The reason cranky adults yell things like “Get off my lawn!” at teenagers isn’t just to protect that lawn. No, we’ve learned in our wise old age that it’s just easier than yelling “Please think about your decisions and how they will affect those around you before you do something just because you think it’s funny!” Case in point: A 19-year-old who’s wasted 38 million gallons of drinking water just because he apparently thought it’d be hilarious to pee in it. [More]
portland
City Officials Flushing 38 Million Gallons Of Water After Teen Pees In Portland Reservoir
By 4.17.14
Airbnb To Start Collecting Taxes In Portland, San Francisco, Maybe New York City
By 4.2.14
Airbnb is a site that lets people rent rooms or entire apartments or houses, directly from the homeowner or renter. It has proven popular with travelers, but less popular with landlords, the hotel industry, and local governments. Why do local governments care? Airbnb rentals aren’t subject to sales and hotel changes. In some cities, that’s about to change. [More]
Taco Bell Gives In, Reinstates Free Tacos For Michigan State Basketball Fans
By 11.21.13
Taco Bell has a long tradition of giving away free food tied to the results of certain sporting events, like the World Series. But only weeks after pulling the plug on its 14-year free chalupa promo with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Bell angered Michigan State basketball fans by ending the deal that offered free tacos to everyone in the arena if the Spartans scored at least 70 points. [More]
No, Comcast Will Not Threaten To Arrest You If You Don’t Pay Your Bill
By 10.4.13
So you’ve received an e-mail from Comcast saying you’re $25 late on your cable bill and that if you don’t resolve the issue ASAP, you could be arrested. First, that’s simply not true, and second, that message isn’t from Comcast. [More]
After 14 Years, Taco Bell Stops Giving Free Chalupas To Portland Trail Blazers Fans
By 9.6.13
For more than a decade, whenever the Portland Trail Blazers scored at least 100 points during a home game, every person at the game got a coupon for a free Taco Bell Chalupa. But when the new season starts, the Blazers will have less of an incentive to put up triple-digit numbers, as Taco Bell has apparently pulled the plug on the longtime promotion. [More]
When You Cut Trash Collection To Every Two Weeks, Parents Will Still Find A Way To Get Rid Of Dirty Diapers
By 5.20.13
In Oct. 2011, Portland, Oregon, switched from weekly trash pickups to an every other week system, which is fine for many people who probably just needed to invest in another garbage can or two to hold that additional refuse. Additionally, the city had a weekly pickup for recycling and its new composting program, so smelly bottles, cans, and food scraps were being hauled away every seven days. But some parents of babies with stinky diapers are not waiting for that next garbage truck to swing by, and are instead tossing out the dirty diapers with the recycling. [More]
Man Who Exercised 1st Amendment Rights By Stripping At Airport Still Owes TSA $1K
By 5.10.13 — Updated: 5.13.13
Remember the man who stripped down to his birthday suit at an Oregon airport to express his First Amendment rights? We know we sure do. And while a judge said that act was totally protected by the Constitution, he’s still got a pesky $1,000 fine from the Transportation Security Administration hanging over his head. He says he’s ready to fight that, too. [More]
School District Bans All Sorts Of Yummy Food At Games, Events, Field Trips & Dances
By 8.20.12
For students in the public schools of Portland, Maine, the next year — and the foreseeable future — will be devoid of in-class pizza or cupcake parties, and all the high-calorie snacks and beverages sold at sporting events and dances will be replaced with healthier options. Even the teachers have to bring their own sugary sodas to work. [More]
Nudity Is Always A Fun Way To Protest The TSA
By 4.18.12 — Updated: 5.18.17
Perhaps the man who stripped naked at the Portland International Airport security checkpoint last night just figured he was saving the TSA the step of having to pat him down for concealed items? [More]
Planting Trees Increase Value Of Rentals By $21 A Month
By 10.18.11
A new study by the U.S. Forest Service found that planting trees along the perimeter of a rental property increase the rates the landlord could charge by $21 a month. [More]
Why Panera’s Pay-What-You-Can Restaurant Didn’t Work As Well In Portland
By 9.29.11 — Updated: 6.27.16
Panera Bread’s noble experiment in pay-what-you-want retail has been successful at its first two restaurants in St. Louis and Detroit, taking in about 80% of the retail price of the food they serve. They serve as shining reminders of the fundamental goodness of people. In the Midwest, anyway. Until recently, the third free-will restaurant in Portland, Oregon was faltering, not attracting enough paying customers and losing money. not taking in as much as Panera’s similar eateries. [More]
Portland (The One In Oregon) Jumps On The Plastic Bag Ban-Wagon
By 7.22.11
In recent years, a growing number of cities all over the country have been moving to put an end to — or at least curb — the use of plastic shopping bags. Last night, in a unanimous vote, the Portland, OR, City Council approved legislation that bans the use of these bags at larger grocery stores and big-box retailers. [More]
Wells Fargo Holds Your ATM Card Hostage In Portland. You Live In Bolivia.
By 4.15.10
John is in Bolivia. His money is not, thanks to Wells Fargo incompetence that has him making $10 phone calls to executive customer service and his friend wiring him thousands of dollars. [More]
16-Hour Flight From Hell – "You Can Either Stay Onboard, Or Get Arrested"
By 1.22.09
A six-hour flight from Mexico to Seattle turned into a 16-hour ordeal after intense fog caused the flight to be rerouted to Portland.
Help, Starbucks Towed My Car While I Was Sipping A Latte!
By 1.18.09
Andrew’s car was towed from Stabucks’ parking lot as he sat inside enjoying his drink. The Portland Starbucks apparently has a contract with a local predatory towing company that allows them to walk in, call out a bunch of license plate numbers, and tow any car whose owner doesn’t speak up.
Throwing $4 Drinks At Unfriendly Starbucks Managers Is Not Misdemeanor Harassment
By 5.31.08
A Portland jury recently found Latasha Curry not guilty of misdemeanor harassment for throwing a $4 venti iced mocha at a Starbucks manager who accused her of running a free drink scam. Curry was initially offered a free drink after she complained that her iced tea was too bitter. When she tried to redeem her freebie two days later, store manager Ryan Smith decided that Curry looked suspiciously like a woman who redeemed a free drink from a different store 11 months earlier. Smith accused Curry of running some elaborate drink scam, prompting Curry to serve Smith a free venti shower.
Scam Watch: Credit Card Shaving
By 3.31.08
Have you heard of “credit card shaving?” In this version of credit card fraud, thieves try out 16-digit number sequences until hitting one that works. Then they take gift cards from stores and shave off the digits and glue them onto a credit card. They scratch the magnetic strip so the clerk has to enter the credit card number by hand. It’s apparently all the rage in Portland There’s no defense against it except to monitor your statement for suspicious charges.
JetBlue Buys You Pizza While You're Fogged In At Portland International Airport
By 10.4.07
Hey. Flying to JFK from Portland tonight. The flight keeps getting pushed back and the flight tracker on the website is getting updated before the gate agents are. It’s so foggy that it’s difficult to see the ground below the terminal windows, so the situation is obviously out of the agents’ hands. To compensate, they’ve set out several pizzas and bottled water for the waiting passengers. People seem pretty stoked. Might this be a new addition to their customer bill of rights?
Hey, that’s nice! Good job, JetBlue.
