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| What Portland's Talking About |
| | This Fall’s School Closures Decisions | This fall, Portland Public Schools will be going through a process to close up to 20 schools, because enrollment is declining. Next month, Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong plans to announce how many schools will be impacted, with scenarios listing specific schools coming in October. On today's podcast, Oregonian reporter Julia Silverman talks about why this is happening — as well as the possible impacts. [City Cast Portland 🎧 / Oregonian] | - Related: One option is for PPS to restructure K-8 schools to serve just elementary school grades, so that East Side middle schools have more students. [Oregonian]
| | Ex-City Leader Facing Potential Foreclosure | Former Portland City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez and his wife, Angela Uggen, defaulted on a $600,000 business loan and now face a potential foreclosure on their Eastmoreland house, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. [Oregonian] | - Who’s involved? Uggen is listed as an owner of one of the businesses and manager of the other involved in the legal dispute. Gonzalez stepped down from both while serving at City Hall. [Oregonian]
- Gonzalez’s statement: “I had certainly been forewarned about the personal sacrifice involved in public service, but I still underestimated the impact on my family and its dreams.” [Oregonian]
| | Oregon Economic Growth Catching Up | Oregon has lagged behind the rest of the country in economic growth since the pandemic. But now the state’s growth is at roughly the same pace as the nation's, according to the state economist. Oregon still faces a budget shortfall next year as Trump administration cuts take effect. [Oregon Capital Chronicle] | |
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| |  | A wall of flowers, butterflies, and more. (Grace Cohen-Chen / City Cast Portland) |
| “It's the Belmont Library!!!” writes reader (and — oh also — City Cast Portland podcast host) Claudia Meza. “Solid book curation.” | | “Favorite library branch!” writes reader Laura M. | | “Wonderful newly renovated library and community spot,” writes reader Heather M. | | A shoutout to them and readers Christian and Shayne B., who identified the location. | | This week is in a location that almost everyone has visited at some point — whether we notice the mural is another question: | |  | The late drag queen Darcelle XV. (Rachel Monahan / City Cast Portland) |
| Do you know where this mural 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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Once every 120 years: Black bamboo is blooming around the world for the first time since 1906. It’s not clear how long the flowers will last, given that the species is extraordinarily difficult to study given its long episodes of dormancy. But for now, Leach Botanical Gardens has some 🐼 |
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