🌱 Portland Schools Weapons Ban + Security Improved For Pride Parade

It's time to get your Friday on, Portland. And it's Pride festival weekend, so we've got more going on than you can shake a rainbow flag at. Here's what's happening today.

First, today's weather:

Rain and cooler temperatures return, giving us a high of 60.

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Here are the top five stories today in Portland:

1. Portland Public Schools voted Tuesday night to expand its ban on weapons on school grounds to include concealed weapons. The ban was approved unanimously. The ban covers even a person with a permit to carry a concealed weapon. There are two exceptions: law enforcement officers and people authorized by the district superintendent. The policy goes into effect immediately and comes on the heels of a new state law allowing districts to implement such bans. (Portland Patch)
2. If you're thinking of flying somewhere for the summer, better check your wallet first. Recently released Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found airline prices increased 12.6% in May on a month-to-month basis. Compared to May 2021, average airfares had increased 37.8%. For flights from PDX, increases have been even steeper. Roundtrip flights out of Portland International Airport for the remainder of the summer were averaging $609 as of June 8, roughly double what they were averaging in March. (KGW.com)
3. After reports of the break-in at the historic Phoenix Pharmacy building hit the news, other nearby businesses have chimed in, detailing the rampant crime they say the city is ignoring. George Morlan Plumbing has been around for nearly 100 years in Portland and Foster Fitness has been in the area for more than three decades. The businesses are enduring perpetual crime, but they say it should not have to be this way. (KOIN.com)
4. This weekend is the Portland Pride Waterfront Festival and the Pride parade, but after the incident in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, organizers are beefing up security. What was the incident? Last weekend at a Coeur d’Alene LGBTQ Pride event, more than 30 members of the white nationalist organization, Patriot Front, were arrested for allegedly planning to start a riot. In response, the group behind Portland's Pride parade and festival, Pride Northwest, has said that it has increased the frequency of its communication with city bureaus, such as the Portland Police Department, as well as engaging directly with the Bureau of Emergency Management. (KPTV)
5. One of Oregon's largest utility companies is adding to its clean energy portfolio, collaborating on a project that uses giant batteries that store wind and solar power. Portland General Electric (PGE) is partnering with NextEra Energy Resources to run Wheatridge Power Plant in eastern Oregon's Morrow County. There, the company will be using batteries to store solar, wind power at a first-in-the-nation facility. PGE's portfolio is currently made up of about 36% clean energy resources. The utility plans to produce 100% clean energy by 2040. (KGW)

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Today in Portland:

• Please join Rose City Pride Bands for Coming Out — Again! IN THE PARK at Cathedral Park in St. Johns. Rose City Pride Bands were formed by a small number of committed musicians who shared a passion for making music and gay community pride. The Rose City Pride Bands have now grown to encompass three groups: Rose City Wind Symphony, Rose City Swing and the Roes City Pride Marching Band. Bring a picnic basket with food and drinks, and enjoy music by Omar Thomas, Carolyn Bremer, Alfred Reed and more!! 7 - 8:30 p.m.
• Join Earthlings of Portland for an outreach event at Pioneer Place. They want to educate the public about factory farming and its impact on animals, humans, and the earth. They’ll have TVs playing footage of factory farming, and cards with resources for people to learn more and take action. 5 - 8 p.m.
• Do you like bad-ass metal babes? Then head to the Eastside Bar and Grill for a Female Fronted Night of Metal! Splintered Throne, Innocents Torn and Beautiful Skeletons will be performing. The craziness starts at 9 p.m.
• The sexy, trans and queer-fronted dance party STRAPPED IN returns to the Queens Head in downtown Portland just in time for Pride 2022. Throw on whatever makes you feel happy, sexy, and free (Your thigh highs and jockstrap, your harness and lace, your t-shirt and jeans — you decide!) and get out for hot, queer DJ's, sexy drag performers and trans/queer gogo dancers. The fun starts at 10 p.m..
• Want some laughs? Check out the Pride POPUP Comedy Event at the Slide Inn in SE Portland! Comedian Belinda is up from LA and she is excited to perform at this special POPUP event! Juliet Mylan, Jaren George and Mx. Dahlia Belle join the show! Tickets available online. 7 - 10 p.m.

From my notebook:

• Portland Audubon: "Wilson's Phalarope females flip the script in a number of ways. Their plumage is more colorful than the males and they are polyandrous, meaning they breed with multiple males per season. Once they've selected a mate, they pick a nest sit..." (Portland Audubon via Instagram)
• Gregory Gourdet has become well-known not only to Portland food fans, but to viewers all over the country, thanks to his appearances on such shows as “Top Chef.” Gourdet, who’s preparing to open his own restaurant in Portland, is back for more culinary competition in “Iron Chef: Quest For An Iron Legend,” the “Iron Chef” reboot that begins streaming Wednesday on Netflix. (The Oregonian)
• The Dragon Boat Races took place last weekend, but it's a year-round sport for many. To get more insight into the paddling activity, Fox 12's Andy Carson goes out on the water with The Golden Dragons to learn more about Dragon Boating. (KPTV)
• Speaking of paddling, if you enjoy some time of the water, why not take the Tualatin River Paddle Challenge? From June 4 to September 5, the Tualatin River Paddle Challenge will encourage you to kayak, canoe or paddleboard along the Tualatin River Water Trail. Registration will be open until August 1st. (Tualatin Riverkeepers)
• When it comes to Portland's homeless crisis, effective solutions sometimes seem out of reach. Portland may want to take a page from the playbook of Houston, Texas — one of America's largest and most diverse cities — which has seen a massive reduction in its homeless population since 2011. The New York Times reports that over the past decade, Houston has moved 25,000 people off the streets and into permanent housing. The city has utilized what's known as a "housing first" policy. (KGW)
• Do you want to see one of the biggest Pride celebrations going on in Portland? The Portland Pride Block Party is one of the most popular events to take place during the annual Pride Fest. The party runs for the weekend of Pride each evening from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. Scandals, in association with Peacock Productions Inc., presents the 43th Annual – Taking Pride on Stark, weekend long Block Party to benefit Cascade AIDS Project and the Audria M. Edwards scholarship fund! Scandals exists as one of Portland’s most established gay bars since 1979. Having gone through many levels of transition over the last few decades, Scandals currently exists in the original “PinkTriangle” (Gay Travel 4 U)

More from our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

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Events:

• Portland Water Lantern Festival (June 18)
• Hire A Pro To Clean Up The Yard For Dad (June 19)
• Breast Ultrasound Screening Coming Direct to You! (June 22)
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That's a Friday and a half for all you fine party people out there! If you got to work, then do it with a smile. The weekend will come for all of us soon enough. Take care and join me tomorrow, so I can tell you what our Saturday will be like.

— 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