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Inside Bubba's Sulky Lounge, the flashing rainbow lights from the three dance floors set the whole place aglow.
Colorful vintage lunchboxes hang from the ceiling. Broken-down office chairs are pulled up to the bar. A taxidermy raccoon sits in a corner. Old ovens are lined up in a row along the wall.
The longtime Portland dive bar opened on Lancaster Street and moved in the 1960s to the bottom of a hill in Bayside.
It is one of the few places left to go dancing in the city – for a bachelorette party, a 21st birthday, or for anyone looking to have a fun night out.
And while regulars know the Friday ’80s night setlist by heart, the story of Bubba himself remains hidden to many.
Reporter Grace Benninghoff solves a bit of that mystery with a peek at the man whose character still defines the place nearly 70 years later.
- Until next week, Julia
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FEATURED PHOTO
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A recent Friday night at Bubba’s Sulky Lounge. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
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ON OUR PLATE
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It's apple orchard season. Well, just about. Some orchards were open for picking in August with a couple of early varieties, and many expect to have several more kinds of apples red and ready by Labor Day weekend. Our food team brings us an updated guide on the best spots (and yes, you can sort by which ones have doughnuts.)
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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"It’s pretty much a raccoon hotel now."
— Charles Goldberg, a summer resident and tour guide at the Fort McKinley museum. The old Army hospital on Great Diamond Island has been vacant since 1947 but could soon become condos.
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WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW
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Portland's former DEI director says he didn't quit, he was fired. In an interview about his departure, just one day after a council workshop on the subject that left some councilors wanting, Umaru Balde said his ideas
were often shut down by city leaders. The city manager and mayor declined to discuss Balde’s allegations.
A Portland landlord has agreed to pay her soon-to-be former tenants $16,000 to settle a rent control dispute. The private agreement means the city will not move forward with a recommended fine.
Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay, the Sea Dogs' all-female broadcast team, fulfilled a dream by calling a Red Sox game at Fenway Park Monday night.
Sue Abercrombie, who was one of the few Republicans brave enough to run for public office in Portland, died unexpectedly while out of state helping a friend recover from surgery.
The last man charged in a deadly 2022 shooting on Woodford Street has rejected plea deals and is poised to go to trial next fall.
The police department is promoting a series of videos it had produced in an attempt to boost recruitment. Some focus on the city's scenery while others showed officers carrying out dramatic, simulated scenarios.
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Julia Arenstam is the city editor of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. She spent several years reporting in the bayous of south Louisiana before becoming an executive producer in Baton Rouge. Story suggestions are always welcome.
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