Willamette Week, April 19, 2023 - Volume 49, Issue 23 - "The Stoner Age"

“ALL OF THIS IS AN INEXCUSABLE MESS.”

CHASING GHOSTS: Give Us This Mansion. P. 6

NEWS: A Cop for Two Cities. P. 8

MUSIC: Cosmic Folk Songs. P. 25

This 4/20, we give thanks for a world of weed. Page 12

This 4/20, we give thanks for a world of weed. Page 12

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM READING THIS WEEK’S PAPER

VOL. 49, ISSUE 23

Mary Holden Ayala is out of prison. 6

Madrona Park is covered in logs. 7

Portland Police Officer Brian Hunzeker spent the past year patrolling Felida and Maple Tree. 9

Portland’s Office of Community and Civic Life collected $4.8 million for Black businesses— and spent none of it. 10

Flight Lounge stocks alcohol wipes for resin-coated fingertips. 14

A new test required by Oregon for a common fungus could crush the cannabis flower industry. 15

St. Johns has a favorite spot for moon rocks (cannabis nugs drenched in extract and then

dredged in kief). 16

The rumors of $1 joints on McLoughlin are true. 17

A WWE Lucha House Party member and a Trash Belt Champion will both be at Metalmania. 21

Block 15 brewed three beers for its 15th anniversary: The Past , The Present and The Future. 21

Pickleez, often spelled pikliz, is a spicy Haitian vegetable slaw 22

Fictional lawyer Cal Claxton calls his pro bono office in Old Town Portland “Caffeine Central.” 23

Beware of flavortext 24

Cosmic American music is an amalgamation of country and rock. 25

ALBERTA ROSE THEATRE

genre-crossing

RODNEY CROWELL

UPCOMING

JUDY BLUE EYES

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH, & YOUNG TRIBUTE honoring David Crosby featuring CSN guitarist Jeff Peva

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5/18 - ANTONIO REY

5/19 - TONY STARLIGHT PRESENTS NEIL DIAMOND’S 80TH BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE

5/20 - TONY STARLIGHT’S MUSICAL VARIETY SHOW

5/21 - RIZO - PRIZMATISM W/ SPECIAL GUESTS GLITTERFOX

•••••

3000 NE Alberta • 503.764.4131

Last week’s cover story explored a peculiar result of Portland Public Schools’ steep decline in enrollment: Parents of kindergartners feel wooed by charter and private schools as they weigh their loyalty to the neighborhood elementary (“Big Kid on Campus,” WW, April 12). As our reporter followed parents through school open houses, she identified several factors eroding confidence in neighborhood schools. Readers had their own ideas:

16SEMESTERS, VIA REDDIT: “Demographics are shifting, that’s absolutely true. There’s fewer kids in Portland (and nationally). We’re going to have some very uncomfortable decisions in the next 20 to 30 years because every level of education is going to have decreased enrollment. Schools elementary through college will need to be consolidated or closed. Which ones close is going to be a hot political topic here.”

JOSH LEHNER, VIA TWITTER: “Here’s the [point] with population loss I try to make. Yes, growing pains are real, but managing decay is harder. Good luck deciding which 10 schools to close.”

PRISMATIC_EFFECT, VIA REDDIT: “I went to PPS, my dad went to PPS, his mom went to PPS. Public education is the most effective way to address and improve nearly every societal problem, from drug addiction to economic mobility to unwanted pregnancies and more.

“ When the pandemic hit and we were pushed into ‘comprehensive distance learning’ I was on the PTA of my kids’ school. I was completely dismayed by the lack of urgency by the administration of PPS to ensure that they were reaching out to all the students

and meeting them where they were able. Parents and kids were anxious, confused, and afraid and the admin did NOTHING that I could see to ensure that everyone knew that whatever they were able to do would be adequate during the crisis. Instead, we were left wondering about attendance requirements, schoolwork obligations, curriculum and benchmarking. It was a huge missed opportunity and doesn’t surprise me that people with means went somewhere less confusing, and people without left because they couldn’t figure out how to meet their obligations.

“Makes me incredibly mad and frustrated.”

LU, VIA WWEEK.COM: “We’ve long been toward the bottom of school rankings, we have one of the shortest school years in the country, and we prioritized vaccinating teachers over the elderly and still didn’t reopen schools, and you think they’re worried about something trivial like declining enrollment? They know they’ve got nothing to worry about.”

SSCAMARO3, VIA WWEEK.

COM: “Both in Europe and U.S., university-schooled parents have fewer children. The younger generations are having children later in life than 20 years ago, as the article mentions…

Dr. Know

BY MARTY SMITH @martysmithxxx

I was shocked to find that the city of Portland’s Division of Asset Management is selling Portland’s water tanks (or, rather, the property under the tanks). Why don’t we need these tanks anymore? —Stunned

Strictly speaking, Stunned, most of the tanks listed on the page you sent me aren’t for sale— at least not yet. What happened is that long ago, the Portland Water Bureau determined that the tanks were no longer needed. By doing this, it planted a bureaucratic seed that, even today, continues to effloresce with administratively mandated procedures, declarations, outreach requirements, and opportunities for public comment. The online notification you saw is but a single flower from this mighty tree.*

These sites have all cleared at least one hurdle, though. They’ve all been designated as “excess real property,” meaning that, by city policy, they have to be either repurposed—as in adopted by another bureau—or sold. (Sadly, the city isn’t allowed to hang on to them just because they look cool.)

“But societies cycle. A Portland-educated boomer will recall the burst in school building during the ’60s only to find newly built schools shuttered 10 to 15 years later. Jackson High School (Southwest Portland) being but one example.”

WHAT ABOUT PRESCHOOL FOR ALL?

I really enjoyed your piece on the decreasing numbers of kids enrolling in PPS elementary schools and the detailed stats you included. That’s why I enjoy WW: real info regardless of ideology or agenda. (If you were expecting a but…, this is where it would be in a compliment sandwich, and there isn’t one.) I’m really curious about that information you presented combined with the glut of new revenue from the “Free Preschool for All” tax. We have record low enrollment, record high funding, a billion-dollar bond, and a new preschool tax?! Where is that going, and what is the spend per precocious little preschooler?! Is that not drawing in new parents to Multnomah County and Portland Public Schools? If you’re bored… ;) Dan Corcoran Northeast Portland

CLARIFICATION

A correction in last week’s edition said a 501(c)(4) nonprofit may not advocate for political candidates. It may, but not as its primary activity.

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

Why are they so unnecessary? Well, for one thing, we’re already up to our eyeballs in water storage. Remember a few years back when the Environmental Protection Agency harshed Portland’s mellow by telling us we had to replace our free-and-easy open-air reservoirs with state-of-the-art covered ones, and we all started singing “I Fought the Feds”? Well, the feds won. We built the reservoirs, and now our storage capacity tops 200 million gallons.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we were using those old towers right up until the most recent reservoirs were rolled out. Like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Portland’s water system grew in part by annexing its neighbors. Many of these had tanks and towers that became redundant once they were swallowed up by Portland’s network, and that was quite a while back in most cases.

If you’re looking to see what it might take to get a tower of your own, the city also maintains a list of properties that have sold. The St. Johns Tank on North Oswego Avenue appears there, for example. According to realtor.com, it sold for $450,000 last June. That might sound cheap in the current real estate market, but don’t forget that the buyer is also responsible for removing the actual tower. And no turning it into an illegal Airbnb, either—in this case, at least, I guarantee the city would notice.

*Legend says that anyone who picks a flower from this tree will have all their downspouts magically disconnected free of charge.

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

NORMANDALE PARK KILLER GETS LIFE SEN -

TENCE: Benjamin Smith, the man who murdered a woman and shot four others near Normandale Park in Northeast Portland last year, has been sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 55 years. Multnomah County Circuit Judge Christopher Marshall announced the decision April 18. Smith pleaded guilty earlier this month. Several of Smith’s victims made statements at the sentencing, and one, Dajah Beck, played recorded footage of the attack in court. “Every victim here today is someone who would run towards the sound of gunfire to help someone—but that night, at that intersection, the gunfire came to us,” she said. On Feb. 19, 2022, Smith shot longtime activist June Knightly, 60, in the head, killing her as she was helping to direct traffic during a racial justice march. Smith shot four other people before being shot himself by a bystander. One of his victims was paralyzed from the neck down. Smith lived near the park and had been previously reported to local and federal law enforcement for his threatening behavior prior to the shootings.

FENTANYL DEALING PERSISTS AT WASHING -

TON CENTER: Less than a week after Portland police and fire personnel cleared the Washington Center complex, and the Menashe real estate family boarded it up, drug dealers and users returned to the one part of the building that still affords protection from the rain: the covered plaza outside the former KeyBank at Southwest 5th Avenue and Washington Street. About a dozen people were gathered there on April 17, smoking fentanyl as spring rains drenched downtown. Police and fire cleared the building for the Menashes in exchange for a guarantee they would seal the building. Cody Bowman, a spokesman for Mayor Ted Wheeler, didn’t return emails seeking comment on whether the Menashes had done enough by putting up plywood. “We will continue to do whatever is necessary for safety and security,” says Barry Menashe, founder of Menashe Properties. Spokeswoman Terri Wallo-Strauss says Portland police have discontinued roundthe-clock patrols of the sidewalks around the building, which teemed with drug dealers and users until a week ago, when police started the patrols. “We continue to have a presence in the area, and our bike squad is active throughout downtown,” Wallo-Strauss says. “But we do not have a dedicated patrol at 4th and Washington 24/7.”

TOP REPUBLICANS ASK KOTEK FOR INDEPEN -

DENT LA MOTA INVESTIGATION: On April 17, Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend) and House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson (R-Prineville), sent a letter to Gov. Tina Kotek demanding that she hire outside counsel to probe the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and its relationship with La Mota, the state’s second-largest cannabis dispensary chain whose tax liens and legal troubles were outlined in a cover story last month (“Strange Budfellows,” WW, March 29). The

OLCC continued to grant La Mota licenses despite millions in state and federal tax liens issued over the past five years to its founders, Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell, and the companies they control. It’s an uncomfortable spot for the governor: Cazares, Mitchell, La Mota, and a political action committee controlled by Cazares contributed more than $70,000 to Kotek’s gubernatorial campaign. The couple also hosted an intimate house party for Kotek last spring and a black-tie gala for her last fall. Kotek has previously said she won’t ask for La Mota to be wrapped into an existing OLCC investigation. She did not respond to the GOP leaders’ letter.

CITIES AND COUNTY RESPOND TO KOTEK’S DEMANDS ON HOMELESSNESS PLAN: Gov.

Tina Kotek last week rejected the application submitted by the cities of Portland and Gresham and Multnomah County for their share of $200 million in emergency funding for homelessness, saying it was incomplete and lacked detail. “I was disappointed,” Kotek said April 10 of the Portland-Gresham-Multnomah County plan.

“They need to get their stuff together.” That disappointment carried dire consequences: Without more information, the jurisdictions would get no money. That got local officials’ attention; they submitted a revised application April 13 that included specifics about how they would rehouse 275 families and create another 140 shelter beds. “I appreciate the county chair, the mayor of Portland, and their staff for collaborating on these revisions to ensure emergency funds will be used to meet specific goals in our shared mission to reduce homelessness,” Kotek said April 17. “Oregonians are demanding accountability, and this was an important step forward in our work to deliver results.”

DEMOCRATIC SENATOR’S HEALTH ISSUES

LOOM: The health of state Sen. Chris Gorsek (D-Troutdale) is a big question mark as the legislative session passes the halfway point. Gorsek, who is co-chair of the Legislature’s Joint Transportation Committee, underwent unplanned open-heart surgery March 20 and has been absent since then. Gorsek’s committee faces contentious and consequential decisions on two megaprojects: the expansion of Interstate 5 through the Rose Quarter and the replacement of the Interstate Bridge. Critics of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s plans for both are feeling Gorsek’s absence. His co-chair, Rep. Susan McLain (D-Hillsboro), is less skeptical of the projects than Gorsek. Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego) has not named a temporary co-chair to fill in for Gorsek. Advocates also speculate that Senate Bill 611, a tightening of an existing rent control law, could be in trouble without Gorsek (one of 17 Senate Democrats).

“Sen. Gorsek plans to return before the end of session,” says Senate Democratic spokeswoman Tess Seger. “As with any recovery, there is always uncertainty, but he is feeling good and hopes to be back soon.”

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MURMURS

The Curse of Ocobock

The restoration of a storied Northeast Portland mansion drags on.

BY NIGEL JAQUISS njaquiss@wweek.com

ADDRESS: 5128 NE Rodney Ave.

YEAR BUILT: 1912

SQUARE FOOTAGE: 5,500

MARKET VALUE: $1.22 million

OWNER: Ocobock Mansion LLC

HOW LONG IT’S BEEN EMPTY: 8 years

WHY IT’S EMPTY: Renovation costs following a nonprofit’s collapse.

There are few vacant properties in the King neighborhood, where gentrification has brought extraordinary inflation as homebuyers have vacuumed up vintage homes near amenities along Northeast Alberta Street and North Mississippi Avenue.

But one of the most storied homes in the neighborhood has stood empty since at least 2015, when the corrupt executive director of a nonprofit operating there lost the property to receivership.

“There seems to be activity there sometimes but no progress,” says Kevin Kelly, who has owned an adjacent home since 2003. “Nobody seems to know what’s going on—it’s puzzling.”

The three-story, six-bedroom Tudor-style home at 5128 NE Rodney Ave. boasts quite a pedigree. Charles Ertz, the noted architect behind the Laurelhurst Theater, Jantzen Estate (which stands on a 5-acre island in Lake Oswego) and many other historic buildings, according to Portland’s Architectural Heritage Center, designed it for A.W. Ocobock, who financed significant development in East Portland.

To understand why Ocobock Mansion sits empty today, however, it’s helpful to go back to a different Portland.

In the 1960s, Highland United Church of Christ owned the home. The church and the home occupied a central place in Portland’s Black community, then concentrated in inner North and Northeast Portland.

But gentrification changed the neighborhood’s demographics

LIFE AFTER MAHONIA HALL

Oregon’s former governors’ pensions are modest.

On April 17, The Oregonian updated its database of the pension benefits of nearly 144,000 retired public employees.

The daily newspaper began publishing the numbers more than a decade ago, when overly generous policies commonly juiced payouts to more than 100% of workers’ final salaries. Reforms have reined in that largesse, but many of the big earners, such as former Oregon Health & Science University president Dr. Joe Robertson ($997,489) and onetime

and, in 1995, the church sold the house for $60,000 to Multnomah County. The following year, the county gave the property to a social services nonprofit called Give Us This Day.

Give Us This Day, run by Mary Holden Ayala, served Black foster children with funding from the state. The government contracts were lucrative, and state and federal investigators would later determine that Ayala diverted much of the money for her own use—luxury shopping, resort travel, and improvements to her own home.

By 2015, Ocobock Mansion had descended into squalor. Utilities shut off service; fire inspectors found the home unsafe; and, according to employees, the girls Ayala was paid handsomely to care for often lacked basic hygiene items—and food.

After a WW cover story (“Home Sweet Hustle,” Sept. 15, 2015), the Oregon Department of Justice appointed a receiver to liquidate Give Us This Day.

That’s when things got weird.

The stately, albeit decrepit, mansion flipped like an Olympic high diver: On April 22, 2016, the receiver sold the mansion to Wilde Properties for $570,000; less than two weeks later, Wilde sold it to Everett Custom Homes for $900,000.

Neighbors and leaders in Portland’s Black community feared Everett would demolish the mansion to redevelop the large lot. (The mansion sits on a 12,500-square-foot piece of land, two and a half times the size of a standard city lot.) They rushed to save it. A new entity they formed, Ocobock Mansion LLC, bought the property on Aug. 15, 2016, for $1.1. million.

That meant that in less than four months, the price increased $530,000—a 93% jump.

“Somebody made a bunch of money,” says Jeff Moreland, co-founder of Raimore Construction, one of the city’s largest Black contractors and a leader of the group that rallied to buy

University of Oregon football coach Mike Bellotti ($616,839), were grandfathered in. Worth noting: The median pension is $28,464, so not every retiree is golfing in Palm Springs.

Like any large database, The Oregonian ’s shows a lot of things. One finding less sexy than the highly paid outliers: the modest payouts for Oregon’s last five governors.

The reason: Oregon pays its top executive $98,600, which the Council of State Governments says is less than all but Arizona, Colorado and Maine, and 51% less than the national average.

You may take issue with their accomplishments—WW certainly has, at times—but these five oversaw tens of thousands of employees and billions of dollars in state budgets. Their reward is a Top Ramen retirement. NIGEL JAQUISS.

the home. “It was egregious what happened.”

Moreland says scraping the money together was difficult— Ocobock Mansion LLC relied on $700,000 from a hard money lender to make the purchase. The LLC retired that loan in 2017, records show, but Moreland says the steep purchase price and high interest consumed much of his group’s renovation budget.

While Ocobock Mansion’s new owners moved slowly to make the property new again, things went in a different direction for Give Us This Day’s Mary Ayala.

In 2019, after an eight-day trial in U.S. District Court in Portland, a jury found her guilty on felony counts that included including theft and filing false tax returns. “Stealing from vulnerable children she was entrusted to serve with taxpayer money is a despicable act and warrants severe consequences,” said then-U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams.

Ayala was sentenced to 33 months in prison. Records show she was released Dec. 6, 2021, but remains under post-prison supervision.

Moreland says that bad karma is in the past. A wire construction fence still surrounds the property, but Moreland’s group has shored up the interior and added a new roof. He’s not quite sure when renovations will be finished, but he says he’s not trying to make a profit.

“ What I would love to be able to do is turn it into a community asset that generates enough revenue to take care of itself,” Moreland says. “We want to restore it back to its original splendor. We just kind of got short of money.”

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 addresses to newstips@wweek.com.

BIG JOB, SMALL PENSION

SOURCE:

UNDER RENOVATION: Ocobock Mansion.

Petrified Forest

A North Portland park is now clogged with logs.

The city of Portland has made some drastic changes in the past month to a neighborhood park.

Crews drove in a backhoe, tearing up the soil underneath a wooded hillside. And they laid a blanket of logs across an open space visible from highly trafficked Greeley Avenue, just south of the Adidas campus in North Portland.

Reif Larsen, a certified landscape architect who lives up the street, was outraged. He says the city’s apparent effort to kick out unhoused campers is killing Madrona Park’s namesake trees.

“I’ve never seen such a brazen demolition of an urban forest with no plan for reconstruction or restoration,” Larsen says. “Whatever the solution to the camping issues may be, I do not know, but this cannot be the standard, or else we will have no urban forest left.”

In a statement, a city spokesman offered a vastly different assessment of the changes’ impacts, saying Portland Parks & Recreation was trying “to restore the site’s ecology.”

“The logs have been placed as an ecological measure to help return the site to a natural state. Some soil in the areas that were previously compacted has been scarified using equipment,” Mark Alejos wrote.

The logs were moved to the site from elsewhere in the city to stop vehicles from entering the woods, he explained. And they’re not going away. “The hope is that this coming winter we can plant native vegetation and over time the logs will decompose, adding valuable nutrients to the now compacted soil,” he said.

What isn’t in that statement, though it’s implied, is an ex-

HOUSE BILL 3282

Coastal ports want a green light to dredge.

Commercial ports from Astoria to Coos Bay line the Oregon Coast. Despite those ports and its beauty, the coast remains economically depressed, with family-wage jobs scarce outside government or health care.

Coastal lawmakers from both parties want to make it easier for the ports to realize their economic potential by dredging navigation channels in the Pacific Ocean, while environmentalists fear doing so would endanger delicate habitat. Because the bill enjoys bipartisan support and would theoretically boost coastal fortunes, it’s got more of a chance than most bills environmentalists despise. It also comes as lawmakers have already voted to loosen Oregon’s hallowed land use laws to attract semiconductor investment.

CHIEF SPONSORS: State Sen. David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) and state Reps. David Gomberg (D-Otis) and Cyrus Javadi (R-Tillamook)

WHAT IT WOULD DO: Authorize deep water ports at Astoria, Astoria, Coos Bay, Newport, Portland and St. Helens “to construct, maintain and improve deep draft navigation channel improvements without demonstrating compliance with state or local land use law.”

PROBLEM IT SEEKS TO SOLVE: Tides, weather and rivers periodically deposit silt and sand in the navigation channels leading to ports. Port authorities must get state and federal permission to deepen those channels through dredging. Their supporters say Oregon

STUMPTOWN: After the city cleared out unhoused campers, the parks bureau sprang into action.

plicit mention of the campsites the logs replaced. Campers were cleared out of the park March 24. A spokesman for City Commissioner Mingus Mapps offered a constituent a different justification.

“The logs appear, in this case, to be a low cost/impact alternative to placing boulders or jersey barriers, and the bureau stands by that as a temporary measure to deter camping in this area,” Jackson Pahl wrote in an email forwarded to WW by environmental activist Joe Rowe.

Larsen remains unconvinced. He notes that the city has previously used far less invasive techniques to address the impacts of camping. The city has long partnered with Adidas to pick up litter and remove invasive plants.

In 2020, a city employee, David Grandfield, told the Overlook Neighborhood Association the parks bureau planned to plant 500 oak saplings in areas impacted by campers. “It’s a long-term vision stretching over decades,” Grandfield said at the time. LUCAS MANFIELD.

land use laws slow dredging and make it more expensive. Ports in California and Washington are deeper, larger and closer to population centers than are Oregon ports, so Oregon port operators feel they begin at a disadvantage.

To compete for potentially lucrative offshore wind turbine work, to realize developers’ dreams of constructing a container port at Coos Bay, and to keep federal and state research ships based in Newport, proponents want to reduce state and local regulators’ oversight.

WHO SUPPORTS IT: The Legislature’s Coastal Caucus and the Oregon Public Ports Association. (Representatives from the Port of Portland did not testify). Supporters say that any dredging work would be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in full compliance with all applicable federal laws, so environmental fears are moot.

“ We need some help in rural Oregon, especially with our ports,” Brock Smith told the Joint Transportation Committee. He noted that Coos Bay is a prime candidate for the construction of massive offshore wind turbines, which would be a huge boost to the long-depressed South Coast. “What can’t be in the way is bureaucratic red tape when we have the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars

coming to the state.”

WHO OPPOSES IT: More than 50 environmental organizations across the state, which say that removing state and local protections creates an untenable threat.

“Estuaries like Coos Bay possess a wide range of resources and provide many ecological functions,” says Jan Hodder, a Coos Bay resident and emeritus faculty member at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston. “Estuaries are essential habitat for many species, including those depended on by the fishing and aquaculture industries. They improve water quality, buffer storms, and store carbon, helping us address climate change.”

Bob Sallinger, conservation director for Willamette Riverkeeper, who has battled the Port of Portland on dredging issues for decades, also testified against the bill. “Ports are massive landowners that have tremendous impacts on our environmental health, community safety and livability, and our economy,” Sallinger said.

“The idea of broadly exempting Ports from local and state regulations is outrageous and should never have seen the light of day.”

The bill is currently in the Joint Committee on Transportation and is being amended. NIGEL JAQUISS.

BYIMAGO’SCAROLTRIFFLE

Moonlight Miles

A Portland police officer was on patrol duty in another state. For months, nobody noticed.

BY LUCAS MANFIELD lmanfield@wweek.com

For the second time in as many years, Brian Hunzeker, the former head of the Portland police union, has been forced out of the city’s Poe was previously fired little more than a year ago, after leaking a police report in order to damage a political opponent, then-City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. But an employment arbitrator handed Hunzeker back his job in February.

The second honeymoon was short-lived. Last week, Hunzeker resigned after the city learned he was holding a second full-time job as a Clark County, Wash., sheriff’s deputy, in apparent violation of one if not both of his employment con-

e had taken the job across the Columbia River while appealing his firing from Portland—and when he got his old job back, he didn’t quit. Instead, he collected paychecks informed the city of his double employment the morning of April 14, and was told that evening that the city had “just learned” of his second job in Clark County. The city had last week opened an internal affairs investigation into

Hunzeker’s employment situation, WW learned later.

Hunzeker’s attorney informed the city of his resignation on April 14, chief deputy city attorney Heidi Brown tells WW. He later returned his equipment, and $27,000 in pay and other expenses.

The Portland Police Association, which Hunzeker once led, says it had no idea Hunzeker held on to his second job. Clark County appears also to have been caught unawares. Its sheriff’s office, where Hunzeker has been employed since August, announced Saturday he had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

The fallout marks perhaps the last chapter of an incredible saga. Hunzeker rose in the Portland Police Bureau from motorcycle cop to leading one of the state’s most powerful unions, before being fired for using his new power to attack one of the bureau’s fiercest critics. The mayor’s attempt to fire him failed. Instead, his downfall came from a transgression so basic it’s hard to fathom: working as a police officer in two cities in different states.

“ What a waste of everybody’s time and energy,” says Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch. “How much money and time were spent putting this guy back on the force

over the objections of community members…and then it’s just all for naught.”

Since first hearing rumors that Hunzeker had sought employment in Washington, WW has tried to answer to an ever-lengthening list of questions: In which state was Hunzeker showing up for work? How long did the city of Portland know of the arrangement? And if it didn’t, how exactly did Hunzeker think he was going to get away with cashing paychecks for two near-six-figure salaries without someone noticing? WW has found answers to some of these questions, but not all. Both Hunzeker and Mayor Ted Wheeler have declined to comment.

And, most concerningly, the Portland Police Bureau has so far been unable to explain what duties Hunzeker was actually assigned since returning to its payroll. The bureau has simply stopped responding to WW’s emails.

But here’s a clue: The single police cruiser parked outside Hunzeker’s driveway in suburban Washington this weekend was emblazoned “Clark County Sheriff’s Office.”

Here’s what else WW has been able to find out.

Soon after Hunzeker’s 2022 firing, the former Portland cop applied to

become a sheriff’s deputy in Southwest Washington, where he had long resided. The job was in many respects an improvement for Hunzeker, offering a comparable salary for a far shorter commute.

On April 28, the Clark County Civil Service Commission reviewed his application. According to minutes from the meeting, the commission debated whether termination for his retaliatory leaking had been appropriate and concluded, evidently, it wasn’t.

Four out of the five commissioners present voted in Hunzeker’s favor.

Garry Presthus, the lone dissenter, explained his general decision-making process to WW last week. “What’s going to happen three years, five years down the road?” he asked. “Are they going to invest a lot of effort and money in somebody that’s going to create havoc?”

Hunzeker was hired Aug. 2, 2022. A WW review of the county sheriff’s Facebook page indicates Hunzeker performed rote police work.

In October, he investigated a convenience store burglary in Felida, a small suburb just north of Vancouver. In November, he was called to the scene after a young man walked into the aftermath of a late-night Halloween party and stole credit cards and audio equipment. When the Maple Tree Neighborhood Association needed a sheriff’s liaison, Hunzeker stepped in.

As Hunzeker was building a new career in Washington, an arbitrator returned his old one.

In February, Timothy Williams reviewed Hunzeker’s firing and determined it was unwarranted, concluding he had leaked secrets but that the retaliatory nature of the act was protected speech. Williams ordered the city to give Hunzeker back his job, plus back pay.

This presented a problem for Hunzeker. He now had two fulltime jobs, and he appears to have done little if anything to address the conflict.

The Portland police union’s contract with the city prohibits “more than 20 hours per week of secondary employment.” But a spokesman for Clark County tells WW that Hunzeker was working “full time” four days a week.

Hunzeker earned approximately $45 an hour, which amounts to a $90,000 salary.

Beginning Feb. 27, Hunzeker was put back on Portland’s payroll, earning a $107,744 base salary according to a spokesperson for the city’s Bureau of Human Resources.

That means Hunzeker earned two nearly six-figure salaries for almost two months, an impressive

accomplishment for an officer who was fired in disgrace only a year earlier.

It remains unclear what the Portland Police Bureau was paying Hunzeker to do. There’s no indication he was on patrol in Portland—after all, he was on duty in Clark County four days a week. The Portland Police Bureau has not responded to questions about Hunzeker’s assigned duties.

To some observers, that’s especially galling given how regularly the bureau bemoans a shortage of officers.

“I think it’s a farce for them to complain about lack of staffing,” says Juan Chavez, a lawyer at the Oregon Justice Resource Center.

Chavez represents clients suing the city over police abuses. And he noted that Hunzeker’s latest antics might result in an even bigger payout in one of the city’s highest-profile embarrassments.

PDX Jazz Thursdays at the Hoxton Hotel

Thursdays, March 30 – June 15

Doors 4:30 pm | Show 5:00 pm

APRIL 20 & JUNE 8

Rivkah Ross Quartet

APRIL 27 & MAY 25

Cheryl Alex Quartet

MAY 4 & JUNE 15

Cory Limuaco Trio

In 2021, Commissioner Hardesty sued the city, the union, Brian Hunzeker and another cop, demanding $5 million as a result of the leak’s damage to her reputation. (Hardesty was voted out of office the following year. In legal filings, Hunzeker has denied much of the allegations, saying his actions were “within the course and scope of his employment.”)

Chavez says Hunzeker’s undisclosed moonlighting could influence the size of the city’s final payout. “You can argue that this guy needs to be taught a lesson because he’s clearly of the belief that he’s above the law,” he says.

WW wanted to hear Hunzeker’s side of the story. He was not an easy man to find.

So a reporter went to his house in Ridgefield, Wash., a small but rapidly growing Vancouver suburb that is a favored hometown for Portland cops.

His neighborhood exudes a quiet Americana. The streets are lined with American flags. Police cruisers dot the curbs. A “thin blue line” flag flies over the garage of Hunzeker’s home, and a small dog barked at the front door as the reporter approached.

The embattled cop met the reporter in his driveway. He declined to comment.

“It’s a farce for them to complain about lack of staffing.”

The mission of PDX Jazz is to evolve the art of jazz by engaging our community, celebrating live performance, and enhancing arts education.

Featuring

Lovely Rita in The Hoxton Hotel.

Lovely Rita | The Hoxton, Portland 15 NW 4th Ave, Portland

Rivkah Ross

Cheryl Alex

Cory Limuaco

Overgrown

The City Council leaves millions set aside for the Black community unspent for almost three years.

BY SOPHIE PEEL speel@wweek.com

Six months after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers, the Portland City Council pledged to back up its statements of racial solidarity with money. The council voted to allocate $1.9 million annually from its 3% tax on cannabis sales and $1.5 million in one-time funds to the racial justice advocacy group Reimagine Oregon.

Some of the details were hazy. The council tasked Reimagine Oregon with finding “anti-racist investments” to boost Black communities that had endured the brunt of cannabis prohibition. It left the execution to the advocacy group, which was backed by such nonprofits as the Coalition of Communities of Color and the Urban League of Portland.

More than two years later, the money set aside for Reimagine from the cannabis tax now stands at $4.8 million, with an additional $1.9 million projected for the upcoming budget. Not a dollar has been spent.

And on April 12, the city ’s only Black commissioner said the millions accrued during that time should now go elsewhere.

Commissioner Mingus Mapps

decried the failure to spend the money, and proposed the dollars be returned to the cannabis fund— and perhaps spent on public safety or drug and alcohol treatment.

Mapps accused Reimagine Oregon of sitting on the millions of dollars meant for the Black community for three years. Reimagine’s executive director, in turn, accused Mapps of undermining the city’s racial justice efforts, noting the city had never given the group access to the money.

The sour back-and-forth last week highlighted how priorities on the City Council have shifted since the 2020 protests and the election of a council that’s more centrist than it’s been in recent memory.

But it also raises unpleasant questions about the ability of the city and its chosen contractors to deliver on good intentions.

The most pressing: How does $2 million annually pile up, unused, without the City Council doing something about it for nearly three years?

Mapps says he flagged the fund when he first entered office more than two years ago. Yet it wasn’t until last week that he—or anyone on the council, for that matter— brought the matter to a vote.

“All of this is an inexcusable mess,” Mapps tells WW. “These dollars should and could be used to serve communities of color. We do not serve them well by not actually spending those dollars year after year after year.”

Commissioner Carmen Rubio says the city, not Reimagine, is culpable—and adds she doesn’t understand why Mapps, who’s long been rumored to be eyeing a mayoral run, brought forth the amendment.

“I just have to wonder why it happened.”

Elected during the 2020 racial justice protests after the murder of George Floyd, Mapps says he, as a Black man, has repeatedly been unfairly targeted by police. Yet he’s also been a vocal supporter of the police, a stance that’s drawn the ire of social justice advocates.

And his quest last week to pull back millions in funding set aside for Reimagine reinvigorated those critics. Marcus Mundy, executive director of the Coalition of Communities of Color, called it an “assault to disembowel dollars for Black-focused efforts.”

Justice Rajee, executive director of Reimagine, said there was a “good chance someone has an

BACK PEDAL: Commissioner Mingus Mapps wants to take back $4.8 million in cannabis tax dollars set aside for a Black advocacy group.

intention for those funds that are a rebuke of the idea of their origins and a continued lack of commitment to what government says it will do with the community,” referring clearly to Mapps.

For all the acrimony, neither side seemed to have much clue why the money hadn’t been spent.

The Office of Community & Civic Life, which has long been buffeted with accusations of dysfunction, could not provide a timeline of how the money has been handled—and says it has no control over how it’s distributed. (Civic Life is currently disbursing more than $1 million, separate from the $4.8 million, in conjunction with Reimagine, to organizations that help womenand BIPOC-led businesses.)

tor, T.J. McHugh, says the same: “If Reimagine had a solid plan, and Civic Life was not delivering, I would imagine Reimagine would be in every single office here saying, ‘I’ve got this plan and I’m not getting funding.’”

For his part, Rajee did not respond to multiple inquiries from WW this week. And the city has yet to release records requested by WW that might show who’s responsible for the money piling up unused for more than two years.

Meanwhile, in the days leading up to the City Council meeting, little communication occurred between Mapps’ and other commissioners’ offices. Although Ryan oversees the Office of Community & Civic Life, where the money was collected, he says Mapps’ team first contacted him just two days before the vote.

Ryan, who asked for a five-minute break to talk to his advisers right before voting in favor of the amendment, tells WW it was the most difficult vote he’s cast in his two years in office. “I was torn,” Ryan says, “but our responsibility is not to sit on money. That was where my impatience was with my vote.”

Asked why he didn’t bring the amendment himself, Ryan said the unspent Reimagine funds weren’t at the top of his priority list; he was focused instead, he says, on “the regulatory parts of Civic Life.”

Rubio says she did not learn of the amendment until the morning of the vote. She’s “disappointed” by her colleagues who voted for it, she adds, especially because a bureau under her watch, Prosper Portland, has worked with Reimagine since last winter on a plan to send the dollars out the door.

Rajee told Mapps at the council hearing that Reimagine never saw the funds. “How many small businesses have I helped so far? None because [the funds] are still at the city,” Rajee said. “Clearly, no one has received the funds because the funds are still at the city.”

Mapps tells WW he did not seek information from Civic Life about how the funds remained stuck in the city’s coffers for three years. (Neither did Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversees the office.) Yet Mapps maintains that the burden is on the program receiving taxpayer money to make it move.

“I kind of expect that if I allocated dollars to a program, I expect the planning to happen at the program level,” Mapps says.

Civic Life’s new acting direc-

“I believ e it was common knowledge,” Rubio says of Prosper’s planning work with Reimagine. (Mapps says he was never briefed on it.)

The City Council voted 3-2 in support of Mapps’ budget amendment, with Mayor Ted Wheeler and Rubio voting against it. But that’s not the end of the matter: First, the council will vote this week whether to approve the whole budget, including Mapps’ amendment to draw back the funds set aside for Reimagine.

City commissioners are also debating who should oversee the money next: Rubio, at Prosper Portland, or Ryan, who controls Civic Life.

“ What you’re witnessing is exactly why this needs more time,” Ryan says. “We’re not going to solve it with just one amendment.”

“All of this is an inexcusable mess.”

This 4/20, we give thanks for a world of weed.

ll holidays come with baggage, and 4/20 is no exception.

Maybe there’s no racist uncle or disappointed offspring who wanted an Elsa doll, but celebrating the highest of high holidays still has its complications.

When Oregon voters legalized recreational cannabis in 2015, few of them worried that the state would grow so much weed that dispensaries would struggle to stay in business. But that’s happened not once but twice—and the latest crush of oversupply has bestowed stoners with cheap bud without benefiting the people who produce it.

With prices down and the number of dispensaries located in Portland at over 100, it’s easy to assume that the industry is thriving. But easy access to $1 half-gram house-rolled joints hides a more nuanced reality (for the results of our quest for the city’s cheapest weed, see page 17).

Anybody who’s opened our paper in the past three weeks has noticed the intense scrutiny we’ve applied to La Mota, a company founded by two Floridians whose tax records and court histories display what happens when an industry is oversupplied and underregulated.

And if state agencies are overwhelmed, pity the poor smoker just trying to choose a dispensary in Portland. How are you supposed to figure out which are just surfing the legalization wave and which are truly worthy of your support?

For this year’s 4/20 Issue, we’ve put together a package of stories that tries to make those challenges (and more) less daunting. Looking for BIPOC-owned businesses to support? We’ll point you in the right direction (page 16). Confused about cannabinoids and their side effects? Chill and check out our cannabinoid guide (page 17). Plus, we keep you up to date on the most urgent issues facing Oregon’s growers, like the Oregon Health Authority’s controversial new cannabis testing rules (page 15).

Being a stoner is about more than lighting up a joint. It’s about lighting up a joint together. We chose to feature a story about Flight Lounge (page 14)—think of an Elks lodge, but with weed— as a reminder that you can’t sustain the 420 community without, well, community.

This year, we also have a 4/20 advent calendar (page 18) that, alas, does not contain edibles tucked behind 20 doors. (Forgive us: It wasn’t physically possible in a newspaper.)

When 4/20 started in the 1970s, it’s doubtful its originators imagined the world we live in today. But it’s here and it’s as glorious as it is overwhelming. Bong bless us, every one.

Bennett Campbell Ferguson, Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

JORDAN HUNDELT

Thank You for Flying

More than just bongs and blintzes, Flight Lounge makes safe space for all.

BY LAUREN YOSHIKO

When the first iteration of Flight Lounge opened in 2018, it was a different time in Portland’s cannabis scene. The space had cracked the public consumption code by operating as a private membership club, à la an Elks lodge, providing accessories, ample ventilation and vibes without selling any cannabis products on the premises.

YOC model was akin to that at the NW Cannabis Club on Powell, which was still puffin’ along at that time, hosting cloudy concerts and filling its back patio most weekends. TED Talk-styled Toke Talks were still happening in 2018 as well, that year bringing together cultivators, science nerds, and the creative community at the Armory. The late HiFi Farms was still hosting intimate, consumption-friendly concerts in a historic Craftsman home in Southeast, and the blind-judged and science-driven cannabis cup, Cultivation Classic, was thriving in its third year.

e years and a global pandemic later, all of these experiences are no longer—all, except for Flight Lounge. Thank goodness for that, not just because Rose City cannabis enthusiasts deserve a special, cannabis-centric destination, but for the fact that a great deal of the cannabis-consuming population cannot legally consume at home.

If you live in a dorm, federally regulated building or most apartment buildings in town, you aren’t allowed to smoke indoors. Although it’s legal to possess, landlords can write their own smoking policies that supersede state laws deeming private residences the only legal place to light up. If you’re a tourist staying in a hotel, same deal—it’s up to the hotel, and most are 100% not OK with smoking in their suites or on their balconies.

“ We legalized cannabis, but we banned social consumption,” says Flight Lounge co-founder Leia Flynn when it first opened. “Where are people supposed to smoke? If you’re over 21, you should be able to walk into a private business and consume it responsibly.”

For those reasons, Flight Lounge is an extremely vital part of Portland’s cannabis scene. Also for those reasons, it really doesn’t have to do much more than open its doors and stock adequate alcohol swabs to sanitize the accessories and smoking paraphernalia to maintain a customer base. However, Flynn and fellow co-founder Joshua Young go far beyond the bare minimum, a point that’s clear the minute you walk into either of Flight Lounge’s warm, welcoming

and local art-covered locations.

Initially positioned to be Portland’s answer to an Amsterdam coffee house, Flight Lounge has evolved to fit its members’ needs. The Northeast Sandy location—Flight Lounge Cafe—serves as a true wakeand-bake destination, serving full-service brunches in a charmingly kooky atmosphere filled with locally made art, Portland imagery, and cannabis- and cloudthemed décor.

The newer Oregon City location—formerly occupied by Kaleafa dispensary, now referred to as Flight Lounge O.C.—is as much a cannabis-friendly entertainment venue as it is a smoking lounge, featuring comedy shows, dance competitions and a big upcoming 4/20 celebration. There’s also a weed-friendly bed and breakfast attached to the Oregon City location.

The process of membership at both clubs is quick and easy, with many signing up at the door, much like paying a cover charge to get into a nightclub. Dues are $10 for an annual membership, plus $5 per visit, but you can have that $5 entry fee waived if you order a meal. Once proof of age is verified, fees are paid, and a liability waiver and NDA are signed, you’re ready for takeoff.

It’s up to you to bring your own flower or concentrates from home, but Flight Lounge has all other accoutrements covered—every guest has access to a fresh tray holding a silicone dab mat, a metal tool for clearing bowls and handling sticky concentrates, and lighter and alcohol wipes for resin-coated fingertips and keeping any pipe or bong mouthpieces as clean as you like between tokes.

Is this the calm, laptop-friendly weed cafe that some of us would love to work from remotely? No. Does its lively atmosphere speak to all cannabis-consuming preferences? Not exactly. But it is a gift for adults in the area to have a place to freely smoke flower without stressing about the risk of eviction.

Hopefully, the ongoing success of Flight Lounge shows that our strict consumption laws and Indoor Clean Air Act don’t mean public cannabis experiences can’t happen. This writer sincerely hopes others are inspired by this to restart their former activities or start something new, because Portland’s cannabis scene could and should be so much more. Flight Lounge proves most anything is possible if you cross your t’s, dot your i’s, and listen to the weed needs of the people.

GREEN NIGHT: Flight Lounge.

Fungus Among Us

A new test required by Oregon for a common fungus could crush the pre-roll and flower industries.

BY SOPHIE PEEL speel@wweek.com

In HBO’s series The Last of Us, a fungus triggers the end of the world. In real life, it’s testing for fungus that has Oregon business owners fearing doomsday.

On March 1, the Oregon Health Authority implemented new testing rules for cannabis. One of those new tests looks for a mold called aspergillus—a ubiquitous fungus that people breathe in every day and that accumulates more heavily on aging vegetation, like compost piles.

And preliminary results from labs testing for aspergillus and other microbiological contaminants are sending cannabis farmers into a panic. Failure rates provided to WW by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission this week show that infused pre-rolls had failed 22% of the time since March 1. Flower failed at a 6% rate.

More than 70 farmers joined a Zoom call April 14 to discuss the most recent test results. It was the third week in a row they’d done so. Hosted by the Cannabis Industry Association, farmers from around the state told tales of failed tests that could paralyze their business in a day.

They discussed last-resort options: pooling the half million dollars needed to buy a machine that kills aspergillus after a positive test; hiring legal counsel to fight the new rules; and pleading with the state to put a pause on testing until the industry can find a way forward.

“ We are in a dire situation,” said Myron Chadowitz, co-owner of Cannassentials in Eugene. “If we can get a lifeline, it’s the only course forward I can see at this point.”

Eight years ago, the Oregon Health Authority wrote in a report that it would not test for aspergillus. “The mold is so common in the environment that a person could pick it up many different ways,” the agency wrote. “A positive test result would not mean the product is unsafe for most uses for most people.”

But last year, OHA reversed course and announced aspergillus would be tested for after all, starting March 1, 2023. While the testing rules are in their infancy, Oregon’s cannabis industry guild says anecdotal evidence is alarming.

“ We have gotten enough anecdotal information and one-off tests to be severely concerned about the impact this testing has on the industry,” says Jesse Bontecou, executive director of the Cannabis Industry Alliance of Oregon.

At Milwaukie testing lab ChemHistory, about 15% of pre-rolls tested since March 1 have failed the aspergillus test. That’s compared to less than 1% pre-roll failure before that.

Even more alarming than the top-line numbers: Industry leaders say preliminary results point to higher failure rates for organic farmers. Oregon built its cannabis reputation on exactly that: sungrown, organic craft weed nurtured from seed to consumption. Farmers say testing is killing the very basis of the state’s prestige.

“The state is at the point where it’s saying weed is legal but it’s too dangerous to grow. We’re being cor-

ralled to a point where it would only be safe to grow it in a lab. And that’s just not true,” says Brian Niestrath, owner of Green Bandit Farms in Eagle Point. “It’s just like tobacco. Not everyone can smoke cigarettes. The same is true with cannabis. If someone has lungs that can’t take it, that’s part of life.”

Niestrath, among other organic farmers, avoids stripping any natural fungi from the plant that aren’t dangerous. Niestrath even sprays his cannabis with what he calls “compost tea.”

One farmer on the April 15 Zoom call opined that the way the state is headed, soon only Amazon will be allowed to grow weed in Oregon.

Perhaps most frustrating to the industry is what it be lieves is the shaky scientific leg the state is standing on. While aspergillus has been found to cause serious lung infections through inhalation among people who are severely immuno-compromised, the Oregon Health Authority could cite no data linking aspergillosis to the use of cannabis.

“ We don’t have any research or data to cite that show people have fallen ill from inhaling aspergillus through cannabis products,” says OHA spokesman Jonathan Modie.

Modie says the new rules, which include tests for heavy metals, were crafted over years of discussion and a review of what other states require.

The test performed by labs, however, detects the mere presence of the fungus’s DNA. That means so long as the fungus is detected, no matter the quantity present, the product fails. If it fails, farmers have a chance to “remediate” products by putting them through various processes to kill the fungus. Those remediation options are pricey, few and far between. No one who’s failed the test has come back to ChemHistory for a retest after remediation. “We haven’t had that happen yet,” says the lab’s financial administrator, Erica Tucker. “No one has come back.”

Chadowitz says aspergillus testing may be the nail in the coffin for Cannassentials. Strains from his farm have failed five aspergillus tests since the rules went into effect.

“ We’re thinking about winding down operations and taking a massive loss,” Chadowitz says, “and feeling crushed and useless. We’ve spent eight years of our life working for free to build this brand.”

SPORE WARS: Aspergillus.

Canna Gives Back

A guide to BIPOC businesses and nonprofits for the socially conscious stoner.

BY BRIANNA WHEELER

Smoking weed is a political statement.

Whether you’re a patient medicating a chronic disorder or a recreational user just brightening an otherwise gray day, your stash tells an epic story of crime, punishment, entitlement and subjugation that doesn’t typically make it onto the labels. Especially now, in our contemporary cannabis accessibility era, it requires a bit of fortitude to develop an equitable style of consumerism in what has been, for decades, a severely inequitable space.

Legally purchasing and using cannabis is a hardfought privilege that many of our most vulnerable community members sacrificed tremendously for, so it stands to reason that as informed consumers, we should be vigilant about creating a cannabis industry that does more than provide new opportunities for wealth—and adamant about supporting companies that are just as concerned with righting the wrongs of the past as they are with establishing a more accessible and equitable future.

Cannabis is more than a product. It’s a medicine you can grow in your kitchen, a recreational alternative to deadly narcotics and hard booze, and a potential solution to legacies of injustice and poverty. The following organizations are maintaining that ethos while pioneering a more righteous industry for us all.

BIPOC-Owned Brands to Patronize:

Magic Hour

Owned by Adriana Ruiz Carlile and Will Perry, this organic cannabis farm is located right outside Portland proper and is one of the only minority-run and woman-owned and -operated cannabis businesses in the country.

Green Muse

Pot Mates

Black, LGBTQ, and veteran-owned Pot Mates is a pretty straightforward cannabis delivery business, albeit with a masterfully curated store and prompt, friendly delivery.

Club Sky High

St. Johns’ favorite spot for “moon rocks” (i.e., nugs drenched in extract and then dredged in kief) isn’t just Black owned—the owners are deeply dedicated and active members of St. Johns’ business community.

Nonprofits to Support:

Floret Coalition

Using the giving circle model, the Floret Coalition nominates a three-member board annually to select a number of nonprofits that participating cannabusinesses can then donate to and promote socially.

NuProject

Co-founded by local industry luminary Jesce Horton, NuProject supports BIPOC cannabis and cannabis-adjacent startups by providing not only grants, but also equity-centered learning programs.

Minority Cannabis Busi- ness Association

The MCBA has a number of equity programs, as well as a legacy of working with local representatives to support sensible cannabis policies. The org also provides robust advocate resources, diverse community empowerment courses (including expungement and clemency), and multicultural networking opportunities.

Cannabis Workers Coalition

In lieu of a union, the BIPOC- and femme-founded Cannabis Workers Coalition provides much needed support to industry workers battling unsafe working conditions and discrimination, as well as offering expungement and hiring clinics.

Oregon Handlers Fund

The greatest barrier to employment in the cannabis industry is the $100 buy-in prospective workers must spring for their permit. Oregon Handlers Fund removes the barrier by using donations to supply workers with the required permitting fees.

Brands Invested in Community Building:

Kites Pre-Rolls

In partnership with NuProject, 50 cents from each pack of Kites sold is used to help fund equity-building programs.

East Fork Cultivars

Popular therapeutic cannabis brand East Fork supports more than a dozen organizations, including the Last Prisoner Project, Yes for Affordable Housing, and Americans for Safe Access.

Tokeativity

Northeast Portland’s historically Black neighborhood’s own Black-owned mom-and-pop dispensary also possesses deep hip-hop history museum vibes, self-designating the shop “The First Hip Hop Dispensary.”

The feminist collective known for their social meet-ups and industry talks has a laundry list of community programs it supports, including Voix Noire, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, and the NAACP.

Cannabinoids, Cannabinoids Everywhere

Can’t tell CBN from CBG? This guide to the most common cannabinoids will help.

BY RAY GILL JR.

What a long road it’s been from the hysteria of Reefer Madness to the maven of marijuana, Snoop Dogg, dropping “Pocket Like It’s Hot” to sell Hot Pockets in a national ad campaign. But navigating chemical compounds can be intimidating for those of us who didn’t excel at AP Chemistry in high school.

For starters, cannabis plants don’t actually produce the effects we feel from smoking a joint on their own.

This comes from the cannabinoids the plants produce before conversion, with the two most recognized results being THC and CBD.

THC

THC possesses a strong psychoactive effect that makes us feel high, whereas CBD is thought to have an anti-psychoactive effect that moderates the high and reduces some of the negative effects. THC is the most common cannabinoid, in large part due to

Buy Low, Stay High

In America’s cheapest cannabis market, WW asks for the nickel bags.

BY JAY HORTON @hortland

Ages ago—back when talk of hybrid strains referenced Dr. Moreau, pre-rolls usually meant foreplay, and the legalization of marijuana for recreational use was just fodder for edgier high school debate squads—visitors would regularly complain about the cost of local pot.

Not that our top prices ever rivaled what the true coastal elites were willing to expense for whichever hydroponic the hip-hop act du jour supposedly favored. Still, tourists found even Puddletown’s scuzziest black market budtenders sold roughly the same merchandise as gentleman dealers serving the carriage trade. We had no ditch weed, in other words. With such exceptional cannabis readily available, there simply wasn’t any economic imperative to sell crap highs for a few dollars less.

It’s been a long time since anyone has engaged in serious cost comparisons around Greater Potlandia. The slow rollback of area restrictions led to a genuine grassroots cottage industry of rapidly mushrooming small businesses effectively shielded from the market domination of outsized corporate forces by the looming specter of unmoving federal statutes. And the resulting flood of product dropped (already the nation’s lowest average) prices of usable cannabis by a fifth from 2021 to 2022 during the worst inflation seen for generations

To some extent, searching out Portland’s cheapest pot is kind

its pain-relieving properties—and while several cannabinoids can make this claim, studies have shown THC yields some of the best results.

According to Medical News Today, “When people ingest or inhale THC, it stimulates the brain’s cannabinoid receptors. This activates the brain’s reward system and reduces pain levels.”

CBD

CBD has emerged as a common

cannabinoid alternative to THC for its ability to alter mood by easing anxiety and depression without disorienting effects.

CBN

CBN is a cannabinoid created when THC ages, and there’s little found in a fresh cannabis plant. Some research suggests CBN alone doesn’t have a sedative effect except when combined with THC. And despite not having an FDA-approved use, CBN is still commonly used as a sleep aid.

A recent study published in 2021 by the West Australian Sleep Disorders Research Institute found that “a combination of THC, CBN, and CBD taken regularly under the tongue significantly improved insomnia symptoms and self-reported sleep quality in people compared to the placebo group.”

CBG

CBG is a cannabinoid found in essentially all cannabis plants. It’s also considered an effective pain reliever and an anti-inflammatory agent that can act as a neuroprotectant against degeneration

in conditions like Huntington’s disease (and has been shown to promote the regrowing of new brain cells). Further studies are showing CBG may also help fight colorectal, prostate, and oral cancers, and possibly even work as an antidepressant.

CBC

CBC is perhaps the least common of the “standard” cannabinoids made in the plant. It’s a powerful antibiotic that’s been shown to help with infections that are resistant to other treatments and may help protect the brain from neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s. It has also been shown to be an antidepressant, have anti-cancer benefits, and even help fight acne (but it won’t get you high).

Scientists who study cannabinoids are now looking into how they could be used to treat diseases of the immune system like HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. In other words, the possibilities presented by cannabinoids exceed the daydreams had by us “back-of-class kids” in high school.

of like asking the most efficient means of ingesting alcohol or the likeliest route to free cocaine. We avoid the question because we instinctively know the answer will sound painful and kinda gross. Nevertheless, for the compleat stoner eager to pinch that last penny by dint of gamesmanship alone, we’ve assembled a brief guide to turning on while laying down next to nothing for the privilege.

Compiling a definitive list of best bargains available from the ever-shifting inventories of a roiling retail landscape is a fool’s errand beyond the powers of even the most diligent newsweekly. Beyond the impossibility of maintaining accurate data points, there’s far from a consensus on the preferred measurements a workable pothead arbitrage would require. And, regardless of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s insistence to the contrary, THC levels are not the equivalent of alcohol proofs when judging a product’s merit.

That said, a few dispensaries kept popping up during our informal survey of cost-conscious local heads, and we’d advise tightly budgeted consumers to check daily deals at the following.

Green Goddess Remedies (5435 SW Taylors Ferry Road, 503-764-9000) offers an ounce of Moby Dick sativa for $30 out the door. The various Nectar emporia have $6.30 eights on sale this week, while the burgeoning Floyd’s empire hawks $6.80 eights and $1.20 pre-rolls. Canna-Daddy’s Wellness Center (17020 SE Division St., 971-279-4932) prices its line of 100 mg Mellow Vibe jellies at just $5. And the perfectly named Ripped City Greens (15591 SE McLoughlin Blvd., 503-344-4606) sells half-gram house-rolled joints at $1 per.

In almost every case, the savings garnered won’t nearly cover the hours spent or distance driven, but rest assured that the pot at the end of the rainbow won’t disappoint. Portlanders would still rather step in shit than smoke it, and our shoes cost

SAM GEHRKE

A 4/20 Advent Calendar

’Tis the season to wake and bake.

BY BRIANNA WHEELER

One side effect of smoking weed that doesn’t get talked about nearly enough is the pothead propensity for inventing extravagant cannabis holidays based on relatively little.

For example, the slang 4/20 originated in the early 1970s, among a tight clique of hesh AF Marin County high schoolers; 4:20 was when they met after school to get high. Nearly half a century later, that Cali bro squad’s secret code for “time to get high” has become a ubiquitous slang for stoners nationwide. Honestly, are you even into weed if you don’t have at least one piece of 420 swag?

Bottom line, stoners never needed an excuse to wake and bake, lunch toke, or bong before bed. Yet we continue to invent calendar holidays that celebrate smoking weed, melting dabs, and baking… well, ourselves.

Even with days on the calendar celebrating therapeutic hemp, medicinal cannabinoids, and 710 spelled upside down (OIL Day/Dab Day, a holiday for extractions), no day is more prevalent on the Stoner Holiday Calendar than 4/20. And what better way to celebrate the OG weed holiday than with a 20-day advent countdown full of daily gifts, treats, and consciousness-expanding novelties?

For this year’s 420 festivities, I took inspiration from Portland canna guru Amy Zimmerman (@ AmyMothercraft), whose handmade 4/20 Advent Calendar has become an Instagram holiday staple. And this year’s calendar features more than just bite-sized morsels: It’s a next level celebration of small biz and cannabis community that cannathusiasts can appreciate all year long.

and exciting in the culture-capturing zine Cheechable and its diverse community of contributors. @cheechable

Day 7: LOWD Infused Pre-Rolls

A PDX favorite, rolled, infused and ready to put in your Power Hitter and share with the squad on 4/20 at 4:20 (or whenever the time is right). @thelowd.

Day 1: The Leaf Pipe from Oak and Earth Creations

This artisan ceramic pipe is a skillfully made ergonomic vessel that fits snugly in the palm of your hand and can pass as a bookshelf and/or a bougie endtable decoration. @oakandearthcreations

Day 2: Emerald City Cones from Beautiful Burns Rolling Papers

Beautiful Burns features a heady assortment of artsy, colorful, unique pre-rolled cones. But the Emerald City, with its grassygreen paper and sleek gold filter, feels especially fitting for the holiday. @beautifulburnsdesignercones, @bbdesignercones

Day 3: Cannastyle Stoners in Paris Odor-Proof Designer Pouch

I might have recently used this bag on a cross-country flight. And I may have found it not only highly effective as a smell-proof stash sack, but also cute enough for use as an everyday clutch bag. @cannastyle

Day 4: Buds from Siren Cannabis

Exceptional indoor-grown buds (check out the purps specifically) found at your favorite neighborhood dispensaries. @sirencanna

Day 5: Power Hitter

This relatively simple device holds a fullsized joint in a squeezable plastic container. A touch-free mouthpiece shoots smoke from the joint directly into a user’s mouth when squeezed. No ash, no roach, no mess, no more joints getting wet-lipped by your moist-mouthed homies. @powerhitterco

Day 6: Cheechable

Explorations of our broadening cannabis community are made both accessible

Day 8: Pink Cloud Beverages

These hella femme, CBD-infused, sparkling, tropical party punch booze alternatives might appear to be exclusively for the Barbie-stoner contingent. But rest assured, they are for everyone, gendered or nah. @ pinkcloudbeverages

Day 9: Dab Tray from Blazy Susan

Pioneering creators of the eponymous lazy Susan-style rolling tray, Blazy Susan also makes smaller, less extravagant dab trays with a much smaller but still highly organizational countertop footprint. @blazybrands

Day 10: Blue Dream Strain Illustration by Hemp Hedgehog

Graphic artist Hemp Hedgehog’s online gallery features a vibrant selection of wallready art prints celebrating contemporary cannabis culture with millennial-cute, hypercolored designs. @hemphedgehog

Day 11: Weed Mom by Danielle Simone Brand

This paperback guide to cannabis by author Danielle Simone Brand is a fantastic introduction to cannabis therapy for mothers looking for judgment-free, nonpharmaceutical parental stress relief. @daniellesimonebrand

Day 12: Crafted Clay Horror

Lighter from Noddities

Either you’re a lighter hoarder or a lighter lifter, but either way, a custom Noddities lighter will be easier to keep around than the nondescript Bic that we’ve all mistakenly stolen at least once. @noddities

Day 13: S’mores Chocolate

Bars by Hapy Kitchen

Every advent needs at least a few candies,

and Hapy Kitchern’s 100 mg chocolate bars are the hard-hitting, long-lasting, and easily dosed faves of varsity stoners statewide. @ hapykitchen_portlandor

Day 14: Prrl Labs Neo Atomizer

This groundbreaking handheld device can turn any contemporary smoke device into a dry herb vaporizer, eliminating combustion smoke, though it works especially well with the Prrl Labs Terp Surfer Pipe. @prrl_labs

Day 15: Mellow Vibes Potcorn

The novelty of infused popcorn is timeless, and Mellow Vibes’ three flavors are all easily sharable, mixable, fun to micro- or macro-dose, and mingle well with other items at the pothead potluck. @mellowvibes.brand

Day 16: Momma Jane’s Resin Cleaner

Smokers open to an alternative to their isopropyl cleaning regimens might appreciate Momma Jane’s nontoxic, all-natural resin removers. A few drops of this cleaner and even your stickiest, stinkiest, most tar-covered glass pieces will shine like new. @ mommajanescleaner

Day 17: Royal Rose PDX

For stoners who’ve yet to indulge in a flower petal-wrapped doink, let this year’s 4/20 festivities be your introduction. Smokeable flower petals can add a unique, delicate, and sometimes opulent perfume and aftertaste to your favorite strains without altering the high. @royalrosepdx

Day 18: Cannabis Collage Art Print by Savina Monet

Adorn the walls of your stone zone with an original work by Portland cannaculture luminary (and co-founder of the Cannabis Workers Coalition) Savina Monet, whose cannabis-themed collage works are sumptuous and dazzling pieces of visual art. @ savinamonet

Day 19: Junk Tiger Blood Functional Gummies

Junk produces some of Oregon’s most irreverent edibles, from effigies to pop rocks and chocolate-covered Oreos to these classic gummies made with functional fungi and botanicals that elevate an already euphoric and peppy high. Leifgoods.com

Day 20: Sand Castle Hash Co. Temple Ball

Fitting that the advent’s final day itself be celebrated with the most sacred of concentrations: the temple ball, a sphere of hand rolled trichome heads that, when made correctly, can store for a decade or more. And Sand Castle’s variation is 100% worship worthy. Sandcastlehash.com

“Atriumphofimagination, illusionsandspecial effects.” -TheWonderfulWorld ofDance(SanFrancisco)

420 GUIDE

Northwest Cannabis Company

Our favorite spring holiday is here–420! This is your annual excuse to stock up on the products you love or venture out of your comfort zone to try something special. Don’t be afraid to mix it up–playing it safe is fun, but we promise to provide a plethora of exciting new options for you, at a deal. Here is our list of must-visit spots offering unique products at some of the best deals in town.

Horn Creek Hemp

NORTHWESTCANNAFEST.COM

THE CANNABIS SUPERSTORE WITH A HIGH-QUALITY, BROAD SELECTION AT AN EXCEPTIONAL VALUE.

Deals + Discounts:

Northwest Cannabis Company presents its second annual Northwest Cannafest, Oregon’s largest 420 Cannabis and music festival. Northwest Cannabis Company is offering allday Cannabis specials, up to 50% off their already low prices while supplies last. They will also have free VooDoo Donuts, Swag giveaways, live glass blowing, and the Dank Deeds Bus with an incredible DJ. The music festival will take place just across the street from Northwest Cannabis Company, located At the Garages, featuring Pigs on the Wing (Pink Floyd), TribU2 (U2) and Gold Dust (Fleetwood Mac) tribute bands, and Coloso Band (Reggae).

https://www.northwestcannabis.com/

Electric Lettuce

ENJOY LOCALLY MADE HANDCRAFTED CBD/CBG PRODUCTS, FLOWER, AND MORE- 20% OFF SITEWIDE

Deals + Discounts:

Enjoy some of our customer favorites made from superior ingredients like our 10,000mg CBD/CBG Ruby’s Max Salve, award winning gourmet chocolates, CBDA Capsules for the most biodynamic availability, and even Bacon Pet tincture for our furry friends. Vegan and gluten free. Located in the heart of southern Oregon, everything is shipped directly from our farm to your door. horncreekhemp.com

Broadway Cannabis Market

A “PREMIUM WITHOUT THE PRICE” EXPERIENCE.

Deals + Discounts:

40% OFF FLOWER, EXTRACTS, EDIBLES, PRE-ROLLS 30% OFF STOREWIDE $1 PRE-ROLLS

THE FRESHEST GREENS AND BEST PRICES ON THE BLOCK.

Deals + Discounts:

From 4/14 through 4/23, visit any of our affiliated dispensaries for a chance to HIT IT BIG this 420! Save up to 60% on your favorite brands and grab one of our FAN FAVORITE tote bags. Visitors will receive one lucky scratch-off where everyone is a winner, to be redeemed from 4/24 through 5/7 only. Don’t miss our rich 420 DOORBUSTERS only on 4/20. oregonqualitycannabis.com

Celebrate 4/20 at Broadway Cannabis Market dispensary with hundreds of products on sale. Members can shop exclusive early access to deals by downloading the App and turning notifications on. Check out the newest location of Broadway Cannabis Market in Downtown at 219 SW Broadway, opening April 14th, for a ‘premium without the price’ experience mega store that has everything you need to stock up on 4/20! The first 50 visitors at 3 p.m. on the day of the new store’s grand opening will receive a free goodie bag containing a cannabis comfort kit. broadway-cannabis.com/orderonline

HIGH FREQUENCY

Photos by Skyeler Williams

On Instagram: @sky_hawke

From the floor of the Roseland Theater, the anticipation for Spiritbox to deliver their first headlining performance in Portland on April 12 was palpable. The band cast riff after riff with dynamic, technical proficiency, led by Courtney LaPlante, whose presence onstage was nothing short of ethereal. They kept the crowd enthralled throughout the entire set, but there was an explosion of energy when the intro to breakthrough 2021 hit “Holy Roller’’ began to play. But the highlight of the night was a performance of “The Mara Effect, Pt. 3” from the band’s self-titled 2017 debut EP. The inclusion of the song in the lineup felt like a subtle nod to day-one fans in attendance.

GET BUSY

WATCH: Blessings Movie Night

Presents:

RoboCop 2 With Live Score

This one-night-only event isn’t your normal screening as musician Alex Meltzer (Korgy & Bass) will perform a trippy and original live score for the 1990 cult classic RoboCop 2. This film has everything: a police strike, designer drugs, a child killer, death row inmates, urban redevelopment schemes. With things going this badly, you better call RoboCop…again. Plagued with production issues, the film was more a collection of wild gratuitous violence as seen through a cynical worldview that was typical of the era, making it perfect viewing more than 20 years later on 4/20. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St., 971-808-3331, cstpdx.com. 7 pm Thursday, April 20. $10.

blues a musical experience that should speak to you on every level. McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & Hotel, 836 N Russell St., 503-282-6810, mcmenamins.com/ white-eagle-saloon-hotel. 8 pm Thursday, April 20. $20. 21+.

WATCH: Tinder Live! With Lane Moore

this year. Baker’s Dozen—a celebration of beer, doughnuts and coffee—will take place at John’s Marketplace on Southeast Powell Boulevard. Admission includes 3-ounce pours of 13 brews (hence the festival’s name) made with beans from local roasters as well as doughnut morsels from some of the city’s best bakeries. Buy your ticket online in advance—this event sells out every year. John’s Marketplace, 3560 SE Powell Blvd., 503-206-5273, johnsmarketplace.com. 10 am-1 pm Saturday, April 22. $40 in advance, $50 at the door.

hopworksbeer.com. Noon-4 pm and 5-9 pm Saturday, April 22. $30 includes a 16-ounce glass mug and 10 tasting tickets. 21+ after 5 pm.

DRINK:

Block 15 15th Anniversary: Past, Present, and Future Fest

LISTEN:

Portland Arts & Lectures 2022/23: Ada Limón

Prepare yourself for an unforgettable night to close out the 38th season of the Portland Arts & Lecture series, which featured some of the world’s best authors. You can count Ada Limón among them. The author of six books of poetry, including National Book Critics Circle Award-winner The Carrying, will discuss her work, including her latest collection of poems titled The Hurting Kind, which was released in 2022. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 503-248-4335, literary-arts.org. 7:30 pm Thursday, April 20. Sold out.

LISTEN: The Silent Comedy

The Zimmerman brothers decided it was time to shine a new light on their neglected masterpiece, 2018’s

Enemies Multiply

The new film I Am Alright documents the process behind the tumultuous creation of that LP, prompting a new tour that will bring the band to Portland this week. The Silent Comedy’s blend of dark lyrics and cathartic hope is what makes their version of honky-tonk, Americana and

The incomparable Lane Moore is coming to Portland to promote the release of her second book, You Will Find Your People: How to Make Meaningful Friendships as an Adult, which hits shelves April 25. The topic of making healthy connections to others while coping with major life challenges may sound uncharacteristically serious for the comic. Moore is best known for her critically acclaimed comedy show Tinder Live!, in which she projects the dating app onstage and browses through local profiles, allowing the audience to choose who gets swiped left or right. Anyone who’s ever experienced online dating knows this is a comedy gold mine. Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Court, 503-240-6088, polarishall.com. 8 pm Thursday April 20.

$20. 21+.

LISTEN & WATCH:

Metalmania

II

If you didn’t get your fill of double-leg takedowns and hand ties during Wrestlemania earlier this month, Metalmania returns to the Star Theater, combining wrestling with metal and mayhem. Father’s Milk and MTBA will provide the soundtrack as warriors face off in the arena. Grapplers include former WWE Lucha House Party member Lince Dorado, All Elite Wrestling alum Alan V Angels, Trash Belt Champion Rat King and more. Star Theater, 13 NW 6th Ave., 503-284-4700, startheaterportland.com. 8 pm Friday, April 21. $35 general admission, $55 VIP. 21+.

DRINK & EAT: Baker’s Dozen

The festival that appears to be tailor-made for Homer Simpson moves to a new venue

GO: Multnomah Village Earth Day Celebration

Don’t let Multnomah Village’s charm fool you. Even this picturesque district could use a good scrub now and again, and Earth Day presents the opportunity to roll up your sleeves and participate in a communitywide cleanup. SOLVE will provide trash grabbers, bags, work gloves and high-vision vests, and once the dirty work is done, you can enjoy live music, Earth Day specials at area shops, a village scavenger hunt and more. Multnomah Village, multnomahvillage.org/ celebrate-earth-day. 10 am-5 pm Saturday, April 22.

DRINK: Salmon-Safe IPA Festival

Drinking great beer while supporting a righteous cause is a combination we see too seldom these days. Fortunately, Hopworks has brought back its Salmon-Safe IPA Festival, which hasn’t been held since its debut in 2018. The event was created to highlight the importance of a healthy, robust watershed (water, after all, is beer’s No. 1 ingredient) and promote the use of Salmon-Safe ingredients. All 20 festival beers were made with Salmon-Safe Certified hops and grains, and attendees are encouraged to earn those brews by participating in the neighborhood SOLVE clean up beforehand. Hopworks Brewery, 2944 SE Powell Blvd., 503-232-4677,

The Corvallis brand behind the worldclass double IPA Sticky Hands turns 15 this year, prompting the brewery to reflect and look ahead based on the theme of its birthday party. The Past, The Present and The Future are also the names of three collaboration beers made specifically for this occasion. A shuttle will transport people between Block 15’s original downtown brewpub and the event location, the Southtown Taproom. If you can’t make it to Corvallis for the anniversary, you can taste the collaboration beers at various locations across the state, including Portland’s Mayfly and Wildwood Taphouse in Hillsboro. Block 15 Brewery & Taproom, 3415 SW Deschutes St., Corvallis, 541-7522337, block15.com. 1-2 pm VIP entry, 2-10 pm general admission Saturday, April 22. $30 general admission, VIP sold out, $15 non-alcoholic admission.

DRINK:

Pink Boots Society Tap Takeover at The Sports Bra

Women in Portland’s brewing industry are taking over the taps at The Sports Bra in order to showcase the 2023 hop blend, which is chosen by members of the nonprofit Pink Boots Society and Yakima Chief Hops. This year’s consists of Loral, Ekuanot and HBC 586 hops, and you can taste your way through six different beers using that blend, including The Sports Bra’s own collaboration with Threshold Brewing: Bra Code rice lager with lime leaves. The Sports Bra, 2512 NE Broadway, 503-327-8401, thesportsbrapdx.com. 3-6 pm Sunday, April 23.

STICKY HANDS: Yes, Block 15’s iconic double IPA will be on hand at its 15th anniversary party this weekend, along with a lineup of beers made just for the event.

Top 5

Buzz List

WHERE TO DRINK THIS WEEK.

1. DIRTY PRETTY

638 E Burnside St., dirtyprettypdx. com. 4 pm-1 am Sunday-Thursday, 4 pm-2 am Friday-Saturday.

This is the third venue in industry veteran Collin Nicholas’ quickly growing bar portfolio, which also includes Pink Rabbit and Fools and Horses. As with its sister locations, you can expect a fusion of Asian and Hawaiian ingredients in Dirty Pretty’s food menu (porkshrimp shumai, fried saimin, furikake jojos), and the lengthy cocktail list is filled with tropical flavors. Drinks with names like Jungle Juice, Charliebird and Guava Wars should brighten what’s been a pretty gray Portland spring.

2. MILK+T

Inside the Portland Food Hall, 827 SW 2nd Ave., milkandt.com. Noon-6 pm Tuesday-Thursday, noon-8 pm

Friday-Sunday.

MILK+T, pronounced “milk and tea,” is a Beaverton Asian- and women-run bubble tea bar making the leap across the West Hills by opening an outpost in downtown Portland. A pint-sized version of the suburban shop is part of the revival of the Portland Food Hall, which was slow to reopen following the pandemic lockdown. Despite MILK+T’s closet-sized space, it serves drinks with big flavors and premium ingredients, like the Classic (a black milk tea) and the adorably named Piglet (strawberry coconut milk).

3. FRACTURE BREWING

1015 SE Stark St., fracturebrewingpdx. com. 4-10 pm Wednesday-Thursday, noon-11 pm Friday-Saturday, noon-8 pm Sunday.

This month, the Lil’ America food cart pod welcomed its final tenant, and if you haven’t checked out the eclectic mix of vendors—Guyanese bakes are sold feet from crab boils, vegan corn dogs and Hainanese chicken rice—the recent opening is a good excuse to get out there. Be sure to order a beer (but, really, you should get several) made by Fracture’s Darren Provenzano. During our last visit, the medallionlike West Coast IPA and the canary-colored Hazy were both standouts, but the Pilsner trio (classic, West Coast, New Zealand) is what really stole our hearts. Yes, they all taste different.

4. GIGANTIC BREWING TAP ROOM AND CHAMPAGNE LOUNGE

5224 SE 26th Ave., 503-208-3416, giganticbrewing.com. 2-9 pm Monday-Friday, noon-9 pm Saturday-Sunday.

When considering a collaboration, Upright Brewing’s Alex Ganum posed this question to Gigantic founders Ben Love and Van Havig: “What would happen if we brewed an imperial Pilsner like an IPA?” Naturally, that led the trio to experiment, and the result is Czech Your Cold IPA, a crisp, light-bodied brew with hints of lemongrass and lemon peel. You can find it on tap and in bottles at Gigantic’s flagship as well as its two other locations.

5. WORKSHOP FOOD AND DRINK

1407 SE Belmont St., 971-229-1465, fermenterpdx.com. 5-10 pm Thursday-Sunday, 5-11 pm Friday-Saturday. Aaron Adams, the chef behind the self-dubbed “beneficial bacteria emporium” Fermenter, has launched a late-night lounge right next door to that house of fermented foods. Small plates at Workshop Food and Drink are all vegan and inspired by Adams’ Cuban roots, but we’re most excited about the deep list of cocktails. Many use kitchen byproducts to help offset waste, like Yes Whey, a classic milk punch with a housemade cashew yogurt whey.

Top 5

Hot Plates

WHERE TO EAT THIS WEEK.

1. KI’IKIBÁA

3244 NE 82nd Ave., 971-429-1452. 11 am-9 pm Tuesday-Sunday. With a menu full of panuchos, salbutes, relleno negro and menudo, it feels sacrilegious to start with an ode to Manuel “Manny” Lopez’s burritos, but we’re gonna do it. We love these burritos passionately. Go for the asada, which is seasoned and grilled, layered with black beans made with lard and spices, and given the usual sour cream, cheese and guac treatment. But the true God-tier move is the layer of crispy griddled cheese, which adds salt and crunch, resulting in deep satisfaction.

2. BUMPER BURGER

17980 SW Baseline Road, Beaverton, 503-828-7340, bumperburger.com. 11 am-6 pm Thursday-Friday, noon-6 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Bumper Burger has declared war against price creep on America’s favorite sandwich. Founder-cook Mat Norton sells his quarter-pounders for truly jaw-dropping rates: $3.50 for the entry-level hamburger, $4 for one with a slice of gooey American cheese, and for the extra-hungry, there’s the $9.50 People’s Meal, which features the double-patty 50/50 Burger. No matter what sandwich you order, always get the made-fresh-daily pimento cheese. The pleasantly piquant spread adds velvetiness to every bite—and it costs only a dollar extra.

3. SALT & STRAW

Various locations, saltandstraw.com. 11 am-11 pm daily.

More than a decade ago, cousins Tyler and Kim Malek began changing people’s taste for ice cream—daring them to go beyond Baskin-Robbins’ 31 flavors—by opening Salt & Straw and working with unique ingredients. The company, which has expanded considerably since then, is marking its 12th anniversary this month by unlocking its flavor vault and bringing back dormant varieties. That means for a limited time you can get old favorites, like black olive brittle and goat cheese, honey marshmallow rocky road and mango habanero IPA sorbet as a scoop, or in pints and milkshakes.

4. KAEDE

8268 SE 13th Ave., 503-327-8916, kaedepdx.com. 4:30-9 pm Wednesday-Sunday. Seating by online reservations only.

Kaede, a 16-seat “sushi bistro” in Sellwood, shifted recently from takeout service to dine-in and reservation only, making the bar the best place to be. It’s where you can sit with a cup of sake in hand and become entranced watching co-owner Shinji Uehara slice fish flown in from Tokyo and gently hand-mold the rice for nigiri. There’s no omakase meal here, but the nigiri premium will get you eight chef’s choice rice-andfish delicacies. And keep an eye out for anything that’s rare in our neck of the woods, like the bright pink Japanese alfonsino fish we had during our visit.

5. NEXT LEVEL BURGER

1972 W Burnside St., 503-660-4800, nextlevelburger.com. 4121 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-486-4400.

While many food companies have been perpetrators of shrinkflation over the past two years, Next Level Burger is heading in the exact opposite direction. You’ll now find even larger patties on the plant-based chain’s menu (weighing in at 4 ounces instead of 3) along with a slew of new items. We’re most excited to try the chipotle burger—the black bean faux meat is slathered in chipotle mayo and topped with guac and pickled jalapeños. Go all in on the vegan junk food theme and wash that down with a coconut soft serve chocolate chip cookie dough shake, which was also recently added to the lineup.

FOOD & DRINK

Editor: Andi Prewitt

Contact: aprewitt@wweek.com

BRING THE HEAT: Elsy Dinvil sells marinades, cooking vinegars and pickleez—a spicy Haitian pickled vegetable slaw.

Creole Queen

BY JAMIE CATTANACH

Elsy Dinvil doesn’t take shortcuts—in food or in life. When she founded Creole Me Up in 2017, she’d been working two jobs, waking at 3 am to tackle a Frankensteined-together, four-hour public transit commute. When she could finally afford a beat-up car, she found herself sleeping in it more than once. All the while, Dinvil was dealing with digestive issues so debilitating and persistent, she thought she might have cancer. After an intense colon surgery, she even had to relearn how to walk.

“I was broken and broke,” she says. “I was feeling like a ghost.”

Fast forward to 2023, and you can find Dinvil smiling and laughing with customers at markets across Portland. In fact, when I first met her in 2022 at the Portland State University Farmers Market, I almost walked right by—but her huge grin and sweet greeting beckoned me. After her Sassy in Pink marinade transformed my boring, skinless chicken breast into a scintillating Caribbean staycation, suddenly I was both fan and friend (or, as Dinvil says, her “cousin”). When she told me she finished her MBA last December—a feat she paid for out of pocket with Creole Me Up proceeds—she came out from behind the table to wrap me in a hug.

But even if she’d been totally standoffish, her food would still have had me coming back weekly.

Along with versatile marinades, Dinvil sells infused cooking vinegars and pickleez—a spicy, pickled vegetable slaw popular in Haiti, where it’s spelled “pikliz.” No matter what you buy, turn over the jar and you’ll see that it’s made with whole, plant-based ingredients: onions, garlic, peppers, beets, and lime juice, to name a few.

Growing up in Jérémie, Haiti, it was Dinvil’s job to crush ingredients like these by hand to make the

day’s spice rubs and marinades. Today, she does the same to bring people together over foods that are as delightful as they are healthy. Eating for well-being has also helped Dinvil. She found the cure to her digestive issues when a naturopath determined that allergies were the culprit and encouraged her to give up processed foods. Her commitment to fresh ingredients is working for others as well: Along with regular appearances at farmers markets, Dinvil’s products are sold in retail stores, including Market of Choice and New Seasons—where she once worked as a cashier.

The transformation between those dark, early days and the celebratory present is an incredible story of community, solidarity and resilience that could easily spill a lot more ink than this. (Dinvil wouldn’t let me pen this piece without directly shouting out Jaime Soltero Jr., the founder of Tamale Boy, who showed her the ropes back in late 2016 and allowed her to work rent free out of his kitchen for months.)

And as incredible as the food is, the real magic of Creole Me Up is its story—one that Dinvil has a fever to tell. Her cookbook, Cooking With My Mother, is a dense tome that blends memoir with recipe writing. She’s already at work on her next book and hopes to finish it by the end of the year. Dinvil also plans to get involved with Portland’s houseless population, collecting donations of clothing and other necessities, and prepare to dive into motivational speaking. She wants to inspire low-income families, women coming out of prison, and others in vulnerable and transitional positions.

She’ll certainly do it all with style because that’s how she does everything—and she knows the long route up from rock bottom so well herself. The past decade has been a steady climb, taking Dinvil from self-appointed “ghost” to gregarious host, an effort-intensive process of intentionally coming out of her shell.

But it was worth it, Dinvil says. Now she’s rewarded by the look on her customers’ faces when they have that first, magical sample; the ones who come back for more week after week.

“I want to do bigger things than just making good food,” Dinvil says. “I want people to see something beautiful.”

Creole Me Up’s Elsy Dinvil serves up spice, sass—and an incredible story.

Air of Mystery

BY RICHARD H. MEEKER rmeeker@wweek.com

With our noirish atmospherics and active literary community, you’d expect Oregon to be awash in crime novelists. Sadly, despite short, dreary winter days—to say nothing of a boom in homicides—we boast all too few crime novelists. One of those few—Warren C. Easley, who has flown too long under the radar—makes an appearance at Annie Bloom’s Books on April 24. His new book is Fatal Flaw (Lucasian Press, 352 pages, $18.99), the ninth—and latest—in the Cal Claxton mystery series.

Claxton’s a lawyer who fled Los Angeles and a promising career as a prosecutor after his wife’s suicide. He settled on a nice hillside in Oregon wine country and set up a one-man practice in McMinnville. To help ease his soul, on Fridays he provides pro bono legal services in Portland’s Old Town, out of a run-down office he calls Caffeine Central. It’s through this work that most of the murder investigations fall into his lap, along with the dangers they entail. From there the plots build. They’re interesting, believable, and very Oregon.

In the introduction to one of his earlier books, Easley speaks of his affection for the work of James Lee Burke, best known for his Dave Robicheaux novels. Just as Burke’s most memorable protagonist has a larger-than-life sidekick, Cal Claxton has a Cuban émigré named Nando to help him. And just as Burke’s key character has a beloved daughter, so, too does Claxton—Claire. Best of all, just as Burke writes gloriously of

the natural surroundings in Louisiana, Easley writes lovingly of Oregon’s wonders—such that, along with Claxton, the Oregon outdoors is a consistent character running through each novel. Here’s a brief evocation of our special place from the latest: “At sunrise the next morning, the eastern horizon was a strip of polished gold, and above it the night sky was surrendering to

a swirl of purple fading to lavender.”

Local issues loom in the background without making the books seem parochial—Native lands in Not Dead Enough, fly fishing on the Deschutes in Dead Float, and a sketchy Portland real estate development in Moving Targets. Each is populated with well-known local Portland hangouts, and each captures the

flavor of our special place.

The Cal Claxton mysteries are well plotted with believable, multidimensional characters. They are so good and compelling I plowed through all nine in the past three or four months, in the order in which they were written.

A former scientist and business executive from California, Easley chose wine country for his retirement—though it may not be that much of a retirement, as he’s produced nearly a mystery a year since the publication of Matters of Doubt in 2013. Each is more confident than the last.

Fatal Flaw concerns the apparent suicide of an engineer/inventor who may have come up with a device to detect viruses cheaply and quickly. All this in early 2020, just as COVID is arriving. It’s the inventor’s niece who brings the case to Cal in his Old Town office. Things build from there. No surprise: There are plenty of dead bodies, accompanied by a believable romance. Fatal Flaw is human, well paced, and deeply plotted—just what good mysteries require.

GO: Warren C. Easley reads from Fatal Flaw: A Cal Claxton Mystery at Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 SW Capitol Highway, 503-2460053, annieblooms.com. 7 pm Monday, April 24. Free.

The ninth book in Oregon author Warren C. Easley’s Cal Claxton series is a deeply plotted and locally set delight.

Easley writes lovingly of Oregon’s wonders— such that, along with Cal Claxton, the Oregon outdoors is a consistent character running through each novel.

HALEY HEYNDERICKX AT MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

BY ROBERT HAM

The Visionaries

How Fonda Lee and Kate Elliott are remaking the world of speculative fiction in their own image.

BY ERIC ASH

On April 11, Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing hosted a launch event for two modern-day masters of speculative fiction: Kate Elliott and Fonda Lee. One is an Oregonian of the past, the other an Oregonian of the present. Both were presenting new releases from Tor, one of the biggest names in sci-fi and fantasy publishing.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, Lee now lives in Portland. Before turning to writing, she took up martial arts and earned a Stanford MBA. She debuted in 2015 with the YA sci-fi novel Zeroboxer, but really made her name from 2017 through 2021 with the Green Bone Saga, a fantasy trilogy with elements of crime drama and family drama. (Picture The Godfather, but set in an East Asian-inspired island city where organized crime families use magically enhanced jade to grapple for dominance.) After completing that trilogy, Lee has turned her attention to smaller projects, including her new fantasy novella, Untethered Sky

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, raised in Junction City, Ore., and currently living in Hawaii, Elliott has also lived and worked in California, Mexico, and England. She published her debut novel, The Labyrinth Gate, in 1988 as Alis A. Rasmussen; the Kate Elliott pseudonym first appeared in 1992 on Jaran, the first book of one of many fantasy series she

has published in the years since.

Elliott has largely flown under the radar (no one novel of hers has more than 10,000 ratings on Goodreads), but she has remained both prolific and acclaimed. Her latest novel, Furious Heaven, is the second book of the Sun Chronicles sci-fi trilogy, which was inspired by an idea of a feminine spin on Alexander the Great and began in 2020 with Unconquerable Sun

At Powell’s, Lee and Elliott had a spirited conversation about their craft and inspirations. Lee’s Untethered Sky evokes pre-Islamic Persia as it follows Ester, a young rukher (roc rider) learning to fly massive, birdlike rocs in battle against manticores to avenge the death of her family. Professional falconers beta-read Lee’s manuscript, and an animal care professional in the audience praised Lee for her attention to detail regarding the care of the rocs.

Elliott’s background includes growing up with a history teacher father. As she worked on Unconquerable Sun, she found that Alexander the Great was better known through fantastically embellished Roman and medieval histories than through lost primary sources.

The memoirs of Ptolemy I, Alexander’s successor, especially influenced the Roman histories, and Elliott translated that style into the character of “the wily Persephone.”

Elliott wrote Persephone in first person, and

Sun in third person, because she “didn’t get that Alexander character” as intimately. But still, with the stories of Alexander’s life and his generals fighting to succeed him for decades after his death, she thought to herself, hey, I could write that in space!

The authors also discussed cultural representation in their works. Lee, being Asian herself, had cultural touchstones well in mind while writing the Green Bone Saga. Elliott, who is Caucasian, took inspiration from China and the Philippines for Unconquerable Sun’s imperial rivals of Chaonia and Phene. She consulted Asian readers, including author and translator Ken Liu, to ensure accurate depictions of cuisine, linguistics and philosophy as opposed to surface-level “flavortext.” As an example of the latter, Lee cited Joss Whedon’s cult classic TV series Firefly, in which Asian representation (in a purported East meets West future) is largely limited to Western actors cursing in (often) mangled Mandarin.

For the future, Lee has several projects. She’s written 60,000 words so far on her “cyberpunk samurai” space opera, The Last Contract of Isako, and has a YA fantasy under contract. Elliott, meanwhile, is working on the final Sun novel, Lady Chaos

Asked what she would write outside of SFF, Lee said she has a sci-fi horror idea “percolating—do not tell my editor!”

When Haley Heynderickx was onstage at Mississippi Studios this past Friday, performing her lovely folk-pop songs for a capacity crowd, she often looked like she was trying to keep the audience at a remove. She kept her head pointed stage left, eyes often closed as she sang when she wasn’t sharing sly smiles with her sole accompanist, bassist Matthew Holmes. In spite of appearances, the singer-songwriter was paying close attention to what was happening around her. As Heynderickx began a song that she described as being about “living in Portland and having six roommates,” a strange scraping noise came up from one quadrant of the room. She halted the song and asked for the lights to be turned up and asked after someone in the crowd. Assured they were OK, she started right where she left off. The affected person, overcome by exhaustion or drink or other intoxicants, was gingerly helped out of the room by friends.

The moment shouldn’t have come as a surprise. In her recorded work, Heynderickx has revealed herself to be a keen observer of the world around her. The lyrics on her 2018 album I Need to Start a Garden are rich with detail and emotion. And from the sound of the new material she played during a three-night run of shows, all of which sold out, her reflections are only growing more intricate and poetic.

An early favorite on that front is a song called, if I heard her correctly, “Sorry Fahey.” Named as an apology for approximating the sound of American primitive guitar deity John Fahey, the tune had a bouncing melody and references to waistlines and coastlines as personal boundaries. I didn’t hear Heynderickx ripping Fahey off so much as placing her work within the lineage of our city’s folk greats. As anyone in the audience this past weekend would attest, she deserves to be there.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE: Kate Elliott and Fonda Lee.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FONDA LEE, KATE ELLIOTT, AND TOR BOOKS

SAMANTHA KLOPPENDLESS NOISE PHOTOS

Hotseat: Mac Cornish

The ascendant singersongwriter discusses Portland’s

surprisingly vibrant country and folk scene.

BY ALEX BARR

Visitors and soon-to-be Portlanders travel from across the country and around the globe to experience the thriving live music scene in our rainy city. Genre-spanning musicians and artists like The Decemberists, Aminé, Weyes Blood, and Elliott Smith all found a launching pad in the live music community in the City of Roses.

However, you may be surprised to learn about the thriving country and folk music scene in Portland. WW sat down with rising star singer-songwriter Mac Cornish (whose debut self-titled album was released last year) to shine a light on the close-knit community and her own budding career.

WW: So, Mac, how did you end up in Portland?

Mac Cornish: I’m from a really, really small town called Portola Valley. It’s right at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains, tucked away in the redwood trees, about 45 minutes south of San Francisco. At the end of my high school experience I was applying to colleges and I really fell in love with Lewis & Clark College.

What’s the Portland folk music scene like? What’s been your experience as a performer?

The folk and country scene here is so amazing. It’s big. There’s so many bands, there’s so many venues that are playing all the time. There’s so many artists that really inspire me, who are now my peers, which is really cool. People probably wouldn’t think Portland would be a country city, but there’s a big country scene here. I make more folky music, but I’ve definitely been moving towards a country sound.

Could you speak to the differences and similarities between country and folk music?

That’s a great question and that’s a hard question. It’s like really just the instrumentation that’s changing it. But folk and country music have been blending into each other since the very beginning. They both aggressively have their roots in traditional ballads of the British Isles and Europe, but also blues music of African-American people within the U.S.—not equally, but both pull from those two traditions, as well as Native American music.

That’s what makes folk and country so beautiful to me. They’re really this very diverse and cosmopolitan sound. It’s diverse because it’s pulling not just from white Americans, it’s pulling from Black Americans and Native Americans too. It’s pulling from all these different genres to create a very American sound.

What artists would you say have been the biggest influence on your music?

The ’60s and early ’70s are what I like to hyperfixate on. Obviously, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the ’60s folk revival king and queen. But I also love Laurel Canyon and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Gram Parsons is another huge inspiration for me and his band, The Flying Burrito Brothers. He coined the term cosmic American music, which was an amalgamation of country and rock music.

Then I also grew up on straight classic rock, like Led Zeppelin has been my favorite band since I was a little kid. Honestly, everything about the ’60s and ’70s inspires me so much.

SHOWS OF THE WEEK

WHAT TO SEE AND WHAT TO HEAR

BY DANIEL BROMFIELD @bromf3

THURSDAY, APRIL 20:

During his brief life, Julius Eastman amazed New York City’s avant-garde royalty with his pliable voice and innovative marriage of minimalism with pop chord progressions. The idiosyncratic nature and highly subjective scores of his work have made it uncommon in live performance, so if you’re a serious fan of modern classical music—or simply curious about this mercurial figure of the avant-garde—be sure to catch pianist Darrell Grant’s performance of Femenine, one of Eastman’s best-known pieces. Straub Collaborative, 3333 NW Industrial St. 7 pm. $20-$40. All ages.

SATURDAY, APRIL 22:

Spencer Krug has his hands full with so many projects it’s easy for even devoted fans to forget that Sunset Rubdown hasn’t put out an album in 14 years. But Krug’s proggiest, weirdest, most resolutely Krugian project is back, at least for a “tiny tour” ostensibly inspired by a dream he had that his far-flung bandmates were onstage playing together again. There’s no news of new recordings yet, but you can expect Krug to drop something with one of his roughly 5 million side projects soon enough. Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside St. 9 pm. $50. 21+.

SUNDAY, APRIL 23:

How would you describe your style of music to a potential fan?

This is a hard question for me because I put out an album almost a year ago now, and that album was recorded two years ago, and many of those songs were written four years ago. So if someone were to go listen to that album, I don’t know how they would generalize me because my music has changed so much since that album. The music I’m making now, the music I’m playing live, I would definitely say it’s cosmic folk. I would say it’s somewhere in that range of walking the line between the two genres, but it definitely leans more toward folk.

SEE IT: Mac Cornish plays with Neon Prairie Dogs, Richard Gans, and JJ and The Chupacabras at Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 NE Killingsworth St., 503-284-6019, turnturnturnpdx.com. 7 pm Sunday, May 7. 21+.

Bands that play American roots music tend to fetishize the past, or at least a cartoonish O Brother, Where Art Thou? version of it. Not the California Honeydrops, who play blues, soul and New Orleans R&B with verve, furor and charm. Led by affable Polish-born frontman Lech Wierzynski, the Oakland mini-orchestra knows its musical history, and their performances brush away distinctions between “old” and “new” in order to simply serve up the best music possible for throngs of adoring fans. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St. 8 pm. $30. 21+.

“The music I’m making now, the music I’m playing live, I would definitely say it’s cosmic folk.”

MOVIES

Hotseat: Trip Jennings

In his documentary Elemental, the filmmaker asks us to reconsider our relationship to wildfires.

BY CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER @chance_s_p

Before his documentary Elemental: Reimagine Wildfire began touring Oregon this spring—from Hood River to La Grande to Astoria—there was one statistic director Trip Jennings wanted to add to the film:

“In California, 80% of homes that burn in wildfires are not surrounded by forests. Nationally, a majority of homes that burn in wildfires aren’t in forests.”

Why then, Elemental inquires, are hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually fighting fires in forests, with vegetation-thinning and suppression tactics that the scientists interviewed say won’t save threatened communities?

In response, Elemental explores fire’s natural ecology, how Indigenous burning practices could change the conversation and, most significantly, how the best defense against wildfire begins with homes themselves.

We caught up with Jennings to discuss neutralizing fire’s character, the science behind his film, and a serendipitous call he had with the documentary’s narrator, Oscar nominee David Oyelowo (Selma).

WW: Your film looks at the math problems, structural issues and unscientific assumptions that underlie “fighting” fire. How did that become the film’s concept?

Trip Jennings: I began to notice a gap between public understanding and policy around fire and the best available science. I started to pay attention after the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. People really believed that fire was only bad and we needed to go in there and plant more trees. There’s this whole other story that actually Eagle Creek hadn’t burned in 80 to 100 years and, even though the fire was started by fireworks, it was due for its natural fire cycle.

Then, I talked to a scientist in the intervening time who said, look, anything that happens farther than 100 feet from the home almost has no bearing on whether that home survives. I thought to myself, that’s definitely wrong and I don’t believe you. And I spent five years on this filmmaking journey learning that he was right.

What are the difficulties of destigmatizing fire in a region where people are terrified of it?

If you just look at 2004 to 2018, the number of homes and structures destroyed by fire went up 1,000%. That’s a terrifying trend. So we took this approach of saying, OK, fire is going to happen. How do we live safely with it? How do we prepare ourselves before fire season? One of the best parts of showing the film has been hearing fire survivors say things like, “It’s hard to watch because it brought up my terrifying experiences, but it gave me hope because I thought there was nothing we could do.” That’s empowering.

Making homes more fire resistant—how does that happen? Individually? Governmentally?

Some amount of carrot and some amount of stick. There’s a pilot program in California that the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety lab came out with: this third-party designation called the “wildfire-prepared home.” California insurance companies have been directed to give policy owners discounts if they do all the things.

On the other hand, I think we have to see subsidies. I don’t want to live in a world where only the people who can afford it don’t burn up.

Why was it important for your film to contextualize the Yurok people’s relationship to fire in historical and ecological ways?

What we learn from [the Yurok’s Cultural Fire Management Council] is that fire just is; characterization of fire as good or bad is kind of irrelevant. That’s the ecology of almost every terrestrial ecosystem, and we need to live in that reality.

How did David Oyelowo become

your narrator?

He lives in a neighborhood of L.A. called Tarzana, which basically backs up to wildlands. When there’s a fire, he sees it. When we first reached out to him, he was having some renovations done on his house and had contractors there. He saw the film and was like, “So what should I do to my house?” And he was taking notes. He was the perfect person.

What impact do you hope Elemental can have?

I hope this film will arm people with the best possible science to make communities safe, so we can begin to solve the housing affordability crisis and not lose houses to fires and know how to build better. We’re spending so much money, especially around Portland, to thin forests. And they’re never going to burn until the treatments are no longer useful. I want that money to be spent keeping people safe.

SEE IT: Elemental tours Oregon during April and May. See a full list of screenings at elementalfilm. com/showtimes. The next Portland screening is at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., 503493-1128, hollywoodtheatre.org. 6 pm Friday, May 1-Thursday, June 2. $7-$10.

REIGN OF FIRE: Trip Jennings.

screener

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

SHOWING UP

Though First Cow and Old Joy sometimes flashed soft cosmic smiles, Kelly Reichardt films aren’t known for their comedy. Yet her sixth Oregon-made film, Showing Up, methodically mines humor from the Portland studio-arts scene. Days before a show, sculptor Lizzy (Michelle Williams) is needled by life’s distractions: her broken water heater—and her friend and landlord Jo (Hong Chau) prioritizing her own exhibition over fixing it—a time-sapping day job, a troubled brother (John Magaro), and why not throw nursing a wounded pigeon onto the pile? Meanwhile, the many artists surrounding Lizzy—seen calmly creating at the (now defunct) Oregon College of Art and Craft—only clarify her foul mood and broken focus. As always, Reichardt’s movies hinge more on experiencing a reality than a plot, and provoking questions flow from Showing Up’s quiet contrasts of objectivity and character building. Is it ridiculous or confirming that Lizzy’s labor of love causes her misery? Are the machinations of a tiny arts scene trifling or buoying? Is Jo and Lizzy’s friendship fraying, or is selfishness required to brave show week? Like Lizzy’s unassuming anthropomorphic sculptures, Showing Up reveals more the nearer you lean toward it. Community, inspiration, validation; clay’s got little to do with it. These are the myths and truths—impossible to untangle—that animate our every day. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Cinema 21, Hollywood.

SOMEWHERE IN QUEENS

Without a punch thrown or montage cued, Ray Romano’s directorial debut meaningfully channels Rocky. The Everybody Loves Raymond star plays Frank, a Queens, N.Y., construction worker who routinely invokes Rocky Balboa to motivate his son, a promising high school basketball player. The reference is rightfully mocked as dad-core, but there’s depth to it. When he does speak, the bashful 18-yearold beanpole “Sticks” does so in a vulnerable Balboa-esque mumble. It’s a warm, affecting performance by newcomer Jacob Ward, playing the quietest member of a brassy Italian family that perpetually overlooks him and his father. Even more, Somewhere in Queens understands— even if its characters don’t—how shyness can be both painful and easily misinterpreted, and how Frank believing himself to be the underdog in a blue-collar, outer borough culture is a messy, pathological business. Granted, there is a more overt comedy premise tucked inside Queens, but the farce potential never takes over. Instead, Romano’s self-effacement creeps beautifully over every scene, while fellow sitcom icon Laurie Metcalf (mother to Sticks and spouse to Frank) is aces as ever at balancing ball-busting comedy and poignant conversations. Having built the best version of the “Sundance” family dramedy, ironically, Romano is the rare rookie filmmaker with nothing to prove.

R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Bridgeport, Cascade, Clackamas, Fox Tower.

HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE

Recent films to tangle with uncivil climate resistance— First Reformed, Night Moves, Woman at War—tend to weigh the meaning and cost of radical activism through their characters’ sometimes intense subjectivity. In How to Blow Up a Pipeline, ideological development is yesterday’s news. Per the title, director Daniel Goldhaber (Cam) unfurls a steely and process-driven thriller about eight activists attempting to detonate a West Texas oil pipeline. With Gavin Brivik’s Tangerine Dream-esque score guaranteed to quicken heart rates, Pipeline (based on a nonfiction book by Andreas Malm) thrives on ratcheting tension and detail: It’s all titrating, wiring and metadata editing. For amateurs, the activists are remarkably capable, but it’s bracingly apparent their sabotage has zero safety net— even in cinematic terms. When characters defy realistic authority to this extent, the audience has no playbook for what happens next. The story flashes back to reveal, one by one, how the activists arrived in arid oil country, but the vignettes are finely calibrated to suggest the various righteous rages without turning polemic. As in the conspiracy itself, every actor knows their precise role, with Forrest Goodluck (playing a self-taught demolitions expert) achieving the deepest impression. His permanently furrowed brow is a sculpture of maniacal determination, and like How to Blow Up a Pipeline he never flinches. R. CHANCE SOLEM-PFEIFER. Bridgeport, Cinema 21.

THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE

On the one hand, there’s something disturbingly cynical about The Super Mario Bros. Movie ’s threadbare plot and paper-thin characters, as if the exercise is less a standalone film and more a pitch document for a forthcoming Mario Extended Universe. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue with the results. Thirty years after their first cinematic outing, Mario (a shockingly serviceable Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) return to the big screen in a lovingly made animated extravaganza. There’s a clear passion for the material that directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic bring to the proceedings, blending the vibrant colors and iconic architecture of the Mushroom Kingdom with kinetic visuals that are a genuine treat to behold, buoyed by Brian Tyler’s score and its clever incorporation of Koji Kondo’s iconic chiptune orchestrations. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is certainly lacking in depth or narrative complexity, but like Star Wars or Avatar, it uses the basics of the monomyth as a jumping-off point to create a world that captures the imagination and leaves the audience begging for more. Older moviegoers will likely be turned off by the simplicity of it all, but for fans who are young or young at heart, it’s an entertaining trip down the warp pipe. Let’s a-go! PG. MORGAN SHAUNETTE. Academy, Bagdad, Cedar Hills, City Center, Eastport, Empirical, Fox Tower, Joy Cinema, Lloyd Center, Pioneer Place, St. Johns, St. Johns Twin, Studio One, Wunderland Beaverton, Wunderland Milwaukie.

Johnny Guitar (1954)

A “golden age” Hollywood Western, Johnny Guitar presents a familiar tableau: two gunfighters in love with the same woman, a land baron and his posse drooling for a hanging, and a bandit gang caught between its leader and its loose cannon.

But that’s all just on paper. Director Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) scrambles the Western chessboard by pushing the proverbial stranger-come-to-town Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden) to the film’s background and letting saloon owner Vienna (Joan Crawford) preside like a rodeo empress over all the film’s discontent. In multiple scenes of one-versus-20 verbal sparring with a lynch mob, Vienna holds court in her cavernous saloon, and there’s no doubt who the film’s star is, no matter what the title suggests.

Crawford rules this knotty melodrama where every character has an opponent representing their worst self, Vienna’s being the bloodthirsty Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), both of them willing to do what the men will not. These remarkably hardened women are supported by a deep cast (Ernest Borgnine, Ward Bond, John Carradine) and Ray’s stunning sense of pre-boom emptiness in a silver mining town.

Johnny Guitar screens at Cinema 21 on April 22, as part of programmer Elliot Lavine’s 5 from the 5IFTIES series.

ALSO PLAYING:

5th Avenue: The Metamorphosis of Birds (2020), April 21-23. Academy: Sorcerer (1977), School of Rock (2003), Clue (1985), Scarface (1983); April 21-27. Clinton: RoboCop 2 (1990) with live score, April 20. Serial Mom (1994), April 21 and 23. Cecil B. Demented (2000), April 21 and 23. Multiple Maniacs (1970), April 22. Polyester (1981), April 22. Hairspray (1988), April 22 and 23. Hollywood: Easy A (2010), April 21. Sunrise (1927) with live organ score, April 22. The Long Goodbye (1973), April 22. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010), April 23. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), April 25.

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.

by Jack Kent

JONESIN’

BY MATT JONES

"Show Some Backbone"--armed with knowledge.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In English, the phrase "growing pains" refers to stresses that emerge during times of rapid ripening or vigorous development. Although they might feel uncomfortable, they are often signs that the ongoing transformations are invigorating. Any project that doesn't have at least some growing pains may lack ambition. If we hope to transcend our previous limits and become a more complete expression of our destiny, we must stretch ourselves in ways that inconvenience our old selves. I'm expecting growing pains to be one of your key motifs in the coming weeks, dear Aries. It's important that you don't try to repress the discomfort. On the other hand, it's also crucial not to obsess over them. Keep a clear vision of what these sacrifices will make possible for you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Satirical Taurus

author Karl Kraus defined "sentimental irony" as "a dog that bays at the moon while pissing on graves." Please avoid that decadent emotion in the coming weeks, Taurus. You will also be wise to reject any other useless or counterproductive feelings that rise up within you or hurtle toward you from other people, like "clever cruelty" or "noble self-pity" or "sweet revenge." In fact, I hope you will be rigorous about what moods you feed and what influences you allow into your sphere. You have a right and a duty to be highly discerning about shaping both your inner and outer environments. Renewal time is imminent.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In his poem "October Fullness," Pablo Neruda says, "Our own wounds heal with weeping, / Our own wounds heal with singing." I agree. I believe that weeping and singing are two effective ways to recover from emotional pain and distress. The more weeping and singing we do, the better. I especially recommend these therapeutic actions to you now, Gemini. You are in a phase when you can accomplish far more curative and restorative transformations than usual.

ACROSS

1. Calculate the total of

6. Nat ___ (cable channel)

9. High flier

14. Doggie

15. Above, in verse

16. Nebraska city near Iowa

17. Fun

19. Tabloid-worthy

20. California city (and county) home to Bubblegum Alley

22. Calligraphy pen point

23. Spinoff group

24. Anti-___ hand soap

27. 2016 World Series champions

30. Gambler's supposed strategy

34. Prefix with laryngologist

35. Burned-up

37. "Paris, je t'___" (2006 movie)

38. Mercedes S-Class or Audi A5, e.g.

42. 1958 Chevalier Oscar winner

43. "Do ___?"

44. Black currant liqueur cocktail

45. Long-legged wading birds

48. Disco hit that really shows off its title

49. Sneaky

50. "It's on like Donkey ___"

52. "The buck stops here" presidential monogram

54. Captain of the

Enterprise in two TV series

60. Jousting spear

61. Item ripped in half by old-time strongmen

63. Streaming show in the "Star Wars" universe

64. "Jackie Brown" star Grier

65. Everybody's opposite

66. Winter weather events

67. Kennel noise

68. Suspicious DOWN

1. Many a tailless primate

2. Puts on

3. Hip-hop artist ___ Cat

4. 2023 NCAA men's basketball Final Four team

5. Actress Rashad

6. Mongolian desert

7. Long swimmers

8. Cookies in a sleeve

9. Insurance document

10. Intro to an opinion

11. Perform with fake swords in the park, maybe

12. Miami University's state

13. Tiny bit

18. Alabama university town

21. Wanna-___ (imitators)

24. Retired slugger Wade

25. Did a face-plant

26. Queen Elizabeth's preferred dog breed

28. Indonesian island east of Java

29. Prepare for a 36-Down

©2023 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor@jonesincrosswords.com) For answers to this puzzle, call: 1-900-226-2800, 99 cents per minute. Must be 18+. Or to bill to your credit card, call: 1-800-655-6548. Reference puzzle #JNZ990.

31. Second hand sounds

32. Interoffice communication

33. Like some Windsor wives

36. Academic assessment

39. Do some dairy chores, maybe

40. Dickensian imp

41. Go up again

46. Copier cartridges

47. Long-running NBC show, for short

51. Aquarium fish

53. Off-limits topic

54. Rolling Stone cofounder Wenner

55. Opposite of ecto-

56. Tea made with cardamom

57. "___ and Circumstance"

58. Medieval crucifix

59. Currency of Vietnam

60. "Viva ___ Vegas"

62. Opening piece?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): After careful analysis of the astrological omens and a deep-diving meditation, I have concluded that the coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to indulge in an unprecedented binge of convivial revelry and pleasure. My advice is to engage in as much feasting and carousing as you can without completely ignoring your responsibilities. I know this may sound extreme, but I am inviting you to have more fun than you have ever had—even more fun than you imagine you deserve. (You do deserve it, though.) I hope you will break all your previous records for frequency and intensity of laughter.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 1886, Vincent van Gogh bought a pair of worn-out shoes at a Paris flea market. When he got home, he realized they didn’t fit. Rather than discard them, he made them the centerpiece of one of his paintings. Eventually, they became famous. In 2009, a renowned gallery in Cologne, Germany, built an entire exhibit around the scruffy brown leather shoes. In the course of their celebrated career, six major philosophers and art historians have written about them as if they were potent symbols worthy of profound consideration. I propose that we regard their history as an inspirational metaphor for you in the coming weeks. What humble influence might be ready for evocative consideration and inspirational use?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Gliding away from the routine for rendezvous with fun riddles? I approve! Delivering your gorgeous self into the vicinity of a possibly righteous temptation? OK. But go slowly, please. Size up the situation with your gut intuition and long-range vision as well as your itchy fervor. In general, I am pleased with your willingness to slip outside your comfortable enclaves and play freely in the frontier zones. It makes me happy to see you experimenting with AHA and WHAT-IF and MAYBE BABY. I hope you summon the chutzpah to find and reveal veiled parts of your authentic self.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The German word Sehnsucht refers to when we have a profound, poignant yearning for something, but we quite

don't know what that something is. I suspect you may soon be in the grip of your personal Sehnsucht. But I also believe you are close to identifying an experience that will quench the seemingly impossible longing. You will either discover a novel source of deep gratification, or you will be able to transform an existing gratification to accommodate your Sehnsucht. Sounds like spectacular fun to me. Clear some space in your schedule to welcome it.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Most of us have at some time in the past been mean and cruel to people we loved. We acted unconsciously or unintentionally, perhaps, but the bottom line is that we caused pain. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to atone for any such hurts you have dispensed. I encourage you to be creative as you offer healing and correction for any mistakes you've made with important allies. I'm not necessarily suggesting you try to resume your bond with ex-lovers and former friends. The goal is to purge your iffy karma and graduate from the past. Perform whatever magic you have at your disposal to transform suffering with love.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The blues singersongwriter B. B. King wasn't always known by that name. He was born Riley B. King. In his twenties, when he began working at a Memphis radio station, he acquired the nickname "Beales Street Blues Boy.” Later, that was shortened to "Blues Boy," and eventually to "B. B." In the spirit of B. B. King's evolution and in accordance with astrological omens, I invite you to identify areas of your life with cumbersome or unnecessary complexities that might benefit from simplification.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Proboscis monkeys live in Borneo and nowhere else on earth. Their diet consists largely of fruits and leaves from trees that grow only on Borneo and nowhere else. I propose we make them your anti-role model in the coming months. In my astrological opinion, you need to diversify your sources of nourishment, both the literal and metaphorical varieties. You will also be wise to draw influences from a wide variety of humans and experiences. I further suggest that you expand your financial life so you have multiple sources of income and diversified investments.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It's challenging to track down the sources of quotes on the Internet. Today, for instance, I found these words attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato: "I enjoy the simple things in life, like recklessly spending my cash and being a disappointment to my family." That can't be right. I’m sure Plato didn’t actually say such things. Elsewhere, I came upon a review of George Orwell's book *Animal Farm* that was supposedly penned by pop star Taylor Swift: "Not a very good instructional guide on farming. Would NOT recommend to first-time farmers." Again, I'm sure that wasn't written by Swift. I bring this up, Aquarius, because one of your crucial tasks these days is to be dogged and discerning as you track down the true origins of things. Not just Internet quotes, but everything else, as well—including rumors, theories, and evidence. Go to the source, the roots, the foundations.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In accordance with astrological omens, I’m turning over this horoscope to Piscean teacher Esther Hicks. Here are affirmations she advises you to embody: "I'm going to be happy. I'm going to skip and dance. I will be glad. I will smile a lot. I will be easy. I will count my blessings. I will look for reasons to feel good. I will dig up positive things from the past. I will look for positive things where I am right now. I will look for positive things in the future. It is my natural state to be a happy person. It's natural for me to love and laugh. I am a happy person!"

Homework: Make a guess about when you will fulfill your number one goal. Newsletter. FreeWillAstrology.com