City Cast Portland
📚 Why Portland high schoolers are reading more this fall
October 20, 2025 · — Rachel Monahan
Good morning, Portland! As the weather gets rainier, our coffee shops get all the more inviting. Here’s our picks for the best coffee shops around town, including Dear Sandy, Tov Coffee, and Proud Mary — as well as Heart Coffee Roasters (where I regularly write this newsletter).
What's DC Talking About
Increase in Immigration Arrests
Immigration attorneys say there’s been a “wave of coordinated arrests” of farmworkers as well as a series of high-profile arrests — with immigration officers appearing outside schools in Wilsonville and Woodburn, and a construction worker taken by eight officers. Those incidents and calls to immigration services hotlines point to a spike in arrests last week. [OPB]
Cell Phone Ban Means Busy School Libraries
After Portland Public Schools started banning cell phones during school hours, students are checking out more books from school libraries. It’s part of a trend seen nationally. Lincoln High School has seen a particularly dramatic spike — a 55% increase in circulation — after students had to get rid of their phones this fall. [Willamette Week]
An Unusual Pick for Portland WNBA Team Coach
The new coach of the Portland Fire is British and has never coached in the WNBA. And the announcement of Alex Sarama, 30, as head coach was prematurely made public on a LinkedIn post last week and hastily deleted. But the pick is real, and his fans say Sarama’s coaching techniques are helping change professional basketball. [Oregonian]
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What To Do
Monday, Oct. 20
- 🎵 Ali Sethi | Aladdin Theater (Brooklyn neighborhood)
- 🧘 The Journey Within | Oregon Convention Center
- 👗 Sustainable Legacies (Portland TextileX Month exhibit) | Portland State Art Building
- 😆 Monday Material Comedy Open Mic | Coffee Beer (Creston - Kenilworth)
- 🖼️ People's History Museum of Lloyd Center Mall | Lloyd Center
Tuesday, Oct. 21
- 👻 Science Pub: How Magicians Used Science to Create Ghosts | Kennedy School
- 🎵 Lorde | Moda Center (Lloyd District)
- 💚 Tour the Portland City Archives | Portland City Archives (Downtown)
- 🎻 M. Ward with the Oregon Symphony | Revolution Hall
Wednesday, Oct. 22
- 📽️ She/They/Us: No Man’s Land Film Festival | Mazama Mountaineering Center (Sunnyside)
- 💪 City Club: Homelessness Panel Discussion | Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub (Downtown)
- 🩰 White Bird: Limón Dance Company | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
- 🎻 Evergreen | World Forestry Center (Washington Park)
- 🏀 Portland Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (home opener) | Moda Center
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Today on City Cast Portland
Where to Warm Up with Portland's Best Coffee
Portland is known as a coffee town, with hundreds of shops to choose from. But which ones are the best? The City Cast Podcast team — Claudia Meza, John Notarianni, and Giulia Fiaoni — discuss our city’s ultimate coffee shops, including picks from the newsletter and podcast audience.
If I’m gonna go and catch up with a friend or just really luxuriate in a cup of coffee, I feel like that’s my space.
A shoutout to all the new City Cast Portland Neighbors who joined in the last week: Peter B., Christina Marie R., Laura A., and Diane A. I’m so glad you’ve joined! And thank you for supporting our work.
Our membership program comes with some key benefits, including:
- 🗓️ Weekly events preview — a roundup of fun and interesting things to do, delivered every Monday
- 🌟 Members-only events — insider tours, volunteer meetups, happy hours
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