How $1.2 million changes a political campaign

Portland Public Schools Cutting 200 Jobs

Faced with budget cuts for next fall, Portland Public Schools is cutting 200 full-time jobs, divided between jobs in school buildings and district administrative posts. Assistant librarians are among those losing their jobs. [KATU]

City Council a No on Gonzalez Camping Ban

After backtracking on the stiffer penalties he was proposing, Commissioner Rene Gonzalez still got a no on his amendment to Mayor Ted Wheeler’s revised camping ban. Voting 3-to-2, the council rejected the idea of centralizing future camping ban decisions under the mayor’s authority. The council will vote in two weeks on whether to adopt the Wheeler camping ban. [OPB]

PAC Spends $1.2M in Congressional Race

A political action committee has snapped up $1.2 million in ads in a key Portland Democratic congressional primary. The 314 Action Fund supports scientists running for office and is backing Dr. Maxine Dexter, a former state legislator, over Susheela Jayapal, a former Multnomah County commissioner. It shifts the dynamics of that race where Jayapal had previously reported more fund-raising. [Oregonian 🔒]

The Uncertain Future for Empty Senior Housing

On the Friday news roundup, what’s going to happen to an empty building in North Portland that used to be senior housing? [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Homeless Shelters That Work, Cheap-Ass Apartment Buildings, and Empty Senior Housing

On this Friday news roundup, there are answers to why a North Portland affordable housing development for seniors is sitting empty, which type of homeless shelters are most successful, and whether Metro should be diverting supportive housing services dollars to buy existing cheap residential properties. KOIN 6 investigative reporter Elise Haas joins City Cast Portland podcast host Claudia Meza and executive producer John Notarianni.