🌱 New Treatment For Pancreatic Cancer+$5 Billion Loss For City

Ah, Friday, glorious Friday. Here we are once again, Portland. And, need I remind you, it's also World Bicycle Day. So put the fun between your legs and ride. Here's what's going on today.

First, today's weather:

Rain in the morning and a cloudy afternoon leaves us with a high of 67.

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Here are the top five stories today in Portland:

1. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt is working on putting together a team of prosecutors that would focus on repeat offenders. The Strategic Prosecution and Services Unit works in partnership with community groups and residents of the areas they work to target people arrested twice or more for the same crime within a certain time period. The district attorney’s office shared data with KATU Investigates that showed 13% of suspects are responsible for nearly half of some of the most common crimes in the county. (KATU)
2. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, but doctors at the Providence Cancer Institute in Portland have developed a new immunotherapy to drastically reduce a patient's tumor size. The adoptive cell therapy involves drawing a patient's blood, then isolating their immune system's T cells. Those cells are then reprogrammed to target a specific mutation of their cancer cells. (KGW.com)
3. The city of Portland remains tight lipped as to how $1.4 million was lost. In April, homeless services nonprofit Central City Concern needed $1.4 million for a new 100-unit affordable housing project called The Starlight in the heart of the Old Town neighborhood. The Portland Housing Bureau transferred the money, but it did not go where was intended to. According to one city official familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak about the investigation, the money the nonprofit requested was redirected to a different bank account unrelated to Central City Concern. It appears to be the single biggest theft in Portland government history. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)
4. After a prolonged period of increasing gun violence, the Old Town homeless village located on the corner of Northwest 6th Avenue and Hoyt Street will permanently close down later this month. “It simply became too unsafe and untenable for us,” said Andy Goebel. Goebel runs All Good Northwest, a nonprofit that provides on-site behavioral health and housing services for people living at three of Portland’s homeless villages. He said the Old Town location has become too dangerous for both staff and villagers. (KGW)
5. What has the cost of the pandemic been to Portland businesses? According to the organization Travel Portland the Rose City lost out on more than $5 billion in travel-related spending. A measure of tourism activity, Travel Portland’s share of the lodging tax has tracked a decrease from $6.9 million generated in 2019 to $1.7 million generated in 2021. Travel Portland President and CEO Jeff Miller explained “revenue is coming back, we are still significantly below where we were for revenue in 2019 because of the lack of rooms sold, but recovery is indeed happening and we’re excited about that.” (KOIN.com)

Today in Portland:

• And now for a different take on a classic dance night. It's '80s Video Dance Attack: New Wave Edition at the Mission Theater. The longest running weekly '80s dance night in Portland is now featuring a special New Wave & Alternative edition of '80s Video Dance Attack. '80s New Wave Video Dance Attack dives into our archives to feature videos from artists like Depeche Mode, Yaz, The Cure, A-ha, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Thompson Twins, New Order, Adam Ant and many more! 8 p.m. to midnight.
• It's Pride Month and what better way to celebrate than with a bike ride? The Unity Ride - Glow & Glitter is a ride centering trans, non-binary, women, gender curious, and gender expansive individuals. This is a 9.5 mile ride around NE Portland, starting at Alberta Park and ending at Irving Park. Oh, and there's snacks! Meet up is at 7 p.m.
• Not up for a bike ride? Well, how about art? AFRU Gallery in SE Portland is hosting The Pride Show. In addition to art, there's a fashion show by Pioneer Moon, Comedy by Svetlana Trantastic, original music by Justin Whomever and more. 7 - 11 p.m.
• Wow, talk about dueling galleries! There's another art show in SE Portland, at Jailbreak Studios. They're having a fabulous and gay AF PRIDE art show! it features brand new works by Jonathan Hanisits, from his artist in residency in Mexico City, and so much more queer beauty from the Jailbreak Collective. This is their last First Friday ever so come toast to the end of an era, and support the creatives and makers who have made our community more colorful and bright through a tough few years. 5 - 8 p.m.
• Sunbathe will be playing at The Fixin' To in North Portland. Back in 2019, Mercury contributor Jenna Fletcher wrote: "With her current project, Sunbathe, Maggie May Morris reminds us that catchy doesn’t always have to be equal to sunny or saccharine. She’s got the distinct ability to write a song so devastating you’ll flop to the floor while listening, but also so warm and familiar that you’ll find yourself attempting to hum along even before you’ve finished indulging in it for the first time." They will light up the stage after opening sets from alt-country artist Horse Pills and synth-pop project Gary V. Tickets available online. The music starts at 8 p.m.

From my notebook:

• Portland Audubon: "We're kicking off Bird Days of Summer (and pride month!) with a queer birding outing! Join other queer bird nerds on an early morning rainbow ramble at summer birding hotspot Sandy River Delta.🌈☀️ Bird Days of Summer is a series of su..." (Portland Audubon via Instagram)
• Portland Art Museum: "Photographer Minor White began his career working for the Oregon Art Project in 1938, living at the YMCA in Portland and documenting the iron-front buildings slated for demolition to make way for a new riverfront development. Throughout ..." (Portland Art Museum via Instagram)
• This is a shout out to my favorite comic book store. When I lived in the Mississippi neighborhood, I went to Bridge City Comics at least once a week. Now, Bridge City's manager recently bought the place and changed the name to Rose City Comics. They're having a grand opening to celebrate the name change, so go check them out. They're awesome! (Facebook)
• The Oregon Society of Artists presents the Rose Festival Show! The Rose City is the star of this annual show, held in tandem with the Portland Rose Festival. The Oregon Society of Artists will present works on the theme of "Rose City Reunion/Portland Scenes," so expect multimedia art honoring a city that's slowly coming back to life after a long few years. (Oregon Society of Artists)
• The intricate, flower-covered floats in the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade don’t decorate themselves and parade organizers are searching for volunteers to help craft the annual spectacle. After two years off during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portland Rose Festival is back and is looking to rebuild its foundation of volunteer support. It’s currently recruiting groups and people to volunteer for float decorating, parade management and to help restart its world class parade programs. (KOIN)
• Getting enough sleep is tough for a lot of people: new parents, night shift workers, soldiers and almost everyone as we age. Scientists in Oregon and Washington have created a headband that uses a quirk of neurobiology to coax our brains into getting better deep sleep. In the process, they’re answering questions about how the brain "takes out the trash" (aka the glymphatic system). (YouTube)

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Have a great Friday everyone. I'll be back tomorrow to give you the low down about another weekend 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.

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