📈 Electricity, water, and gas bills are up

Banning Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

Portland became the first Oregon city to pass a ban on gas-powered leaf-blowers, joining 100 cities around the country and the state of California. The ban will phase in, beginning in 2026, but won’t go year-round until January 2028. Multnomah County is planning to provide assistance to small and immigrant-run landscaping businesses making the transition. [Oregonian]

Exclusive Soho House Club Opens

Soho House, a London-based chain of exclusive clubs, has opened its Portland location in what the New York Times calls “the gentrifying stretch of Portland known as the Central Eastside.” One could quibble: Post-pandemic, it’s hard to identify any commercial parts of town that are booming, and the area is technically the Buckman neighborhood. But what’s not in dispute is that the place is expensive ($1,950 per year) and has a rooftop pool. That doesn’t align with some people’s view of Portland as hometown to a bunch of hipsters. [New York Times]

• Related: Despite the Portlandia stereotype, the city does actually already have some elite institutions, such as the Arlington Club and Multnomah Athletic Club. [Portland Monthly]

Electricity, Water, and Gas Bills Are Up

This Friday’s news roundup includes never-ending utility rate hikes, the city and county’s joint plan to halve homelessness, and Portland Public Schools’ plan to address school days lost to the strike and winter storms. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

• Related: The Oregonian runs down the list of why utility bills are up — and what to do about it.

Relentless Utility Rate Hikes, Halving Homelessness by 2025, and Cutting Student Recess?

The city and county jointly plan to halve homelessness by 2025. There’s never-ending utility rate hikes. Portland Public Schools decided on a plan for addressing class time lost to the teachers strike and winter weather. Willamette Week’s "Potlander" column author Brianna Wheeler joins City Cast Portland host Claudia Meza and executive producer John Notarianni on this Friday news roundup.