🎨 An inspiring response to neighborhood blight

2nd Highest High School Graduation Rate

Oregon’s class of 2024 started high school remotely during the pandemic and found themselves behind in their coursework after that first year. But nonetheless they graduated in four years at the second highest numbers in state history, with an 81.8% graduation rate. [KGW]

• Key stat: That represents a half a percentage point increase from 2023’s statewide graduation rate. But Portland, Beaverton, Tigard-Tualatin, and North Clackamas school distrits all saw at least a half a percentage point drop in their graduation rates. [Oregonian]

Trump-Voting Counties To Hurt Most From His Possible Medicaid Cuts

The Oregon counties with the highest rates of Medicaid enrollment all voted for Trump. While the freeze on Medicaid reimbursements has ended, Republicans have said they still want to cut the health care program, even though that’s at the expense of their own voters. [Willamette Week]

• Example: 70% of voters supported Trump for president in Malheur County, where 51% of people are enrolled in Medicaid. [Willamette Week]

🍴 Flock Food Hall Is Open

A much anticipated food hall has opened on the first floor of the Ritz Carlton Portland. Tomorrow there’s a brewery event at Flock, and Sunday is the official grand opening. [Instagram]

🐐 Belmont Goats Want a Home

On the Friday news roundup, the Goat Blocks at Southeast 11th and Belmont gave the goat herd their name but were never meant to be a permanent home. The herd of aging goats (the youngest is 11) have had a series of different grazing pastures around town, but now they’re looking to move one last time. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Repeated graffiti tags on this stairwell inspired two neighbors to find an alternative. Anne Connell wrote in this week and definitely knows the location; she's the artist behind the image: “My friend and neighbor Anto Rayan printed and installed it,” wrote Connell.

Her parents, who also know the spot, wrote in, too:

“This mural points to the history of this area as ‘Goose Hollow,’” Terry Connell emailed. “It was placed at this location on the concrete wall below the stair steps in order to preclude painting graffiti on the concrete wall as much as possible. Since its creation it appears to have been purposeful for that reason, plus being an artistic delight for this neighborhood area.”

(For the record, I’ve heard from an artist at least one other time in response to the scavenger hunt, but this is the first time for parents too. I love it!)

Anne Connell and Anto Rayan posted their text exchange on Instagram (to explain how it came together), a video of the installation process, and some lovely shots of the artwork. It’s an inspiring response to neighborhood blight.

A shoutout to readers Brandon Sawyer, Erin Riley, Howie Bierbaum, Arleen Reetz, Bree, and Tom H. Hastings, who also knew the spot.

This week’s scavenger hunt is for a mural at a food cart pod:

If you’re new to the newsletter, every Friday there’s a scavenger hunt. To join in, please send me the location if you know it — and for unofficial bonus points, anything you know about it. In next week’s newsletter, I’ll shout out the first 10 readers to respond correctly.

For regular readers, I’m asking you to submit responses in a new way: Please click here to send me the location — and anything you know about it. (But if it’s easier for you, feel free to continue to email me instead.)

📸 Want to submit a photo? Please email me a snapshot of somewhere in the Portland metro area, and we’ll consider it for an upcoming Where Is It? segment!