The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD AFTERNOON, PORTLAND! It's Friday, Friday. gotta get down on Friday. Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend. And everybody's looking forward to the HEADLINES, HEADLINES! IN LOCAL NEWS: • SPORTY-SPORT NEWS:.
Just as folks were getting used to crowds again, this week reminded us of a whole other reason to fear public spaces: our nation's ongoing plague of gun violence. That's a dark opener for a fun music news column, but it's on our minds—no point in faking. We're living with the fear of being shot at a hospital, church, grocery store, dance club, mall, or school for absolutely no reason. But we cannot let domestic.