Willamette Week, November 2, 2022 - Volume 48, Issue 52 - "Campfires Everywhere"

Someone is ripping off photo booths in Portland bars. 7

Tina Kotek appeals to voters sick of “the damn trash.” 8

Lack of a smoking patio doomed The Matador. 9

Washington County has no mental health facilities that can compel people to take their meds 10

Nearly half of all fires in Portland now start in or near houseless camps. 16

Firefighters who enter tent col onies have encountered booby traps and a partly melted semi-automatic rifle. 18

Penn Jillette’s next trick : signing copies of his new novel at Powell’s. 24

Perhaps the world’s most be loved Carmen , Denyce Graves, is now directing Carmen for the

Portland Opera. 25

Bikini season is back at Urda neta. 26

Your place setting at Bag O’ Crab may not include a plate, but it does come with a bib, gloves and scissors. 26

Mike Bennett’s new cafe, Wonderwood Springs , has more than 400 hand-painted pieces of art. 27

Halloweed should be the next new stoner holiday. 28

The first album Aminé ever bought was Kanye West ’s The College Dropout 29

La Lapinière is an afford able housing complex in the fictional town of Vacca Vale, Indiana. 30

During the fires of fall 2020, even puppets had to evacuate. 31

BOOT Unisex

boot!

Campaign spending in the Oregon governor’s race has now topped $50 million, shattering previous records. The sources of that money? The national political parties are bankroll ing Democrat Tina Kotek and Republican Christine Drazan, while Nike co-founder Phil Knight first backed unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson with $3.75 million before switching his allegiance to Drazan with another $1.5 million. WW has covered such contributions on a nearly weekly basis for six months—including three stories in last week’s edition. Here’s what our readers had to say:

PAUL FORKNER, VIA WWEEK.COM: “I won’t hold my breath waiting for the Dems to decry the out-of-state money in this race.”

GENE DIEKEN, VIA TWITTER: “So of the three Oregon gov ernor candidates, the one who doesn’t have an in-state sugar daddy (Kotek) got a greater percentage of her money from out of state. And, that single sugar daddy (Knight) backed both of the other candidates. Beyond clickbait, what’s the real news here?”

MICHAEL KALKOFEN, VIA TWITTER: “Wow. Phil Knight is really trying to buy a gover nor: $5.25 million to anybody but the Democrat. What are you afraid of, Phil? What do you have against working people?”

EMPEROR ZURG, VIA TWITTER: “I blame Jody Allen for this. Phil wouldn’t have so much political money to spend if Allen let Knight buy the team.”

PDXBROCIALITE, VIA TWITTER: “Rough day for all the libs that have Shoe Dog prominently displayed in the back of their Zoom calls.”

TOM MCROY, VIA FACE BOOK: “It’s crazy this election is so important to the national committees, though. It’s just Oregon. Jeez.”

SAFESPACER, VIA WWEEK. COM: “Big lumber is sup porting Johnson, big home construction is supporting Drazan, and big carpentry is supporting Kotek. I’m not sure what to make of all that. Maybe shift some of my investments

over into the wood products sector?”

CHARTER REFORM CAN SPUR GREATER CHANGE

I was excited to vote yes for the charter reform package that is on our ballots this election. For years I have been working to make some simple changes in Portland (banning gas-pow ered lawn tools and keep our trees standing), and it’s been an uphill battle. I believe the reforms that we’ll vote for will enable good changes to come at a faster pace. We are in a race against climate change and these changes to our form of government will help. I encourage you to vote yes for charter reform.

Albert Kaufman Southeast Portland

CLARIFICATION

WW’s endorsement on Ballot Measure 26-232 incorrectly summarized the measure’s language. It would extend the right to vote to “noncitizens,” a term the measure does not define. Multnomah County Charter Review Committee documents make clear, howev er, that the committee’s intent is expansive. Our endorsement has been expanded online to clarify that the measure includes all noncitizens, not just those who may be undoc umented.

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

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

Dr. Know is on vacation this week. As he whiles away his court-mandated holiday picking up trash along sunny Highway 26, please enjoy this column from the archive.

throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, France was basically America’s girlfriend. For years, the two love-struck nations exchanged gooey mash notes in the form of statuary, including the Statue of Liberty.

Coe, as smitten as anyone, decided that a reproduction of Emmanuel Frémiet’s Joan of Arc would be a good way to slip our old lady the tongue while also commemorating the Americans who perished on French soil in World War I.

The Jeanne d’Arc that so dominates the traffic circle at Northeast César E. Chávez Boulevard and Glisan Street is the full-size reproduction of a statue that still stands at the Place des Pyramides in Paris. It was given to the city in 1924 by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, who’d seen the original in France and thought it was cool.

Still, why a French saint and not, say, a bea ver with a salmon in its mouth, riding a bear? Well, I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but

Incidentally, we’re not the only U.S. city with a copy of this particular Joan—Philadelphia has one, too. They call theirs “Joanie on the Pony,” which I think we should straight-up steal.

Eventually, we decided that, while losing one war to Germany was tragic, losing two was simply careless, and France, for her part, decid ed we were just dicks, which we are. Thus, our nations’ affair came to an end. At least we’ll always have the world’s largest hood ornament to remember it by.

Tell me, O wise one: What does a flambéed French saint have to do with the Rose City? I ask because recently, in Laurelhurst, I came upon the improbable statue of one Joan of Arc. —Koan of Arc

Holidays With Your

31. That’s not surprising since ballots in recent election cycles have tended to come in during the final two days—a trend that will be amplified by the new law allowing ballots postmarked by Nov. 8 to be counted as well as those received by 8 pm on Election Day. One notable finding so far: In the past five general elections, Republicans turned out at a higher rate than Democrats by an average of eight-tenths of a percentage point. So far, however, Republican turnout for the Nov. 8 election is 1.9 points higher than Democratic turnout. Pollster John Horvick of DHM Research says that’s counterintuitive, given that Demo crats urged voters in 2020 to fill out their ballots early, while Republicans cast doubt on the valid ity of vote by mail. “It’s notable that Republicans are turning out early,” Horvick says.

NONPROFIT SEEKS CAMP CONTRACT: More than 200 people testified last week on Mayor Ted Wheeler’s plan to create vast “campuses” where homeless people could pitch tents and get access to restrooms and other services. Some citizens said they loved the plan, while others warned the campuses would be concentration camps. Andrew Brown, director of systems oper ations at All Good Northwest, said he’d like to run them. “We are the only regional provider with a sustained experience and demonstrable success in operating outdoor shelters,” Brown said. It’s unusual for a service provider to make a business pitch during a hearing, especially when the pro vider has a complicated history. All Good North west billed the Joint Office of Homeless Services $525,000 in unallowed expenses, according to a July report by Multnomah County Auditor Jenni fer McGuirk, including $330,000 in double-billed payroll. Brown said he wasn’t soliciting business. “We are not seeking a service contract,” he said at the hearing. “We are humbly suggesting

PICKLEBALL WILL RID STREET OF TENTS BUT COULD BRING NOISE: The city of Portland says it will turn two blocks of a street next to Laurel hurst Park, known for its tent camping, into a weekend athlete’s dream: four pickleball courts. That sounds like welcome news for adjacent homeowners who have pressured the city for years to sweep campers. But nearby Lake Oswego may offer a warning: This fall, the LO City Council agreed to move pickleball courts away from a park due to noise complaints from neighbors. When the council decided to keep the courts open until they could be moved, a handful of neighbors threatened to sue. Jillian Schoene, chief of staff for City Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who oversees Portland parks, says her office has heard no concerns from Laurelhurst neighbors about possible noise from pickleball.

ARCADE VANDAL LEAVES A PHOTO TRAIL:

Someone has been breaking into photo booths, vending machines, and arcade games in bars across Portland and stealing the cash inside— and taking photos of himself while he does it. The amount stolen isn’t much, but it’s causing thousands of dollars in damage to the machines and migraine headaches for the owners. “It’s a never-ending cycle of idiocy,” says Phil Ragaway, owner of the Hawthorne arcade QuarterWorld. Ragaway has tallied 40 thefts this year and had to replace around $15,000 worth of machines. The thief has been caught on video taking a sel fie with a photo booth he was robbing. “He took his own mug shot,” says Jocelyn Dean, who owns a chain of booths across the city. Ten of them have been robbed so far this year. “It’s so infuri ating. I have high-resolution pictures,” Dean says. She’s passed the images along to the police, but so far, she says, there has been no arrest.

DEMOCRATS FACE ENTHUSIASM GAP: With less than a week to go until the Nov. 8 gener al election, ballots are trickling in: Fewer than 20% of voters had cast their ballots as of Oct.

that the operators of the only city-developed, county-funded, and private operator of outdoor houseless shelter be invited to contribute.”

WHAT, ME WORRY?: Tina Kotek rallies Democrats in Portland on Oct. 27.

All in the Family

House Republican leader Vikki Breese-Iverson’s husband’s media company has flourished since she became caucus boss.

BY NIGEL JAQUISS njaquiss@wweek.com

Since state Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville) became Oregon House minority leader on Nov. 30, 2021, the amount of campaign money flowing to the political strategy firm her husband owns has soared.

Much of the money secured by the Iverson Media Group in the current election cycle comes from political action committees that Breese-Iverson controls directly or indirectly because she also funds House campaigns as caucus leader.

Oregon ethics laws prohibit public officials from using their positions for private benefit “if the financial gain or avoidance of financial detriment would not otherwise be available but for the public official’s holding of the official position or office.”

In this case, the gain would come from Breese-Iverson using her official position to steer spending to her husband’s firm, which buys ads and performs other campaign services.

“That sure doesn’t smell right,” says Kate Titus, executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause of Oregon. Breese-Iverson says she’s done nothing wrong. “I do not believe ethics laws were violated,” she replied in a response to written questions.

When Breese-Iverson replaced former state Rep. Christine Drazan (R-Canby) as caucus leader last year, records show she also took control of the caucus’s political action committee, Evergreen Oregon, as is customary for a caucus leader.

She also controls her own campaign PAC, Friends of Vikki, and is co-director of the AG First PAC. Collectively, these PACs have spent $193,000 with Iverson Media Group this year. Friends of

TRADING PLACES

Crossover

Here’s how money flowed from Evergreen Oregon, controlled by House Minority Leader Vicki Breese-Iverson, to Iverson Media, owned by her husband, Bryan Iverson.

Source: Oregon Secretary of State’s Office

Vikki also spent $47,000 with Iverson Media in the previous two years, making the total direct spending with her husband’s company $250,000.

As caucus leader, Breese-Iverson is responsible for deciding how Evergreen will allocate money to House candidates.

Since Oregon began keeping electronic campaign spending records in 2007, clients have spent $2.04 million with Iverson Media. But that spending has increased dramatically recent ly—$1.6 million of it came since Vikki Breese-Iverson ascended to minority leader last November.

Breese-Iverson explains that her husband, Bryan Iverson, has been involved in political campaigns for nearly 20 years and that he and his company ramped up activity after helping state Sen. Dick Anderson (R-Lincoln City) win a close race in 2020.

“His marketing firm has been in business since 2005, and he has been a media buyer for large companies in and around Oregon before that,” Breese-Iverson says. “His qualifications, experience and success speak for themselves.” (In her financial disclosure filings with the state, Breese-Iverson listed herself as a “shareholder” in Iverson Media in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, she reported that her husband owned the company.)

Bryan Iverson attributes the increase to changing family circumstances and his work on Anderson’s victorious Senate race in 2020.

“I think Vikki being back in the building is more of a coin cidence,” he says (before running for the House in 2020, Bre

ese-Iverson worked as a House staffer). “It’s more about our kids growing up and me having more time.”

Indeed, records show that most of the $1.6 million various campaigns paid Iverson Media over the past year came from Senate Republican campaigns. The Senate spending is not an ethics issue because Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) directs it.

But more than a half-million of it comes from PACs over which Vikki Breese-Iverson exerts some or total control.

“It’s quite plausible that the representative didn’t intend to use her position to gain a financial advantage for her family business,” Titus says. “But whether or not she played any role soliciting the new business, it’s still a conflict to accept that financial advantage.”

The issue of whether public officials are using their positions for private gain is one that the Oregon Government Ethics Commission examines regularly.

In 2019, records show that state Rep. Kim Wallan (R-Med ford), who is now Breese-Iverson’s deputy, sought advice from commission staff on whether she could pay her daughter’s ad agency to produce an end-of-session mailer and rent office space from her husband’s company.

Ethics Commission director Ron Bersin told Wallan in written advice June 7, 2019, that both expenditures Wallan contemplated would appear to violate ethics laws because they would “confer a financial benefit on those businesses that would not be available but for your position.”

We asked Regina Lawrence, asso ciate dean of the University of Ore gon’s School of Journalism and an expert in political communication, to look at the two 30-second spots. NIGEL JAQUISS.

TINA KOTEK

In the campaign homestretch, the two leading candi dates for governor try to appeal to each other’s bases.

Two campaign ads airing in heavy ro tation on Oregon television over the Halloween weekend showed the two leading candidates for governor, in effect, costumed as their opponents.

Republican Christine Drazan, whose previous ads mostly either introduced her to voters or savaged Democrat Tina Kotek and unaffili ated candidate Betsy Johnson, took a new tack: putting people of color and city dwellers front and center. For her part, Kotek took time out

from painting Drazan as a threat to democracy to tell people she’s ready to clean up the streets—a theme that sounds a lot like Johnson’s core cam paign pledge.

Johnson, who trails in polls, is still airing ads but in less quantity. Her diminished air time continues as before, decrying Oregon’s failures and boosting her bipartisan cred. But Kotek and Drazan traded identities in a last-ditch grasp for voters be yond their established bases.

The ad: “Certainly,” paid for by Friends of Tina Kotek

What it says: “We certainly don’t need a red state takeover to clean up the damn trash.”

Who it’s appealing to: Critics of Gov. Kate Brown and, particu larly, law-and-order voters—not Kotek’s base.

Who it sounds like: A mashup of Republican Christine Drazan and unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson.

What Lawrence says: “The Kotek ad reflects trends around the country, as Democrats have

scrambled to compete on terrain defined by two months or more of Republicans and conservative media emphasizing law-and-order themes. Campaigning on crime is hardly a new strategy for Repub licans, but it seems to be working especially well this campaign season—not just here but around

the country.

“It’s not surprising that Tina Kotek’s campaign feels they need to address these issues head on in order to hang on to voters who might ordinarily vote Democrat but are re ally frustrated with conditions on the streets—not to mention trying to draw in undecided voters and

$214,000 Rep. Randy Lauer (R-Troutdale)

Rep. Alan Stout (R-Springfield)

Amount spent by Evergreen on Lauer’s campaign

Amount spent by Lauer’s campaign with Iverson Media

Amount spent by Evergreen on Stout’s campaign

Amount spent by Stout’s campaign with Iverson Media

Patrick, Vera and Inga

As WW reported last week, a motel shelter in Northeast Portland housing more than 40 people will return in De cember to its previous use as a COVID-19 isolation space.

Denis Theriault, spokesman for the Joint Office of Homeless Services, says COVID outbreaks at shelters have limited capacity across the entire system. The Joint Office did not offer specifics about the drop in capacity but said there have been 23 outbreaks across the shelter system since May.

But changing the Portland Value Inn at 1707 NE 82nd Ave. back to an isolation motel will uproot 40 tenants from rooms they’ve called home for a year.

The Joint Office says it will find everyone a placement. “No one will be forced to the streets as part of this transi tion,” Theriault says. “Staff are working to offer spots for current shelter guests in other shelters (motel or congre gate) or in housing.”

As of last week, two people had been transferred to new living spaces and 39 were still working with staff to find placements either at an emergency shelter or in permanent housing.

But the shuffle showcases the precarity people face who are one step away from homelessness.

WW spoke with three motel residents two weeks prior to the move-out date. They were filled with anxiety and fear about the impending move. They’ve each lived at the Portland Value Inn for almost exactly a year—and are on multiple waiting lists for affordable housing but haven’t yet been placed.

Patrick Tillery and his longtime partner Vera, 53 and 55, moved into the Portland Value Inn last summer.

On a recent Thursday morning, Tillery is lying on the brown comforter of the motel bed. Orange medicine bot tles lie on every piece of furniture in the room: dresser, nightstand, the table where the two eat. Vera sits next to him in a patterned dress.

Tillery calls this room “a blessing from God.” The couple was placed here a year ago after living first in their van and then in a shelter after traveling down from Camas, Wash. They came to Portland because they heard the services here were better.

moderate Republicans who might be concerned about Drazan.”

CHRISTINE DRAZAN

The ad: “A Vote for Change,” paid for by Friends of Christine Drazan

What it says: A South Asian man, a pierced and tattooed Black man, and a white urban flannelite agree it’s OK to be a Democrat and vote for Drazan.

Who it’s appealing to: Disaf fected urban Dems and unaffiliat ed voters seeking a home. Who it sounds like: Voters who look like Team Kotek saying they feel like Republicans.

What Lawrence says: “What’s more interesting and perhaps sur prising is the Drazan ad. It’s clearly trying to make liberals (broadly defined) feel OK about considering a Republican candidate. In part, the ad probably reflects the fact

Both suffer from PTSD and severe depression. Vera has a fractured back and schizophrenia, and Tillery has had five heart attacks and is wheelchair-bound. Neither abuse substances.

The two have been on a Section 8 voucher waiting list for a year. They haven’t heard anything yet.

“Once this is closed down, all it’s going to do is add to the homeless population,” Tillery says.

Vera, who walks slowly because of her back pain, rifles through a folder of wrinkled papers. She arrives at a piece of white paper that lists 13 nonprofit agencies that she says motel staff told residents to contact if they didn’t want to accept rooms at the almost-built Emmons Place apartment building in Northwest Portland.

Vera’s called all of them but hasn’t found a place yet. The apartments at Emmons are too small for the two of them and Tillery’s medical equipment, and Vera’s PTSD is triggered by loud sounds—a fear they have about moving to Northwest.

“It makes you want to break down and cry,” Tillery says. “Humor can only go so far.”

Inga, 63, has lived in a carpeted room at the Portland Value Inn for over a year with her adult son, whom she takes care of because he has a rare neurological disorder. She suffers from a mental illness that makes it impossible to keep a steady job. She’s been shuffled between various shelters and motels since 2018 while working on and off at nursing homes and retail stores.

“It’s just this awful vagabond fight of instability,” Inga says. “You don’t know where you’re going to sleep the next night.”

She asks that only her first name be used for privacy reasons.

Inga says her room at the Portland Value Inn offered her the first sense of permanence she’d felt in years.

In some respects, Inga is lucky: She’s accepted a room at Emmons and will stay at a shelter motel in Southwest Portland until the apartment complex opens up for her and her son. She hasn’t yet told him they have to move.

SOPHIE PEEL.

that Oregon hasn’t had a Republi can governor for decades, and the Drazan campaign knows they’ll need to draw Democratic voters to win the governor’s seat (they can’t win on Republican votes alone).

“This ad for me is an example of something that isn’t getting talked about as much: that, at least in some

states, Republicans might need to moderate their stands—or massage their imagery—in order to win a ma jority. In some places (like Wiscon sin), gerrymandering has done away with the need to actually compete for votes from voters who wouldn’t normally vote for Republicans. Here in Oregon, the situation is different.”

Gored

Address: 1967 W Burnside St.

Year built: 1910

Square footage: 3,087 (bar only)

Market value: $12.4 million (the whole structure)

Owner: Cambridge-Trinity LLC

How long it’s been empty: Eight years

Why it’s empty: Inertia

Until its closure Sept. 12, 2014, The Matador occupied an exalted position among the dive bars that line West Burnside. (The collection includes the Marathon Taverna, Tony’s Tavern—now the Wildwood Saloon—and Kingston Sports Bar & Grill.)

“ We were punk-rock kids,” says the bar’s former owner, Casey Maxwell.

Drinkers’ thirst for well liquor and never-ending rivers of beer remains unabated. But all that’s left of The Matador (not to be confused with the Seattle chain of tequila joints called Casa del Matador, with outlets on East Burnside Street and Northwest 23rd Avenue) are hazy memories and a storefront covered in plywood and black paint.

Public records identify Carol Anderson as manager of the 49unit Cambridge-Trinity apartment building, which includes The Matador’s corpse. Anderson declined to answer questions. That may be because the building is currently for sale, packaged with an adjacent 30-unit building for $11.4 million.

Maxwell was more forthright. Now the owner of two eastside bars, the Low Tide Lounge on Southeast Belmont Street and the Lift Off Lounge on Southeast Sandy Boulevard, Maxwell began working at The Matador in 1997 and took ownership around 2006. “I would say our heyday was the late 1990s,” he says.

The indoor smoking ban that went into effect in 2009 improved customers’ health, but it weakened The Matador. The bar lacked a patio, and because of historic design restrictions, Maxwell says, he couldn’t erect awnings. “There was no place for smokers to go,” he says.

Maxwell adds that the aging building ’s infrastructure was in creasingly problematic. When his lease came up for renewal, he and Anderson couldn’t agree.

He looked for somebody to keep the place alive but found no takers. “Until the very end, I was trying to give it away to keep things rolling,” he says.

Thus closed what WW in 2014 called the “dimly red-lit Matador bar on West Burnside—for over 40 years a mainstay in Portland among cheery degenerates.”

It’s been vacant ever since. “That’s surprising,” Maxwell says. “I never thought it would stay empty this long.” NIGEL JAQUISS.

Every week, WW examines one mysteriously vacant property in the city of Portland, explains why it’s empty, and considers what might arrive there next. Send ad dresses to newstips@wweek.com.

HOLMES

COURTESY OF CHRISTINE DRAZAN

Once the king of degenerate dive bars, the Matador has sat empty for much of a decade.

Three people who have called a Northeast Portland motel shelter home for the past year fear its impending closure.

NO MAN’S LAND

Oregon State Hospital tossed out a schizophrenic man with a history of violence. In a bellwether case, a court decided his fate.

BY LUCAS MANFIELD lmanfield@wweek.com

Nineteen months ago, a man approached a parked car in downtown Beaverton. He was holding a home made spear: a metal rod with a knife crudely bolted on the end.

A woman sat inside the Subaru Forester. Terrified, she called her husband as the attacker banged the rod against the glass, shattering the driver-side mirror.

When police arrived, they recognized the alleged assailant. Piseat Thouen had been previously arrested 55 times. Trespassing. Threats. Theft. This time, he was charged with a felony: unlawful use of a weapon.

For most of the intervening year and half until now, Thouen, 50, was locked in Oregon State Hospital, forc ibly medicated with powerful anti-psychotic drugs in the hope that he could be “restored to competency” and face a jury.

But on Oct. 25, Thouen was thrown out of the state hospital. Doctors there say he no longer needs to be hospitalized. But the county disagrees, and now, thanks to an August judicial order to cut down the hospital’s waitlist, the county can no longer send him back.

Thouen is refusing mental health care. He was forcibly medicated at OSH but has told the county he does not believe he is sick and does not want further treatment. Without hospitalization, he will not get it.

On Oct. 27, two days after the hospital kicked him out, Thouen was back in a Washington County courtroom to resolve the criminal charges stemming from the

attack on the Forester. According to court observers, it was the first hearing of its kind—the first time a judge had to decide what to do with a dangerously mentally ill Oregonian since a federal court eliminated the state hospital as a de facto holding cell.

That judge, Kathleen Proctor, wasn’t sure what to do. “It presents some mind-bending thought processes,” she told the court.

Her options weren’t pleasant.

Thouen’s public defender argued the case should be dropped and charges dismissed. If there was no way to treat him, then there was no way to try him. Thouen should be returned to the streets.

The prosecutor, Jeff MacLean, said Thouen should still be restored to competency—but in jail.

His proposal was a novel one. In fact, an official tes tified, the county has never done it. At this admission, a loud sigh came from the bench. Proctor rubbed her temples.

She asked: Could the county take over his treatment? She was told this was impossible. Thouen didn’t believe he was sick and he was declining care. The county couldn’t forcibly medicate him. And there were no beds available at a secure facility anyway.

“This is a really difficult situation,” Proctor said. “Everyone understands this is not a situation we want to be in.”

The situation the court faces is this: The state is em broiled in a civil rights lawsuit for forcing mentally ill defendants to wait months in jail for a bed to open up at the state hospital. So U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman ordered Oregon State Hospital to start releasing patients early.

And counties, facing a dire lack of mental health care infrastructure, have nowhere to put them.

It’s a national problem. “It’s not a secret that we have a dire need for psychiatric in-patient beds in this

country,” Saul Levin, head of the American Psychiatric Association, said earlier this year.

Washington County has no secure residential treat ment facilities, which can be certified to forcibly med icate patients. And Thouen was declining offers of treatment, Chance Wooley, a county mental health supervisor, testified that day in court.

This leaves the county with no good options for pa tients like Thouen, deemed too dangerous to be out on the streets without supportive care.

As soon as Judge Mosman’s order was announced, Washington County readied to fight it—knowing a case like Thouen’s was imminent.

Kevin Barton, the county district attorney, observed the second day of the proceedings from the back of the courtroom, occasionally conferring with the prosecu tor. “There are worse people coming,” he told WW in the hallway.

In legal filings, prosecutors have made clear exactly who those people are. Two men accused of murder in Washington County, Salvador Martinez-Romero and Toby Epling, are both currently at Oregon State Hospital. The hospital says it has no immediate plans to release them back to the county. But, under Mosman’s order, it will soon have no choice.

So county prosecutors are testing the boundaries of state law, trying to find a way to keep the accused men off the streets. Barton called Thouen “a test case.” Their proposal was simple: restore him to competency in the Washington County Jail.

This isn’t a new idea. Jail-based competency resto ration is being done across the country, most notably in many counties in California. But it’s new to Oregon, and both Thouen’s public defender, John MacMorris-Adix, and county counsel are skeptical it’s legal.

At Oct. 27’s hearing, Washington County mental health officials appeared to know very little about Thouen’s circumstances. No family or friends were in the court room. His last known address listed in court documents did not exist. When asked if he wanted to talk with a reporter, he declined.

That morning, he had said he would stay with his sister if he was released.

When WW tracked her down that weekend, Amara Sim said she hadn’t heard from her brother in years. “ We don’t have any contact with him. He is a lost soul to us,” she said.

Piseat Thouen was born in Cambodia in 1972. His family immigrated to the United States a decade lat er and settled in Beaverton. He went to high school, married twice, and had two children.

He was funny and loved to make people laugh, Amara said. But as Thouen grew older, his drug use fractured his relationships. His mental state deteriorated. He began talking to himself and hoarding knives.

His first recorded brush with the law in Oregon came in 2000. He was arrested for breaking into a car on the Portland State University campus. It was the first of many arrests.

Thouen’s family tried to get him in a hospital but were told he couldn’t be forced into treatment if he didn’t want it.

Homeless, he would call his other sister in Wash ington and ask for money. For a while, she obliged, but eventually she changed her number.

“ We can’t have him around us,” Amara said. “We want to help him, but he won’t take the meds.”

Thouen was diagnosed with schizophrenia at OSH and was prescribed risperidone. He was taking it oral ly—only because if he refused, doctors would inject him with the drug against his will.

Thouen’s reluctance to take medication is no surprise to Kevin Fitts, head of the Oregon Mental Health Con sumers Association. The drugs can have serious side effects and the withdrawals are devastating. “They have significant ability to still the mind, and that’s very valuable for people who are hallucinated or suicidal,” Fitts says. “But we also know that they’re miserable.”

Fitts blames Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority for failing to invest in community mental health beds, including secure facilities that can forcibly medicate dangerous patients.

But medication alone, Fitts says, isn’t the solution. The root of the problem is a lack of case managers and peer mentors who can help people with severe mental illness escape the cycle of hospitalization and psychosis.

“ What ultimately works in the long term for people with severe persistent mental illness is engagement,” Fitts says.

Back in the courtroom Oct. 28, Judge Proctor found a place to send Thouen.

“I am not happy with any of these options, but I have to do something,” she said. She dropped Thouen’s charges and filed paperwork to civilly commit him. He would be transported directly from court to Prov idence St. Vincent Medical Center.

KC Lewis, a lawyer for Disability Rights Oregon, observed the proceedings. He said he was “satisfied” with the judge’s compromise, which ensured Thouen’s due process rights were protected. But he noted that the compromise was still flawed: “Right now, we have people who are being civilly committed but with no where to send them.”

As court staff and attorneys huddled in the corner, discussing paperwork, Thouen sat alone. For the first time, he spoke.

“ When am I leaving?” he asked. No one responded.

Two days later, Thouen was given a preliminary examination at St. Vincent to determine if he was “dangerous to self or others,” a criterion for holding him against his will.

The hospital released him on Sunday, Barton told WW. He did not know where Thouen was.

Washington County could not comment on Thouen’s whereabouts. Presumably, he is back on the streets.

Still Thirsty

The Pepsi Blocks will churn out low-income apartments—very slowly. Portland needs them to open much sooner.

BY ANTHONY EFFINGER aeffinger@wweek.com

If Portland needs one thing right now, it’s affordable housing.

Last month, Mayor Ted Wheeler rolled out a five-point plan to house the homeless and get tents off the city’s sidewalks. The most ambitious plank is to build 20,000 subsidized units in 10 years. Most of that must be done by private developers, Wheeler says, because all those units will cost $9.8 billion, and the city can’t afford it.

Recently, one developer bent over backward to build affordable housing. What happened is a cautionary tale for Wheeler as he seeks private partners in his quest to end homelessness.

Security Properties, a firm from Seat tle, is building a mixed-use, mixed-in come complex on Northeast Sandy Boulevard called the Pop Blocks, where the old Pepsi bottling plant stood. The developer’s original plan was to include 44 subsidized units for renters earn ing 60% or less of the area’s median income. Those apartments would be included in the first phase of the proj ect, a $112 million tower called Splash.

Security Properties worked on the deal for months, clocking hundreds of hours with legal counsel, to ensure it complied with the rules of a byzan tine tax-exempt bond program that developers use to build affordable units. Everything was on track until last October, when Oregon regulators said the development didn’t conform to the program’s rules (“Flat Pepsi,” WW, April 13).

The objection stopped the earth movers in their tracks. Security Prop erties had to start from scratch on the financing. The project resumed in July, with machines digging a vast hole for the parking garage. Now, Splash is ex

pected to open in August 2024, eight months late.

From the outside, Splash won’t look any different. But a few crucial things are missing: 33 of the promised afford able units. Now, Splash will have just 11.

“ We had to completely recalibrate,” says Michael Nanney, senior director of development at Security Properties. “But the loss wasn’t on our side. It’s Portland that’s missing out.”

The 33 subsidized units weren’t go ing to be cramped studios. The state mandates affordability by the bed room, and Security Properties chose to build many three-bedroom units because the only thing in shorter sup ply than low-income housing is family housing, Nanney says.

Better yet, Security Properties had sprinkled the affordable units through out Splash so that tenants of various incomes could be neighbors, a goal of most housing experts.

Security Properties had a self-in terested motive, too: The developer wanted access to the tax-exempt bonds and tax credits that would have made financing cheaper. But a mixed-income project is much harder to build than a market-rate one.

“ We kept walking through the bro ken glass,” Nanney says.

Then they hit a wall. The Oregon Department of Justice weighed in on the project just before Security Proper ties’ bankers were going to post details of the bond sale for the public. DOJ lawyers raised questions about what percentage of Splash’s common areas were being paid for with tax-advan taged money.

It was a fair inquiry because the

tax-exempt bonds and credits are a public subsidy. Security Properties separated ownership of Splash, put ting the affordable units in one LLC and the market-rate ones in another. Then, it allocated the costs of build ing common areas like the garage and hallways based on the rentable square footage in each LLC.

The formula came recommended by Oregon Housing and Community Services, the state agency that helps finance affordable housing, Nanney says, and it had been used for other projects. That didn’t sway DOJ, though, and the deal died in February.

“The attorney general strongly sup ports more affordable housing options throughout Oregon,” DOJ spokeswom an Kristina Edmunson said in a state ment. But tax-credit funding for Splash “was not available because the project did not meet the legal requirements.”

By all accounts, OHCS supported the financing of Splash until the DOJ got involved. “We are doing everything that we can to prevent deals from fall ing through, but the unfortunate re ality is that sometimes they do,” the agency said in a statement.

The kerfuffle was hardly a calamity for Security Properties. Portland zon ing laws would still require Splash to have affordable units, but many fewer, and financing buildings that are most ly market rate is a hell of a lot easier, Nanney says.

“Conventional construction lenders lined up very quickly,” he says.

Security Properties picked Bank of the West for the construction loan and lined up MetLife Inc. as an equity investor. Big insurers like apartment buildings because rents are less volatile than returns on stocks and bonds, and they provide steady cash flow needed to pay claims.

One big downside for Security Prop erties is that interest rates rose sharp ly during the delay, raising borrowing costs. But beyond that, and some hefty legal fees, the company is fine.

Portland, on the other hand, is out 33 units of family-sized affordable units near the city center. The city will get them eventually because the Pop Blocks must include a total of 80 affordable bedrooms when the whole complex is done. Security Properties had planned to front load them in Splash and get them into the market. Now, they won’t show up for a decade, Nanney says.

The Splash fiasco could reverber ate, thwarting the housing plan that Wheeler is floating, if other private developers see what happened to Se curity Properties and decide the red tape is too much.

“Even if they were wrong from the beginning, the length of time it took for the government agencies to give them an answer is just appalling,” says Mar garet Van Vliet, founder of Trillium Advisors LLC and a former director of both OHCS and the Portland Housing Bureau. “These horror stories are Ex hibit A for why lots of developers don’t want to build in Portland.”

STATEWIDE GOVERNOR Tina Kotek (D)

OREGON LABOR COMMISSIONER Christina Stephenson (NP)

CONGRESS U.S. SENATE Ron Wyden (D)

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 1 Suzanne Bonamici (D)

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 3 Earl Blumenauer (D)

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 5 Jamie McLeodSkinner (D)

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 6 Andrea Salinas (D)

OREGON SENATE

DISTRICT 15 Janeen Sollman (D)

DISTRICT 17 Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D)

DISTRICT 18 Wlnsvey Campos (D)

DISTRICT 19 Rob Wagner (D)

DISTRICT 20 Mark Meek (D)

DISTRICT 24 Kayse Jama (D)

DISTRICT 26 Daniel Bonham (R)

OREGON HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DISTRICT 25 Ben Bowman (D)

DISTRICT 26 Courtney Neron (D)

DISTRICT 27 Ken Helm (D)

DISTRICT 28 Dacia Grayber (D)

DISTRICT 29 Susan McLain (D)

DISTRICT 30 Nathan Sosa (D)

DISTRICT 33 Maxine Dexter (D)

DISTRICT 34 Lisa Reynolds (D)

DISTRICT 35 Farrah Chaichi (D)

DISTRICT 36 Hai Pham (D)

DISTRICT 37 Jules Walters (D)

DISTRICT 38 Alistair Firmin (R)

DISTRICT 39 Janelle Bynum (D)

DISTRICT 40 Annessa Hartman (D)

DISTRICT 41 Mark Gamba (D)

DISTRICT 42 Rob Nosse (D)

DISTRICT 43 Tawna Sanchez (D)

DISTRICT 44 Travis Nelson (D)

DISTRICT 45 Thuy Tran (D)

DISTRICT 48 Hoa Nguyen (D) DISTRICT 49 Zach Hudson (D) DISTRICT 50 Ricki Ruiz (D)

DISTRICT 51 Walt Trandum (D) DISTRICT 52 Darcy Long (D)

CITY HALL PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL POSITION 3 Rene Gonzalez (NP)

MULTNOMAH COUNTY COUNTY CHAIR Sharon Meieran (NP)

BALLOT MEASURES

MEASURE 111 HEALTH CARE YES MEASURE 112 REMOVES SLAVERY YES MEASURE 113 PUNISHES WALKOUTS NO MEASURE 114 GUN RESTRICTIONS YES

MEASURE 26-224 PCC BOND YES MEASURE 26-225 METRO PARKS LEVY YES MEASURE 26-228 CITY CHARTER REFORM NO MEASURE 26-230 GENDER-NEUTRAL CHARTER YES

MEASURE 26-231 NONCITIZEN VOTING NO

MEASURE 26-232 RANKED-CHOICE VOTING YES

MEASURE 26-233 JAIL VISITS NO MEASURE 26-234 COUNTY OMBUDSPERSON YES

MEASURE 26-235 AUDITOR ACCESS YES MEASURE 26-236 CRC QUALIFICATIONS NO

POP ROCKS: Splash will incorporate the frame of the iconic Pepsi bottling plant.

on page 16

Blazes that begin in homeless camps have doubled in three years. They now account for nearly half the fires in Portland.

By Natalie O’Neill

ust over a month ago, Chris Husbands’ backyard in North Portland was on fire.

The 32-year-old builder of custom vans was in Florida on Sept. 17 when a blaze broke out in a home less camp behind his house in the Portsmouth neighborhood. It tore through dry blackberry bushes, climbed his wooden gate, and lit his bamboo plants up like a torch.

As the inferno spread, it engulfed a 75-foot pine tree nearby, sending panic through his quiet cul-desac. Firefighters rushed to the scene near North Juneau and Attu streets and put out the flames—just yards from Husbands’ modest maroon bungalow.

He learned about it in a text from a neighbor. As he vacationed with his wife, Haley, and year-old son, a ball of stress rose in his chest.

“I don’t give a shit about material things— that’s what insurance is for,” Husbands says. “But I have a kid now and a wife, and I worry about their safety.”

What scares him: It could happen again. In the past two years, at least three fires have started in the tent colony on the edge of his neighborhood. The tree-cloaked camp, where roughly a dozen people live, lies next to the Union Pacific Railroad, accessed by footpath, and is difficult for fire engines to reach.

“The general stress of the situation sucks,” Husbands says. “I don’t know what to do.”

He’s not alone. Nearly half of all fires in Portland now start in or near houseless camps—at least 2,048 last year, according to Portland Fire & Rescue data. It’s a remark able number, given how five years ago, fires among unhoused Portlanders were hardly a blip.

Today, there are an average of six a day.

The fires spread from homeless camps in wooded areas, alleys and abandoned lots to

adjacent homes and businesses. They fright en families, displace residents and exhaust firefighters.

The blazes have killed at least nine un housed people in the past four years, onethird of Portland’s fire fatalities. Homeless people have been injured and lost posses sions and loved ones.

“ We don’t mind going on dangerous calls—we’re here to do that,” says Capt. Mike McGowan of North Portland’s Station 8 firehouse, which stands among the city’s worst-hit areas. “But five or six houseless fires in the middle of the night is too much. It’s fatiguing to go on the same type of call over and over, with no end in sight. It’s not sustainable.”

It’s one of the most dangerous, underre ported and resource-draining side effects of Portland’s staggering homelessness problem, advocates and officials say. And it is a mea sure of civic crisis. Seattle, a larger city than Portland, saw 1,446 unhoused fires last year, two-thirds the number in Portland.

Photos by Brian Burk

HOME FIRES BURNING: A campfire burns along the Columbia River Slough in North Portland.

As this city fiercely debates strategy for where people without homes should go, it’s worth considering the consequences of the camping policy City Hall has pursued since 2016—especially as climate change increases the risk of outdoor fire.

“It’s a tragic situation,” says City Com missioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who oversees Portland Fire & Rescue. “These and every fire pose a significant public safety risk for Portlanders—housed and unhoused.”

MITCHELL WAS JOLTED AWAKE BY a searing pain in his feet. The 60-year-old homeless man sat up and saw the side of his makeshift plywood shanty on fire.

He scrambled out of the structure, under the North Vancouver Avenue overpass next to the waters of the Columbia Slough. It was before dawn on the below-freezing morning of Nov. 29, 2019, and he was barefoot.

“People were yelling, ‘Mitchell, help!’” he says. “I looked up and there was a wall of flames.”

Fueled by sleeping bags, trash and plastic tarps, the fire had spread to a row of four more homemade huts. Inside a fifth, a wom an lay inert.

“I ripped open her door and dragged her out,” says Mitchell, a rail-thin former Army officer who goes by his last name. “I was in super shock.”

None of his unhoused neighbors had a cell phone to call for help as the flames raged between Columbia and Schmeer roads. Mitchell ran into traffic and eventually flagged down a car. “I said, ‘Call 911!’”

By that time, everything he owned—his prized work boots, warm clothes and tools— was gone. When the smoke cleared, he had third-degree burns on the bottom of his feet and no place to go.

Mitchell carries a 6-inch knife on his belt and suffers from stomach cancer and a crush ing opioid addiction. He has been houseless for two decades and says that “fire is the No. 1 worst thing that can happen at a homeless camp.”

“It puts pressure on people who have no backup,” he says.

As unhoused people shiver through Port land’s damp winter months, they often use portable propane heating sources to avoid “freezing their asses off,” but not everyone is careful, Mitch ell says.

Gas stoves and heaters— including jury-rigged devic es—ignite highly flammable camping gear such as tents, tarps and sleeping bags, says McGowan, the fire captain.

Houseless people have been known to set one another’s possessions on fire, accord ing to firefighters and Mitch ell. They also sometimes burn garbage without properly put ting out the fire afterward.

In other cases, unhoused people use flames to smoke or shoot opioids then pass out and don’t notice a fire spread ing. “A lot of times they left a heating source on and they have nodded off on heroin,” says firefighter Garrett Poetsch, who works with McGowan at Station 8.

Drugs were partly to blame for the fire that destroyed Mitchell’s plywood home in 2019, he says. A friend had nodded off with a candle and didn’t wake up for several minutes as the fire grew.

“It burned off half of his hair, all the way to his skin,” Mitchell says. Firefighters put out the blaze with a hose. Nobody was killed.

But on Feb. 9, 2021, an unhoused Portland er named Skyler was killed when his shan ty burst into flames under the same North Vancouver Avenue bridge. (The Multnomah County medical examiner declined to release his full name.)

The 27-year-old skateboarder had rigged a heating device out of a leaf blower to stay warm, Mitchell says. It caught a plywood slab on fire and the flames quickly spread.

Skyler became trapped inside the shelter and eventually tumbled down to the Colum bia Slough with third-degree burns, fire offi cials say. He was rushed to a hospital where he died a couple of hours later.

ON A RECENT WARM TUESDAY, RICH Espino pointed to a charred second-floor of fice window at North Hunt Street and Argyle Way: “When we got here, the fire was ripping all the way up.”

SINGED: Chris and Haley Husbands and their son Wyatt saw their backyard damaged by fire this summer.

“ The general stress of the situation sucks. I don’t know what to do.”

The 37-year-old firefighter and his crew at the Station 8 firehouse in Arbor Lodge had rushed to the blaze at 8:08 am on Sept. 23.

A propane tank exploded inside a small camper owned by Cuba, a houseless man who walks with the aid of a crutch, according to houseless neighbors and firefighters. The fire spread from an alley, then burst through the window of M&M Construction at 643 N Argyle St.

“It went right up the side of the building,” Espino says. “There were two employees inside and they went scrambling out.”

Espino looks plucked from the cast of Chicago Fire, with salt-and-pepper hair, a brawny build, and 5 o’clock shadow. But he and his co-workers make the fictional char acters look like slackers.

The station’s territory—which includes Delta Park and sections of the Columbia

DEADLY SCENE: Soot-stained concrete (above) marks the site where 27-year-old Skyler was killed by fire under the North Vancouver Avenue bridge.

EXHAUSTED: Portland Fire & Rescue Capt. Mike McGowan (opposite) of Station 8 in Arbor Lodge.

Slough—is among the city’s most afflicted by homeless fires. Firefighters there sometimes rush to five or six of them a day, they say.

The fires have broken out in nearly every area of the city, with problem pockets close in on the east and west sides of the Willamette River, according to department data from April 2021 to April 2022. A map also shows concentrated clusters in North Portland near the Columbia River and east toward Gresham.

Responding to a camp fire isn’t as cut and dried as a house fire.

Firefighters often have little idea what to expect before they arrive. That’s because the city’s overburdened 911 dispatch center tends to create a lag between a fire’s incep tion and the station receiving a report of it, McGowan says.

“ We don’t know how bad it’s going to be; it

could have been burning for six minutes or 15 minutes,” McGowan says.

Once at the camp, firefighters size up the scene, both to see if they need more engines and to look out for potential hazards—such as hypodermic needles, buckets of feces and aggressive dogs, the firefighters say.

“ We’re not just going to go barging in,” Poetsch says. “Some of them we don’t feel safe going into.”

And as men in uniform, they ’re not always welcome at tent colonies. Firefighters say they’ve stumbled onto booby traps, terri torial people suffering from mental illness, and a semi-automatic rifle partly melted by a blaze.

“I never thought we’d need ballistics vests, but we do now,” McGowan says.

In July, a fire bureau memo stressed that “safety is the number one challenge fire crews face on houseless fire calls.”

“Crews are increasingly confronted with aggressive and violent behaviors and are rou tinely forced to balance the risks of physical confrontation against the risks posed by il legal burning,” it stated.

A ccess is another problem. Camps are often set up in hard-to-reach forested or fenced-off areas inaccessible by fire engine. When that’s the case, firefighters must ap proach on foot with hand-held extinguishers, McGowan says.

With his glasses, love of statistics and sub tle bags under his eyes, McGowan has the air of a friendly but burned-out history teacher.

On a recent ride-along with WW, Mc Gowan and his crew passed a 2-mile stretch of RVs near Northeast 33rd Avenue and Ma rine Drive, where fires have turned trailers into smoldering metal shells.

“A lot of times we don’t know how they started because they’re so badly burned when we get there,” McGowan says. “They

“ Fire is the No. 1 worst thing that can happen at a homeless camp.”

BURN AFTER READING

Most blazes that flare up among the unhoused start with illegal fires. But the rules are rarely enforced.

Under the city’s outdoor burn ing rules, “recreational” fires with “clean, dry cord-type fire wood” are allowed in public spaces without permits when no burn ban is in effect.

Such campfires must be in a “pit or pan” and at least 25 feet away from any building or structure, including a tent. They must also be “less than 3 feet in diameter” and “less than 2 feet in height,” according to the guidelines.

451: The charred remains of a book at a fire on the corner of Northeast Weidler Street and Victoria Avenue.

immediately remove campers.

In periods of extreme cold, the Fire Marshal’s Office is “generally more lenient” about enforcement of illegal campfires, Picard says.

“ Portland Fire & Res cue is constantly balancing the enforcement of illegal fires in houseless camps with the very real danger that house less people could die on our streets from hypothermia during periods of extremely cold weather,” he tells WW

Most houseless fires don’t meet those le gal criteria, says Lt. Laurent Picard of the Portland Fire Marshal’s Office. But his of fice must be judicious about enforcement because the problem is so widespread, with hundreds of camps citywide, he says. “It’s all hazard and life safety based.”

Remarkably, the Fire Marshal’s Office doesn’t have many teeth to enforce out door fire rules. It has only the power to “recommend” that the city’s Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program and Street Services Coordination Center clear camps with illegal fires that present safety hazards.

Picard says he generally recommends a camp be removed if it has a larger fire that endangers life or property—or has “repeat ed lower-hazard fires.”

Other examples include camps that have scorched the side of a structure, have bon fires so big their smoke obscures road ways, or are hostile to firefighters.

In rare cases of “imminent” danger to life or property—such as a camp igniting a building or people there continuing to light fires—the fire marshal can call on police to

During the city’s burn ban periods, gen erally from late July to early October, the fire bureau leans on outreach groups to prevent “catastrophic wildfire incidents” in “wildland-urban interface areas,” such as Forest Park, according to a July fire memo sent by City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardes ty.

“As a last and final resort, the Homeless ness Urban Camping Reduction Program will relocate camper(s) who decline to vol untarily relocate from the designated highrisk wildfire hazard zones within the city,” it states.

Between September 2021 and March 2022, Portland Fire & Rescue crews re ferred 157 illegal campfires to the bureau’s Prevention Division, which is responsible for reducing the number of fires, fatalities and injuries among high-risk populations.

“ There is significant fire risk for house less folks,” says Jonna Papaefthimiou, in terim director of the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management. “I have heard about some terrible fires, and I know my colleagues in the parks [bureau] worry about it too.” NATALIE O’NEILL.

go up fast.”

They cruised by a scorched patch of grass in Delta Park and spotted smoke rising from a small fire. McGowan chose not to stop; it posed no immediate safety hazard.

By his count, his station went on roughly 10 times as many houseless fire calls in 2021 as it did a decade before that, despite budget and personnel cuts.

(In the previous fiscal year, Portland firefighters logged more than 16,000 hours of mandatory overtime—extra hours they were forced to work—as the fire bureau was plagued by staffing shortages.)

The flood of calls can delay firefighters’ response time to bigger blazes, as well as medical emergencies. “If your mom’s having a heart attack,” McGowan says, “our response to something like that could be delayed be cause of this.”

AS THE NUMBER OF CAMP FIRES increases, so do the odds that they’ll spread to other places.

In June, the workers at Cutting Edge Cus tom Cabinets in the Piedmont neighborhood rushed to extinguish a burning tire. It had been set alight by a mentally ill woman living at a nearby camp, employees say.

It wasn’t the first time the shop, which stands next to the train tracks near North Mississippi Avenue and Kilpatrick Street, had battled blazes.

In recent months, the woman has allegedly swiped several tires from the used auto parts shop that shares a lot with Cutting Edge. She lights them on fire and inhales the fumes to get high—then sometimes leaves them smoldering, according to fire officials and workers.

In the past two years, the shop has been hit by three serious fires set by residents of a nearby camp, workers say.

“It’s scary. Especially in a wood shop, every thing would go up so fast,” says sales assistant Justin Saephan, 30, gesturing toward shelves of panels. “There’s nothing you can do other than get angry.”

FAHRENHEIT

The fire bureau could not provide figures for how many fires have spread from home less camps to commercial and residential buildings. But dozens of property owners have been plagued by property damage and disturbances, WW has learned.

On Sept. 26 of last year, a camp fire en gulfed the side of an apartment owned by the affordable housing nonprofit REACH Community Development—causing thou sands of dollars in damage and displacing one resident. “This has heightened our concern about unmanaged camping in close prox imity to buildings,” says Lauren Schmidt, a spokeswoman for the group.

On the night of Sept.10, a propane tank exploded in a makeshift camp kitchen on a sidewalk in Southeast Portland. The fire erupted at 8th Avenue and Main Street, next to the White Owl Social Club and several retail stores.

Lynette Jones had planned to open her vintage shop, Rose & Wood, across the street the following Saturday morning. But

she changed her mind when she spotted the charred mess covering half a city block. She saw a homeless man dragging his par tially burned possessions across the street in front of her store. His charred makeshift stove and boxes of flour, macaroni and Jell-O were strewn across the sidewalk.

“I worry first for the people having to live like that—and second, it does affect the sur rounding people and buildings,” she says.

“It’s a public safety problem.”

HOW TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM reflects the city’s larger paralysis and bitter disagreements about homeless camping.

On the night Husbands’ backyard caught fire, Israel Banks, 24, used a garden hose to keep the flames at bay until firefighters ar rived.

Banks says he grew up poor and sympa thizes with the unhoused people who live behind his house. But he suspects Portland’s tolerance for public camping played a role in the fire danger that sparked panic in his

neighborhood.

“It went from us being so supportive of homeless people to now we’ve enabled them to live dangerously like this,” he says. “Some thing needs to change.”

Commissioner Hardesty, whose fire bu reau is now overwhelmed, contends the root of the fires is “extreme poverty” and “lack of shelter and affordable housing” in Portland.

“The latest statistics are alarming and underscore the urgency of sheltering and housing our most vulnerable Portlanders while looking at additional ways we can prevent dangerous fires through outreach and education in the short term,” she tells WW. “The long-term solution is providing an adequate safety net, including a warm, dry place for everyone to sleep.”

She also wants more funding for the fire bureau and personnel to address the prob lem.

“Fire & Rescue needs a greater investment to provide more of these needed resources. This fall, she plans to ask “Mayor Wheeler to authorize hiring 13 firefighters and to re store funding for the rapid response vehicle program, which can be used to extinguish small fires,” she said.

Portland Fire Chief Sara Boone declined to comment on a possible solution.

Capt. McGowan, meanwhile, supports a plan to create designated camping areas for houseless people in Portland, like the one outlined by Mayor Ted Wheeler last week. The resolution would build at least three large, city-sanctioned camping sites and ban unsanctioned houseless encampments out side those areas.

Workers at those sites could monitor kitch ens and heating sources to minimize fire risk, McGowan says. “Letting them live outside in these conditions is the exact opposite of compassion. It’s dangerous.”

Glenn Murphy, 54, who lives alone in a single-tent camp in St. Johns, thinks a modi fication of Wheeler’s plan could fix the prob lem. He says larger encampments and ones too close to buildings should be moved to designated houseless sites.

“I think it would be a lot safer,” Murphy says. “That way they could be watched and there would be less crime and fires.”

Husbands, whose yard was scorched, wants the city to launch an outreach program to distribute hairspray-sized extinguishers and other cheap fire suppressants to houseless camps. It may require a grant for beefed-up education and supplies, he sats.

After he returned from Florida with his family, he chopped down 60 burnt bamboo branches. He also cleared out the leftover blackberry bushes.

Husbands plans to install a sprinkler sys tem. He hopes to talk with nearby campers and to bring them “a six-pack and a pile of fire extinguishers.”

For a stint in his 20s, he, too, was houseless, living on a school bus.

He considers the unhoused people who live behind his home neighbors.

“I’m actually a go-with-the-flow person,” Husbands says, “but there’s a level of care lessness that’s causing these fires.”

Haley Husbands is fed up, too. “We don’t mind them being back there,” she says. “We just don’t want them to burn our house down.”

THE FIRE NEXT TIME: A warming fire in a barrel glows next to the flamedamaged M&M Construction on North Argyle Street.

GHOST TOWN

Photos by Chris Nesseth On Instagram: @chrisnesseth

If you thought the scariest place in Portland on Halloween night was a dying mall, well, you might have been right. Many of Lloyd Center’s storefronts are empty, but the shop ping plaza was packed Oct. 31 with all sorts of monsters, witches and ghouls. Some were there for parties, others for the 13 Days of Terror haunted house. But no matter what drew people to the mall, all seemed to have a good time.

cranberry

GO: Penn Jillette Book Signing

Best known as one-half of the legendary magic duo Penn & Teller, you may not have realized that Penn Jillette has talents that go beyond prestidigitation. The longtime Las Vegas performer is also an author, and he’ll swing through town this week to host a book signing. Jillette’s latest fiction novel, Random follows a man from Sin City who inherits his father’s crush ing gambling debt and, when a run of good luck allows him to pay it off, decides to live his life by a philosophy in which all choices are based entirely on the roll of the dice. The crime caper promises to be as mind-bending as Jillette’s illu sions. Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 800878-7323, powells.com. 7 pm Wednesday, Nov. 2. $27.95 for a preordered, signed edition.

LAUGH: Curious Comedy Showdown

Settle in at Curious Comedy’s cabaret-style theater and observe who will become Portland’s quickest wit of the week. There’s booze, food and plenty of laughs from some of the area’s best improv per formers. Don’t feel like leaving your couch? The show is also available via livestream—all the laughs and no need for pants. Curious Comedy The ater, 5225 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 503-477-9477, curiouscomedy.org/shows. 7:30 pm Friday, Nov. 4. $18 in advance, $22.50 at the door.

LISTEN: Lizzo: The Special Tour

From her beginnings as a flutist to an internship with

Prince to an Album of the Year Grammy win, Lizzo brings her mix of iconoclasm and wit to just about everything she does. This week, the body-positive icon appears at Moda Center for The Spe cial Tour. If you can’t make it Friday, Lizzo showcases her authentic rhymes once more on Thursday, Nov. 10, at a bo nus local performance. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St., ticketmaster.com. 8 pm Friday, Nov. 4, and Thursday, Nov. 10. $45-$200.

 READ: Portland Book Festival

The rain has arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and what could better complement the patter of raindrops than the quiet flipping of pages in the South Park Blocks? The Portland Book Festival is a daylong event featuring dis cussions with authors, writing workshops, pop-up readings, and more at the Portland Art Museum and neighboring ven ues. An Umbrella Pass ticket grants you access to all the noteworthy events, including the Friday Night Book Market presale and presentations by Selma Blair, Cheryl Strayed and Taylor Jenkins Reid at the Schnitz. Portland Art Museum and neighboring locations, 1219 SW Park Ave., 503-227-2583,literary-arts. org/about/programs/port land-book-festival. 9 am-8:30 pm Saturday, Nov. 5. Free for youths 17 and younger with ID, $15-$115 for general admission packages.

DRINK: Central Oregon Pro-Am Brewing Competition

NOV. 2-8

reputation for outstanding outdoor recreation. And when you’ve got that many stellar craft producers in one place, that typically means there is a robust homebrewing community as well—often these garage and backyard enthusiasts are working their way up to the pros. Judge the current crop for yourself at the finale of this competi tion, where 10 beers made by homebrewers in collabora tion with established brands will be served in two flights. Taste your way through them all and then vote for your favorite. Boneyard Beer Pub, 1955 NE Division St., Bend, cohomebrewers.org. Noon-5 pm Saturday, Nov. 5. $10 for a flight, $6 for a full pint.

 GO: Our Legacy Harvested BIPOC Block Party

Downtown McMinnville is a pretty sweet place to spend a day in general, but the drive an hour south is especial ly worth it for Our Legacy Harvested’s upcoming block party. The organization works to improve BIPOC represen tation in the wine industry, so you’re certain to find some thing lovely to drink. Alum bra Cellars, CHO Wines and Parra Wine will all be on hand to fill your complimentary commemorative glass. Sip your Oregon pinot noir while listening to the sounds of five different live music perfor mances, noshing on treats from local vendors, or perus ing the stalls of handmade goods. And don’t forget to congratulate the VIPs of the event—OHL’s inaugural class of wine interns, all destined for industry greatness. Mac Market, 1140 NE Alpine Ave.,

McMinnville, 503-687-3606, ourlegacyharvested.com. 1-8 pm Saturday, Nov. 5. $20.

 WATCH: Carmen Portland Opera is opening its 2022-23 season with one of the most beloved works of all time, Georges Bizet’s Carmen The Keller Auditorium will be transformed into a 19th century factory in Southern Spain, the backdrop for the iconic story of a worker and her ill-fated love life. Directed by Denyce Graves, renowned for her many performances as Carmen as well as her directorial skills, the show will surely leave you humming the “Toreador Song” for the rest of November (if you’re not already after reading this). Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St., 503-241-1802, portlandopera.org. 7:30 pm Saturday and Friday, Nov. 5 and 11; 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 13. $50-$546.

 PLAY: The Office (Holiday Episodes) Trivia

The weather is telling us it’s time to do cozy, indoor ish things—like watch The Office for the millionth time. Better yet, go somewhere and talk about The Office with like-minded devotees. Test your knowledge of the show’s holiday episodes with a themed trivia night at Von Ebert’s Glendoveer location. While you’re there, snag one (or more) of the brewery’s many award-winning beers and one of the epic sandos.

Von Ebert Brewing Glen doveer + Kitchen, 14021 NE Glisan St., 503-878-8708, stumptowntrivia.com. 7-9 pm Sunday, Nov. 6. $5.

FOOD & DRINK

Hot Plates

WHERE TO EAT THIS

1. URDANETA

3033 NE Alberta St., 503-288-1990, ur danetapdx.com. 5-10 pm Tuesday-Sunday.

If you’ve been waiting for chef Javier Canteras’ Bikini to return to the menu, your patience has just been rewarded. Urdaneta’s take on the classic ham-andcheese sandwich is back and part of a seasonal offerings shake-up. A toasted brioche bun stuffed with jamon serrano, American cheese and sofrito béchamel is what we’ve been longing to bite into once it actually felt like October instead of a prolonged August.

2. CANARD OREGON

CITY

1500 Washington St., Oregon City, 503344-4247, canardrestaurant.com. 11 am-2 pm and 4-9 pm daily.

Would you travel 20 miles for a Salisbury steak? We’re not talking about the Swanson TV dinner of your youth, but a deliciously beefy slab of seared-andseasoned, dry-aged ground brisket and chuck. The dish is now being served at Canard’s new Oregon City location, and it’s meant to be a “more comforting version” of the restaurant’s original duck frites. You’ll find more riffs on classics and novel offerings at the spinoff, as well as a heck of a lot more seating thanks to its spacious home in the former Grano Bakery.

3. JOJO

902 NW 13th Ave., 971-331-4284, jojopdx. com. 11 am-10 pm daily.

A stationary version of the much-loved Jojo food cart has arrived in Northwest Portland. As with the truck, the highlights are smash burgers and multiple permuta tions of fried chicken, plus the epony mous deep-fried potato wedges, served with a side of sauce of which there are 10. A small order of jojos is ample for two. But go ahead, gild the lily and get one of the loaded versions, with different combi nations of cheeses, sauces and alliums.

4. HOLLER

7119 SE Milwaukie Ave., 971-200-1391, hol lerpdx.com. Noon-9 pm Monday-Thurs day, 11 am-9 pm Friday, 10 am-9 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Doug Adams may no longer be in the kitchen at this Sellwood neighborhood chicken joint, but his popular poultry-fo cused offerings—a spinoff of his friedbird Sundays at Bullard—are still on the menu. Holler also just added a football season menu, which includes pulled pork sliders smothered in barbecue sauce, chili cheese fries, housemade onion rings and portobello wraps. With seven flat-screens and a buck off draft beer, it just got a little more tempting to abandon your couch on game day.

5. THE SEA BREEZE FARM TRUCK

Pops up at Northwest 23rd Place and Thurman Street, seabreeze.farm. 5-7 pm Monday.

The Sea Breeze Farm mobile butcher block is like a portal to a French street market that started appearing in North west Portland in late summer. Chock-full of fresh and cured meats, the custom ized truck sells everything from duck rillettes to pork cheek and belly to whole chickens raised by George Page and Rose Allred, partners in business and life. Their passion for their trade is evident in the quality of the products themselves as well as their enthusiasm for farm life. When you see the white Magic Meat Truck on 23rd and Thurman, do not pass it up.

Editor: Andi Prewitt Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

Clawsome Sauce

BY ANDREA DAMEWOOD PHOTOS COURTESY OF BAG O’ CRAB

Looking for a good time? Call Bag O’ Crab. There is no way to feel serious about any thing—except, perhaps, demolishing a large bag of Cajun-sauced crustaceans—the moment you step through the doors at this new restaurant on the corner of Northeast 82nd Avenue and Klickitat Street.

From the mural of a giant lobster breaking through a brick wall as lightning strikes from above to the small “fireplace” created by red lights and water vapor to the robot waitress that could be the love child of Rosey the Robot and a Roomba, Bag O’ Crab is a whole scene.

This is the place you—and everyone else, judg ing by the frequent hour-plus wait times—will

want to hold your next celebration, or simply have dinner to jazz up an ordinary Tuesday.

To settle in at your table, pull the branded Bag O’ Crab plastic bib over your head, slip gloves on your hands, and arm yourself with scissors and crackers—tools for your upcoming task. The ritual of it all makes it feel like you’re suiting up for something epic. Bring on the crab claws.

A laminated menu lists the many things you may have boiled and brought to you in a bag: crawfish; shrimp (heads on or off); snow, king and Dungeness crabs; and a whole-ass lobster, among others.

For the uninitiated, a boil is an extraordinarily messy and super-fun affair most associated with Louisiana. There, when crawfish are in season in the spring, even grocery stores have massive tanks of the freshwater crustaceans for sale.

You grab those and lots of spicy seasoning and throw it all in a pot with red potatoes, corn and sausage. The steaming medley is then dumped out on the table, and you stand around picking tail meat out of them water bugs, pausing only to slurp cold beer from a can. At Bag O’ Crab, the method is similar: Throw your shells anywhere on the table—large strips of butcher paper are rolled out and refreshed between each seating.

There are a few other boil restaurants in town, including My Brother’s Crawfish and Rockin’ Crab & Boiling Pot, but the large space and party vibes fostered by owner Gary Lin and his daugh ter Yuxin Lin make Bag O’ Crab special. There are locations in California, Washington and Texas; this franchise is the first in Oregon.

I suggest going for one of the combos, particu larly Combo 4 ($83.95): a lobster or Dungeness

BOILING POINT: A typical combo boil at Bag O’ Crab comes with several types of crustaceans.

ready to make a delicious mess at Bag O’ Crab’s first Oregon outpost.

crab, 1 pound of head-on shrimp or three-quar ters of a pound of headless, 1 pound of crawfish, 1 pound of clams, two corn segments, two po tatoes and four sausage slices. This feeds three people easily, but spring for an additional order of potatoes ($1.50 for three pieces) and corn (95 cents), and do not miss out on the garlic bread ($3.95 for three pieces) and garlic noo dles ($7.95), which all act as carby sponges to sop up the spicy, buttery boil mixture.

There’s a mess o’ sauces—I say go classic Ca jun—with heat levels ranging from “not spicy” to “on fire.” I’m not a spice wuss by any means,

but I think venturing above medium isn’t rec ommended for anyone except capsaicin freaks.

Bag O’ Crab has other items on the menu that are not crab, nor in a bag, such as grilled fish ($12.95) and wings ($7.95 for six, $12.95 for 10). Why order them, though? (This is not a comment on their quality, but everyone is here for the bagged shellfish.)

When the robot arrives (recently crowned with a witch hat for Halloween), grab your bag, pour it into the provided big metal bowl, and get moving. A tip: You can lightly press down on both sides of the tail of a crawfish and sort of

push the meat up from the bottom. Things will feel almost frantic as you’re cutting into a fatty lobster claw and getting at those first bites, but you and your tablemates will slow, ultimately picking at the last of the shrimp and finishing off the garlic noodles.

You will leave satisfied, maybe a little tired and, if you’re me, certainly resolved to have your next birthday party there.

EAT: Bag O’ Crab, 3255 NE 82nd Ave., 971-7168888, thebagocrab.com. 3-10 pm Monday-Fri day, noon-10 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Buzz List

WHERE TO DRINK

1. WONDERWOOD SPRINGS

8811 N Lombard St., 971-242-8927, won derwoodsprings.com. 8 am-8 pm Tues day-Sunday.

Mike Bennett’s new cafe is mostly about the art: 400 hand-painted pieces, ranging from cute woodland creatures to a sleep ing dragon. However, this isn’t just another of the prolific artist’s pop-up exhibits. You really can eat and drink at Wonderwood Springs. Expect to find two custom coffee blends personally selected by Bennett, along with a regular hot chocolate and another made with mushrooms.

2. OYATSUPAN BAKERS

16025 SW Regatta Lane, Beaverton, 503941-5251, oyatsupan.com. 8 am-3:30 pm daily.

Though best known for its milk bread and sweet rolls, Oyatsupan also serves a variety of warm beverages to go with those baked goods. The newest menu item is a hojicha latte, a Japanese green tea typically steamed to stop the oxidation process and then roasted, resulting in little to no bitterness as well as a low caffeine content. Oyatsupan promises it is the perfect drink to transition from summer to fall thanks to the nutty notes from the tea and the creaminess of the oat milk.

3. SMITH TEAMAKER

500 NW 23rd Ave., 503-206-7451; 110 SE Washington St., 503-719-8752; smithtea. com. 10 am-6 pm daily.

As we get closer to the holiday sea son—prime tea-drinking time—Portland’s renowned full-leaf tea company has partnered with Farina Bakery to create a pairing menu for both of its tasting rooms. You can now get a trio of colorful macarons (pistachio, rainbow sprinkle and lemon) to go with Smith’s Moroccan mint, black lavender and red nectar teas served on a charcuterie-style board that’s perfect for those days you long for Paris but are stuck in Portland.

4. BAD HABIT ROOM

5433 N Michigan Ave., 503-303-8550, saraveza.com/the-bad-habit-room. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Friday, 9 am-2 pm and 4-10 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Bad Habit Room has technically been around for about a decade, but previous ly opened only for weekend brunch and special events. After staying completely shuttered for two years due to the pan demic, it’s back and caters to a different crowd in the evenings. Cocktails take their inspiration from the pre-Prohibition era, and our current favorite is Moon Shoes, made with marshmallow-infused vodka, lemon, orgeat and a splash of Son of Man harvest vermouth that acts as a grounding agent.

5. HETTY ALICE BREWING AT BELMONT STATION

4500 SE Stark St., 503-232-8538, bel mont-station.com. Noon-11 pm daily.

After launching Living Häus Beer Company with two other Portland brewers at the former Modern Times location this summer, pFriem vet Gavin Lord has spun off his own project inside that same space. The brew ery is named after his grandmother, who had a rough upbringing yet became known for her hospitality, a legacy he hopes to carry on with this business. Beer nerds know Lord best for his time as head brewer at Hood River’s pFriem and, after his year off from the industry, are undoubtedly pumped by his return.

COURTESY OFWONDERWOOD SPRINGS

Candy Crush

BY BRIANNA WHEELER

Halloweed should be a national holiday. Stoners have made up a lot of holidays; CBD Day, Oil Day, National Hemp Day, Legalization Day and, of course, 4/20. So, in the pantheon of imagined, sacred days, Halloweed makes total sense. Hear me out: In the ethereal hours after the Halloween revelry has died down but before Día de los Muertos festivities have commenced, there exists a moment when the veil separating the worlds of the living and dead is at its thinnest and chocolate everywhere just went on sale.

Halloweed is when adults get to stock up on not just the drugstore variety packs, but also the cannabis candies, gummies and potions that can prepare us to commune with the spirits of our ancestors.

Obviously, Halloweed will inevitably become a real, national holiday in no time (you’re welcome), and when that happens, these are the candies I’ll have in my plastic pumpkin pail alongside all of the fun-size confections I can score from Walgreens. Feel free to stock up now and keep the spirit of Halloweed going strong through November. Trick or treat, homies, see you on the moon.

Drops High-Dose Gummies

For stoners with high tolerances, a 100-milligram gummy from Drops might be the key to a night on the astral plane. The candies are all made with a sol ventless live rosin sourced from cannabis grown at the company’s outdoor farm in the Willamette Valley, and the resulting edibles deliver multifaceted highs that shimmer brighter than those resulting from chemically extracted concentrates. Pair with the classic, non-can nabis Dots gummies that come in a bright yellow box or Mike and Ikes for a candy hangover vibe.

BUY: Pakalolo PDX, 1528 SE Holgate Blvd., 503-3698955, pakalolopdx.com.

Mule Extracts Kicker

My own experience with Mule gummies has been con sistently great. When I had a 25-milligram ceiling, I could easily portion the cube of jelly to my own pref erence. Then, when that ceiling rose to 50 milligrams, half a gummy would deliver predictable, strain-specific results. Now that I need 100 milligrams to properly space walk, these gummies still shift my scope with out knocking me out. Bonus: The seasonal flavors are very on brand for Haloweed. Pair with peach rings or Swedish Fish for a jaw workout.

BUY: Plane Jane’s Dispensary, 10530 NE Simpson St., 971-255-0999, planejanespdx.com.

Grön Chocolate Mega Pearls

Another pastille-style confection that’s perfect for the adult trick-or-treater is Grön’s Mega Pearls, gum ball-sized, semi-firm gummies dusted with sparkling sugar. These candies have a special-occasion, border line-opulent vibe, and at 100 milligrams per pearl, are not for the novice. The gummies are available in

a variety of real fruit flavors, and aside from a 1-to-1 CBD-THC version, all deliver similar, full-spectrum effects. Pair with Skittles and sour straws to keep the fruity sugar vibes sparkling.

BUY: Satchel, 6900 N Interstate Ave., 503-206-4725, satchelpdx.com.

Laurie + MaryJane Fudge Yourself

Stoners who prefer chocolate over fruity candy will appreciate Laurie + MaryJane’s rich fudge, which is a cross between a confection you’d find at a seaside chocolatier and your grandmother’s holiday classic treat. Which is to say, its formulation is lovingly crafted. In keeping with the hippie grandma ethos, all of this local company’s products are made with full-spectrum, whole-plant coconut oil infusions rather than contem porary extracts. Pair with a Russell Stover variety pack, then call your grandma.

BUY: Curaleaf, 5103 NE Fremont St., 503-477-7254, curaleaf.com.

Hapy Kitchen S’mores Chocolate Bar

Hapy Kitchen’s bite-sized chocolate bars are perfect any time of year, but the s’mores bar, which contains graham crackers and miniature marshmallows, feels especially well suited for Halloween consumption. The bars are potent, but easily portioned, so sharing them with your coven is a good idea if you hang in a low-tolerance gang. Pair with Wonka Bars and Milk Duds and pray you keep your tooth fillings.

BUY: Northwest Cannabis Company, 17937 SW Mc Ewan Road, 971-634-4400, northwestcannabis.com.

Periodic Edibles Caramels

A buttery chunk of caramel makes me swoon even when it’s not medicated, so Periodic caramels make me double swoon. The 100-milligram rectangles of sugar are easy to share with pals, but also make for a dynamic, single-serving treat when doled out with intention. One of these caramels accompanied by a mug of hot apple cider would make for either a perfect fall meditation session or an afternoon orchard party—depending on your high. Pair with salted caramel truffles to keep from overindulging in the too-delicious weed version.

BUY: MindRite Recreational Cannabis Dispensary, 1780 NW Marshall St., 503-477-4430, mindritepdx.com.

Junk Popping Candy Dynamites!

It wouldn’t be Halloweed without cannabis-infused Pop Rocks. Junk’s version comes in three flavors: wa termelon, sour orange and strawberry, and while a 100-milligram package can be messily split between friends, real sugar fiends know a single serving when they see one. So if your tolerance for sugar is higher than your tolerance for THC, start slow rather than dumping the whole bag directly into your mouth. Pair with classic Pop Rocks, at least one Ring Pop, and a glass of Champagne, because you’re an adult now.

BUY: Diem Cannabis, 5903 SE Milwaukie Ave., 503610-9019, hellodiem.com/portland.

You probably have a stash of leftover Halloween candy— here is a list of sweet cannabis counterparts to pair with those treats.

WHAT TO SEE AND WHAT TO HEAR

BY DANIEL BROMFIELD @bromf3

Aminé’s Homecoming

Garage-rock fans crowned Ty Segall the new king of the genre as soon as he put out his scuzzy masterwork Melted in 2010, and his influence is still strong in American underground rock. Yet the San Franciscan with the goblin voice is just as adept as a glammy, mystical singer-songwriter, with more sedate albums like Ty Segall and Sleeper stripping back the layers of grime from his music and focus ing on hooks and melodies—and this side of Segall will be on display at his acoustic show at Star The ater. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., 503-284-4700, startheaterportland.com. 9 pm. $30. 21+.

SUNDAY, NOV. 6:

BY DANIEL BROMFIELD @bromf3

Aminé started his career as Portland’s hottest rapper by recording jokey diss tracks to rival high schools. A Benson alum, the artist born Adam Aminé Daniel would riff on Grant and Lincoln high schools over rudimentary beats, probably never suspecting he’d find himself standing in front of the Oregon Symphony just a decade later.

With his upcoming performance with the West Coast’s oldest symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Aminé joins the small but elite group of rappers who’ve performed live with orchestras. Jay-Z’s 2006 show in New York with the 50-piece “Hustlers Symphony Orchestra” brought his debut album, Rea sonable Doubt, back to life for its 10th anniversary—and since then, everyone from Nas and Kendrick Lamar to Migos and Sir Mix-a-Lot have chosen to add a little classical gas to their beats onstage.

Despite moving to Los Angeles, Aminé is all but synonymous with hip-hop in Portland, which remains better known globally for downcast indie rock than rap, despite boasting fantastic underground rappers like Old Grape God and Karma Rivera. Only the young party-rap phenomenon Yeat can compete with Aminé for regional adoration and national reach right now.

When Darcie Kozlowski came to Portland in 2019 to join the Oregon Symphony as director of popular programming, Aminé was on a lot of people’s lips in what she describes as a “this-mu sician-is-going-to-be-huge kind of way.”

Though the pandemic stalled talks between the symphony and Aminé’s team for a while, the success of Nas’ 2021 performance with the symphony prompted Kozlowski to realize “there is an appetite in our community for rap and hip-hop performed with orchestras.” Not long after, Aminé’s team got back in touch again. Orchestral collaborations with nonclassical artists can be a challenge. For every success like the late Pharoah Sanders’ Promises with the London Symphony Orchestra, there’s a muddy mess like Metallica’s S&M with the San Francisco Symphony. And rap-orchestral collabs have long been the target of ribbing, from The Simpsons’ incongruous pairing of Cypress Hill with a confused string section to underground New York rapper Billy Woods’ barb, “I don’t wanna go see Nas with an orchestra at

Carnegie Hall.”

Australia’s Tim Davies is the arranger behind many of the most famous orchestral-rap crossovers. In 2014, he arranged and performed at Nas’ symphonically enhanced 20th-anniversary shows for his classic debut, Illmatic. Since then, he’s worked with Kendrick Lamar, ’80s and ’90s hitmaker Babyface, and art-pop torch singers Maxwell and Moses Sumney.

Hip-hop frequently relies on loops, samples and repetition, so Davies’ challenge is to keep the symphony busy instead of forcing it to play the same short motifs over and over again. “I try to imagine it in larger sections, considering the shape and where I want to build and release,” he tells WW. “Then I listen to the track and hum, sing, groan, yell, hit the piano, make animal noises. Then I write that down and orchestrate it.”

Given the limited rehearsal time for shows such as these, Davies adheres closely to the form of the original songs rather than radically reimagining their structure from the ground up.

“It is easier to say, ‘Wait an extra eight bars at the start,’ rath er than have them learn a whole new version and make them uncomfortable and potentially miss something in the show,” he says. “That said, the trick is to be creative with the orchestra within that framework so that it is a true collaboration and not just musicians playing in the background.”

Aminé’s music is uniquely well-suited for an orchestral treat ment. The first album he ever bought was Kanye West’s The College Dropout, released in the early prime of West’s sweeping, soul-sampling production style. Aminé’s best work—his breakout hit “Caroline,” its parent album Good for You, and last year’s TwoPointFive—has the sunniness, sonic lushness, cheeky humor, and communal spirit of that classic. All those qualities promise to carry over well to a symphonic adaptation.

“He is an extraordinarily creative artist who is inventive and willing to make bold statements with his music,” Kozlowski says. “Those qualities align perfectly with the Oregon Symphony.”

SEE IT: Aminé performs with the Oregon Symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 503248-4335, orsymphony.org. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Nov. 9. $69-$95.

Canada’s Spencer Krug is one of the most eclectic and hardworking musicians in rock. Though past records have found him working with everything from guitar to marimbas, he can often be found hunched behind a keyboard at live shows, and his solo piano performances—like the one he’ll give at Mississippi Studios—represent one of the most intimate, engrossing expressions of his sound and style. Support comes from Saloli, a local artist who released the lovely solo piano album The Island last year. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 503-288-3895, mississippistudios.com. 9 pm. $20. 21+.

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 9:

Craig Finn’s oeuvre of sweeping, obsessively detailed, all-American story-songs is spread over stints in several fantastic bands—first with Lifter Puller, beloved by punk royalty such as Joe Strum mer and Billie Joe Armstrong, and most famously with the Hold Steady. He’s the kind of artist who inspires fans to shout along at shows and claim his music saved their lives, and his increasingly great string of solo albums proves his career as the closest thing indie rock has to a Springsteen is far from over. Old Church Concert Hall, 1422 SW 11th Ave., 503-222-2031, theoldchurch.org. 8 pm. $27. All ages.

The Portland-raised rapper is back in town for a concert with the Oregon Symphony.

COURTESY OF AMINÉ

COURTESY OF TY SEGALL

COURTESY OF SPENCER KRUG COURTESY OF CRAIG FINN

FRIDAY, NOV. 4:

Escaping the Trauma Trope

Tess Gunty discusses her National Book Award-nominated debut novel, The Rabbit Hutch.

BY MICHELLE KICHERER @michellekicherer

A few days after Tess Gunty’s debut novel, The Rabbit Hutch (Knopf, 352 pages, $28), was announced as a finalist in fiction for the National Book Award, we sat down for a chat in our respective Zoom settings, with my dog snoozing on the couch behind me and her cat sauntering in front of her screen.

As our pets said hello, I congratulated her on the nomination. “When you’re a debut writer,” Gunty says, “your publisher is really taking a risk on you, so any kind of recognition like this is kind of just a relief, like you’re proving that at least their in vestment in you was not so foolish.”

“Foolish” is the opposite of how anyone would describe Gunty’s book, which tackles class, systemic racism, poorly regulated capitalism, and climate crisis. The themes are explored through the alternating perspectives of characters who live in or are in some way connected to La Lapinière, an affordable housing complex (referred to as the Rabbit Hutch) in the fictional town of Vacca Vale, Indiana.

Each character struggles with a different version of similar demons. At the forefront is Blandine, who turns to education as a means of escape and is one of four former foster youths in the story whose beginnings are molded by the failures of American foster care and public education (and, in general, collective systems of oppression).

After writing each of the foster youths’ backstories, Gunty cut those scenes. “I really didn’t want anyone to be like some mathematical equation of bad experiences,” she says. “I wanted to protect their individuality in the text and to not make anyone interpret their actions as the results of their best and worst

experiences in the system.”

That nuanced approach extends to Moses, a middle-aged man whose occasional desire for revenge inspires him to cover his body in fluid from neon glow sticks and break into homes. Yet despite his actions, we can still gather up some compassion for him.

the main events and the main themes,” Gunty says. “And that’s when I started to realize how the pieces would come together.”

Gunty envisioned many versions of The Rabbit Hutch’s final act. One idea came to fruition with the help of her brother, the artist and musician Nicholas Gunty, who illustrated the action-dense climax of the book with a figurative interpretation of what was going on in the scene.

“Nick understood the aesthetic of the book and what I was looking for really intuitively,” Gunty says. She proposed the idea to Knopf, who quickly gave the go-ahead for the artwork. The illustrated chapter is just one way that The Rabbit Hutch provides a multidimensional view of its characters’ responses to the events they experience.

“It was important to me to make all the characters sympathetic, even when they were behaving in frightening and disturbing ways,” Gunty says. “I felt like I had to learn how to root for them when I was writing the chapters.”

Gunty says that the novel’s plot came rather late in her writing process. “I think that’s generally how I write: I tend to follow sentence to sentence, just trying to trust a kind of dream logic that will lead me somewhere, then, after the fact, refining it,” she explains.

Once about a third of her manuscript was formed, Gunty start ed fleshing out the plot. At the time, she was taking a master’s in fine arts class at New York University about mapping fiction. The professor, John Freeman (who later became her editor at Knopf), had the students retroactively map out the narratives of other novels, then do the same exercise for their own work.

“I took note cards and sort of put them around my room with

By displaying each character’s unique response to the same situations, the novel offers a fresh escape from the trauma trope.

Gunty references Parul Sehgal’s 2021 New Yorker article “The Case Against the Trauma Plot,” stating that film and literature often rely too heavily on trauma as a way to explain their char acters into a set of paper-flat symptoms.

“Yes, trauma does affect us, and there’s no getting away from that,” she says. “But the way individuals react to traumatic events varies tremendously from individual to individual.”

GO: Tess Gunty appears in conversation with Cecily Wong (and moderator Kimberly King Parsons) at the Portland Book Festival, Miller Gallery at the Portland Art Museum, 1119 SW Park Ave., 503-227-2583, literary-arts.org. 12:45 pm-1:45 pm Saturday, Nov. 5. $15-$25 adults, $5 Arts for All, military servicemembers, veterans and 17 and under free. Gunty will make two more appearances at the Portland Book Festival on Nov. 5 (full schedule at literary-arts.org/ bio/tess-gunty/).

“It was important to me to make all the characters sympathetic, even when they were behaving in frightening and disturbing ways.”

MOVIES

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

Days of Being Wild

How animation supervisors Malcolm Lamont and Jeff Riley helped create the Milwaukie-made stop-motion film Wendell & Wild.

BY CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER @chance_s_p

Henry Selick—master of stop-motion animation, nether worlds and childhood trauma wrapped in kooky merri ment—is back with his first movie in 13 years, Wendell & Wild (which is currently streaming on Netflix and playing at the Hollywood Theatre).

The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline director and his team spent the better part of four years in their Milwaukie studio animating the film, an aesthetically marvelous and narratively chaotic tale of two demons, Wendell and Wild, who ascend to earth to visit an or phaned 13-year-old named Kat (Lyric Ross) as she enrolls in an austere Catholic school.

With its macabre fun and peerless puppetry, Wendell & Wild is a quintessential Selick creation with added political and mythological dimensions from co-writer, producer and Wild voice actor Jordan Peele (his Key & Peele compatriot Keegan-Michael Key voices Wendell). WW spoke to the film’s Portland-based animation su pervisors, Jeff Riley and Malcolm Lamont, about embrac ing animation’s so-called imperfections, weathering the fires of 2020, and their hopes for the future of stop-motion in Portland.

WW: What did Selick films mean to you coming up in the ’90s?

Jeff Riley: I was interested in special effects in high school; all my friends were going to good schools to be scientists and lawyers. I went and visited my sister in college…she was like, “I saw ads for this movie; it made me think of you.” It was The Nightmare Before Christmas, and I was like, “Oh, it’s a Disney movie? There are songs? I really don’t want to.” Anyway, she convinced me to go, and I was just mesmerized. I remember not even really speaking for the rest of my visit. By the time the train ride home ended, I was really like, “That’s what I’m going to do—stop-motion animation.”

I’ve read there was a prerogative on Wendell & Wild to leave in some things, like puppet seam lines (the lines on puppet faces to which their changeable fa cial expressions adhere), that could be viewed as imperfections. Why?

Riley: I think Henry thought stop-motion trying to em ulate CG was going too far…[he’d say], “This is stop-mo

tion, don’t hide it.” You can leave in little crinkles in the costumes. There are a lot of shots where you can see a character’s hair moving. We call it charm.

Malcolm Lamont: That seam line thing is something he’s wanted to leave in for a long time. When we did Coraline, there was a studiowide survey on whether to leave it in or paint it out. Ultimately, it went. I think this was his chance. Even up until close to the end, I believe it hadn’t been decided through Netflix whether to leave it in or not. Watching it, you might notice [the lines] in the first 30 seconds but then not think about it again. It’s a good test to see if your film is engaging.

Did you have to perform a puppet rescue during the fires of fall 2020?

Riley: That was the craziest day. The air quality went past where the chart could measure. It was a huge volunteer group that showed up just to make sure we could keep going. Because those puppets are not replaceable.

Where do puppets go when they evacuate?

Riley: Our head of puppets had a family farm: a big barn that was way out of the way of the fire.

Now that the long-awaited, Portland-made W&W and Pinocchio are being released, how do you feel about the future of stop-motion in town?

Lamont: The idea that you have a full-time job in stop-motion is always a little difficult. I’ve heard of a lot of graduates moving to Portland just for the hope of getting a job. I hope there’s enough work for everyone.

It’s a tricky industry. Stop-motion doesn’t always get the biggest budgets and it’s strained at times. I know the Laika films do really well on Netflix, and I hope Wendell and Pinocchio continue that. I hope Netflix sees this as a victory. They really put a lot of time and money into this medium that I don’t think they knew a whole lot about.

Riley: For all the people who are fans out there, the more they watch it, the more chance there is for us to make more.

Lamont: Yeah, leave it on a loop [laughs].

SEE IT: Wendell & Wild plays at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-493-1128, holly woodtheatre.org. 3 and 6 pm Saturday, 4 pm Sunday, Nov. 5-6. $7-$10.

STREAMING WARS

YOUR WEEKLY FILM QUEUE

BY BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON @thobennett

PORTLAND PICK:

I’ll be honest: I’m not a fan of PDX-raised director Todd Field’s Little Children (2006). But it will help you get a handle on his perverse and peculiar sense of humor (which is used to much finer effect in TÁR). Based on a novel by Tom Perrotta (and functioning as a clinical cousin to vibrant, lurid suburban melodramas like American Beauty and Blue Velvet), Little Children stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly and Jackie Earle Haley. Rent on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube.

INDIE PICK:

When James Gray’s autobiographical Armageddon Time opens in Portland theaters tomorrow night, it will mark the continuation of one of the most extraordinary careers in 21st century Hollywood. To see where it all began, watch his poetically grim directorial debut, Little Odessa (1994). Tim Roth stars as a Russian hit man whose reunion with his brother (Edward Furlong) and his ex-girlfriend (Moira Kelly) leads to tragedy and bloodshed. Tubi.

HOLLYWOOD PICK:

Michael Bay may be Hollywood’s smartest dumbass—and in Pain & Gain (2013), his vulgar theatrics are at their most grotesquely entertaining. Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie and Dwayne Johnson star as a trio of Miami bodybuilders (based on actual people) who kidnap an obnoxious busi nessman (Tony Shalhoub) and commandeer his wealth in a feckless bid to experience the American Dream. Ed Harris co-stars as a detective who becomes the film’s lone embodiment of stoic, thoughtful patriotism. Amazon Prime, Paramount+.

INTERNATIONAL PICK:

In Wong Kar-wai’s 2046 (2004), a sci-fi writer (Tony Leung) loves and loses several women: a professional gambler (Gong Li), the daughter of a hotel owner (Faye Wong), and a cabaret girl (Zhang Ziyi) whose romantic anguish nearly consumes the film. Set mostly in Hong Kong in the ’60s, the film is ostensibly a sequel to Wong’s deliciously dreamy In the Mood for Love, but it possess es a strange beauty all its own (yes, the rumors are true: There is a futuristic subplot involving an android-filled sky train). Tubi.

The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

Legendary multihyphenate Ida Lupino was the first woman to make a mainstream American film noir, co-writing and directing this fictionalized take on the 1950 Billy Cook murder spree. It’s a groundbreaking road-trip thriller about two friends (Edmond O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy) who are taken hostage by a hitchhiker while traveling to Mexico. Cinemagic, Nov. 2.

Mission Hill (1999-2000)

Join Simpsons showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Wein stein for a special screening of a selection of newly restored, never-before-seen episodes of Mission Hill, their adult animated series about 20-somethings living in a big-city loft. Stick around afterward for a post-show Q&A with Oakley and Weinstein. Clinton, Nov. 4.

Decasia (2002)

Decasia is a 66-minute experimental meditation on the inevitable physical decay of film, consisting of a col lage of segments edited together from deteriorating prints (all set to an original symphonic score by Michael Gordon). Made by experimental artist Bill Morrison, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2013. 5th Avenue, Nov. 4-6.

Gun Crazy (1950)

Two lovers (Peggy Cummins and John Dall) who share a twisted obsession with guns ditch the carnival where they work in favor of a bullet-blasting crime spree across the country. Screens as the first entry in Cinema 21’s “Film Noir in the 50s” series, hosted by film programmer Elliot Lavine. Cinema 21, Nov. 5.

Indecent Desires (1968)

Sexploitation auteur Doris Wishman’s obscure thriller follows a creep who finds a doll that miraculously re sembles the secretary he’s fixated on (when he touches the doll, she feels it, setting off a series of erotic, violent and psychologically terrifying events). Featuring an introduction by artist Lisa Petrucci of Something Weird Video. Hollywood, Nov. 5.

ALSO PLAYING:

Academy: The Funhouse (1981), Nov. 2-3. Coraline (2009), Nov. 2-3. The Boxtrolls (2014), Nov. 4-10. The Killing (1956), Nov. 4-10. Cinemagic: Revenge (2017), Nov. 2. Raw (2016), Nov. 3. Night of the Creeps (1986), Nov. 4. Clinton: Tout Va Bien (1972), Nov. 7. Hollywood: Deliverance (1972), Nov. 2. The Outfit (1973), Nov. 3. Sev en Grandmasters (1977), Nov. 8.

STARS AT NOON

Deep into French auteur Claire Denis’ latest drama, a question haunts the film’s aimless young American protagonist, Trish (Margaret Qualley), who roams Nicaragua’s capital city amid a military coup: Why on earth is she here? She doesn’t come up with any direct answers, but she has one hell of a line locked and loaded: “I wanted to know the exact dimensions of hell.” That steel-reinforced quip is typical of the sick, sharp, deflective wit of Denis’ second film of 2022, fol lowing summer’s Both Sides of the Blade Stars at Noon is based on a 1986 Denis Johnson novel, but in cinematic form, it plays like a guilty, libidinal echo of Casablanca mixed with the understated deathtrap politics of a John le Carré story. Trish’s daily wanderings eventually lead her to a tony hotel bar, where she meets an oil speculator named Daniel (Joe Alwyn). Daniel is an agent of mannered, chic capitalism in a country where those qualities have cachet at his hotel, but nowhere else. His suave exterior (white suit, expense account) immediately becomes disheveled when he and Trish venture into the city streets and beyond. While it may seem regressive for Denis to cen ter white protagonists in a Nicaragua-set film, Stars at Noon is not a savior narrative, assimilation fantasy, or exoticized horror story. Rather, her 15th feature expands her careerlong commentary— from Chocolat (1988) to White Material (2009)—on the compromises, delusions and road-to-hellpaving intentions of post-colonial Europeans. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. On demand.

DECISION TO LEAVE

Director Park Chanwook loves a curse. From revenge (Oldboy) to vampirism (Thirst) to abuse (The Handmaid en), the Korean master often treats character motivations as binding covenants of passion and perversion. So it is with Deci sion to Leave, for which he won Best Director at Cannes. When a Busan immigration officer falls to his death, his widow (Tang Wei of Lust, Caution fame) and an investigating detective (Park Hae-il) enter a classic noir twostep of suspicion and attraction (a trope deployed by everyone from Hitchcock to Eszterhas). But Park has plenty to add, always emphasizing character over casework: This investigation’s intensity fatalistically marks the participants. Certain elements re call Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder, especially the casting of Park Hae-il, whose boyish beauty is pulverized by his character’s job here. But the film is mostly interested in the detective as an idea—an assembly of attractive, manipulatable qualities, from his dignified-cop mannerisms to ex tra storage pockets in his slacks. Rest assured, there are jaw-drop ping foot chases and skirmishes, but Decision to Leave is mostly Park Chan-wook at deconstruc tive play. In the long lineage of cops and suspects improperly entwined, here’s a new cosmic joke about relationships: At last, a man who pays attention. NR. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Bridgeport, Cinema 21, Eastport, Hollywood.

TÁR

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.

Lydia Tár (Cate Blanch ett) is the master of time—or so she says. When asked to explain why a conductor is more than “a human metronome,” Lydia,

maestro of the Berlin Philhar monic, says the description is not entirely inaccurate. Under the sway of her baton, time starts, stretches and stops. She’s in control—which is why, inevitably, TÁR must be about her losing control. Written and directed by Portland-raised filmmaker Todd Field (Little Children), the movie finds Lydia on the precipice of a career-crowning, pandemic-de layed performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Yet despite her success, she’s haunted, not only by ethereal threats (including a growling dog who may or may not be real), but by rumors of sexual impropriety that cloud her reign as the world’s foremost female conductor. Lydia doesn’t behave like an innocent woman— she deletes countless emails from a former protégé who died by suicide—but TÁR has no interest in tidy answers. Delighting in our discomfort, Blanchett and Field morally box us in by making Lyd ia as lovable as she is despicable. Even when she stares into the abyss of so-called cancellation, she has a strange magnificence (especially during her caterwaul ing performance of a made-up, accordion-accompanied song called “Apartment for Sale”). Whether the film’s ethics are du bious or simply nuanced prom ises to be a furiously contested matter of perspective. What won’t be is Field’s directing. As the camera smoothly follows Lydia as she journeys through a tunnel or along a river, you feel your world expanding. Visually, intellectually and emotionally, TÁR is epic-scale cinema. That is why, like its heroine, it will leave you both troubled and awe struck. R. BENNETT CAMPBELL FERGUSON. Cinema 21, Fox Tower, Laurelhurst, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Studio One.

TICKET TO PARADISE

Romantic comedies aren’t crafted to subvert expectations, but to satisfy them with a formula that leaves everyone happy—a formula that’s far more delicate than it’s given credit for. Writ er-director Ol Parker (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again) is no newcomer to this arena (he also wrote The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ). Working with two A-list veterans of the genre, George Clooney and Julia Roberts, he gets Ticket to Paradise off to a fantastic start, but it falls apart from there. Clooney and Roberts play David and Georgia, a bitterly divorced couple forced to reunite for the graduation of their daugh ter Lily (Kaitlyn Dever) from law school and to see her off to Bali for three months (with the obligatory best-friend character with all the best lines, played by Billie Lourd). When they receive word that Lily is forgoing her law career to marry a local guy she just met and live with him in Bali, they freak and rush to stop the wedding, a plot that never rings true. Lily’s leap of romantic faith is difficult to buy in the modern age, especially without the spark generated by similar characters seeking a contested shotgun wedding in films like Why Him? or Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Seeing Clooney and Roberts to gether, though, is like listening to a new album from a favorite band of your youth. They can still hit those wonderful, familiar notes to satisfy their old fans, but this time, it’s doubtful they’ll attract any new ones. PG-13. RAY GILL

JR. Bridgeport, Cascade, Cedar Hills, City Center, Clackamas, Di vision, Eastport Plaza, Fox Tower, Living Room, Lloyd Center, Mill Plain, Oak Grove, Studio One, Tigard, Vancouver Plaza.

TOP PICK OF THE

by Jack Kent

(March 21-April 19): When you Aries people are at your best, you are driven by impeccable

as you translate high ideals into practi

action. You push on with tireless force to get

you want, and what you want is often good

others, too. You have a strong sense of what it means to be vividly alive, and you stimulate a similar awareness in the people whose lives you touch. Are you always at your best? Of course not. No one is. But according to my analysis of upcoming astrological omens, you now have ex tra potential to live up to the elevated standards I described. I hope you will take full advantage.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In my experience, you Tauruses often have more help available than you realize. You underestimate your power to call on support, and as a result, don't call on it enough. It may even be the case that the possible help gets weary of waiting for you to summon it, and basically goes into hiding or fades away. But let's say that you, the lucky person reading this horoscope, get inspired by my words. Maybe you will respond by becoming more forceful about recognizing and claiming your potential bless ings. I hope so! In my astrological opinion, now is a favorable time for you to go in quest of all the help you could possibly want. (PS: Where might the help come from? Sources you don't expect, perhaps, but also familiar influences that expand beyond their previous dispensations.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Sometimes, life compels us to change. It brings us some shock that forces us to adjust. On other occasions, life doesn't pressure us to make any shifts, but we neverthe less feel drawn to initiating a change. My guess is that you are now experiencing the latter. There's no acute discomfort pushing you to revise your rhythm. You could probably continue with the status quo for a while. And yet, you may sense a growing curiosity about how your life could be different. The possibility of instigating a trans formation intrigues you. I suggest you trust this intuition. If you do, the coming weeks will bring you greater clarity about how to proceed.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality," wrote ancient Roman philosopher Seneca. That's certainly true about me. If all the terrible things I have worried about had actually come to pass, I would be unable to function. Luckily, most of my fears have remained mere fantasies. What about you, fellow Cancerian? The good news is that in the coming months, we Crabs will have unprec edented power to tamp down and dissipate the phantasms that rouse anxiety and alarm. I predict that as a result, we will suffer less from imaginary problems than we ever have before. How's that for a spectacular prophecy?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Poet Matt Michael writes, "Sure, the way trees talk is poetry. The shape of the moon is poetry. But a hot dog is also poetry. LeBron James’ tomahawk dunk over Kevin Garnett in the 2008 NBA Playoffs is poetry. That pothole I always fail to miss on Parkman Road is poetry, too." In accordance with current astrological omens, Leo. I'd love for you to adopt Michael's approach. The coming days will be a favorable time to expand your ideas about what's lyrical, beautiful, holy, and meaningful. Be alert for a stream of omens that will offer you help and inspiration. The world has subtle miracles to show you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo author Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka, but as a child moved to England and later to Canada. His novel Running in the Family describes his experiences upon returning to his native Sri Lanka as an adult. Among the most delightful: the deluge of novel sensory sensations. On some days, he would spend hours simply smelling things. In accordance with current astrological omens, I recommend you treat yourself to comparable experiences, Virgo. Maybe you could devote an hour today to mindfully inhaling various aromas. Tomorrow, meditate on the touch of lush textures. On the next day, bathe yourself

in sounds that fill you with rich and interesting feelings. By feeding your senses like this, you will give yourself an extra deep blessing that will literally boost your intelligence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You evolved Libras understand what's fair and just. That’s one of your potencies, and it provides a fine service for you and your allies. You use it to glean objective truths that are often more valuable than every one's subjective opinions. You can be a stirring mediator as you deploy your knack for impartial ity and evenhandedness. I hope these talents of yours will be in vivid action during the coming weeks. We non-Libras need extra-strong doses of this stuff.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Here are tips on how to get the most out of the next three weeks: 1. Be a master of simmering, ruminating, marinat ing, steeping, fermenting, and effervescing. 2. Summon intense streams of self-forgiveness for any past event that still haunts you. 3. Tap into your forbidden thoughts so they might heal you. Discover what you're hiding from yourself so it can guide you. Ask yourself prying questions. 4. Make sure your zeal always synergizes your allies' energy, and never steals it. 5. Regularly empty your metaphorical trash so you always have enough room inside you to gleefully breathe the sweet air and exult in the earth's beauty.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): "I straddle reality and the imagination," says Sagittarian singersongwriter Tom Waits. "My reality needs imagi nation like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane." I think that's great counsel for you to emphasize in the coming weeks. Your reality needs a big influx of energy from your imagination, and your imagination needs to be extra well-grounded in reality. Call on both influences with maximum intensity!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Sometimes, Capricorn, you appear to be so calm, secure, and capable that people get a bit awed, even worship ful. They may even get caught up in trying to please you. Is that a bad thing? Not necessar ily—as long as you don't exploit and manipulate those people. It might even be a good thing in the coming weeks, since you and your gang have a chance to accomplish big improvements in your shared resources and environment. It would take an extra push from everyone, though. I suspect you're the leader who's best able to incite and orchestrate the extra effort.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you have been posing as a normal person for too long, I hope you will create fresh outlets for your true weird self in the weeks ahead. What might that entail? I'll throw out a couple of ideas. You could welcome back your imaginary friends and give them new names like Raw Goodness and Spiral Trickster. You might wear fake vampire teeth during a com mittee meeting or pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster to send you paranormal adventures. What other ideas can you imagine about how to have way too much fun as you draw more intensely on your core eccentricities?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I suspect you will have metaphorical resemblances to a duck in the coming weeks: an amazingly adaptable creature equally at home on land, in the water, and in the air. You will feel comfortable anywhere you choose to wander. And I'm guessing you will want to wander farther and wider than you usu ally do. Here’s another quality that you and ducks will share: You'll feel perfectly yourself, relaxed and confident, no matter what the weather is. Whether it's cloudy or shiny, rainy or misty, mild or frigid, you will not only be unflappable—you will thrive on the variety. Like a duck, Pisces, you may not attract a lot of attention. But I bet you will enjoy the hell out of your life exactly as it is.

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