Federal troop ban extended (for now

Judge Extends Order Blocking Federal Troops

Oregon U.S. District Judge Karin J. Immergut added a two-week extension to her orders blocking the deployment of National Guard members to Portland yesterday. She also plans to go ahead with a trial on the city and state's underlying lawsuit challenging the deployment — that's set for Oct. 29. Those extensions could be overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to offer its own ruling on the restraining orders soon. [Oregonian]

City Audit Finds Unstable Funding for Parks

In a few weeks, Portlanders will be voting on a 75% increase in the tax levy supporting our city's parks, but a new report from the city auditor's office says the parks system is running on an unsustainable funding model. The report blames the city's commission form of government for pouring money into new projects without a plan to maintain them long-term, leading to 90% of the Park Bureau's facilities currently being in poor condition. [OPB]

Gov. Kotek Slow-Rolling Her Own Transit Bill

After calling a special session of the Legislature to pass a major transit bill, Gov. Kotek is taking her sweet time signing it. Earlier this week, she suggested she might wait until Nov. 12, which is the last day for her to either sign or veto the legislation. That delays Republican opponents' ability to collect signatures for a voter referendum challenging the bill (they can't start collecting them until it's signed). [OPB]

Fall is the perfect time to visit Oregon's wine country, which has seen an infusion of restaurants run by high-caliber chefs from places like Portland and Napa Valley. On the City Cast Portland podcast, we’re talking with Portland Monthly’s editor-in-chief, Brooke Jackson-Glidden, about some of the most exciting chefs working in wine country and which wineries are serving much more than just cheese and crackers.