🌱 Light Rail On I-5 Bridge + More College Educated Democrats

Happy Saturday, my Portland peeps, and welcome to the weekend. We've got beautiful weather, but before you head out the door, let me tell you what's going on today.

First, today's weather:

It'll be a partly sunny day with a high of 63. Delightful!

Here are the top five stories in Portland today:

1. A replacement for the Interstate 5 bridge connecting Oregon and Washington will likely include light rail, a longstanding issue between stakeholders on either side of the two states’ border. Staff members planning the massive replacement effort briefed officials on Thursday and laid out various bridge designs — such as interchanges and auxiliary lanes — and offered suggestions. Among their strongest: to include light rail, a recommendation many officials who will decide the future of the project embraced. (OPB)
2. President Joe Biden arrived in Portland Thursday, declared his optimism that "America can do big things again" and vowed to keep investing in the country's infrastructure. "We can do anything that we want to," he told a crowd at Portland International Airport. "We must build … a better America. It's been much too long since America invested in its airports." A major focus of Biden's visit was the $25 billion funding going to airports, including PDX, as part of the recently approved bipartisan infrastructure law, according to the White House deputy principal press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. (Portland Patch)
3. Multifamily NW released its spring 2022 report on Thursday, indicating an “alarming” pattern of low inventory, high demand and increased investor hesitancy in cities across Oregon. The report shows Oregonians continue to move away from urban centers, which impacts the availability and affordability of multifamily rentals throughout the state. According to the association, new data is in stark contrast to the previous spring apartment report, where vacancies and rents had remained stable from the previous year. (KOIN.com)
4. It’s a huge day for Portland transportation reformers who want Oregon to more quickly adapt to a future where freeway expansions don’t happen and we finally break off our dysfunctional relationship with cars. Activists who’ve spent years fighting against the negative impacts of our region’s car overuse problem woke up to a major story in the New York Times that gave their positions and opinions a national platform. To make it even better for them, the venerable news source framed their story around a question, “Can Portland Be a Climate Leader Without Reducing Driving?” that isn’t much different than the main tagline of local nonprofit No More Freeways: “Climate leaders don’t widen freeways.” (BikePortland.org)
5. As the May 17 primary draws near, Oregon Democrats and Republicans are making sure voters understand the differences between the two parties. A big one: educational attainment. This week, Portland pollster John Horvick of DHM Research drew on 2020 Census data to illustrate the wide variance in college graduates among Oregon’s 60 House districts. As of 2018, the year about which census takers asked, the median level of college graduates across all districts was 34%. But every district above that level belonged to a Democrat. (Willamette Week)

Today in Portland:

• Today is Record Store Day at Music Millenium! It’s open early with free coffee and granola bars but you'll probably want to line up even earlier to get your hands on some cool prizes! 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM.
• Join comedian Dave Nihill for a night of real Irish comedy and storytelling at The Siren Theater. Dave is the winner of the prestigious annual San Francisco Comedy Competition, (previous finalists include Robin Williams, Ellen DeGeneres and Dana Carvey) and runner up in the Moth’s largest US Grandslam storytelling competition. Tickets available online. 8:00 - 9:30 PM.
• It's Protect Yo Heart Day - PDX Edition at the Cruz Room Annex. PYHPDX will be hosting free yoga, body movement, art class , Love Is... wall and chalk art fun . They will have water, juice (for kids) and a whole lots of LOVE to go around. Please stop by to check out the local artists who will be selling their works as well as listen to Portland's finest music artists and DJ's. The fun starts at 5:00 PM.
• Come to the Goodfoot for a live webcast of Phish’s MSG show! They’ll have the music playing through the house P.A. and the HD video projected on our movie screen. The drinks will be cold and there’s always plenty of room for dancing! This event is free. Doors open at 4:30 PM.
• It's a reggae roots extravaganza as Culture Yard presents Marlon Asher and Blakkamoore at the Jack London Revue. Marlon grew up in Enterprise, Trinidad & Tobago. In his youth he was a member of the Mount Ararat Spiritual Baptist Church Choir and later on he embraced the Rasta faith. Grammy Nominated Singer-Songwriter Blakkamoore has long made a name for himself as a gifted and inspiring Reggae/Dancehall/Hip Hop/Dubstep artist - both nationally and internationally. His music has been described as “Urban World Music with a message.” Get your tickets online. Doors open at 8:00 PM.

From my notebook:

• Travel Portland: "If #EarthDay could claim a capital, Portland would be a top contender! Hit the link in our bio for a full rundown of events tomorrow and through the weekend to celebrate and give back. #ThisIsPortland 📷: @josh_rosen #PDX #PDXNOW #Trav..." (Instagram)
• Portland Flea: "@gazzybygazzo is back this Sunday at the #PORTLANDFLEA 🙂🙃 come shop bold prints, great designs and fun colors! We will be hanging outside from 11-4pm per usual!" (Instagram)
• Portland Art Museum: "June 16-26: ⚡ "Opacity of Performance" takes over our European art galleries. Portland-based choreographer and artist Takahiro Yamamoto’s new collaborative dance installation “Opacity of Performance” investigates the physical and emotio..." (Instagram)
• Portland Public Schools: "PPS is proud to partner with the Portland Art Museum to host the annual HeArt of Portland: A Portland Public Schools K-12 Arts Showcase. This event serves as a thank you to Portland taxpayers for supporting the Arts Education & Access Fu..." (Facebook)
• Portland Audubon: "There is still plenty of time to sign up for Birdathon, our biggest fundraiser of the year. You get to raise funds for birds and their habitat WHILE birding with great people - two of our favorite things. Our first team of the year, Tour..." (Facebook)
• Jim Riswold is back to continue his battle against bullies, and this time his sharp wit is taking aim at Putin. “Putin’s Big Parade” opens April 16 and continues through May 28 in the Maribeth Collins Lobby. All prints are for sale as a fundraiser, and all proceeds and donations will go to the Hallie Ford Museum’s Ukrainian Relief Fund which supports Ukrainian refugees through ICOM (International Council of Museums) Poland. (Willamette University)

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Live it up, Portland! Go get acquainted with the sun again. I'll be enjoying the weekend myself, but I promise to be back next week and keep you up to date on what's happening in Portland.

— 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.