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Anybody who says newspapers are dying hasn’t looked closely at the telephone poles in the Buckman neighborhood. That’s where devoted readers find new, laminated editions of the SE Taylor Street Cat News, the monthly newspaper of record for the feline activities from Southeast 14th Avenue to César E. Chávez Boulevard. The Cat News, one page and cartoon-illustrated, chronicles such hyperlocal issues as “Squirrels—Are They Stupid?” and the arrival of Freddy, an orange tom who is seeking summer romance.
It is on its fourth edition, edited by a neighborhood resident who goes by the nom de plume Swamp Cat.
“A lot of the stories I gather from cats throughout the neighborhood,” says Swamp Cat, who is 28 in human years. “I do all the translations myself.”
Swamp Cat lives in a three-cat household herself; her most reliable sources are Tilda, the Baboo, and Big Fat Ted. (All get bylines.) Since its April debut, the Cat News has developed a loyal readership, online and on-pole. Like all media, it has seen the most success with its coverage of violent street conditions.
“Residents on 28th have recently reported multiple incidents between the Buckman Big Boyz and the Sunnyside Skullz,” a June cover story begins. “Tensions between the two cat gangs escalate annually with the arrival of summer and the search for perfect Sit Spots.”
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2023 here!