We wrote last week about Port City Music Hall's application for an after-hours entertainment license, which would allow the music/food venue to stay open until 3 am for late-night parties (booze sales would still shut down at 1 am, per state law).

While there was some consternation among law enforcement and city officials regarding the very idea of after-hours events, PCMH manager Rob Evon must have quelled their fears: the Portland Police Department backed off its resistence to the late-night concept, and the city council voted 9-0 last night to allow Port City its permit.

Stay tuned for news about PCMH's first night-owl bash.

Last week, I wrote about the campaign to bring an elected-mayor system to Portland.

Earlier this week, Cheryl Leeman and the Citizens to Retain Responsible Government held a press conference stating their opposition to such a proposal. They cited cost as their primary concern, saying that establishing such an office would cost about $150,000; the Elect Our Mayor; Yes on One campaign said the elected mayor's $60,000 salary would be "very modest."

Local sustainable transportation activists are making noise about tonight's Portland City Council meeting, which takes place at 7 pm at City Hall. Fees in lieu of parking, which are described eloquently here and here, basically encourage developers to opt out of the city's parking requirements (which require builders to provide a certain amount of parking spaces depending on the building's size and use) and pay a $10,000 fee instead.

Last time Portland got a city "poet laureate" (Martin Steingesser, whose one-year term mysteriously doubled in length), the choice was made by a tiny self-appointed group of people purporting to represent all Portlanders - despite the fact that two of them lived in other towns. And once they made their pick, they pushed the Portland City Council to make it government-approved-official.