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.

Guess what's coming back to a city council mtg next week:

In 2014, Portland saw *massive* public outcry in response to a proposal to charge people to pay for street maintenance. Councilors dropped it. This time around, it's expected to easily fly through City Hall:

We did it y'all!!!! After 20+ months and 35 bargaining sessions, the content creators at OPB and KMHD, represented by SAG-AFTRA, have reached a tentative agreement. Read the full press release: www.sagaftra.org/opb-and-kmhd... #supportpublicmedia #opb #sagaftra #unionstrong

Personal news: OPB & KMHD content makers have *unanimously* ratified our first contract.

Yesterday, we learned Mayor Wilson proposes cutting the city's shelter budget by 30%. Today we're seeing what that will look like on the ground: Starting with closing the Pearl District shelter.

At Mayor Wilson's State of the City address Friday, he again relied on anecdote -- not data -- to prove his response to homelessness is working. @lmonghughes.bsky.social digs into the numbers today:

Checking in on the Blazers’ new owner: “I know he doesn’t love Oregon, and is concerned that it is a state that can’t draw free agents. Well, with all due respect, you’re not helping the cause of drawing free agents when you treat everyone like s— there.”

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has proposed cutting nearly 150 jobs and slashing public safety and homelessness programs to address a significant budget shortfall.

Apropos of nothing: Portland Mayor Wilson released his proposed budget at 4:20 pm on 4/20.

Portland Mayor Wilson will release his budget proposal today. He lightly previewed some of it at a speech Friday -- get caught up here:

My colleague Monica Samayoa was featured in @pbsnews.org segment on the Portland Clean Energy Fund. Featuring Mayor Wilson's reasoning for using PCEF $$ on Moda renovations. Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjLY...

Back to the drawing board.

The county chair's budget drops days before Portland Mayor Keith Wilson will release his proposal to fill the city’s nearly $170 million budget gap, which also threatens to close homeless shelters.

For those following, ICE's landlord has re-filed an appeal with the city on this land use violation. Hearing is on May 5.

👀 👀 👀

I interviewed workers at this facility in 2019. This grim news doesn't come as a big surprise. “Amazon doesn’t want any long-term workers,” a PDX9 worker told me then. “They want you to work hard and fast and get rid of you when your body can’t take it anymore. That’s their business model.”

Portland City Council is advancing this plan at today's council mtg:

Last yr, Metro & Multnomah County gave Portland a combined $25M to fund Mayor Wilson's new overnight shelters. This year, neither are offering money. And both Clackamas & Washington counties have declined Wilson's ask for $. How Wilson will patch a $54M hole in his shelter budget remains TBD.

We’re on strike today! Support our fight for a fair contract by NOT visiting the @propublica.org website or engaging with ProPublica stories today. Tell ProPublica’s management you won’t cross the picket line: actionnetwork.org/petitions/te...

A new threat to Portlanders' housing stability: federal rent cuts to immigrant households. This change, which will impact roughly 300 households, could be difference between $1,500 and $750 in monthly financial help.

OPB's regional positions, including an Eastern Oregon reporting position *cough*, are still open. Do the kind of stories that no one else does for a living wage and union representation! url-media.com/eastern-oreg...

Former Portland city commissioner Rene Gonzalez is suing the city for its handling of campaign finance complaints made against him during his 2024 mayoral run.

This morning at (first ever) meeting of Portland City Council Committee of the Whole, PBOT will present proposal for 2 major new transportation fees: the Transpo Utility Fee (TUF) & Street Damage Restoration Fee. www.portland.gov/council/agen... Background here bikeportland.org/2026/03/09/b...

The audio story is now attached to this post — hear Marta and others speak about this moment (w/ a little Nick Fish thrown in):

March 31, Cesar Chavez's birthday, used to be a celebratory day for Latino and labor rights communities. Those events have been cancelled. Now, in Portland, ppl are calling for a way to acknowledge the recently revealed painful revelations about Chavez's past -- through changing a street sign.

This may be the biggest protest turnout I’ve seen in Portland. Just a sea of people at the waterfront. #NoKings @opb.org

Fun update on the Macadam ICE bldg land use appeal: The property owner appealed the city's Feb. 13 violation ruling (as expected). And then they asked the city to dismiss their appeal. There's a lot of speculation as to what this means/why. I'll save that for another day.

Last month, we reported that Portland was sitting on millions of unspent arts tax dollars. That isn't true. The city did not dispute the characterization of these funds at the time of our reporting. But a month later, they told us the number was misinterpreted. Here's what we know now:

A reminder: While this decision temporary pauses the limits to chemical munitions at Portland protests, it doesn't touch the city policy that sticks the ICE bldg owner with hefty fines whenever officers use munitons on protestors.

As the deal to sell the Trail Blazers to a new owner comes to an expected wrap, my colleagues Conrad Wilson and Tony Schick pull back the curtain on how new owner Dundon used "problematic" practices to run past companies.

Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos wrote on social media today that she would seek to rename César E. Chávez Boulevard after a news report detailing sexual assault allegations against the iconic farmworker union leader.

A buried bit of positive news here: The rate of people paying the arts tax on time has increased over the past decade. In 2015, only 72% of people were paying the tax on time, now that's 82%. (Internal Revenue Service's national compliance average is 85%)

City audit finds Portland arts tax is poorly managed, wasting money (just as the reminders to pay up land in mailboxes).

Cesar Chavez accused of sexually assaulting girls & women for years -- including co-founder of the UFW, Dolores Huerta. "Huerta said she chose not to report the assault to the police because of their hostility toward the movement, and she feared that no one within the union would believe her."

The cost estimate for replacing the Interstate Bridge connecting Oregon and Washington is now between $13.5 billion and $15.2 billion.

More journalism job openings at OPB -- share far/wide: Eastern Oregon Reporter SW Washington Reporter Multimedia Journalist url-media.com/category/cur...