I have a dear friend (who shall remain unnamed) who credits kombucha with curing her lifelong bout with flatulence. Knowing nearly nothing about the fermented elixir, but thankful for its effect on my friendship, I was intrigued when offered a sample at Whole Foods recently. Now, this wasn’t just any sample. It was a sample of what appears to be a new tea trend brewing in town: kombucha on tap. A BRIEF more...

The City of Portland’s SmartTrips program is revving up for another successful year as the SmartTrips Green Line program gets underway at the end of March. SmartTrips is an individualized marketing program sponsored by the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The program, which was implemented by the city in 2004, is designed to reduce drive-alone trips by increasing biking, walking, carpooling and public transportation more...

I’ve learned two key things in the four months I’ve been writing this column: 1) businesses, especially restaurants, will always take longer to open than the initial announcement predicted; and 2) the stream of new Portland businesses making their debut doesn’t show any sign of drying up. You should see the list of rumors I’ve kept to follow up on—every time a place finally graduates to reality, there more...

Event date: Mar 6, 2010

Event location: WeVillage

You're invited to attend the WeVillage Open House this Saturday. Meet our staff, learn more about our drop 'n go daycare services and find out why Portland families are raving about us. Learn about our NEW preschool program. Only 10 spots are available and enrollment begins at the open house! First day of school is March 15th. We'll have lots of yummy food, a raffle (yoga wear from Lucy, Bar Method, and WeWillage more...

Created to support local businesses and stir excitement within the community, Palooz.com comes to the scene offering a dirt-cheap option to advertising and killer deals to Portlanders. Though there are similar sites that offer "free" advertising, upfront costs, heavy commission fees (40-100%), or profit sharing are usually associated. Palooz.com features businesses free of any fees—only 7% of any deal sold on the more...

They say January is a slow month. After the party and shopping frenzy of the holidays, everyone kind of hibernates and recovers both physically and financially during the first month of the year. But our local entrepreneurs didn’t get the message. And with the opening of 20 new businesses, we all had a reason to bundle up and head out in January. The city did lose a few glitzier spots—Anju (after only a few months), more...

From Oregon Red Cross: This Saturday, the Pearl District will turn red to support Red Cross earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. A variety of local businesses will participate, giving customers the chance to eat, drink and shop to support an important cause. Who's Participating? Bishop's Barbershop -- $5 from every hair color service, including red (Pearl location only); cash donations collected on-site (all 7 more...

Event date: Jan 16, 2010

Event location: Pearl District

From Oregon Red Cross: This Saturday, the Pearl District will turn red to support Red Cross earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. A variety of local businesses will participate, giving customers the chance to eat, drink and shop to support an important cause. Who's Participating? Bishop's Barbershop -- $5 from every hair color service, including red (Pearl location only); cash donations collected on-site (all 7 more...

Once you learn, you never forget. But cycling, having shaken off the yoke of the beasts of burden it replaced a century ago, and recovering from the detour it took for a spell as something simply to do for fun, is again coming full circle. That is to say, bicycling is no longer a recreational pastime; it's no longer greasy kid stuff. But this time, forgetting how to ride is the least of a modern cyclist's concerns. It's more...

Neighbor Wendy Henson asks: Eddie Bauer seemed to disappear overnight! Any news on what's going on there? Eddie Bauer Holdings inc. filed for bankruptcy protection June 2009 (read more about that here), and despite keeping hundreds of stores open across the country, it plans to close 13 of its stores—including the recently closed location in the Pearl District. Our sources elaborate that Eddie Bauer had an early more...