PORTLAND DRIZZLE

Friday's sunny and warm, high near 87, after a smoky week that twice hit 100 degrees. PSU finalized its layoff plan, motorcycle deaths are way up citywide, and the Blazers still haven't texted the city back about Moda Center money. Thorns host Gotham FC tonight, and tomorrow thousands of Portlanders will get naked and ride bikes through town. Ding ding!

Portland State's cost-cutting saga has an ending, sort of. University leaders scaled back their layoff plan from 52 positions to 36, plus three cut to part-time, after months of faculty pushback. Two departments, University Studies and Conflict Resolution, still get shuttered entirely, along with cuts across six others including History and Philosophy. The moves are meant to close a $35 million budget hole driven by enrollment that's dropped 23% since 2019. Faculty who volunteered to retire or cut their hours saved some colleagues' jobs, and PSU is giving remaining laid-off instructors until June 2027 before they're out the door. Small mercy, big spreadsheet. OPB

Portland's motorcycle deaths are up bad this year, 11 of the city's 25 traffic fatalities, more than 50% above the four-year average and double last year's pace. Police say it's a mix of speeding, illegal lane splitting, and riders going too fast for the road. Four of those 11 deaths came this month alone, almost all after dark. PBOT says the deaths are preventable if everyone just slows down. Sure, but try telling that to someone weaving through rush-hour traffic on I-84. No bicyclists have died in traffic this year, for what it's worth. KPTV

A Troutdale man is facing a stack of felony charges after police say he drove a car straight through a Southeast Portland Sherwin-Williams, hurting two people inside, then fled on foot. Before breaking into a nearby home, John Graff allegedly stashed a loaded revolver in a mailbox down the block, apparently hoping to deal with that problem later. Officers tracked him to the home's basement and took him into custody. Police recovered the gun. Graff, 55, was booked on charges including burglary, assault, reckless endangerment, and DUII. Police Chief Bob Day said the incident "could have had far more serious consequences," which feels like an understatement for a day that started at a paint store and ended in someone's basement. portland.gov

Guys I messed up- yesterday I mentioned that Willamette Week had just published their polling results for 2026 Best of Portland, but did I share it with you? I did not. Well here’s the goods- see who readers voted as the best Portlander, the best drinks, the best cannabis and more. If I want to ever win '‘Best Newsletter” I’d better start by sharing these links while they’re hot.

On this day in 1952, Gus Van Sant, Oregon's most celebrated filmmaker, the guy behind Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, was born in Louisville, Kentucky. Here’s a cool video that shows Portland locations from Drugstore Cowboy compared with now

The forecast called for lightning. I wrote that there would be lightning. And somehow I was still shocked to see it.

by Michael Simpson Contact: [email protected]