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What did you read in WW this year? Mostly, you read our endorsements: Collectively, the May and November endorsements accounted for more than 850,000 pageviews on wweek.com, according to Google Analytics. After contemplating the wisdom of our editorial board, readers perused these 10 stories. We summarize them here, with pageview numbers current as of Dec. 16, and provide an update of the most-read tale of all.
130,702 pageviews
A winter storm sent a 150-foot Douglas fir crashing into the second story of Sarah and Joel Bond’s Southwest Portland home. As if that weren’t bad enough, the Bonds had unsuccessfully petitioned the city’s Urban Forestry division for more than two years for permission to remove that very tree. Eleven months after our story appeared, Sarah Bond says she and her family won’t be able to move back into the home for another six months because repairs are ongoing. It took three months for the city to approve the building permits before repairs on the house could begin, Bond says. Meanwhile, a lawyer reached out to the Bonds, saying the family had a legal case against the city. The Bonds are currently in the process of preparing a lawsuit. —Sophie Peel
Bands Flee Oregon Music Festival Amid Revelations of Promoter’s Criminal History, July 16
109,289 pageviews
Six bands dropped out of the Out West Music Festival in Dundee, Ore., upon learning the promoter was convicted in 2011 of possessing child pornography.
A Disgraced Philadelphia Activist Landed a Job at a Portland Therapy Clinic. The Therapists Quit. May 8
89,843 pageviews
Raquel Saraswati is known for claiming to be of Arab, South Asian and Latino descent, but former colleagues in Philadelphia alleged she was white. The hiring of Saraswati at Full Spectrum Therapy, an LGBTQ+ psychotherapy clinic in Portland, sparked an exodus.
Fentanyl Threatens Oregon’s Cherished Bottle Bill, Feb. 7
84,423 pageviews
Fifty empty cans bought a day’s supply of fentanyl outside a downtown Safeway. Read an update.
76,081 pageviews
The long-standing tip-pooling practices at McMenamins, where everybody splits the night’s gratuities, drew the attention of the feds.
Burst Pipe Leaves 50-Unit Northeast Portland Apartment Building “a Near Total Loss,” Jan. 19
69,461 pageviews
The same winter storm that toppled the Bonds’ Douglas fir burst a pipe in the Daveneaux, creating an icy flood in the 2013 building’s 50 units.
A Glamping Company Meets Trouble in a Tiny Town in the Columbia River Gorge, Dec. 10
64,338 pageviews
Under Canvas will charge guests up to $989 a night to sleep in king-sized beds in the Columbia Gorge. Local residents fear fire and traffic.
Don’t Panic, but the Mouth of the Columbia Is Also Known as the Graveyard of the Pacific, July 20
63,709 pageviews
A feature on the Columbia Bar for Oregon Summer, our annual guide to the warm season. There is a lot of shipwrecks!
Oregon Rebate Amount Was $750 per Person but Now It’s $1,600, Aug. 9
62,133 pageviews
Ballot Measure 118 promised to cut every Oregonian a hefty check each year, and a state analysis showed the kitty was larger than first projected. Voters rejected the measure in November.
58,531 pageviews
The Oregon Medical Board said Dr. Darrell Brett could no longer charge for his services after overbilling patients. Read an update.