🍕Your next favorite Portland pizza joint

💰 Budget Proposal Increases Funding in Key Areas

Governor Tina Kotek unveiled a budget proposal with $39.3 billion in general fund spending for the 2025-27 biennium, framing it as “grounded in the reality of our state.” The proposal includes $11.36 billion for public schools, $1.4 billion for housing initiatives, $700 million for homelessness programs, and $1.75 billion for the State Highways Fund. [Statesman Journal]

🦊 Found Arctic Fox Recovering from Illness

The abandoned fox Luna, rescued in Portland and relocated to Ochsner Park Zoo in Wisconsin last month, contracted salmon poisoning just after it arrived. Luna underwent intensive treatment and is expected to make a full recovery. [KATU]

🦘 Metro Eyes Zoo Expansion at Old Museum

Portland City Council will vote this week on whether to sell the former Portland Children's Museum site in Washington Park to Metro, which manages the Oregon Zoo. If the $3 million sale is approved, Metro would use the 3.4-acre lot to expand zoo operations and animal habitats. [Willamette Week]

🚔 Police Spent Big on Election-Protest Anticipation

The Portland Police Bureau spent $1.2 million on overtime during election week in anticipation of potential downtown protests, less than the $2 million the bureau budgeted. No such unrest materialized, but it’s part of PPB’s increasing overtime expenditure, which is expected to hit $25 million next year. [Oregonian 🔒]