🌊 The ‘graveyard of the Pacific’ as economic indicator

Impact of ODOT’s $1B Budgeting Error

The Oregon Department of Transportation miscalculated when the agency would receive federal reimbursements — leaving a $1 billion budget hole. Now the agency will need to delay projects, but officials aren’t yet identifying which ones. [KGW]

Economic Indicator at the Pacific

Conditions for ships are so hazardous at the mouth of the Columbia River that it’s nicknamed the “graveyard of the Pacific” and requires special Columbia River Bar pilots to guide ships across. As a result, the pilots have a good view of what’s happening with commerce — and there’s bad news. [OPB]

• Current indicator: There’s a slowdown in trade.
• Future concern: A 30% cut in Oregon’s National Weather Service staff may cause further slowdowns.

Passing the Blame Over the County’s Budget Shortfall

On the Friday news roundup, the fingerpointing continues over Multnomah County’s now $70 million budget deficit for addressing homelessness. Who’s to blame? [City Cast Portland 🎧]

I visited the waterfront north of Burnside recently to check on the status of the cherry blossoms (not yet!), and I was struck by the memorial — and particularly this sculpture.

“The Japanese American Historical Plaza at Waterfront Park! I can’t wait to get down there in a few weeks to enjoy the cherry blossoms. 🌸” writes reader Ben Toledo.

At the entrance to the plaza is “Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience” — twin bronze pillars (one of which was last week’s scavenger hunt). They’re the work of the late sculptor Jim Gion, whose work can be seen around Portland. (His sculpture of an immigrant out in Parkrose was featured in a previous scavenger hunt.)

“I love to come here in the spring and sit and sketch. The first time I spotted these faces, I found them arresting: haunting and melancholic. They really moved me,” writes reader Davida Fernandez.

The place is a reminder of a dark moment in local history that began on Feb. 19, 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order resulting in the imprisonment of 120,000 people of Japanese descent from the West Coast.

“It is to remember and commemorate the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII,” writes reader Randy F. “I'm originally from Southern California, and many of my relatives were interned during the war.”

In the plaza are 10 stones, representing each internment camp. And the paving stones’ layout has meaning too:

“The irregularly shaped paving stone represents the way Japanese Americans’ lives were disrupted during their xenophobic internment in WW2,” writes reader Emily G.

“Every August there is a commemoration of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki here, usually on Aug 6, sponsored by Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility and many other groups. The plaza was designed by Robert Murase, a celebrated local landscape architect,” adds reader Anne McL.

Shoutout to the rest of the readers who answered correctly: Carol P., Paula P., Erin, and Peggy Flynn.

This week’s scavenger hunt is from senior producer Giulia Fiaoni:

Where is this mural? Please click here to send me the location — and anything you know about it.

If you’re new to the newsletter, there’s a scavenger hunt every Friday. 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 who respond correctly (and reveal the answer).

📸 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!