🌱Income Program Comes To Portland +Downtown Businesses Try To Rebound

Happy Thursday, Portland. We've got a full agenda for today, so let me get right to it.

First, today's weather:

We'll get to see a little sun before the clouds move in and we get a bit of rain in the afternoon. The high will be 74, so that's something.

Here are the top five stories in Portland today:

1. A basic income program is coming to Portland. The Black Resilience Fund, dedicated to fostering resilience and healing by providing immediate and direct financial assistance to Black Portlanders, is restructuring from an emergency relief fund to a village building program with an income guarantee. As the first of its kind in Portland, the new model will take effect in December 2022. Recipients will be eligible for up to $2,000 a month depending on household income and size, for a maximum assistance of $24,000 a year. (KOIN.com)
2. A New York based non-profit says it can effectively end homelessness, all it needs is a by-name directory of people living outside. Once that list is created, the organization Community Solutions says its "Built for Zero" program can match those people with the resources they need to become housed. The program has worked wonders for cities such as Rockford, IL and Chattanooga, TN, but Portland is a very different city and certain homeless advocates worry about such a list being used against the homeless. (Willamette Week)
3. The group Lift Every Voice is working diligently to get a gun control measure on November's ballot. This measure would include permit requirements, background checks before purchase and a ban on high-capacity magazines. So far it has collected 45,000 signatures, but it needs more than 112,000 signatures by July 8. It's not the only group working on gun control. Governor Kate Brown's office tells KATU the governor supports raising that age to 21 in a future session and said her office is working with legislators to look at what proposals they'll bring to the table in 2023. (KATU)
4. Sammie Lewis can’t wait to receive her next energy bill. That’s because Lewis is one of the first Portland homeowners to benefit from a city grant that offers home “energy retrofits” — meant to save low income homeowners money on energy costs by switching homes to clean energy alternatives. Lewis was one of 20 homeowners to receive deep energy retrofits through the Community Energy Project (CEP), an organization that already provides energy-saving upgrades to low income Portlanders for free. PCEF is expected to distribute $100 million in grants later this year during its second round of grant giving. (Portland Mercury)
5. Downtown Portland is still in rough shape after the pandemic and the many days of protests, violence and damage in 2020, but businesses are confident of a come back. The businesses that have since reopened downtown said the key is to support one another. U.S. Outdoor Store owner Ed Airniello and other business owners are asking for the community’s help. Patrick Gihring works closely with the city of Portland to get people hired downtown. He said he’s starting to see more people come back to offices downtown. (KPTV)

Today in Portland:

• Calling all women mountain bikers! NW Trail Sister will be giving a presentation at Hopworks Urban Brewing on Powell. Join them for a presentation of Greatly Dividing: 3 women’s ride from Canada to Mexico on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route in the summer of 2021. This is a great event to attend if you love to bike pack, are interested in bike packing or just want to meet and socialize with other trail sisters and be inspired by audacious women challenging themselves with big goals! This NW Trail Sister’s event is open to all who identify as female and non-binary. Register online. 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
• Oregon icon Mel Brown will be performing at the Jack London Revue in downtown Portland. The city of Portland proclaimed June 22, 1989 "Mel Brown Day" in recognition of Mel's achievements as a musician and educator, receiving the Governor's Arts Award in 2002. Mel first made his mark as a Motown staff drummer, recording and touring with the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, and many others. Tickets available online. Doors open at 7 p.m.
• "The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension" will be showing in 35mm at the Hollywood Theater. Featuring Peter Weller’s too cool for school performance, Jeff Goldblum’s iconic cowboy outfit and John Lithgow’s experimental to say the least performance, this specimen of cult cinema must be seen to be believed. Get your tickets online. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.
• Phoenix Nights, a genre-bending event of spoken word and world/jazz music, will be at Floyd's Old Town Coffee in downtown Portland. Featuring Blaque Butterfly and SHVVVR, as well as original music featuring Gordon Lee, Malcolm Lewis, Michael Galen and Adam Carpinelli. Doors open at 6 p.m.
• Monarch Presents: Taylor Kingman, Pony Hunt and Sawtooth at the Alberta Abbey. Born in Portland and raised in Marion County, Taylor picked up a guitar and started writing at 12. He recently formed ‘TK and the Holy Know Nothings’ with Lewi Longmire, Jay Cobb Anderson, Tyler Thompson and Josh Simon as a vehicle for a growing ocean of new material. Pony Hunt is a New Orleans-based band that plays like a ghostly jukebox — hazy melodies with sweet, lingering waves of nostalgia. Sawtooth plays post-Americana. Tickets available online. Showtime is 8 p.m.

From my notebook:

• Portland Audubon: "It all begins when a male cedar waxwing sidles up next to a female and offers her a berry, fruit, flower petal or insect. Will she accept or won’t she? If she does, the dance begins! The “gift” is passed back and forth between them." (Portland Audubon via Instagram)
• Portland Art Museum: "Good things happen in threes: @pam_cut screens a Michelle Yeoh Mini-Fest Friday and Saturday. Friday, 7 p.m. "Everything Everywhere All At Once" where a laundromat owner channels potential from the multiverse to save her struggling business." (Portland Art Museum via Instagram)
• The YouTube channel Right On Pizza is at it again, this time reviewing Dimo's Pizza located in the old Burnside Brewery building. Watch its unique two-oven method of cooking pizza. Yum! (YouTube)
• Need I remind anyone that Fleet Week started Wednesday and is happening until Monday, June 13. This year, people will be able to take tours of the ships, like in years past. Tickets are not required and the tours are free. The U.S. Navy requires that people be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. People also need to bring an ID and they must wear closed-toe shoes. Bags, strollers and wheelchairs are not allowed on board. (KGW)
• The Rose Show is happening today and Friday at Lloyd Center! The Portland Rose Society Annual Spring Rose Show is the largest and longest-running rose show in the nation. The exquisite beauty and fragrances of this yearly show emanate from more than 4,000 blooms. Entry is open to anyone, and all entrants are encouraged. Rose growers from across the Pacific Northwest participate and some 6,000 spectators from across the country are expected to visit this year’s Spring Rose Show. Sparkling trophies go to those entrants who grow the most beautiful roses. (Rose Festival)
• Metro called for public input and creative ideas to shape future development of the Portland Expo Center on Tuesday, June 7. The 53-acre exhibition facility is owned by the regional government at 2060 N. Marine Dr. near the Columbia River in North Portland. Metro said it has millions of dollars of needs and no guaranteed financing. The Portland Expo Center Development Opportunity Study is seeking ideas about future uses that could best benefit the region. (Portland Tribune)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Featured businesses:

• JAK CBD — (Visit website)
• Add your business here

Events:

• Hire A Pro To Clean Up The Yard For Dad (June 19)
• Add your event

Roses? Buckaroo Bonzai? Fleet Week? There's a lot going on in Portland right now. The world is your oyster, my friends. Enjoy it all, but come on back tomorrow, so I can tell you more news of the city.

— Dominic Anaya

About me: Doctor, educator and now a writer/artist, I'm just chillin' in Portland, OR with my wife, our ferrets, our chickens and our goats.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Portland Daily? Contact me at portland@patch.com