoine Dean for just over a million dollars. Dean’s a real estate and investment vlogger who owns properties in North, Northeast and Southeast Portland. He made a 19-part YouTube series called Making of a Mogul about how he became wealthy by investing in real estate. Dean says he hasn’t decided yet what to do with the lot, but he’s in the process of splitting the commercially zoned parcel in two. He plans to sell off the parking lot and then either sell the building or renovate it into creative workspaces. He says he has no timeline, but he tends to flip real estate quickly. “It was just a good deal,” Dean tells WW. “The parking lot alone was worth a good amount of money. So it just was something that I could buy, divide, sell a piece and keep a piece.”

AARON MESH. 16 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

The closure of the city’s third-best Burger King, tucked off Broadway on the lip of Interstate 84, isn’t all that mysterious. But its nomination by a reader gives us a chance to explore what happens to the husks of fast food franchises when they fold. The distinctive shapes of former Wendy’s and Pizza Huts can be spotted across Portland, recognizable even after they’ve beenSuchrepurposed.turnoveris common. In fact, two Burger Kings have shuttered in Central Portland in the past ﬁve years. The closings occurred as the Whop per’s parent company, Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International, launched a “closure pro gram” for poorly performing outposts. (The com pany shutters about 200 Burger King locations nationwide each year and opens about the same number of new restaurants, according to QSR magazine, a trade publication for the quick-service restaurant industry.)

In most cities, those shuttered restaurants are quickly replaced. But the Portland City Council banned new construction of drive-thru lanes in 2018, seeking to reduce carbon emissions from idling cars. That means when a Burger King is razed, a new one won’t sprout elsewhere in the city.In theory, that should make an existing drive-th ru window more valuable. Especially because one of those empty structures is on prime real estate: at the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge. That Burger King property, at 1525 SE Grand Ave., has a market value of $1.9 million. It’s up for sale, but its real estate broker didn’t return a call from WW As for the Broadway location, its owners—the Lau family of Happy Valley—have listed it for sale for the past three years. Their broker, Eleanor Aschoff, tells WW that vandals broke into the building a couple of times early in the pandemic and stripped out what was left of the kitchen. “We’re actually selling it more for the dirt,” Aschoff says. “It’s an acre of land. We have it priced below market.” Her hope is that a developer will snag the property for an apartment block, like Grant Park Village a quarter-mile west.

Address: 3550 NE Broadway Year built: 1983 Square footage: 3,192 Market value: $5.6 million Owner: Raleigh D. Lau and family How long it’s been empty: 4 years Why it’s empty: Fast food contraction

SOPHIE PEEL. Ekansh Gupta contributed reporting to this story.

NIGEL JAQUISS.

Now, the tong is largely a social club, says Leo, a licensed clinical social worker. Its remaining members are aging and they meet to catch up and chat. For 60 years, the neighboring commercial space was home to Fong Chong, a family-run Chinese grocery store and, for a period of time, one of Portland’s best dim sum restaurants. It closed in 2014, and the building has stood vacant since. Efforts to open a variety of business es there, from strip clubs to a cannabis processing plant, have gone nowhere.Leoblames city bureaucracy for the building’s extended vacancy.

17Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

Owner: Northrup Brothers LLC How long it’s been empty: 21 years Why it’s empty: A backroom deal, exposed Just north of Northwest 21st’s restaurant row sits a perfect retail opportunity—the big-windowed home of Northrup Grocery, which hasn’t served a customer since 2002.

A WW reader reported the Hop Sing Tong building in Chinatown as vacant. And on a recent Wednesday afternoon, it certainly appeared to be. The doors were barred. A shirtless man slept on a couch out front. But the building is actually not vacant. The Portland chapter of the 150-year-old Chinese American organization Hop Sing Tong owns the building and still meets there—although it’s done so less frequently during the pandemic, says Victor Leo, president of the corporation made up of Hop Sing Tong members that owns the building and the neighboring commercial space. Hop Sing is one of several tongs that ﬂourished in the United States in the 20th century as Chinese immigrants arrived. The organizations quickly became associated with gambling and violence as their mem bers took up arms and competed for inﬂuence.

For many of those years, as the North west Examiner reported, Jeff Baldwin, whose parents bequeathed him the prop erty, filled it with other people’s castoffs in a DIY recycling effort. Baldwin rejected offers from buyers and brokers eager to purchase or lease the space, but he finally sold it in 2016 for the modest sum of $1.1 million—about half what brokers then said it was Theworth.deed showed that Baldwin had accepted the offer from buyers George Fussell and John Hauser (doing business as Northrup Brothers LLC) in exchange for a promise not to redevelop it for a de cade, which reflected Baldwin’s desire to preserve his family’s legacy. A developer, however, soon filed plans with the city for a 46-unit apartment project. After the Examiner blew the whistle, that project faded and the building remained dormant. In 2020, Northrup Brothers sought permits from the city to make more cosmetic improvements—a new storefront, new roll-down doors, landscap ing for the parking lot, and new exterior lighting. The city granted approval. But neither the owners, their manage ment company, their architect, nor the broker who has the property listed for lease returned WW’s requests for com ment. Kirk Becker, whose company of fers the large eastern wall of the store as billboard space, might have spoken for everybody when he said, “Business isn’t very good.”

“Three or four people tried to get through the red tape, but they failed,” heThatsays.is, until this summer, when Rainbow City, an all-ages arts venue, moved to the Hop Sing Tong building from across the river on East Burnside, where it opened in 2020. Strawberry Pickle, one of the owners, says she sold her Hillsboro house and closed her in-home preschool business to make her dream, a home for Portland’s wackiest artists, come true. The venue celebrated its grand opening in the new space with a July 4 dance party. Last Thursday, it hosted Charlie Von Doom, who describes himself on Twitter as a “dystopian DJ and producer.” At one of the venues’ most popular events, hosted by Sword Society, participants dance and spar with lightsabers. Pickle and her business partner, Vin Eden, shoulder the $7,000 rent. They’re now breaking even, she says. And despite the nearby abandoned buildings and occasional busted car windows, she feels as though life is returning to the neighborhood. “The landlords were like, oh my gosh, we’d rather see 100 weirdos and artists coming and going than having it be empty or just a standard nightclub,” Pickle says. Leo agrees. He wants to shed the neighborhood’s reputation for vice. But the rise in visible homelessness and crime has left him discouraged. “I’d love to see a booming Chinatown,” Leo says, “but I don’t think it’ll happen.” LUCAS MANFIELD.

Address: 1120 NW 21st Ave. Year built: 1924 Square footage: 6,500 Market value: $1.87 million

Owner: Yick Kong Corporation How long it’s been empty: It’s not.

Address: 317 NW 4th Ave. Year built: 1905 Square footage: 10,000 Market value: $3.9 million

Photos by Brian Brose On Instagram: @brianbrose FREEWHEELING Bicyclists swarmed Portland’s iconic bridges, including two normally o -limits to cyclists, for the Providence Bridge Pedal and Stride on Sunday, Aug. 14. Riders took over the top decks of the Marquam and Fremont bridges while car tra c was barred for the 26th annual event. Abortion rights activists joined the ride to protest its sponsor, Providence, the only private insurer in Oregon not required to cover abortions and other reproductive health care.

18 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com STREET

DRINK: The Granny Crawl

STUFF TO DO IN PORTLAND THIS WEEK, INDOORS AND OUT SEE MORE GET BUSY EVENTS AT WWEEK.COM/CALENDAR 19Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com GET BUSY

COMEDYABETANDAIDOFCOURTESY

DRINK: Viking Beer Fest Drink like an ancient warrior at the inau gural Viking Beer Fest, located on Nordic Northwest’s campus, which was built to resemble a quaint, Swedish village, complete with a log house included in the National Register of Historic Places. A 20-foot replica ship will not only set sail across the lawn; you can also expect live combat, something called “Viking Chess,” and plenty of beer. Buy tickets now if you want to experience the 13th century seafaring life you’ve always dreamed of— this event is expected to sell out. Nordic Northwest, 8800 SW Oleson Road, 503977-0275, nordicnorthwest.org. 3-10 pm Saturday, Aug. 20. $25-$39. 21+.

 GO: Better Together Art Market

LAUGH: Aid & Abet Comedy

LISTEN: Montavilla Jazz Festival 22 Powerhouse lyricists and vocalists Marilyn Keller and Rebecca Sanborn join forces for the premiere of The Heroine’s Journey The piece, recently commissioned by the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, ex amines the life-changing power of dreams. Listeners familiar with Portland’s jazz scene are sure to recognize the names of some renowned musicians, and those not so familiar can use this as an opportunity to plug into local jazz. Alberta Rose The atre, 3000 NE Alberta St., 503-719-6055, albertarosetheatre.com. 8 pm Friday, Aug. 19. $10-$29.

The summer market season is begin ning to wind down, so before Labor Day shutters a good number of them, be sure to hit as many as possible, including the Better Together Art Market. There will be more than 30 local artists’ work available to purchase as well as live music and the opportunity to make your very own crafts. You’ll also ﬁnd food provided by business es like Pie Spot and Secret Pizza Society along with booze from Gigantic Brewing and Blank Slate Cocktail Bar, which, after a few glasses, should help loosen your grip on your wallet. True North Studios, 455 NE 71st Ave., Saturday,events/summer-market-2022.truenorthstudios.org/10am-4pmAug.20.Free.

DRINK: Summer Brew Fest Tom Petty and Willamette Week agree: You belong among the wildﬂowers. And the crew at Mt. Hood Meadows is party to the decision, because they’re bring ing an array of kegs from local brewers to the peak to ensure an edifying visit. Scenic chair rides, hikes of all lengths and idyllic scenery await. Come for the views, stay for the drinks provided by Ferment, pFriem and other Paciﬁc Northwest brewing greats. Mt. Hood Meadows, 14040 Highway 35, 503-337-2222, fourmugfest1.schedule-events/august/summer-brew-skihood.com/2-5pmSaturday,Aug.20.$16foraandfourtastertokens;$30foramug,tokensandbuetdinner.

From the Grandmillennial interior design aesthetic to Coastal Grandmother fashion, all things elderly—well, except for actually aging—became the hot new trend over the past two years. So, of course, somebody went and created a drinking event based on the fad. Similar to SantaCon, you’ll don your best granny outfit and wig, then hit five di erent bars in the Montavilla neighborhood. Crawl begins at Threshold Brewing & Blending, 403 SE 79th Ave., thegrannycrawl.com. 5-10 pm Saturday, Aug. 20. $12-$35. GO: Canine Community Carnival Much like humans, canines require lots of socialization. Fulfill your pet’s social needs with a weekend excursion to the Gar den Home Recreation Center. The event promises cooling stations, pet-pertinent vendors, pop-up dog parks, food options and more. And if you happen to be look ing to add a furry member to your family, there will be doggos at the event available for adoption. Garden Home Recreation Center, 7475 SW Oleson Road, 503-6296341, thprd.org. 10 am-1 pm Sunday, Aug. 21. Free. WATCH: The Country of Two Rivers Filmmaker Kutbettin Cebe documented the Rojava Revolution against ISIS with stories from oppressed Assyrian, Kurdish and Arabic people. In turn, the Turkish government accused and convicted Cebe of creating “propaganda for a terrorist organization.” View the work for which Cebe unjustly served two and a half years in prison. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 971-808-3331, cstpdx.com. 7 pm Tuesday, Aug. 23. Free.

To these comedians, abortion can be a laughing matter. Portland stand ups Julia Ramos, Amanda Martin-Tully and Alayna Becker will come to gether for a night of inspiring joke-telling and rabble-rousing while also raising money for Shout Your Abortion and the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, which both advocate for full access to reproductive health care. The Siren Theater, 315 NW Davis St., 206-853-2996, sirenthe ater.com. 7:30 pm Thursday, Aug. 18. $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

The potato filling inside of your four taquitos is simply boiled and mashed Russet potatoes, with a little bit of garlic, salt and pepper. Then, they get a smear of creamy avocado-tomatillo salsa. From there, it’s up to you. The most popular toppings are birria-style braised beef and, more recently (after starting as a weekly special), a Cuban-influenced citrus pork. Both are braised for four to five hours, slow and low, until tender. But don’t sleep on the garbanzo beans, a vegetarian option that is meant to mimic the mouthfeel, flavor and aroma of pork al pastor. Other options are chicken, shrimp, mushroom and seasonal vegetables.

“My whole thing is that it should be cooked and in your hands and enjoyed within seven minutes.”

20 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com FOOD & DRINK

BY JASON COHEN @cohenesque Webster’s deﬁnes “taquito” as…well, actually it doesn’t. Only ﬂauta makes the online dictionary’s cut. You may also know the rolled and deep-fried corn tortilla dish as tacos dorados or, simply, “rolled tacos.” But you’ve never had taquitos quite like those served at Tito’s Taquitos in Southwest Portland. These taquitos tell a story. These taquitos span two countries and three generations. These taquitos—let’s face it, it’s just really fun to say “taquitos”—are impeccably sourced, perfectly executed and incredibly delicious.

How He Rolls

THE SALSA When Tito’s ﬁrst opened, La Pietra wasn’t sure Portland would embrace the sort of heat that he grew up with. “I would always eat spicy, spicy, spicy salsa,” he says. “[My family] was like, here’s some chiles, you got to start young!” But Portlanders turned out to be right there with him. Sure, they like the classic tomatillo verde, which is the mildest, but also the smoky, punchy, brickred arbol, while the hottest of them, the habanero-based cueta (“rocket”), might be the most popular.

Made to order by hand, there’s a lot more to the eponymous dish at Tito’s Taquitos than just rolled and fried tortillas.

LET’S ROLL: Tito’s taquitos are stu ed with potatoes and topped with proteins to keep the menu more ﬂexible and ensure freshness.

THE GARNISH You get practically an entire cabbage salad as the bottom layer, which also holds the plate together. On the side and top, radish slices, hibiscus ﬂower pickled onions, queso fresco, and a sprinkling of microgreen cilantro (or just chopped cilantro when the former’s not available).

First opened by Anthony La Pietra in January 2021, Tito’s Taquitos went over so well with the neighborhood and social media (as well as Portland Monthly) that by September of that year he had to close for seven months to find a bigger cart and new location. That turned out to be the parking lot of a 76 gas station—hardly a negative for any taco truck, but thanks to its covered deck and lots of nearby trees, the space is also as simpatico as any outdoor dining spot. La Pietra is an L.A.-area transplant and culinary school grad who worked in Hollywood catering, owned a couple of restaurants and, after moving to Portland—simply because he and his wife fell in love with the city after frequent visits, particularly the energy and community of the food cart scene—was working in the kitchen at Adidas before COVID-19 hit. Bored, antsy and wanting to cook following months in lockdown, he decided to stay in his own neighborhood and celebrate the Mexican food he grew up with. Taquitos were a staple in his grandmother’s kitchen, but the biggest inspiration was his late stepfather, Margarito “Tito” Jimenez.“Hisfavorite food was always taquitos,” La Pietra says. “He would take me to every single Mexican restaurant that he knew, and he had all the taquitos in L.A. mapped out. Like, this is where you go if you want them really crunchy, or this is where you go when you want ’em drenched in avocado sauce. He was a taquito fanatic. And he would always tell me: ‘You should open up a taquito place one day.’” At Tito’s, the taquitos are neither an appetizer nor an afterthought but an elaborate—and elaborately composed—entree. They’ve got a spectacularly crispy crackle, strong corn flavor, and a chunky-soft potato filling, plus an assortment of vegetable garnishes and your choice of proteins laid on top. Doing it that way (instead of stuffing a second filling in with the potato) keeps the menu more flexible for vegans and vegetarians, and also makes it easier for La Pietra to make everything that comes out of the kitchen fresh. Calling in an order ahead of time will help ensure you get your food even when La Pietra has sold out for the day, but those tortillas still won’t hit the fryer until you check in at the cart. “My whole thing is that it should be cooked and in your hands and enjoyed within seven minutes,” La Pietra says. Tito’s also has a full lineup of tacos, makes its own agua frescas, does two kinds of tres leches cake (both regular and chocolate) for dessert, and will soon serve beer. But the star attraction, well, it’s right there in the name. Here’s how all those layers of flavor break down: THE MASA It all starts with the quality and freshness at Three Sisters Nixtamal, which processes and grinds organic corn into masa and tortillas in Southeast Portland. For the taquitos, La Pietra orders the finished product because it’s easier to roll and fry. “We get the tortillas pressed in their machine because we need to get them really, really thin so that they’re nice and crispy all the way through,” he says. But if you try the tacos, the tortillas for those are hand-pressed from Three Sisters masa and griddled in the cart.

WOOJUDIAANN

Editor: Andi Prewitt Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

11 am-6 pm Wednesday-Saturday.

EAT: Tito’s Taquitos, 3975 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, 503-406-5935, titos-taquitos.square.site.

THE FILLING AND TOPPINGS

Top Buzz5 List

1. THE SUNSET ROOM 100 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., kexhotels.com/eat-drink/thesunsetroom. 4-10 Friday-Sunday. The rooftop oasis that once held Kex’s Lady of the Mountain has a new occupant. Renowned bartenders Je rey Morgenthaler and Benjamin “Banjo” Amberg opened the Sunset Room in late July after launching the hotel lobby’s watering hole Paciﬁc Standard. The top-ﬂoor perch has a menu that’s more whimsical and experimental, which goes well with views of the riot of color that is the neighboring Fair-Haired Dumbbell.

2. THE KNOCK BACK 2315 NE Alberta St., theknockback.com. 4-midnight Monday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday, noon2 am Saturday, noon-midnight Sunday. Over the past two years, we’ve seen plenty of bars close, along with a slew of brave newcomers entering the market. But rarer is the resuscitation of any pandemic casualties. Now, the Knock Back, which shuttered in 2020 after an unsuccessful GoFundMe campaign, has returned to its original location with a new drink menu. Perhaps the best part, though, is the fact that it has also revived food cart boom standout Grilled Cheese Grill under its roof.

Top Hot5 Plates WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.

1. CHAMPAGNE POETRY PÂTISSERIE 3343 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-265-8834, champagnepoetry.biz. 9:30 am-7 pm Tuesday-Thursday and Sunday, 9:30 am-9 pm Friday-Saturday. This new bakery is a pink wonderland of colorful macarons, airbrushed tarts and sou é pancakes. Chef-owner Dan Bian is dedicated to infusing classic French desserts with exciting ingredients—from yuzu to guava to ube. The real stars here are the hyperrealistic cakes, including one that looks like a perfect Homer Simpson doughnut.

5. PACIFIC STANDARD 100 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 971-346-2992, kexhotels.com/eat-drink/pacificstandard. 3 pm-midnight daily. At Pacific Standard, one of the new bars by bartender Je rey Morgenthaler and Benjamin “Banjo” Amberg anchoring the Kex hotel, you won’t find any of the drinks the two men became known for at their former posts, Clyde Common and Pépé le Moko. But there are nods to those past hits in the all-new cocktail menu, like the summery rosé Negroni, the zesty All-Day Bloody Mary, and the Palm Desert Date Shake that’s decadent but not too boozy.

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

3. RUKDIEW CAFE 2534 SE Belmont St., 503-841-6123, rukdiew.com. 11:30 am-3 pm and 4:30–9 pm Monday-Thursday, 11:30 am-3 pm and 4:30-9:30 pm Friday, noon-9:30 pm Saturday, noon-9 pm Sunday. The most sought-after Thai appetizer in Portland these days might just be chicken wings, since the fall of Pok Pok has many hoping to discover an adequate replacement. Look no further: RukDiew’s hot wings are not only heavenly, the dish is secretly two great snacks in one. Flats and drums are tossed in a light chile-garlic sauce and served on a bed of fried basil leaves and egg noodles.

2. DESI BITES 16165 SW Regatta Lane, #300, Beaverton, 971-371-2176, desibitespdx.com. 11 am-2:30 pm and 4-9 pm Tuesday-Sunday. Desi Bites is one of the Beaverton’s newest South Asian markets with a full restaurant. Beware, however, the dining area is tiny (while the store is huge) and it ﬁlls up quickly. Plan for takeout, at least as a contingency. Don’t be afraid to try the ﬁery tomato- and coconut-based Telangana curry, a specialty of Hyderabad. For a more mainstream repast, try the kati rolls or kebabs wrapped in paratha bread, which are messy but delicious.

4. CHENNAI MASALA 2088 NE Stucki Ave., Hillsboro, 503-531-9500, chennaimasala.net. 11:30 am-2 pm and 5:30-9:30 pm Tuesday-Sunday. Chennai Masala has been a South Indian standard for more than a decade. After the dining room was remodeled, it gained the feel of a midscale restaurant, shedding the cafeterialike vibe. South Indian food leans heavily vegetarian, so order accordingly. We suggest one of the dosas, a scrolled crispy crepe made with fermented lentil and rice ﬂours. Good plain with just a side of aromatic sambar or ﬁlled with potatoes, chutney, egg, cheese, meat and more.

21Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

3. NORTH 45 517 NW 21st Ave., 503-248-6317, north45pub.com. 4 pm-midnight Monday-Thursday, 2 pm-1 am Friday, noon-1 am Saturday, 2 pm-midnight Sunday. You never know exactly what you’ll ﬁnd on North 45’s rear patio, but it’s the promise of a rollicking scene tucked out of street view that keeps people waiting for a seat. But like a mullet, the party in the back is balanced by a measure of reﬁnement. The drink list circumnavigates the globe, from renowned Belgian Trappist beers to a booklet of spirits that’s almost two dozen pages long.

5. EB & BEAN 1425 NE Broadway, 503-281-6081; 3040 SE Division St., 971-242-8753; 645 NW 21st Ave., 503889-0197; ebandbean.com. Noon-10 pm Sunday-Thursday, noon-11 pm Friday-Saturday. This summer, Portland has watched from afar while much of the nation has baked in punishing temperatures. Now that we’re baking, it’s time to start ﬁnding ways to stay cool. Fortunately, Eb & Bean just launched four new nondairy froyo ﬂavors that should act as a temporary respite from the sweltering conditions: amarena cherry lemon, garden mint, vanilla co ee, and hibiscus mango.

4. WASHINGTONBREWINGMIGRATIONAT SQUARE 9585 SW Washington Square Road, migrationbrewing.com. Noon-8 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-7 pm Sunday. Migration is making it cool to be a mall rat again. The 12-year-old company just opened a beer garden inside Washington Square with four taps as well as multiple packaged options, including cider and wine. The bar is surrounded by food court staples, which means you ﬁnally have the opportunity to pair a Migration classic like Straight Outta Portland IPA with a plate of piping hot orange chicken from the nearby Panda Express.

Jam on Hawthorne Thank you for 20 years of laughs, friendship, kindness, delicious food, patience, dedication, hustle, overall good times, and your ongoing support. We are thrilled to still be going strong because of all of you! 2239 SE Hawthorne jamonhawthorne.comBlvd 22 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

This nonproﬁt is a de facto union for cannabis workers— particularly cannabis workers of color. Employees who are not members of a collective bargaining organization, or have been legally excluded from coverage by U.S. labor laws, can rely on the Cannabis Workers Coalition to help them handle everything from incident reports to employer investigations. The group also aims to improve work conditions through the implementation of training programs and direct outreach. Interested parties can donate directly or take part in one of CWC’s expungement or hiring events.

BY BRIANNA WHEELER

MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT Marijuana Policy Project is the largest organization in the nation with the mission of changing federal law to allow states to determine their own cannabis policies. Founded in 1995, MPP has been instrumental in establishing medical and recreational legalization that changed the landscape of contemporary cannabis culture. The organization was the driving force behind ballot measures in Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana and Nevada. It continues to focus on regulating cannabis like alcohol in several other states, while also lobbying for medical cannabis bills in Nebraska, South Carolina and Tennessee.

SUPERNOVA WOMEN Women are a powerful force in the cannabis industry, and Supernova Women is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed to further boost their involvement and influence, particularly women from the BIPOC community. The organization prioritizes education, advocacy and network building through the development of the groundbreaking Social Equity Workforce Development Cohort, a highly specialized program that assists community members impacted by the War on Drugs. Supernova also commissions an annual social equity impact report of hard numbers that illustrate the group’s efficacy.

AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS

CANNACLUSIVE For users who want to contribute to a more equitable cannabis industry but lack the extra funds to funnel into a favorite nonproﬁt, Cannaclusive has a great guide of minority-led cannabusinesses in every state to help buyers make smart purchasing decisions. Bookmark its InclusiveBase page and use it as a reference when you shop at your neighborhood dispo or travel to other legal states.

Another stellar program that supports women in cannabis is Women Grow. Established in 2014 as a way to invest in the next generation of femme leaders, the group hosts seminars to help founders continue their cannabis education and arranges events to build strong community networks. Women Grow envisions a future in which cannabis prohibition ends on a global scale, and it wants women to be ready to lead in all facets of the industry once that happens.

The age of the clueless stoner is very much over. These days, to partake in cannabis is to be acutely aware of the pervasive effects of prohibition. More people understand that one easy step toward becoming a conscious cannabis advocate is to research who produces and sells your pre-roll packs and pop-top eighths and then buy from businesses owned by individuals from communities that have traditionally been targeted by drug laws. You can also support any number of organizations whose goals range from policy reform to racial justice, including Portland-based NuProject, which works to uplift BIPOC cannabis entrepreneurs; the Oregon Handlers Fund, which provides low-income candidates with money for marijuana worker permits; and the Last Prisoner Project, a nationwide group that gives legal aid to nonviolent cannabis offenders. I am a total bleeding-heart cannathusiast, so naturally, in advance of National Nonproﬁt Day on Aug. 17, I rounded up yet another list of cannabis and cannabis-adjacent nonproﬁts working toward an equitable future for each generation affected by the War on Drugs. Here are a few organizations to consider supporting next time you have a little extra money in your weed budget: CANNABIS WORKERS COALITION

In honor of National Nonprofit Day, we rounded up six organizations working to support the cannabis industry where it is legal and promote change in states where it is not.

WOMEN GROW

23Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com POTLANDER

Americans for Safe Access arose to support safe, legal access to cannabis for both research and therapy. Founded in 2002 by marijuana patient Steph Sherer as an advocacy vehicle for other patients, ASA has since grown to include over 150,000 active supporters in all 50 states, including medical professionals, scientists and everyday stoners.

Maybe it’s time to change customers! Walk into each shift with a smile, our customers smile right back and they are thrilled that you came to work – It’s That Easy! Has Customer Services Got You Down? You can be an important person in the lives of many who will become much more than customers, they will become family, and every relationship will give back tenfold! Direct Support Professionals start at $19/ hour with zero experience. Our beneﬁts are outstanding and 90%+ employer paid. Looking for acupuncture, massage? We’ve got it! Employee Assistance Program? Ours is one of the best!Check out positions at www.cs-inc.org and see what customer service is meant to be! Get TonightBusy OUR EVENT PICKS, EMAILED WEEKLY. 503-568-4090 FremontNE8226 PLAYHOUSE Odessa Sylvia’s Eliminate the loud & busy club scene! Step into a private time that is focused around your fetish & fantasy needs! Come get naked with us!!! 18+ VALID ID PLAYHOUSEPORTLAND.COM PRIVATE ADULT FETISH & FUN 24 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

“We all traveled to the Painted Hills to just be in a beautiful place of nature, which is something that is really inspiring to us in our work.”

25Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com MUSIC Editor: Bennett Campbell Ferguson | Contact: bennett@wweek.com

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 24: Rock-’n’-roll guitar virtuosos are in short supply these days, and Niger’s Mdou Moctar has triumphantly committed to filling the missing space ever since Portland’s Sahel Sounds brought his fluid, fiery style to Western ears on the fascinating Music From Saharan Cellphones compilation in 2011. Since then, he’s signed to mega-indie Matador, played the Prince role in a Saharan-set remake of Purple Rain, and otherwise embraced his role as the best guitarist you’re likely to see live that isn’t touring casinos. Show Bar, 1300 SE Stark St., #203. 8 pm. $28. 21+ floor; minor seating in balcony only.

The band is hard to categorize, but to use their own words, Sávila is “music from our ancestors, made for the club.” It’s experimental Latin jazz and R&B; it’s psych rock; it’s cumbia; it’s music to feel to. And despite the disparate inﬂuences, all their performances have one thing in common: Each is like a celebration.“The club is a place where people come together and they feel uplifted,” Gonzalez says. “We want it to be a positive thing.”

BY MICHELLE KICHERER @MichelleKicherer Brisa Gonzalez was in her room at the Pocoapoco artists’ residency in Oaxaca when she heard a nearby serenade through the building’s old walls: a struggling tuba, a straining trombone, trumpets practicing their scales. The charmingly disjointed music was coming from a kids’ orchestra camp. Gonzalez busted out her recorder and kept rolling as she moved into the next room, where Sávila bandmate Fabi Reyna was playing her guitar. Those sounds were layered into the opening moments on “Nuestro Amor,” the second track on Sávila’s 2021 album, Mayahuel. Named for the Goddess of Agave, Mayahuel has beats and energy like a Latin Khruangbin album, wrapping your senses in its warm depths and grounding you in the music’s roots. Each song on the album, which sits somewhere between EP and LP in length, is a reflection of what the band experienced during their stay in ThroughoutOaxaca.thesongs, you can hear the multicolored fabric of the landscape, from the sounds of the city to the rushing water and wildlife in the mountains to the pre-Hispanic percussive instruments of other musicians Sávila met along the way. Their surroundings helped inspire not only music, but the mini documentary Échale Sávila (which currently streams free onCreatedYouTube).incollaboration with filmmaker Caitlin Díaz, the short film is a collage of stories shared by each bandmate’s mother: Brisa Gonzalez’s mother, Mercedes Gonzalez; Fabi Reyna’s mother, Martha Elena Reyna Villanueva; and Papi Fimbres’ mother, Berta Moreno Borja Fimbres. “We all traveled to the Painted Hills to just be in a beautiful place of nature, which is something that is really inspiring to us in our work,” Brisa Gonzalez tells WW. “To share that with them, just to be out there collaborating with some other people that we really care for…that process is really, really beautiful.” As director, Caitlin Díaz approached the project like an archivist, sharing a list of questions with each mother and child, then filming and seeing what would happen. “We just invited everyone together to see what we could make,” Gonzalez says. “We were all surprised at what came out. To create memories of having [the mothers] singing together and watching this set together in the desert…that was really beautiful.”

SHOWS WEEK How Sávila dug deeper into their Mexican roots with an album and a documentary.

Intergenerational storytelling projects like these help to create a vivid portrait of Mexican history—and collaboration is a huge part of how Sávila helps share these stories. The group invites dancers to perform at their shows and works with visual artists and set designers (and in some cases, caterers) to create a moving and connective experience for their audience. Sávila plays at Polaris Hall on Aug. 19, along with dancers Mufﬁe Delgado Connelly, Julissa DeJesus and Jakkii Vázquez. The trio has danced at other Sávila shows, in addition to appearing in the band’s short ﬁlm Earth Without Borders, which was a collaboration with Portland Center Stage and features visually fantastic puppetry.

SÁVILAOFCOURTESY

The ﬁlm weaves together the intersecting stories of each of these Mexican American women and their children. Each mother speaks of heartbreaking experiences and struggles, with the ultimate goal of creating more empathy and understanding beyond the Mexican American community. In the ﬁlm, Mercedes Gonzalez talks about her own mother: “By her actions and her words, it looks like she had grown up believing that being Mexican was not good. It was very painful to see her judging her own people. It took me lots of years to reclaim my own pride as a Mexican woman.”

SEE IT: Sávila plays at Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Court, 503-240-6088, polarishall.com. 8 pm Friday, Aug. 19. $20. Watch Échale Sávila at girlsinﬁlm.net/videos/ echale-savila. Music to Feel To

FRIDAY, AUG. 19: Interpol is still touring and even put an album out this year, but that hasn’t stopped New York Kids, Portland’s ﬁrst Interpol tribute act, from putting together a 20th-anniversary celebration of the band’s debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, at Revolution Hall’s Show Bar. What’s more, Victoria will open by paying tribute to Beach House, whose debut came out in 2006! It’s o cial: The midstream rock of the 2000s is now deﬁnitively classic rock. Stay tuned in 20 years for Portland’s hottest Wet Leg tribute. Show Bar, 1300 SE Stark St., #203. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

SATURDAY, AUG. 20: Emerging from the amazingly fertile Chicago scene of the 1990s, Califone has spent 25 years in an enviable position as the kind of band that anyone who’s heard them knows is great—it’s just a matter of hearing them. Their natural, pungent, swampy sound derives from American roots music but has little interest in an idealized vision of the past, instead emphasizing the earthiest and most elemental qualities of folk and blues while muddying the landscape even further with bits of free jazz and harsh noise. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave. 9 pm. $18. 21+.

WHAT TO SEE AND WHAT TO HEAR BY DANIEL BROMFIELD @bromf3

SEE IT: Bag&Baggage Productions’ The Tempest plays at Grifﬁn Oaks Park, 1800 NE Grifﬁn Oaks St., Hillsboro, Aug. 18-21; Shute Park, 750 SE 8th Ave., Hillsboro, Aug. 25-28. 8 pm. Free. Reserve your spot at bagnbaggage.org.

CAMPBELLCASEYCAMPBELLCASEY

26 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com THEATER Editor: Bennett

THIS THING OF DARKNESS: Khail Duggan, Desiree Roy and Josh Rocchi.

“Lines in English and Spanish are spoken interchangeably, often delivered in the same breath.” Campbell Ferguson bennett@wweek.com

| Contact:

La Tempestad Bad&Baggage mounts a bilingual production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. BY MAX TAPOGNA Shakespeare in the park comes to Hillsboro with Bag&Baggage’s production of The Tempest, which plays at various locations around the Portland suburb through Aug. 28. Everything about this Tempest is truncated: Five actors pull off all the roles and the show’s 90-minute runtime means that audiences are in for a speedy trip to Prospero’s island. The bilingual adaptation by TS McCormick and director Yasmin Ruvalcaba seamlessly interweaves Spanish with the original verse, adding an interesting layer to the Bard’s tale of a mystical father, his beloved daughter and the visitors who enter their isolated realm. Lines in English and Spanish are spoken interchangeably, often delivered in the same breath. There are no supertitles, but the majority of the dialogue is conducted in English, and those who have a couple of years of high school Spanish should fare all right. Regardless, the combination of Spanish and Shakespeare’s English makes for an exciting linguistic handshake. Kudos to the actors, who rise to the marathon challenge of playing multiple characters. Khail Duggan, Desiree Roy and Josh Rocchi carry most of the play’s action, alternating between the shipwrecked royals Ferdinand, Sebastian and Alonso, as well as the comic trio of Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban. (Rocchi brings especially convincing physical differentiation in his portrayals of Caliban and Alonso, the Neapolitan king.) As Prospero, Demetri Tostado does away with the common interpretation of the character as a stern patriarch, projecting a warmth that is almost infectious—when he addresses the audience, there is always a glimmer in the eye and a smile. Tostado’s Prospero is a loving man who forgives his backstabbing brother and tenderly embraces Ariel (Calista Rodriguez) after finally freeing the spirit. For the first half of the play, Spanish is mostly spoken between Prospero and Miranda (also played by Rodriguez), but by the end of the play, most of the characters seem to understand Prospero’s Spanish directives. Unless Ferdinand was cramming Duolingo offstage, perhaps Prospero’s magic enables people to achieve fluency in a few hours. The adaptation’s quick runtime means that some of the play’s beloved features are cut. Gonzalo, the aging optimist who is part of King Alonso’s retinue, is entirely absent, and the subplot involving Sebastian’s attempt to dethrone Alonso is trimmed to such an extent that those unfamiliar with the play might miss it altogether. Cutting Shakespeare’s text is necessary to bring a fresh perspective to his plays, but one omission here was especially puzzling.Latein the story, Prospero summons a company of spirits to perform for Miranda and Ferdinand, who are newly engaged. At the end of this “masque,” Prospero launches into the play’s famous “Our revels now are ended” monologue. Sadly, only the first two lines make it into the production. As written, the monologue offers a stunning double entendre description of magic and the nature of theater, and surely could have been realized wonderfully in Spanish. It doesn’t help that uncooperative microphones plagued the actors for much of the performance I attended. Not infrequently, the mics distorted their voices so much that lines were entirely lost (I felt especially bad for Rodriguez, whose mic seemed to have a mind of its own, turning on and off every other line). Given the intimate crowd that was gathered, I’m not sure amplification was necessary in the first place. The show would have been better offThoseacoustic.willing to make the commute to Hillsboro should leave early. I wandered around Rood Bridge Park for some time before finding the performance, but the park provided a beautiful backdrop to the stage, and the neighborhood noises blended nicely into the play’s soundscape. By the time the show ended, the sun had fully set. The revels had indeed ended.

WW: Between this documentary and your Jake on the Streets web series, what have you learned about Jakeinterviewing?Silberman: A lot of my style is to let [people] talk. I don’t try to interject my perspective. But it’s weird as a comedian because it’s like, “Should I try to make this funny? Or more documentarian?” That’s my biggest tension all the time. Do you view impromptu interviewing as an extension of your crowd work? Yes and no. You’re performing for the camera, which is much harder than for a live audience where you’re reading the room. I don’t think I’m great at it yet. But it’s a good skill to have, and people like living vicariously through video. I enjoy being at the heart of the action.

CLASSIC PICK: The tension between art and commerce is the soul of Hollywood—and few ﬁlms embody that uneasy truth more than Vincente Minnelli’s The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Kirk Douglas stars as a producer who ruthlessly charms an actress (Lana Turner), a director (Barry Sullivan) and a writer (Dick Powell). Rent on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON @thobennett

When you reflect on summer 2021, was it a distinct social era? That summer was unique because people were pent up. That summer, once you got vaccinated, you really did think, “This is all over for me.” So people were going out with that energy. And it was weird for [comedians]! Getting back on stage was so strange. When I was editing the doc, I was looking at how out of practice I was. I wasn’t in game shape. As a comedian, what do you hope making a documentary accomplishes? I’ve been doing comedy for over nine years, and it’s still weird for me to say I’m a comedian. You have that selfdoubt. Now, I would never call myself a filmmaker, but I have made a film. It would be really nice if it opened a door to a job going around the country interviewing people—even if it wasn’t a comedy thing. I love talking to people, hearing their stories, going to new places. Now, I’ve been doing comedy long enough to know most things you do don’t lead to anything. I just hope it gets out to people who enjoy it and realize it was something we put a lot of effort into.

SCREENER

INTERNATIONAL PICK 1: If you liked Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s recent hit The Worst Person in the World, try Thelma (2017), his humanist horror film about a closeted young scholar (Eili Harboe) whose lust for a fellow student (Kaya Wilkins) awakens her psychokinetic superpowers. With a rush of cleansing fire and refreshingly uncynical romance, the film lives by a pure and vital creed: Purge hate, embrace love. Hulu. Free on Tubi.

INTERNATIONAL PICK 2: Die-hard Drive My Car devotees have probably picked up the new Criterion Blu-ray by now. But if you’re a newbie who wants to see if Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Oscar-winning ﬁlm is as good as you’ve heard (spoiler alert: It’s better), it’s still streaming. Based on a short story by Haruki Murakami, the ﬁlm stars Hidetoshi Nishijima as a grieving theater director who forms a strange and transcendent friendship with his stoic chau eur (Tôko Miura). HBO Max.

TheWarriorRoad Comedian (and ex-Portlander) Jake Silberman crosses the country in his documentary Back at It

HOLLYWOOD PICK: After his maddeningly literal-minded West Side Story remake, Steven Spielberg is due for a renaissance. Hopefully, this fall’s The Fabelmans will deliver, but until then, you can savor Catch Me if You Can (2002), the director’s joyous, fact-based caper about ’60s teen grifter Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the FBI agent (Tom Hanks) who pursued him from the U.S. to France. Netﬂix.

SEE IT: Back at It premieres at 9 am Wednesday, Aug. 17, at youtube.com/c/JakeSilberman.

YOUR WEEKLY FILM QUEUE BY

A lot of the interviewees in this ﬁlm are 2 am drunk, but others seem to be going through real stuff. Do you still think about any of them? Some of them! There was the moment in Denver where the guy got pretty upset about my Star of David [pendant]. It didn’t really offend me. It’s more like, “Man, what is this dude about that he’s so enraged by a dude wearing a necklace on a Saturday night?” It’s so funny too because I’m just this broke comic in a van trying to get funny interviews on the street, and he took it to this place where I represent all this shit in his life. I’m nobody, dude. Have you always been good at tolerating discomfort? Comedy obviously has helped that: hecklers, bad sets, whatever. But I was kind of a little shit-talker as a kid. I was the guy in my friend group who’d mouth off to somebody bigger. But there’s something about the microphone and the camera that gives it more of a “What are these people gonna do? Swing on me?” They know whatever happens is on camera. And I’ve found there is something about humans that they want to talk on camera and are OK telling a guy they don’t know personal shit.

SMITHCAROLINE

STUDIOSSFMETRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER

“I’ve been doing comedy for over nine years, and it’s still weird for me to say I’m a comedian.”

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

STREAMING WARS

27Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com MOVIES

JAKESTOWN: Jake Silberman.

BY CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER @chance_s_p People like talking to Jake Silberman. Want to discuss your love life while you’re wasted in a Denver parking lot? He’ll listen. The former Portland comedy stalwart has a knack for getting people to open up—especially when they shouldn’t. That raw, chaotic impropriety fuels Silberman’s new documentary, Back at It, which captures his ability to ad-lib in unpredictable company (whether onstage or approaching a stranger on the street, he scarcely sets down his microphone). Premiering on YouTube today, the film documents Silberman’s cross-country van tour in June 2021, watching as he observes America process, deny and party its way through politics and the pandemic. Though Silberman moved away from Portland just two months ago, he’s spent this summer again crisscrossing the nation in his no-frills white van (and doesn’t take up official New York City residency until November). WW caught up with him to discuss his steely interviewing nerves, last summer’s distinct COVID-19 dynamics, and whether he still wonders about his film’s colorful road characters.

Historically cast for their hard-bitten gravitas, Wes Studi (The Last of the Mohicans, Hostiles) and Dale Dickey (Winter’s Bone, Leave No Trace) boast well over 200 screen credits between them. But freshman director Max Walker-Silverman is the first filmmaker to find romantic vulnerability in the grooves of Dickey’s and Studi’s unforgettable visages. A Love Song finds Faye (Dickey) idling away at a Southwestern Colorado campground, awaiting a letter from high-school friend Lito (Studi). With some Moonrise Kingdom-influenced camerawork, the film is a playful exercise in simplicity, as Faye catches crawdads, cracks Busch Lights, and spins the dial on her lightly magical radio, which always plays the perfect lonesome country tune. When Studi arrives, the movie becomes a sublime two-part harmony—both actors wear their age as armor, delicately juxtaposing late-stage puppy love with their characters’ very real fear of starting over after age 60. More akin to a short story than a novel, the movie is a mere 81 minutes, but in every dusty frame, it features some of 2022’s finest acting. PG. CHANCE-SOLEM-PFEIFER. Living Room.

Kajillionaire (2020) This wonderfully surreal dramedy from Miranda July stars Evan Rachel Wood as Old Dolio, an antisocial 26-year-old living with her con-artist parents (Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger). When the vivacious Melanie (Gina Rodriguez) joins their heist crew, her budding romantic relationship with Old Dolio shakes up the already unconventional family dynamic. PAM CUT, Aug. 19.

FREE CHOL SOO LEE

VANTAGEPARAMOUNT 28 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com MOVIES

The Adventures of Mark Twain represented a “high bar” or that the California Raisins were a “really successful project”). He’s portrayed more as a being in perpetual motion than as someone whose imagination can be unpacked. Granted, that appears accurate, according to the many interviews conducted by director Marq Evans (who also made The Glamour & the Squalor about another Pacific Northwest institution, Seattle DJ Marco Collins), but it leaves frustration behind. The film’s most cogent narrative is of a business’s rise and fall, set to ominous courtroom-drama music. ClayDream is a melancholic Vinton primer that capably chronicles what they made at Will Vinton Studios, just not why.

A LOVE SONG

1985almostsesSeenthisintrospectionacumen,againstcollaborator-turned-tormentor),hisownflawedbusinessandevenagainstthenecessarytomakedocumentaryreallyresonate.here,Vinton’sself-analy-aresomatteroffactthey’reexpository(likethathisfilm

NR. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Cinema 21. OUR KEY:THIS MOVIE IS EXCELLENT, ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR. : THIS MOVIE IS GOOD. WE RECOMMEND YOU WATCH IT. : THIS MOVIE IS ENTERTAINING BUT FLAWED. : THIS MOVIE IS A STEAMING PILE.

TOP PICK OF THE WEEK GET YOUR REPS IN Mean Creek (2004) Filmed and set in Clackamas County, this coming-of-age psychological drama follows a group of teens whose plan of revenge against the school bully (Josh Peck) on a boating trip down the Clackamas River goes dangerously awry. Screens in 35 mm and features a post-ﬁlm live Q&A with writer-director Jacob Estes and producer Susan Johnson. Hollywood, Aug. 17.

The title of Chol Soo Lee’s prison memoir is Freedom Without Justice. The war between those two concepts defined the prisoner-turned-activist’s life and turned him into a tragic emblem, an evolution bracingly captured by this documentary from directors Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. Lee’s wrongful imprisonment for murder in San Francisco in 1973 (and its decades of fallout) epitomizes the dehumanization of Asian Americans at its most systemically glaring. Channeling the spirit of Sacramento Bee reporter K.W. Lee, who first led the charge for Chol Soo’s exoneration, Ha and Yi embrace detailed reportage, demonstrating the racially biased bunglings of police and judicial procedure. While a grassroots Asian American movement builds to free him, we hear the incarcerated Chol Soo Lee keenly observing how prison is designed to alienate him even from those who’ve given their lives to his case. The film could benefit from a slightly wider lens or deeper final act—Lee himself says the real heroes are the other activists, but the focus is almost entirely on him, showing how freedom without justice torments even a man who’s become iconic. That approach may be transformative, but it can’t restore what was stolen. PG-13. CHANCE-SOLEM PFEIFER. Wednesday, Aug. 17, at Clackamas, Lloyd Center, Pioneer Place. ANONYMOUS CLUB Ever since she burst upon the indie rock scene nearly 10 years ago, Courtney Barnett has presented herself as a smart, taciturn, down-to-earth artist, prodigious at channeling mental health struggles into lyrics while shredding left-handed. All those terrific qualities are confirmed— softly and needlessly—in this documentary by music video director Danny Cohen. Through three years of 16 mm touring footage and confessional dictaphone recording, we witness Barnett plumb the existential value of her songwriting, battle writer’s block, and embark on her first solo tour, but none of these decidedly uncinematic ideas necessitates a documentary. With Barnett, what you see is what you get. She’s not someone whose myth needs to be built or deconstructed, and Cohen doesn’t have a distinct vision for the film beyond creating a downbeat tour diary with a pleasant, analog aesthetic. While it’s mildly amusing to glimpse the closest thing to a modern rock-’n’-roll star sensibly watering her plants and stretching before shows, Anonymous Club’s self-mandate to pull back the curtain just appears ill-conceived. “Why can’t you just be a strong, powerful communicator?” Barnett asks herself at a moment of stinging self-doubt about her ability to publicly unpack her music. Does she need to? She’s one of songwriting’s best communicators. That’s more than enough.

Cinema 21: Chinatown (1974), Aug. 20. Clinton: Serenity (2005), Aug. 20. 5th Avenue: The Secret Garden (1993), Aug. 19-21. Hollywood: Five Easy Pieces (1970), Aug. 18. Psycho (1960), Aug. 19. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Aug. 20-21. Harold & Maude (1971), Aug. 21. The One Armed Executioner (1981), Aug. 23.

NR. CHANCE SOLEM PFEIFER. Friday, Aug. 19, at Cinema 21 with Courtney Barnett in person.

STREETBLEECKER

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Set one year before Raiders of the Lost Ark (despite being the second installment of the Indiana Jones franchise), Temple of Doom ﬁnds the most inexplicably handsome archaeologist in the world (Harrison Ford) stopping a deadly cult in India, with the help of a poorly written singer (Kate Capshaw) and an 11-year-old boy (Ke Huy Quan, future star of Everything Everywhere all at Once). Academy, Aug. 19-25.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) Wyrd War presents a rare 35 mm screening of Sam Peckinpah’s anarchistic neo-Western centered on a barroom pianist (Warren Oates) and his girlfriend (Isela Vega) who journey through Mexico City to bring an enraged mob boss the head of gangster Alfredo Garcia in exchange for a million-dollar bounty. Hollywood, Aug. 20.

ALSO Academy:PLAYING:Deliverance (1972), Aug. 17-18. Anaconda (1997), Aug. 17-18. Wings of Desire (1987), Aug. 19-25.

“Interesting characters often have a simple goal…but it’s in great conflict with the world around them,” narrates the late, legendary Portland animator Will Vinton in ClayDream, a documentary about his life. Thematically, it’s a perfectly chosen quote, but it also spotlights the film’s limits. ClayDream frames a pioneering creator primarily as a combatant—against Phil Knight (to whom he lost his company), against Bob Gardiner (his former

CLAYDREAM

Enter the Dragon (1973) Bruce Lee’s final film performance (before his death at age 32) stars the multihyphenate international star portrays a recently recruited secret agent tasked with infiltrating a martial arts tournament on an opium lord’s island fortress. Screens as part of the Clinton’s Bruce Lee Film Festival. Clinton, Aug. 20.

Jack Kent’s True scenes from the @sketchypeoplepdxstreets.kentcomics.com 29Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

52. Trick

30 Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian poet Danu sha Laméris discovered that earthworms have taste buds all over their bodies. Now she loves to imagine she's giving them gifts when she drops bits of apples, beets, avocados, melons, and carrot tops into the compost bin. "I'd always thought theirs a menial life, eyeless and hidden, almost vulgar." But now that she understands "they bear a pleasure so sublime," she wants to help the worms fulﬁll their destinies. I mention this, Cancerian, because I suspect you may have com parable turnarounds in the coming weeks. Longheld ideas may need adjustments. Incomplete understandings will be ﬁlled in when you learn the rest of the story. You will receive a stream of interesting new information that changes your mind, mostly in enjoyable ways.

18.

hurts!" 28.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): My Aquarian reader Georgie Lee wrote to tell me what it's like being an Aquarius. I offer it to you because you are potentially at the peak of expressing the qualities she names. She says, "Accept that you don't really have to understand yourself. Be at peace with how you constantly ramble, swerve, and weave to become more of yourself. Appreciate how each electric shift leads to the next electric shift, always changing who you are forever. Within the churning, ever-yearning current, marvel at how you remain eternal, steady, and solid—yet always evolving, always on a higher ground before."

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): You should never allow your self to be tamed by others. That advice is always apropos for you Leos, and even more crucial to heed in the coming weeks. You need to cultivate maximum access to the raw, primal sources of your life energy. Your ability to thrive depends on how well you identify and express the beautiful animal within you. Here's my only caveat: If you imagine there may be value in being tamed a little, in harnessing your brilliant beast, do the taming yourself. And assign that task to the part of you that possesses the wildest wisdom.

it!

15.

JONESIN’

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700

23.

might know a longtime friend 45. Liberty org. 46. Chat app

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran blogger Ana-Soﬁa Cardelle writes, "I look back on past versions of myself with such love and tenderness. I want to embrace myself at different parts of my life." I hope you're inspired by her thoughts as you carry out the following actions: 1. Create an altar ﬁlled with treasures that symbolize major turning points in your destiny. 2. Forgive yourself for what you imagine to be old errors and ignorance. 3. Summon memories of the persons you were at ages 7, 12, and 17, and write a kind, thoughtful message to each. 4. Literally kiss seven different photos of your face from earlier in your life. 5. Say "thank you" and "bless you" to the self you were when you succeeded at two challenging tests in the past.

19.

builds communities

topping 44. How

39.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Whenever you are contemplating a major decision, I hope you raise questions like these: 1. Which option shows the most self-respect? 2. Which path would be the best way to honor yourself? 3. Which choice is most likely to help you fulﬁll the purposes you came to earth to carry out? 4. Which course of action would enable you to express your best gifts? Are there questions you would add, Virgo? I expect the coming months will require you to generate key decisions at a higher rate than usual, so I hope you will make intensive use of my guiding inquiries, as well as any others you formulate.

12.

cuisine 51. Photographer

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A blogger named Chaconia writes, "I've cultivated a lifetime of being low maintenance and easy-going, and now I've decided I'm done with it. Demanding Me is born today." I'm giving you temporary permis sion to make a similar declaration, Taurus. The astrological omens suggest that in the coming weeks, you have every right to be a charming, en chanting, and generous version of a demanding person. So I authorize you to be just that. Enjoy yourself as you ask for more of everything.

27. "Whoa,

32. Gp. planning to add Sweden and Finland 34. "Cool," but not as cool? 35. Rawls or Reed 36. Get rid cryptocurrencyof 37. Quick photo developing time, once 38. "Ye

Homework: What's a past action you need to forgive yourself for? Newsletter. FreeWillAstrology.com answers OUT ROB BREZSNY’S EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO HOROSCOPES & DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES freewillastrology.com

ASTROLOGY CHECK

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Here's a good way build your vibrancy: Use your emotional intelligence to avoid swimming against strong currents for extended periods. Please note that swimming against strong currents is ﬁne, even advisable, for brief phases. Doing so boosts your stamina and fosters your trust in your resilience. But mostly, I recommend you swim in the same direction as the currents or swim where the water is calm and currentless. In the coming weeks, I suspect you can enjoy many freestyle excursions as you head in the same direction as vigorous currents.

17.

BY MATT JONES "Found Him!"--getting good at hide and seek. ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks, I urge you to ﬂee from stale and rigid certainty. Rebel against dogmatic attitudes and arrogant opinions. Be skeptical of unequivocal answers to nuanced questions. Instead, dear Aries, give your amused reverence to all that's mysterious and enigmatic. Bask in the glimmer of intriguing paradoxes. Draw inspiration and healing from the fertile unknown. For inspiration, write out this Mary Oliver poem and carry it with you: "Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company with those who say 'Look!' and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads."

10.

30. Sax

1.ACROSS

16.

26. NASCAR

64.

73. Squares on

47. Mandarin

13.

11.

21.

40.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You know more about how karma works than all the other signs. Scorpio-style intelligence typically has a ﬁne intuitive grasp of how today's realities evolved out of the deep patterns and rhythms of the past. But that doesn't mean you perfectly understand how karma works. And in the coming weeks, I urge you to be eager to learn more. Become even savvier about how the law of cause and effect impacts the destinies of you and your allies. Meditate on how the situations you are in now were inﬂuenced by actions you took once upon a time. Ruminate on what you could do in the near future to foster good karma and diminish weird karma.

©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. Addams of "The Addams Family", as abbreviated 5. "Star Wars" role played by a new actor in 2018 9. Duck that gets you down 14. First name in country music Locale depicted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling Name that usually comes up in interviews with "SNL" alumni "Yes, we're ___" Feline ___ (natural cat litter brand) "___ Vista Social Club" (1999 documentary) 20. 1987 hit by Was (Not Was) with a "Flintstonesque" video [OK, there he is!] "That was some time ___ ..." Peak occurrence 25. Information start? 26. Piglet parent 29. "Young Sheldon" character Rosenbloom 31. Judge's highest score on "Dancing With the Stars" Town where Evel Knievel attempted to jump across the Snake River Canyon in 1974 [Tough to spot, but right there!] Move around, as a mannequin Tip of a boot 41. Type of booth 43. ABC hidden-camera show that was once a segment on "Primetime" [Took me a while, but found him!] 48. Heap 49. Actor Simu 50. "Toy Story" character 51. Nautical position 54. Long, thin musical instrument 57. Most-nominated female artist at the 2018 Grammys 59. It may extend a lease or passport [That's it? He's not even trying!] 65. Pore Strips brand 66. ___ Jr. (Pixar's lamp mascot) 67. Work the land 68. No further than 69. Laptop company 70. Bygone U.S. gas station that's still in Canada 71. Girder composition 72. Email button calendars "Upstart ___" (sitcom based on the life of Shakespeare) Air filter acronym Cain's brother Decaf brand High-end cosmetics chain Garfield's foil Provides, as aid ___ a million Nudged in the side Promissory notes Night vision? Jadedness Emulates a startled steed Weekend-lover's letters "Chicken Little" turndown additive hold That Yearn (for) classification ___ Curiosity Shoppe" bagel one that called "servers" hybrid Asian Diane move 53. Bill from the govt. 55. Earthenware cooking pots 56. Elicit by reasoning 58. Excited, with "up" 60. Great Lake or Canal 61. "Oregon Trail" team 62. "Frozen" queen 63. All up in others' business "Terrible" stage

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The witch Lisa Cham berlain writes about the magical properties of colors. About brown, she says it "represents en durance, solidity, grounding, and strength." She adds that it's used in magic to enhance "balance, concentration, material gain, home, and com panion animals." According to my reading of the astrological omens, the upcoming weeks should be a deeply brown time for you Geminis. To move your imagination in a righteous direction, have fun wearing clothes in shades of brown. Grace your environment with things that have the hues of chestnut, umber, mahogany, sepia, and burnt sienna. Eat and drink caramel, toffee, cinnamon, almonds, coffee, and chocolate.

33.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In the Span ish language, there's the idiom pensando en la inmortalidad del cangrejo. Its literal translation is "thinking about the immortality of the crab." It applies to a person engaged in creative day dreaming—her imagination wandering freely in hopes of rousing innovative solutions to practical dilemmas. Other languages have similar idioms. In Finnish, istun ja mietin syntyjä syviä means "wondering about the world's early origins." Polish has marzyć o niebieskich migdałach, or "dreaming about blue almonds." I encourage you to enjoy an abundance of such explorations in the coming days, Capricorn. You need to fantasize more than usual.

used in

22.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Kabbalistic writer Simon Jacobson says, "Like a flame, the soul always reaches upward. The soul's fire wants to defy the confines of life. It cannot tolerate the mediocrity and monotony of sheer material ism. Its passion knows no limits as it craves for the beyond." That sounds both marvelous and hazardous, right? Jacobson concludes, "Whether the soul's fire will be a constructive or destruc tive force is dependent on the person’s motiva tion." According to my astrological analysis, your deep motivations are likely to be extra noble and generous in the coming weeks, Sagittarius. So I expect that your soul's fire will be very construc tive.

24.

42. Pricy

1.DOWN

31Willamette Week AUGUST 17, 2022 wweek.com

CASH for INSTRUMENTS SETradeupmusic.com503-236-8800NE 503-335-8800 Steve Greenberg Tree Service Pruning and removals, stump grinding, 24-hour emergency service. Licensed/Insured. CCB#67024. Free estimates: 503-284-2077 TRADEUPMUSIC.COM Buying, selling, instruments of every shape and size. Open 11am-6pm every day. 4701 SE Division & 1834 NE Alberta. TO PLACE AN AD, CONTACT: MICHAEL mdonhowe@wweek.com503-243-2122DONHOWE CLASSIFIEDS LOCALSUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM WWEEK.COM/SUPPORTBECOMEAFRIENDOFWILLAMETTEWEEK Has Customer Services Got You Down? Maybe it’s time to change customers! Walk into each shift with a smile, our customers smile right back and they are thrilled that you came to work! You can be an important person in the lives of many who will become much more than customers, they will become family, and every relationship will give back tenfold! Direct Support Professionals start at $19/hour with zero experience. 90%+ employer paid benefits, including acupuncture, massage. Employee Assistance Program. Check out positions at www.cs-inc.org Security FT & PT Patrol Drivers (Officers), paid training, hiring bonus. EEO. Harbor Security, Inc (503)262-5538 harborsec@yahoo.com multco.us/WoodSmokeStatus WOOD SMOKE IS A HEALTH HAZARD AND MAKES IT HARD TO BREATHE. THE FIRELOVESkIP Your lungs Sunlan Lighting For all your lightbulb fixtures & parts 3901 N Mississippi Ave. | 503.281.0453 Essential Business Hours 9:00 to 5:30 Monday - Friday | 11:00-4:00 Saturday sunlanlighting.com Sunlan cartoons by Kay Newell “The Lightbulb Lady” Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Google Get TonightBusy OUR EVENT PICKS,EMAILED WEEKLY.