📈 Where wages are growing faster than rent

Wages Up More Than Rent

Portland is one of six major cities in the U.S. where wage increases outpaced rising rents from 2019 to last year, according to a new study from the real estate firms Zillow and StreetEasy. (The other five from the largest 50 U.S. cities were Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Houston, San Francisco, and San Jose, Calif.) In Portland, rents dipped last year, as they did in Austin and San Francisco. [KOIN]

Plenty of Vacancies

Portland’s tourism industry — as measured by downtown hotel occupancy — hasn’t recovered as well as other major cities. Downtown hotels were 56% occupied last year, compared with 68% for Seattle. “We think that the news coverage, frankly, that we saw when the city was at the worst of its livability issues definitely had an effect,” says Marcus Hibdon, Travel Portland communications director. [Oregonian 🔒]

Surprise TikTok Fame for a Korean Mother

Local TikTok star Jane Kim aka “The Korean Mama” has attracted more than a million followers on social media platforms. Her son Ed began making videos of her joyful reactions to dining out at local restaurants. During this OPB interview, she enjoyed the “chewy” bread from Sebastiano’s. [OPB]

Charges for Alleged Killing Three Women

On the midweek news roundup, prosecutors have indicted Jesse Lee Calhoun for the alleged murder of three women, 10 months after media reports first named him as a suspect. He’s been in prison during the investigation on unrelated charges. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

If you haven’t yet cast your ballot, check out the Hey Portland newsletter guide to election guides!

There’s info on key congressional, statewide, and statehouse races, as well as local measures, Multnomah County’s district attorney and commissioner candidates.

Other tips:

📖 Crack open the book: It’s surprising how much you can learn from the official Voters’ Pamphlet. You can check it out online (for Oregon as well as Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties).

🔍 Look it up: Which district do you live in? Your ballot has the answer, but you can look it up with your address here:

• Congress and state legislative districts
• Multnomah County Board of Commissioners

🐟 Hate-read the newspaper endorsements. Or, more seriously, learn from their argument from the full spectrum of Portland politics: Portland Mercury (left), Oregonian (right), and Willamette Week (chaotic?).

🗳️ Find your closest ballot drop: It has to be in before 8 p.m. Or get tips on how to make sure your ballot is postmarked today.

Do you have other last-minute elections questions? Please drop me an email and I’ll do my best to answer it.

A High-Profile Murder Case, Scrutinizing the City Budget, and Good News on Gun Violence

On the midweek news roundup, Jesse Lee Calhoun was indicted for the murders of three women in the Portland area. Plus, there’s been a decrease in Portland shootings this year. And City Council unanimously approved Mayor Ted Wheeler’s $8.2 billion dollar budget for the fiscal year starting in July.