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| What Portland's Talking About |
| Oregon Wine Industry in Crisis | Oregon winemakers are facing the “worst crisis our industry has had in at least the last 20 years,” according to Gary Mortensen, president of Stoller Wine Group in Dayton. Wine production fell 25% between 2024 and 2025. There is a trend toward “neo-prohibitionism,” with more people not drinking at all. Plus, there have been fewer visitors to Oregon wine country. Still, the industry backers say the numbers reflect a one year decline and not a long-term trend. [KOIN] | | Few Districts Will Reinstate Significant Classtime | Gov. Tina Kotek’s order to reinstate classroom time will have little impact for most of the state’s students. At most, four districts in the state would need to add at least a week to their school years. Upwards of 137 districts, with 75% of Oregon’s public school students, won’t need to add any time. Kotek passed the executive order limiting furlough days in April. Previous information from the state suggested it would have a wide-ranging impact, but included districts that cut as little as four hours. [Oregonian] | | Home Forward Hadn’t Slashed Its Budget Shortfall | The local housing agency Home Forward incorrectly announced earlier this year that it had cut its projected budget shortfall by more than half. Instead, the agency is still looking at a budget gap of more than $30 million. It’s not clear who was responsible for the inaccurate budget projection but Home Forward CEO Ivory Mathews resigned in April, and the agency’s chief financial officer, Kandy Sage, left in July. [Willamette Week] | |
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| | | Experience Portland Spirit's exhilarating "7 Wonders of the Gorge" and "Bigfoot Adventure'' cruises on the Explorer Jetboat. The Bigfoot cruise features narration by Cliff Barackman from Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot." Both cruises run round-trip from Portland to Multnomah Falls now through September. Book your adventure now! |
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| |  | A joyful place in Portland. (Michelle W. / reader submission) |
| This depiction of a rosy-colored Mount Hood accompanied by dogwood flowers is “by the talented @thepaintedwallco (Stevie),” writes Michelle W., who contributed last week’s scavenger hunt idea and is one of the artists behind Happy Alley. | | It’s located in the alleyway between Northeast 29th and 30th Avenues and south of Alberta Street. | | I got a chance to go up there this week and enjoy the delight of neighbors and artists coming together to create something fun and new. If you’re a regular reader of these scavenger hunts on Fridays, I suspect you’d enjoy popping in too. | | A shoutout to reader Irisa P., who identified the location this week. | | This week’s scavenger hunt comes from reader Adam Vanhee: |  | A little man. (Adam Vanhee / reader submission) |
| Do you know where this small figure is? | | Please click here to submit the location — and, for unofficial bonus points, anything you know about it. | | If you’re new to the newsletter, there’s a scavenger hunt every Friday. In next week’s newsletter, I’ll reveal the answer and shout out the first 10 readers who respond correctly. | | |
| | 📸 Want to submit a photo? Please email me a snapshot of somewhere in the Portland metro area, and we’ll consider it for an upcoming “Where Is It?” segment! |
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🔥 Portland’s biggest celebrity this summer: Clearly, it’s a duo — Pancake and her “mommy,” Portland Fire center Megan Gustafson. | | Gustafson, who’s made an impression on fans on and off the court, “should be a household name,” OPB reports. |
| — Rachel Monahan | Thanks to John Notarianni and Lizzie Goldsmith for editing this week. |
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