City Cast Portland
Prepare for more 90-degree days 🌞
July 13, 2023
Good morning, Portland! Want to get away last minute? Same-day reservations at state campgrounds along the coast are now available 🌊
What's CITY Talking About?
More Change of Government?
City Commissioners Rene Gonzalez and Dan Ryan are proposing to revise Portland’s new form of government even before it gets up and running. They want to cut the number of people on the new City Council from twelve to eight and simplify the new ranked-choice voting system. It’s not clear yet whether Ryan and Gonzalez have a third vote necessary to refer this to the November ballot. [Oregonian 🔒]
Oregon’s Nursing Shortage
The pandemic has taken a toll on healthcare workers. In April there were 5,900 online wanted ads for registered nurses, according to Oregon Employment Department data. That’s 4,000 more open jobs than in February 2020, when there were just 1,850. Hospitals are working to address the problem by paying to relocate nurses to Oregon, but they still face a shortfall. [Portland Business Journal 🔒]
World Record for Longest Drag Show
Darcelle’s hosted the longest drag show in world history as a fundraiser for the nonprofit Trevor Project, raising $290,000. The event wrapped up yesterday at 4 p.m. [Portland Mercury]
- Related: City Cast Portland host Claudia Meza, who MC-ed part of the event, profiled the namesake of the club, who was the oldest working drag queen in the world when she died. [City Cast Portland 🎧]
What To Do
🎭 Original Practice Shakespeare Festival | Thursday - Sunday | 7 p.m.
The summer festival to perform Shakespeare’s opus is running this weekend in Laurelhurst Park, starting Thursday with “Julius Caesar.” [Free, Laurelhurst]
🎺 Cathedral Park Jazz Festival | Friday - Sunday | Various
It’s one of those Portland summer traditions! Catch some tunes in the sun. [Free, St. Johns]
🖊️ Cartooning With Mr. Wolf’s Class for Tweens | Saturday | 3 - 4 p.m.
The former Portland Public School teacher and author of a graphic novel series on a fourth-grade class’s adventures is teaching his art. [Free, Hillsdale]
Today on City Cast
How Petty Crimes Add Up for Small Businesses
Small businesses across Portland have been struggling: first with the pandemic, then with inflation, and now with the rising number of petty crimes. Nicole Blanchette, co-owner of the Leisure Public House, a restaurant and bar in St. Johns, talks about the challenges she’s encountered to keep her business afloat.
All I know is the system is feeling really broken … I feel like we’re on our own.
My favorite bumper sticker of the week was on a friend’s car. It’s her first — a memento of a fun vacation! What inspired your first bumper sticker? Or what would?
— Rachel Monahan
Free · Daily