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| | Audit Raises Issues With PPS Bond Program | A draft of the external audit says Portland Public Schools’ $61.5 million contract with a Texas-based firm to manage the bond program is at a high risk for fraud, because it lacks sufficient oversight. The firm, Procedeo, is overseeing program management for PPS’s $1.83 billion property tax bond to rebuild three high schools. Auditors cautioned that the district has become overreliant on the firm. [Willamette Week] | - PPS Project Manager Resigns: Eric Gerding shared a laundry list of concerns about Procedeo with PPS’s senior chief of operations, and resigned the same day after working at PPS for 13 years. Gerding wrote that Procedeo didn’t follow district guidance for moving students from one campus to another, mishandled artwork, auctioned off woodshop tools improperly, and kept him out of communications among contractors and consultants. [Oregonian 🔒]
- Will PPS’s Board Chair Get Recalled? Former school board member Mike Rosen is calling for current PPS board chair Eddie Wang’s removal. Rosen says he’s frustrated with Wang’s role in approving the contract with Procedeo. Rosen filed a prospective recall petition and will need to collect about 38,000 signatures to put the recall on the ballot. Wang could be reelected in May, but has not formally launched a campaign for a second term. [Willamette Week]
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| What Portland's Talking About |
| Did Oregon Overpay on Medicaid? | The state may have made $4 million in overpayments to Medicaid administrators between 2020 and 2024, because some patients have duplicate health plan IDs. An audit by Oregon’s secretary of state says the issue could be consequential if the federal government chooses to withhold payment. [Willamette Week] | |  | Radicchio’s growing popularity and bitter, at times spicy, taste make it a fun veggie to riff on for salads with a twist. (Westend61 / Getty Images) |
| Rise of Radicchio | A new book, named after the vegetable, is the definitive guide to radicchio. Part history book, part cookbook and gardening guide, coauthors Margarett Waterbury and Oregon State University professor Lane Selman recount travels to its homeland — northern Italy — and share how to find joy in this hearty chicory plant. [Willamette Week] | - I only eat radicchio when it shows up in my biweekly produce box (so, not often), but City Cast Portland host Claudia Meza says this caesar salad recipe from Nostrana starring radicchio is not to be slept on. The key? You must dunk it in an ice bath for at least 30 minutes, or up to two hours. [Seattle Times]
| | PODCAST | Friday, September 18 |
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| Abandoned Pear Orchards Trouble Fellow Farmers | Pear growers in Hood River Valley worry declining harvests will continue as nearby abandoned orchards threaten productive ones because they harbor pests and diseases. Meanwhile, the rising costs of farming make it difficult for some to justify staying in the profession. [City Cast Portland 🎧] |
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Last week’s reader favorites: In case you missed them, here are the stories you all clicked the most last week: | | - 🎧 This City Cast Portland podcast episode covering the latest River Pig Saloon drama, plus the city’s pettiest gripes.
- 📸 We shared one of the sites crowdsourcing the locations of Flock and other license plate reading cameras so you can see what’s near you.
- 🔍 Got an eye for art? Tell us if you know the answer to our latest scavenger hunt!
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| — Laura Tsutsui | Thanks to Rachel Monahan for curating the most-clicked newsletter links. |
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