Also: "The agreement doesn’t prohibit the Blazers from leaving Portland at the end of 2030. But it could come with a cost: The proposal requires that the team return all the fees and taxes recouped from the city’s spectator venues fund back to the city if the team leaves in 2030."

Since it's popping up again: Here's our 2024 coverage of the lease agreement between the city & Blazers that *requires* the Blazers to keep playing in Portland until 2030.

Reflecting on Portland's deadly heat wave of 2021. Also: Monica digs into how PCEF has paid for nearly 25,000 AC unit installs since then. An illustrative peek at ways this fund has historically been used in Portland, as electeds consider tapping the fund to pay for Moda renovations.

Talking business/basketball/billionaire bois with the gals:

An update here: Former Civic Life director Amanda Garcia-Snell has resigned after being placed on leave last month. She'll receive $91.2K severance (six months of her salary). Background:

Good news about shorter 911 call wait times coming juuuuuust as the city anticipates slower police responses to 911 calls due to Mayor Wilson's budget cuts.

In a public letter, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson scolds city councilors for "duking it out" on social media about Moda Center negotiations, using it to "boost re-election campaigns." He also dismisses the guy behind a campaign to question the deal a "Brooklyn-based techbro." Spicy!

Portland lost one of its most delightful journalists/human beings this weekend. 💔

Budget season is over. But, scroll to the bottom to behold a new season: Councilors introducing failed budget amendments as council ordinances. (Both from the moderate and progressive council blocs.)

As Portland's homeless population grows, people – and politicians – are drawn to blanket assumptions about the lives of people living unsheltered, often leaving individual stories lost in the shuffle. Here's one of those stories:

What's going on with the dang Moda Center, why everyone has so many Opinions about it, how the city is involved, and how YOU can get involved:

The county chair's race is heating up:

You have 180 days left to eat foie gras in Portland:

Learned yesterday that Becky Lange, a woman I spoke with years ago about being destabilized by homeless sweeps, was killed after being assaulted in downtown Portland last week. She was a bright light. And not the first person experiencing homeless I've interviewed who's been fatally assaulted.

The latest turn of the screw in this bureaucratic saga related to Portland's ICE bldg.

How the national Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, meant to boost affordable housing development, has created a glut of empty apartments out of reach to low-income renters:

Hush Season 2 won the SPJ Award for best investigative audio reporting! The SPJ judges did what OPB leadership admitted they never did before canning our show: they actually took the time to listen to Hush. Subscribe to @thewesternedge.bsky.social!

‘Something dramatically wrong’: Questions but few answers after Longview mill tragedy www.opb.org/article/2026...

Per the city, it appears a vacancy tax might not deliver the jolt Portland needs to address empty storefronts and rentals.

The stated purpose of Portland's camping ban was to compel people to move into shetler. But data crunched by @streetroots.bsky.social shows fewer than half of the homeless people police contacted during the first five months of the ban accepted offers of shelter.

Some lil City Hall labor news: The union representing city council staff (Council Alliance of Workers) voted this week to be represented by the Communications Workers of America instead of AFSCME.

The City Council narrowly approved a plan to raise the annual tax to $50 per person, while exempting more taxpayers based on their income.

Portland's office that oversees neighborhood groups and community engagement has seen 5 directors in 5 years. The latest leader is now on administrative leave.

Hundreds of community members and local officials gathered Tuesday night for a vigil in Longview after a chemical tank rupture at a paper mill killed one person, injured nine others and left nine more missing.

Portlanders urged councilors to change Chavez Blvd to Campesinos Blvd Tuesday morning. “This movement is and always has been bigger than one man." (Other testimony submitted in writing reflected some opposition from neighbors who want it to revert to 39th)

Portland parks are struggling. With tax dollars unable to meet the city's needs & other revenues falling short, Portland is increasingly turning to outside groups to pick up the slack. Some call it a risky move toward privatizing city parks. Others see an inspired way for the community to pitch in:

On the Public Works Committee agenda for this coming Tuesday: renaming Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard to Campesinos Boulevard www.portland.gov/council/docu...

27+ hours later, here's where Portland city councilors landed on budget tweaks:

Was hoping this wouldn't feel exactly the same as last year's budget chaos, but...

Per my notes, Portland city councilors have voted on 23 amendments since 9:30 Tuesday. 13 amendments have failed. Worth noting 9 failed w/ a 6-6 vote (& the same 6 people on each side each time), signaling councilors are still having a reaaaally hard time finding common ground.

Both budget proposals laid out here have been voted down during today’s council mtg. (A note directing the city admin to create a report showing where cuts could be made was approved, but no cuts)

New analysis by @rosecityreform.bsky.social finds a huge dip in the amount of legislation passed under Portland's new city council. The reason: Under the new form of govt, the mayor is able to make way more operational decisions without council's sign-off.

Story's been updated with new data from the city. Of the total 229 jobs proposed to be cut in Mayor Wilson's budget: 83% are non-supervisory roles 17% are supervisor positions (and 77% are union jobs)

Great reporting out of Pendleton from my colleague @antoniosierra.bsky.social, on how a city council race puts the town's rise in visible homelessness in the spotlight:

Budget amendments are beginning to roll in from Portland councilors. One theme: cutting top admin jobs to pay for public safety.

950+ shelter beds are on Mayor Wilson's budget chopping block. The proposal reflects the lagging support for Wilson’s new emergency shelter system from other local governments. It also represents a swift reversal of the plan Wilson hitched his mayoral campaign to.

Oregon ethics commission just voted 5-1 to dismiss this case.

FWIW, the city hearings officer plans to make a ruling within 30 days.

Today, lawyers representing the owner of Portland's ICE facility will argue to appeal the city's Feb. land use violation ruling. Background here:

The state ethics commission have two options Friday: Either agree with investigators' suggestion to dismiss the case, or disagree and issue a violation against the councilors. Stay tuned.

One person is dead following the crash, and several streets surrounding the Multnomah Athletic Club were closed Saturday as the city’s explosive disposal unit assisted with the investigation.

Thousands of May Day rallies took place across the Pacific Northwest Friday as people rallied for workers’ rights. 🖊️ Kyra Buckley/OPB and Joni Auden Land/OPB 📹 Alex Zielinski/OPB, Eli Imadali/OPB and Erik Neumann/OPB ✂️ J Jackson/OPB

The councilors met with Dundon as the Moda Center renovation may hinge on council’s approval of funding.

The only statewide measure on the May ballot asks: Should hikes to the state gas tax, vehicle titling and registration fees, and other streams of cash that fund the Oregon transportation system be allowed to take effect? Even the tax proposal’s most ardent supporters think they know the answer.

Portland's top business lobbyist group is behind the polling on metro suburbs races stoking fear about candidates' DSA affiliations/perceived alignment.

Portland City Council just voted 9-3 to adopt a new street utility fee. Background here:

Robots incoming:

In a win for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that officers can use crowd control weapons outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland without restrictions.

Changes are coming to Portland's arts tax (maybe): Under the proposal, far fewer people will be required to pay the tax – but those who do will have to pay nearly twice as much.