🔥 Early warning on Oregon’s wildfire season

Alarm Bells for Wildfire Season

Last year wildfires burned a record number of acres in Oregon. And this summer’s temperatures and precipitation are looking “eerily similar,” according to the meteorologist in charge of helping the Northwest region prepare. [Oregonian]

Dramatic Improvement in Ambulance Response

In the last week of March, an ambulance was available for every emergency call in Multnomah County. That sounds like a baseline expectation — but it represents a big change from last year, when all ambulances were busy for 20 to 30 hours each week. [KGW]

$1.4B a Year To Repair and Maintain the City’s Infrastructure

On the Friday news roundup, the city of Portland needs to spend a billion dollars more per year to maintain existing infrastructure, according to an audit released this week. That’s up from about $300 million a decade ago, because costs have grown as the city delayed addressing its maintenance backlog. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

This Bigfoot sculpture is a much beloved figure, judging from the responses I got to last week’s scavenger hunt:

“This is 10-foot tall ‘Miles.’ He lives in Sellwood, located by the store, Foot Traffic! He represents the idea to 'Go by Foot' for the store. This statue used to be inside their original location and was moved outside.” — Scot Wavra

“He moved.... We were afraid he was GONE, but [he] just moved.” — Kellie R.

“I love this carving. It has so much emotion. It almost makes me cry. But it makes me very happy!” — Tama

“Sometimes it wears a bikini or other clothes.” – Nastasia S.

“I walk past this statue all the time, and it stands out to me, because for some reason they gave him an overly well-defined ass 😭 I saw this photo and said, ‘That’s cheeked-up Bigfoot.’” — Saylor

“Sometimes they turn Bigfoot… or does Bigfoot turn on their own?” — Rick Turoczy

There was an exuberant response this week, and the first 10 readers to respond correctly all had their answers in before 7 a.m. A shoutout to the early birds: Kellie R., Lori S., Christine S., Heidi Franklin, Joe G., Erica Blair, Poodle, Brian C., Hank, and AV.

Where is this spot? (Hint: I hope to see you there soon.)

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!