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🪐Thursday, almost Friday. Mid-60s today, mostly cloudy, maybe a drizzle — genuinely fine March weather. The board at PCC will meet today and hopefully end the strike. Traffic deaths are down significantly. And March Madness is happening at the Moda Center right now.
🚨 THE NEWS
City Has $9M in Unspent Arts Tax Cash. Arts Orgs Are Furious.
City Auditor Simone Rede dropped a report Wednesday finding that Portland isn't effectively managing its arts tax — and this is the second audit in ten years to say exactly that. The audit found the city has never established standards to measure whether funded programs are actually working. The fund is sitting on roughly $9 million in unallocated dollars — all while arts nonprofits have seen a significant dip in grants. Fifty Portland arts organizations sent a letter to elected officials asking to tap those reserves. City Council President Jamie Dunphy has promised reform in April — starting with distributing the unspent funds and eventually exploring replacing the flat $35 tax with a fee on streaming services like Netflix and Spotify. The arts tax has been unpopular since 2012. Now the organizations it was supposed to help are the ones complaining loudest.
Your Roof Is Grimier Than You Think. Yeti Softwash Can Fix That.
You've power-washed your deck. You've cleaned your gutters out (okay, maybe once). But when's the last time you looked up? Portland's legendary rain and shade are beautiful until they turn your roof into a moss farm. Yeti Softwash uses low-pressure soft washing to blast away algae, moss, and grime without damaging your shingles — plus full gutter cleaning and pressure washing for the rest of the property. One call, whole house done. Before the next rainy season parks itself on your roof for six months, maybe let the professionals handle it.
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Portland Traffic Deaths Hit Lowest Level Since 2018
In 2025, 39 people were killed in traffic crashes in Portland — a 38% decrease from the average of the previous four years, and the lowest total since 2018. Deaths in East Portland fell 56%. The yearly total is a steep drop from the record 69 deaths in 2023. The city credits Vision Zero — reduced speed limits, upgraded cameras, and improved intersections. Still, 33% of people killed were 65 or older, and 51% were pedestrians. Twenty percent of pedestrian deaths involved people experiencing houselessness. Progress, with asterisks.
Blazers Keep Playoff Push Alive with Blowout in Brooklyn
The Portland Trail Blazers didn't trail for a single second in Monday's 114-95 demolition of the Brooklyn Nets, building a lead as large as 31 points. The win keeps Portland in the hunt for a home play-in game, a notable development in a rebuild year that has been more interesting than most expected. The Blazers' fate this season has taken on added significance following NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's visit to Moda Center last week — one week after Oregon lawmakers approved hundreds of millions in Moda Center renovations. Nobody in the Rose Quarter is saying the two things are connected. Nobody isn't saying it either.
📚 ON THIS DAY
On March 19, 2011, the Portland Timbers played their inaugural MLS match, kicking off a new era for soccer in the Rose City. Portland lost 1-0 to Real Salt Lake — but the city showed up, and they never stopped.
🥳 UPCOMING EVENTS
🌧️ Well…
Keep your fingers crossed that PCC and the teachers can reach an agreement today. Oh, and stay hydrated.
by Michael Simpson Contact: [email protected]