City Cast Portland
The solution to Portland’s ambulance crunch is here
September 18, 2023
Good morning, Portland! The country’s first licensed psilocybin therapy center now has 3,000 people on its waitlist. Epic Healing, in Eugene, charges upwards of $2,200 for a single session.
What's CITY Talking About?
Fixes for Portland’s Ambulance Crunch
There are two key efforts underway to fix the sometimes lengthy wait for an ambulance in Multnomah County: First, there’s a new system to prioritize more urgent ambulance requests. Second, the county has allowed some ambulances to be staffed with two EMTs (as opposed to more highly-trained paramedics). Those ambulances may respond to the lower-acuity calls. It sure seems like some logical fixes. [KGW]
E-Scooter Trips Climb
There have been 570,504 trips on Lime Scooters in Portland so far this year, a 35% increase from the same period in 2022. That’s after a record summer for the company, which accounts for nearly 70% of the e-scooting trips in Portland. [Bike Portland]
Asymptomatic COVID-19 Cases Now OK at School
Students at Beaverton and Portland public schools can now go to school if they test positive for COVID-19, but are showing no symptoms. Some parents have expressed concern because that’s contrary to the guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. But the Oregon Health Authority has okayed that approach. [KGW]
Portland’s Most Underrated Gardening Season
Fall is one of the best times to put seeds and starts in the ground in the Pacific Northwest. Gabi Villaseñor from the local nonprofit Growing Gardens shares her picks for the crops you can plant right now. [City Cast Portland 🎧]
What To Do
📚 ‘The Quickening’ | Monday | 7 p.m.
Elizabeth Rush, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, followed a team of scientists studying the rapidly melting Thwaites Glacier, which could have a major impact on sea level rise. [Free, Pearl]
📖 Zadie Smith | Thursday | 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
The acclaimed novelist is the first star of this season’s Portland Arts & Lectures series. [$110+ for five lectures, Downtown]
🎀 ‘Taylor Swift — The Eras Tour’ | Oct. 13 | 6 & 10 p.m.
The movie version of the epically popular tour lands next month. Plan ahead for a ticket to opening night. [$20.89, Southeast Hawthorne]
Today on City Cast
Why Fall Is Portland’s Most Underrated Gardening Season
Many people think vegetable planting season comes once a year — in spring and early summer. But that’s not true! Gabi Villaseñor from the local nonprofit Growing Gardens shares her picks for the crops you can plant right now.
Just start where your interest is. If you’re like, gosh, I love broccoli, just start with broccoli. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
Here’s a fun fact I learned reading up for today’s newsletter:
The longest walkout by any state’s lawmakers was six months: Rhode Island Republicans in 1924 blocked an effort to call a state constitutional convention by fleeing to Massachusetts.
— Rachel Monahan
Edited by John Notarianni and copy edited by Giulia Fiaoni
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