🌱 Housing Crisis Gets Worse + Portland Lacks Drug Treatment Centers

Hey, there, beautiful people! It's Tuesday here in our city and there's stuff going on you should know. We've got:

• A public defender shortage that shows no sign of stopping
• A guided walk along 82nd Ave.
• Chanterelles are back!

Here's what today is like.

But first, today's weather:

We've got a sunny day and a high of 79. I love fall weather!

Here are the top stories today in Portland:

1. In 2015 the City of Portland declared an affordable housing emergency, raising the amount of urban renewal dollars toward affordable housing. But seven years later experts say things have gotten worse. According to a Redfin study, rent spiked 39% between March 2021 and March 2022. Nick Sauvie, the co-director of Revitalize Outer Southeast (ROSE), says that if you’re looking for affordable housing, be prepared to wait six months or more. (KOIN.com)
2. Watch out, liquor thieves, the OLCC is getting serious! The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission announced during its Sept. 22 meeting that it would assign a subcommittee to look into rising theft at liquor stores across the state. Jason Hanson, OLCC’s compliance director, said he had recently joined a new task force at the Oregon Retail Crime Association that is partnering with law enforcement. (Willamette Week)
3. Oregon's public defender shortage continues to hurt those caught in the state's legal system. Across Oregon, roughly 1,300 defendants have their cases stuck in an indefinite holding pattern. The trouble starts at arraignment, when defendants first hear the charges against them and normally have an attorney appointed to their case if they qualify financially. But if no attorney is available, the case can’t proceed, transforming rote hearings into a form of legal purgatory. (The Oregonian)
4. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University are revealing major shortfalls in the state’s addiction recovery system. The report released by OHSU last week shows the state needs 4,900 addiction counselors, but only has 2,800. It also says the state should have 470 residential treatment facilities, but it only has 187. OHSU researchers who put together the report say they came up with a plan designed to address the gaps in addiction recovery, but they say the legislature has not implemented it. They're hoping funding from Measure 110 can help. (KPTV)
5. NE Portland residents got an unwelcome surprise Sunday night when a car crashed into their apartment building. The police were chasing the car when it slammed into the building on Northeast 125th Place near Northeast Sandy Boulevard. The incident happened at around 10 p.m. Portland police said the crash caused some structural damage to the apartment. PPB, however, did not say what prompted the chase. (KOIN)

Today in Portland:

• Looking for something to do tonight? Why not Zoidberg? Or at least the closest thing to it, at the 4th Wall's Futurama Trivia Night! Sorry, no Slurm will be provided but maybe they can find some Lobrau. 7:00 - 9:00 PM.
• Reel Science at OMSI presents "To Bear Witness" The Immigrant Story, with Sankar Raman. This NW Documentary is a unique collection of five short documentaries portraying the extraordinary lives of seven survivors of the Holocaust, genocide and atrocities of war. At the conclusion of the movie presentation, Sankar Raman, president of The Immigrant Story, will moderate a panel discussion. Doors open at 6:15 PM.
• The weather is still nice, so why not go out for a walk? Join the 82nd Avenue Coalition as they explore 82nd Avenue between Foster and Glenwood Park! During the walk, they will be discussing the neighborhood, infrastructure improvements and community engagement opportunities along 82nd Avenue. Registration is required and space is limited. 5:30 - 7:00 PM.
• Come to Advice Booth for Untapped Trivia! Voted “Best Trivia” in Portland, Oregon! Outside of trivia, it’s also Taco Night! And if tacos aren’t your thing, the beefy and vegan wieners are plentiful, along with nachos and Frito chili pies.7:00 - 9:00 PM.
• Earth II will be showing at the Clinton Street Theater. The Anti-Banality Union is an anonymous collective who re-cut Hollywood blockbusters into new feature-length films. In their fourth feature, "Earth II" (2021), the ABU sets their sights on climate collapse, scouring the past four decades of disaster movies and combining them into an action-packed analysis of Hollywood’s pathological climate grief. Showtime is 7:00 PM.

From my notebook:

• Portland Art Museum: "A painting is not about an experience. It is an experience." "Happy birthday to Mark Rothko who was born #OnThisDay in 1903 in present-day Latvia. After immigrating with his family to Portland at age 10, Marcus Rothkowitz attended Linc..." (Portland Art Museum via Instagram)
• Mingus Mapps is among the dozens of Portland politicians who oppose the proposed city charter reform that will be on November's ballot. To fight this measure, he created an alternative that would create a winner-take-all system that would elect its entire council from smaller, one-winner districts. This 11th-hour idea for rewriting the rules of Portland’s city government has several possible flaws, but here’s one: statistically speaking, it’d be likely to worsen the city’s housing shortage. (Sightline)
• It's that time of year again in the Pacific Northwest: It's chanterelle season! Mushroomer Steve Fick figures it’s simple: If you want to harvest wild mushrooms, learn their habitat. “Chanterelles have a golden-orange hue, and their chalice shape makes them easy to spot – but their true allure is a woodsy flavor that’s hard to resist.” (KGW)
• The horror scene is big in Portland, and we've got films being made in our own backyard. Take, for instance, Portland’s very own production company, Monstrous Femme Films. Director, writer and co-founder of Monstrous Femme Films, Hannah May Cumming, was a film student at Portland State University when she started creating “Fanatico” in 2018. “Fanatico” was the first of many in the growing anthology of feminist horror films. (KOIN)
• Travel Portland: Verified The @PortlandNightMarket is back next weekend! Snack, sip, shop and dance the night away with Portland’s best local brands and purveyors. See you there! (Instagram)
• Here in Cascadia, nothing goes together like gnomes and flannel. At OMSI After Dark: Forest & Flannel, you can get your cottagecore on and sample mushrooms, indulge in torch-fired artisanal s’mores, win prizes from Next Adventure, or learn all things outdoors from partners like Hoyt Arboretum, Oregon Wild and more. (Instagram)

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There's the low down on your Tuesday, Portland. Have an awesome day and come on back tomorrow as we navigate this lovely ride we call life.

— 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