Hold times for emergency calls in Portland remain long

Your browser does not support the audio element. Two years ago, the Oregon legislature approved the sale of $15 million in lottery bonds to help pay for a community center in Woodburn. Last year, the Department of Administrative Services decided against selling the bonds. The city of Woodburn filed suit. We talk to Woodburn mayor Frank Lonergan about what the community center would mean for the city, how much it will cost and what the lawsuit means for the future of the project.

The Portland Winter Light Festival is a city-wide event that illuminates what is often the darkest month of the year with art installations that can truly be called “lit.” The Willamette Light Brigade, a non-profit arts organization, launched the free event nearly a decade ago at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It quickly spread across the Willamette River into downtown and now features light-based art pieces and performances in neighborhoods all over the city. This year’s theme is “The Light of Stars.”

Your browser does not support the audio element. Last week, the first ever tri-county point-in-time count began, which was largely coordinated by Portland State University. Volunteers, service providers and outreach workers from Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas County surveyed people without adequate shelter to formulate updated data on what homelessness looks like in the region. The count finished yesterday. We’ll hear from two Portlanders who volunteered for this count for the first time. Marianne Nelson and Richard Gibson share why they chose to participate and what they heard from people they surveyed.

In Portland Public Schools’ adopted budget for this school year, continuing the Online Learning Academy was highlighted as one of the district’s efforts to “increase learning opportunities for every student.”. The state’s largest district opened the Online Learning Academy, or OLA, in 2021 to serve students in...

More than 600 Portland city employees are prepared to strike Thursday after nearly a year of contract negotiations ground to a halt. The strike could broadly impact city operations, as Laborers Local 483 includes workers in the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the Bureau of Environmental Services, and Portland Parks and Recreation. Those employees are responsible for addressing sewage leaks, removing debris from city streets, cleaning biohazard waste dumped at city parks, and clearing streets of ice and snow, among other tasks.

Oregon Department of Transportation leaders are looking to implement tolling on Interstate 205 over the Abernethy and Tualatin River Bridges. The first toll could go into effect as early as next year. The state agency also plans to use a program of congestion pricing, where tolls are higher during the busiest times of the day. new revenue will pay for highway and bridge improvements, including seismic upgrades, and relieve congestion.

With two weeks left before voters in Vancouver decide the fate of a proposed 10-year, $100 million affordable housing levy, its backers are feeling optimistic. The city, as much of the Northwest, has grown so much in recent years that its housing stock has not kept pace. The levy’s backers say people in the community are viewing the proposal as a necessity.