Good morning Portland! We're back in your inbox this morning to keep you in the loop with what's happening in and around town. Grab a cup of coffee and read on. ☀️
In today's newsletter:
Also on today's calendar: Playing in the Sand with OK YOU and 9 more events.
And lastly, we have a post from a neighbor, Mary M.!
Today's riddle: Why did the weatherman's cheeks turn pink? 🤔 (Answer below!)
Weather forecast:
1. Proposed botanical garden could transform former North Portland superfund site (kgw.com) — A long-contaminated Superfund site along the Willamette River in North Portland may be reborn as a major botanical garden and public green space. Nonprofit Portland Botanical Gardens has a year to secure financing under a new purchase agreement, aiming to showcase native plants, expand river access, and model how other polluted harbor properties could be safely redeveloped for community use.
2. Emotions run high as Portland City Council slogs through dozens of amendments to pass $8.5B budget (kgw.com) — Portland City Council has tentatively approved an $8.5 billion budget after marathon, often tense deliberations, closing a $163 million shortfall with painful cuts and selective restorations. Funding decisions affect fire coverage in North Portland, police staffing, homelessness services, youth jobs, and even the voter-approved Portland Clean Energy Fund, with a final vote expected next month.
3. Portland Council restores $800,000 to finish City Data and Privacy Office (katu.com) — Portland City Council has restored $800,000 to fully launch a new City Data and Privacy Office, centralizing how bureaus handle residents’ personal information and vendor access. Three existing city employees will be realigned into the office, which aims to create consistent, citywide standards for data governance, privacy, and AI-related information sharing, with long-term funding decisions still to come.
4. 911 callers describe chaotic scene after driver ‘blew up the MAC' (koin.com) — Newly released 911 calls reveal the panic inside Portland’s Multnomah Athletic Club as an explosives-filled SUV crashed through the doors earlier this month, killing the driver and heavily damaging the building. Callers describe smoke, alarms, shattered glass, and fears of more explosions while first responders worked to contain undetonated devices and check on nearby neighbors’ safety.
5. Vanport Cottonwoods State Heritage Tree Dedication (portland.gov) — Portlanders are invited to a May 29 ceremony at Portland International Raceway honoring the historic Vanport cottonwood trees as new Oregon Heritage Trees. The free 45‑minute event in North Portland will feature Vanport survivors, descendants, Indigenous leaders, and Portland Parks & Recreation Urban Forestry, commemorating the 78th anniversary of the devastating 1948 Vanport flood.
📸 Still Here mural on MLK, Portland. —Mary M.
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Ok Portland! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: He saw the climate change! (Thank you Gary M. for sending it in!)Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!
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