🤖 A Portland city councilor’s valuable assistant

Electric Vehicles To Cost More

Environmental advocates are criticizing a key aspect of Gov. Tina Kotek’s transportation bill — the proposal to tax electric vehicles 2 cents a mile as a road usage charge. They’re arguing that will leave EVs paying more than gas-powered cars. [OPB]

• Related: On the Friday news roundup, the bill, being debated this weekend during a special session of the Legislature, would also hike the gas tax by 6 cents. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Ignoring Existing Parking Policies

Also on the Friday news roundup, the city hiked parking fees in July, contrary to its own policies about when that should happen — including how busy existing meters are. Portland City Councilor Olivia Clark, chair of the transportation committee, said she was unaware of the policies when the Council approved the increased parking fees. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

City Councilor’s AI Assistant

Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos has been getting a lot of help from ChatGPT, including with a personal column she launched on her website earlier this month. The use of AI remains controversial in part because of its tendency to “hallucinate” — i.e., make up facts — but Avalos says it’s been a useful tool. [Oregonian 🔒]

Last week’s scavenger hunt was for the windows of 2139 N. Kerby St. (I’ve included a different view on those windows for today’s photos.)

That’s “the building Uroboros Glass in North Portland made infamous when the neighborhood worried about glass manufacturing giving off harmful chemicals (with Bullseye in SE),” wrote reader Liz.

“It used to be an art glass company, but was forced out of business during the Portland air/toxic crisis in 2016,” wrote reader Keith Johnson. “I worked for DEQ at the time and ran some inspections. They made red glass and yellow glass for local stoplights.”

It’s now owned by PNCA.

A shoutout to them and readers Peggy Pf and Nan, who also identified the location.

Here’s another scavenger hunt from photographer Mark E. McClure:

Where's this mural?

Please click here to send me the location — and, for unofficial bonus points, anything you know about it.

If you’re new to the newsletter, there’s a scavenger hunt (almost) every Friday. 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!