🪿 Portland poised to ban foie gras

City Council Poised To Pass Foie Gras Ban

In a vote scheduled for tomorrow, City Council will likely ban foie gras — after agreeing to a compromise that gives restaurants and stores 180 days to comply. Councilor Steve Novick cited animal cruelty as he publicly joined a voting block of six councilors who likely favor the ban. Just seven restaurants and one store sell foie gras in Portland, but the issue was fiercely debated. [Willamette Week]

Longview Investigation Threatened by Trump Budget

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board's ongoing investigation into what caused the deadly chemical tank implosion in Longview, Wash. may be cut short. President Trump's proposed budget, which would be enacted in October if approved by Congress, would completely defund the CSB — the only federal agency that looks into chemical disasters. The board is currently understaffed because the President decided to leave three out of five seats empty. [OPB]

$2K for the Average Portland Water/Sewer Bill

Portland households will see their water and sewer bills jump by 6.36% beginning July 1, pushing the average annual cost to $2,046 per year — with projections showing that the average bill could reach over $2,600 annually by 2030. The announcement comes a week after Portland City Council approved a deluge of rate increases to cover revenue gaps: The cost of street parking, garbage and recycling rates, and the arts tax are all going up, too. [Oregonian]

In a couple months — on Aug. 8 — Portland will see the closing of the once-landmark Lloyd Center mall and its ice-skating rink. We’re marking the end of an era by asking for your memories of the mall. Today a couple of your fellow readers are looking back fondly:

“Walking the mall on rainy days before it was completely roofed and enclosed. Skating when the rink was humongous. Joe Brown’s caramel corn at every visit. Barnes & Noble for books and magazines (remember those?). The crazy, pillared parking garage. Movies at the cinema across the street. Dinners at Stanford’s.” — Tim Casebeer, Goose Hollow

“I worked at the Lloyd Center Hot Topic in the late 90’s (back when Hot Topic was still cool!). There used to be this retro-style diner on the very VERY top floor called Billy Heartbeats and you could smoke cigarettes there, which was awesome to then 19-year-old me, but sounds disgusting today. There was another restaurant there called Paradise Bakery; they had a Cobb salad sandwich on the menu that I ate alllll the time. I still think about that sandwich. I also have nightmares to this day about the holiday shopping season and our itty-bitty, way-too-full store.” — Misty D.

📲 Have fond recollections? Please email us your memories of our mall.