Aaron Mesh

Portland

Willamette Week managing editor. Not untrue and not unkind. I left this website. Find me in the newspaper. Email: amesh at wweek dot com

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Articles

Governor Signs Bill Cracking Down on Massage Parlors That Sexually Exploit Workers

2 weeks ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill to crack down on illicit massage parlors on Thursday morning. House Bill 3819-A was spurred by WW’s reporting last fall, which used data from a watchdog nonprofit to reveal that such businesses, which sexually exploit undocumented women, had tripled in five years to 114 in Portland. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Thuy Tran (D-Portland) and Sen. Kathleen Taylor (D-Portland), passed the Senate last week on a 28-1 vote. (State Sen.
Two More Asylum Seekers Arrested at Portland Courthouse, Bringing Total to Four

2 weeks ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested two more asylum seekers outside Portland Immigration Court this morning, bringing the total arrests in the past week to four, according to federal court records. Within hours, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon ordered ICE not to remove the two detained people from the state of Oregon. The two men arrested Tuesday are citizens of Ecuador and Venezuela, respectively.
WW Honored for General Excellence in Five-State Journalism Contest

3 weeks ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

WW took home six prizes, four of them first place, at the 2024 Excellence in Journalism Awards, a five-state contest run by the Society of Professional Journalists. Among our honors: the top prize for General Excellence for a medium-size newsroom in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana or Alaska. It’s the second consecutive year WW has won that award, given to outstanding work published by a newsroom with six to 20 employees.
Asylum Seeker Arrested in Portland Transferred to Tacoma Detention Center

3 weeks ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

A undocumented woman arrested in downtown Portland after attending an asylum hearing has been transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Wash., her attorneys confirmed to WW. “Innovation Law Lab can confirm that the respondents in the case have advised the court that she was processed into Tacoma last night,” lawyer Isa Peña tells WW.
Attorneys Say ICE Arrested Woman Seeking Asylum After Her Portland Court Hearing

3 weeks ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

In a federal legal filing, attorneys say U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a woman from Mexico outside her asylum hearing Monday morning in downtown Portland. The attorneys say the woman, who is transgender, was seeking asylum in the U.S. after being abducted and raped by members of the Knights Templar drug cartel in Michoacan.
Portlanders View Emergency Medical Response as Top Priority, Survey Shows

1 month ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

As Portland City Council weighed shifting $1.9 million from new funding earmarked for the police bureau to parks maintenance last week, elected officials on both sides of the issue pointed to polling as evidence that Portland voters shared their funding priorities. In hearings, Councilor Angelita Morillo referenced polling that showed more voters approved cutting the police budget than cutting the parks budget.
Portland Voters Support Nearly Doubling Size of Police Force, Polling Shows

1 month ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

Polling conducted last month on behalf of business interests shows more than two-thirds of Portland voters would support a ballot measure requiring the city to maintain a police force at the same scale as other large U.S. cities—in effect, nearly doubling the number of sworn officers. That concept was one of a half dozen floated to 600 voters in early April by polling firm DHM Research on the dime of downtown property owner Greg Goodman and Calbag Metals CEO Warren Rosenfeld, among others.
The Oregonian Is Using AI to Draft Stories

1 month ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

Eagle-eyed readers of The Oregonian recently noticed a disclosure at the end of several stories published on OregonLive.com this month. “This story was drafted with the assistance of generative AI,” it says, “and reviewed by Oregonian editorial staff.” That’s a significant advance in the newspaper’s use of artificial intelligence to write story drafts. Editor Therese Bottomly announced in 2023 that The O would use AI to summarize real estate transactions.
Jody Allen Starts Sale of Portland Trail Blazers

1 month ago | wweek.com | Sophie Peel |Aaron Mesh

The long-anticipated sale of the Portland Trail Blazers is underway. The estate of the late tech billionaire Paul Allen announced Tuesday morning that the franchise is for sale. The announcement from Allen’s estate, which is controlled by his sister, Jody Allen, comes more than six years after his death.
PPS Superintendent Says Rebuilt High Schools Could Have Several Uses

2 months ago | wweek.com | Aaron Mesh

In this month’s election, Portland Public Schools officials will ask voters to spend up to $1.15 million to rebuild three high schools amid declining enrollment. But in an interview with WW’s editorial board last week, PPS Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong offered a surprising contingency plan if enrollment doesn’t rebound: Those high schools could also be used as elementary and middle schools.