Chop down 570 East Portland trees? Shockingly, that's the plan

Demand for Housing Help

There are a lot of people looking for help with housing. For the first time in seven years, Multnomah County opened the waitlist for federal housing vouchers, and in the first few hours 5,000 people applied for 2,000 spots on that waitlist. The application stays open till Friday, and applicants for the waitlist will be chosen at random after Friday. [KGW]

Downing 570 East Portland Trees

The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to cut down 572 trees in East Portland to make way for sidewalks and other safety improvements on a dangerous stretch of Southeast Powell Boulevard, from I-205 to 174th Avenue. That’s a concern for a neighborhood that already lacks trees and, as a result, gets hotter in summer, particularly during heat waves. [Willamette Week]

James Beard Victories

Portland restaurant Kann and Berlu chef Vince Nguyen took home prestigious James Beard Awards. We knew we ate well! The Oregonian reports that “Portland claimed its best night at the Beards since 2011, when Le Pigeon chef Gabriel Rucker took home the Rising Star award for American chefs under 30, and Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker was named best chef in the Northwest.” [Oregonian]

• Related: Can Portland handle bad restaurant reviews? [City Cast Portland 🎧]

‘Made in Portland’ | Thursday - Sunday | Various

Oregon Ballet Theatre performs a series of dances answering the questions “What have you heard about Portland, and how does it make you feel?” [$29+, Downtown]

Holocene’s 20 Year Anniversary! | Thursday | 8 p.m.

Composer Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith plays avant-garde electronic music. She’s joined by the dance band Ancient Heat, who are playing a reunion show. [$25, Buckman]

Dragon Boat Race | Saturday - Sunday | 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Come watch more than 60 teams race in traditional Chinese dragon boats. [Free, Downtown]

This Juneteenth, Portland Is Getting Its First Black Rodeo

Frontier times were much more inclusive and interesting than many of our Western films have led us to believe. And Ivan McClellan, a Portland-based photojournalist, hopes to uncover and share a bit of that unseen history at his Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo. Ivan is attempting something spectacular. Not only will it be Portland’s first Black Rodeo, but it’s possibly the first rodeo ever hosted within city limits.

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