Portland News in Small Packages | 2024

Fashion

The Wildfang shirts inspired by local stop-motion film company Laika have us wondering why there’s no Nike Fight Club line or a custom Gus Van Sant Adidas sneaker.

Civics

With a nod to the runners-up at Portland Mercado and by the Rip City sign, the award for best ballot drop box in town goes to the receptacle in the Hollywood McDonald’s parking lot, where you can vote and then grab some fresh french fries.

Sports

Beavers and cougars are in the same section of the Oregon Zoo, so hopefully they’re friendly with one another now that Oregon State and Washington State are all that’s left of the Pac-12. 

Education

The four-day weekend for Portland Public Schools after Halloween will provide some needed candy-hangover recovery time, but it really can’t compete with the 26-day weekend kids got with last year’s teachers strike.

Calendar

Stephen King’s The Running Man (published in 1982) and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) were both set in the mid-2020s, so if you’re feeling any highly literary dystopian vibes you’re probably not alone.

Sports

Lasting only three seasons, the Portland Fire was easily extinguished, so maybe our new WNBA team should take a cue from the Bangles and be the Portland Eternal Flame.

Divas

We’re not sure why Mattel has yet to release a Barbie of Billie Eilish, who plays at the Moda Center December 8, but based on existing dolls—Stevie Nicks, Celia Cruz, Tina Turner, et al.—maybe the toymaker prefers crooners of a certain age.

Rankings

If the new roof, all those indoor trees, and the slick security bin return system don’t return PDX’s title of best airport in the US, we’re ready to call the whole thing rigged.

Hangovers

Charter reform is cool and all, but it’s OK to be nostalgic for a time when 118 people didn’t run for city office at the same time.