Where to find Portland’s best cocktails

Will the Strike Last Through Thanksgiving?

Portland Public Schools are closed again. There were no negotiations between the district and the Portland Association of Teachers yesterday. Parents are starting to worry that the strike is going to last all week, which means kids won’t return to school till after Thanksgiving break. While there was progress over the weekend on a compromise, the sides are still far apart on raises for teachers. [KGW, OPB]

Drug Decriminalization in Portugal

Oregon elected officials and other leaders traveled to Portugal to learn from the country’s longtime drug decriminalization policy, in effort to improve Measure 110, Oregon’s decriminalization law. The leaders may draw from Portugal’s “better prevention strategy, coordination between police and treatment providers, and a focus on reducing overdose deaths,” the Oregonian reports. But the differences are notable: Portugal hasn’t had to deal with fentanyl and methamphetamine, which makes Oregon’s drug problems starkly different. [Oregonian 🔒]

Pikas Are Back

A recent survey of the Columbia Gorge pikas found the population is recovering from the 2017 Eagle Creek fire, with the animals found at 61 of 76 sites. Admirers of the species have compared this cousin of rabbits to a squeak toy on steroids for their distinctive sound. Elsewhere in the world pikas live above the snowline, but the Columbia Gorge pikas are an anomaly for their low-elevation habitat. [OPB]

• Related: Why Oregon needs sea otters. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

The pink and purple trolls are lurking under the McNamee railroad trestle in far Northwest Portland, at 16498 NW McNamee Rd. They’re a bit of Portland’s quirkiness, all from visitors who’ve added to the collection.

Apparently, the trolls get cleaned off from time to time (or stolen). So there’s no guarantee you’ll find them there, but you can always bring your own to pin up to the spot, as some of you have.

A shoutout to readers who knew the spot: Corbin C, Kostas, Lisa McMaster, Darcy Gabriele, Piper Keating, Everett in Woodstock, Jamie Brewer, and Angela Goldsmith, as well as Greg Lang, who wrote “My niece has a troll or two tacked up on the bridge!” and Lindsay, who wrote: “Took my family there on their first visit to Portland … Of course we added to the collection of trolls!

If you too decide to make an outing of it, Sauvie Island is not far, and a couple of readers recommended the nearby Burlington Creek Trail.

This mural is a preview for an episode of the City Cast Portland podcast that’s slated to air next week. Do you know the location?

🎁 Small Shops Big Hearts ‘Win Big’ | Thursday - Dec. 10 | Various Times

Register for a raffle to win airfare, Blazers tickets, or more when you shop at a long list of local small businesses, including Le Pigeon, Betsy & Iya, Pizza Schmizza, and Insomnia Coffee. [Free, Various Locations]

🖌️ ‘Yishai Jusidman: Prussian Blue’ | Wednesday - Sunday | 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Mexican artist created a series of paintings on the Holocaust, most using Prussian blue — an artificial pigment created in 1704, and found on the walls of Nazi gas chambers, because it is also a byproduct of Zyklon B gas. [$10, Pearl District]

🎥 ‘Song That Burns’ / ‘Canción Que Quema’ | Wednesday | 7:30 p.m.

Part of the Latin American Film Festival, the 2003 music documentary from Mexico follows the rock band San Pascualito Rey. The band’s frontman Pascual Reyes, who also directed the film, will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening. [$14, Hollywood]

Best Bars for Alcohol-Free Drinks and Fun

Portland has plenty of incredible bars, but how about for people who are sober or sober-curious? Today Portland Monthly food editor Katherine Chew Hamilton shares her picks for the best Portland bars where you can find excellent non-alcoholic drinks or where drinking isn’t the main focus.