Portland, Oregon in the context of "Russian Americans"

Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the local Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It lies 52 miles (83 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon, and 98 miles (158 km) south of Seattle. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from that of the British diplomat Alleyne FitzHerbert, 1st Baron St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who surveyed the area in the late 18th century. The volcano is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

The Mount St. Helens major eruption of May 18, 1980, is currently the most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history. Fifty-seven people were killed and 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche, triggered by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, caused a lateral eruption that reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 to 8,363 ft (2,950 to 2,549 m), leaving a 1-mile-wide (1.6 km) horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was 0.6 cubic miles (2.5 km) in volume. The 1980 eruption disrupted terrestrial ecosystems near the volcano. By contrast, aquatic ecosystems in the area greatly benefited from the amounts of ash, allowing life to multiply rapidly. Six years after the eruption, most lakes in the area had returned to their normal state.

An elevator (North American English) or lift (Commonwealth English except Canada) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems such as a hoist, although some pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack.

Elevators are used in agriculture and manufacturing to lift materials. There are various types, like chain and bucket elevators, grain augers, and hay elevators. Modern buildings often have elevators to ensure accessibility, especially where ramps aren't feasible. High-speed elevators are common in skyscrapers. Some elevators can even move horizontally. Smart elevators enable multi-elevator coordination, enhancing the riding experience while reducing costs.

Fred Meyer, Inc. is an American chain of hypermarket superstores and subsidiary of Kroger based in Portland, Oregon. The stores operate in the northwestern United States, with locations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company was founded in 1922 by Fred G. Meyer in Portland. The chain was one of the first in the country to promote one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, bank, clothing, jewelry, home decor, home improvement, garden, electronics, restaurant, shoes, sporting goods, and toys. Fred Meyer was acquired by Kroger in 1998, but the stores retained the Fred Meyer name.

Fred Meyer is the parent company of Fred Meyer Jewelers.

Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the United States. Olmsted was famous for co-designing many well-known urban parks with his partner Calvert Vaux, beginning with Central Park in New York City, which led to numerous other urban park designs including Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Cadwalader Park in Trenton, New Jersey, and Forest Park in Portland, Oregon.

Olmsted's projects encompassed comprehensive park systems, planned communities, and institutional campuses across North America. His major works included the country's first coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, New York, the Emerald Necklace in Boston, Massachusetts, the Grand Necklace of Parks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and parks for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He designed one of the first planned communities in the United States, Riverside, Illinois, and created master plans for universities including University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago. Notable individual projects included the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, Mount Royal Park in Montreal, Quebec, and landscape work for the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

In the context of the 20th-century history of the United States, the Second Great Migration was the migration of more than 5 million African Americans from the South to the Northeast, Midwest and West. It began in 1940, through World War II, and lasted until 1970. It was much larger and of a different character than the first Great Migration (1916–1940), where the migrants were mainly rural farmers from the South and only came to the Northeast and Midwest.

In the Second Great Migration, not only the Northeast and Midwest continued to be the destination of more than 5 million African Americans, but also the West as well, where cities like Los Angeles, Oakland, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle offered skilled jobs in the defense industry. Most of these migrants were already urban laborers who came from the cities of the South. In addition, African Americans were still treated with discrimination in parts of the country, and many sought to escape this.

A wheelchair lift, also known as a platform lift, or vertical platform lift, is a fully powered device designed to raise a wheelchair and its occupant in order to overcome a step or similar vertical barrier.

Wheelchair lifts can be installed in homes or businesses and are often added to both private and public vehicles in order to meet accessibility requirements laid out by disability acts. These mobility devices are often installed in homes as an alternative to a stair lift, which only transport a passenger and not his/her wheelchair or mobility scooter.

Ecclesia Gnostica (Latin: The Church of Gnosis) is a neo-Gnostic church based in the United States. It has ordained clergy and conducts regular sacramental services, including two weekly Masses (Celebration of the Holy Eucharist), as well as monthly and seasonal services in accordance with the liturgical calendar. It has active parishes in Seattle, Portland, Austin, and Los Angeles.

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) can refer to one of several ranked voting methods used in some cities and states in the United States. The term is not strictly defined, but most often refers to instant-runoff voting (IRV) or single transferable vote (STV), the main difference being whether only one winner or multiple winners are elected. At the federal and state level, instant-runoff voting is used for congressional and presidential elections in Maine; state, congressional, and presidential general elections in Alaska; and special congressional elections in Hawaii. Since 2025, it is also used for all elections in the District of Columbia.

Single transferable voting, only possible in multi-winner contests, is not currently used in state or congressional elections. It is used to elect city councillors in Portland, Oregon, Cambridge, Mass., and several other cities.

Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine. Its population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Greater Portland metropolitan area has a population of approximately 550,000 people, the most populous metropolitan area in Maine. It is the county seat of Cumberland County. Historically tied to commercial shipping, the marine economy, and light industry, Portland's economy in the 21st century relies mostly on the service sector. The Port of Portland is the second-largest tonnage seaport in the New England area as of 2019.

First settled in the early 1600s as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the city endured multiple attacks during colonial conflicts before emerging as a key port in New England. It was formally founded in 1786 and named after the English Isle of Portland. In turn, the city of Portland, Oregon, was named after Portland, Maine. The city seal depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, a reference to Portland's recovery from four devastating fires. Notable landmarks include the historic Old Port district, known for its cobblestone streets and preserved warehouses; Victoria Mansion, an ornate Italianate home reflecting the city's prosperity during the pre-Civil War era; and the Portland Museum of Art, the largest and oldest public art institution in the state. The Greater Portland area has emerged as an important center for the creative economy, which is also bringing gentrification.

Drug liberalization is a drug policy process of decriminalizing, legalizing, or repealing laws that prohibit the production, possession, sale, or use of prohibited drugs. Variations of drug liberalization include drug legalization, drug relegalization, and drug decriminalization. Proponents of drug liberalization may favor a regulatory regime for the production, marketing, and distribution of some or all currently illegal drugs in a manner analogous to that for alcohol, caffeine and tobacco.

Proponents of drug liberalization argue that the legalization of drugs would eradicate the illegal drug market and reduce the law enforcement costs and incarceration rates. They frequently argue that prohibition of recreational drugs—such as cannabis, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines and hallucinogens—has been ineffective and counterproductive and that substance use is better responded to by implementing practices for harm reduction and increasing the availability of addiction treatment. Additionally, they argue that relative harm should be taken into account in the regulation of drugs. For instance, they may argue that addictive or dependence-forming substances such as alcohol, tobacco and caffeine have been a traditional part of many cultures for centuries and remain legal in most countries, although other drugs which cause less harm than alcohol, caffeine or tobacco are entirely prohibited, with possession punishable with severe criminal penalties.