PORTLAND DRIZZLE

Thursday in my favorite city. Sunny today with highs near the mid-80s. Looks like construction has already begun at Lloyd Center, so I have for you a little glimpse of the future site. Also, some food carts pods downtown are closing.

Lloyd Center's mall is set to close August 8, 2026 and be demolished, replaced by a mixed-use neighborhood on the 29-acre site. The master plan calls for thousands of housing units, roughly a million square feet of office space, 457,000 square feet of retail, six acres of open space (including a park with a dog run and seasonal market square), and reconnected city streets. Portland's Design Commission and City Council have both signed off despite appeals from mall defenders; a new music venue is already under construction where Nordstrom used to be. ZGF

Two longtime downtown food cart pods, 19 carts total between Southwest 3rd and Washington and Southwest 2nd and Oak, will close later this year. Property owner Downtown Development Group says the city's waste-disposal rules, namely sewer hookups and grease traps, are too costly for lots meant to be temporary. The city says 77 pods have already complied. The Goodmans, who own a lot of downtown Portland's parking lots, apparently decided a permanent plumbing upgrade wasn't worth it for a cart pod. Somebody's gyro spot is paying for that math. Willamette Week

A Portland man who sold drugs at the TriMet station on 122nd and Burnside for years just got 90 months to think about it. Elliot Mejia accepted a plea deal after security footage caught him repeatedly dealing at the East Portland stop, footage the Multnomah County DA's office says made the case. "This is our office saying, 'Enough is enough,'" said Deputy DA Branden Meadows, which is either a real turning point in transit crime enforcement or a line that's been said at every one of these press conferences since 2019. Either way, businesses near that stop have been dealing with the fallout for years, and TriMet's cameras finally did something about it. KPTV

Pickathon returns to Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley tonight for its 26th year, running through Sunday. The lineup leans on legends this time: Steve Earle, Built to Spill, Shakey Graves, and Marcos Valle headline, alongside Portland's own Quasi. Expect boutique forest stages, farm-to-table dining, and the usual zero-waste ethos this beloved indie-discovery fest is known for. WEBSITE

In 1865, six years after carrying the news of Oregon statehood up the Willamette River, the paddlewheeler Brother Jonathan wrecked off the California coast. Honestly I wish I had a ship for every day of the year in this section. I’d do it!

by Michael Simpson Contact: [email protected]