The Liftoff: Oregon congressional candidate makes national headlines
The Liftoff: Oregon congressional candidate makes national headlines
PLUS: PPS strike ends; group tries to block Trump ballot access; Merkley calls for ceasefire; religious nonprofit makes millions from DHS; the end of the "Civil War"; and more!
Welcome back to The Liftoff! We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!
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1. Portland public school teachers reach tentative deal
Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) finalized a tentative agreement Sunday afternoon, meaning 43,000 students will return to school Monday for the first time since Halloween.
Earlier this weekend, PAT had agreed to add back all 11 days of class that students have missed as full teaching days this school year, but the sides have not agreed on when those will take place, reports The Oregonian.
The week started in a flurry, with PAT rejecting a settlement proposal from Portland Public Schools last Monday night, citing concerns over changes the district made to their proposal for class size committees. Also of note from reporting in The Oregonian:
A car and a house owned by two board members were vandalized overnight in apparent reference to the contract dispute. Board Chair Gary Holland’s car was spray painted with the word, “shame,” the district said. A home owned by board member Julia Brim-Edwards was also hit with graffiti. It’s unclear who was behind the vandalism.
One of the key figures in the strike is Angela Bonilla, President of the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT). Willamette Week features her this week, writing:
Bonilla’s allies say she’s the only person resolute enough to force the school district to dedicate every available dollar to classrooms rather than its bloated administration. But in recent days, the strike has turned bitter, and her critics—who now include an increasing number of burned-out parents—say she has exploited the frustrations of teachers and families to pursue an agenda that isn’t supported by actual budget numbers. In a sign of the acrimony, Bonilla originally agreed to an interview with WW but backed out two weeks later via a curt message from her spokeswoman.
Portland Public School students are as many as six days short of the state’s required instructional time. One idea floated by the district would delay the start of winter break by a full week until Dec. 23, extend the school year by three days to June 14 and reclaim a holiday and scheduled teacher work days to recoup all 11 school days students have missed, reports The Oregonian.
2. “Scandal marred” OLCC audit stands, gun laws revoked by Harney Count judge, and more state news
A Harney County judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Oregon from enforcing gun control Measure 114, ruling it infringes on the constitutionally protected right to bear arms. The state is expected to appeal the ruling and the case will likely end up before the Oregon Supreme Court, according to The Oregonian.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon: “The Harney County judge’s ruling is wrong. Worse, it needlessly puts Oregonians’ lives at risk. The state will file an appeal and we believe we will prevail.”
Oregon Secretary of State Griffin-Valade released her review of the “scandal-marred” OLCC cannabis audit performed under former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, reports the Oregon Capital Chronicle. In a press release, Griffin-Valade said the audit is of the same quality as others by the agency and should be treated the same way and remain posted online.
Marion County District Attorney Paige Clarkson has asked Gov. Tina Kotek to revoke commutations for 57 people. These individuals were among the 138 Marion County inmates released early when Gov. Kate Brown commuted their sentences to reduce prison populations during the Covid pandemic and to reward inmates who served on wildfire crews, reports the Salem Reporter.
OPB’s Lauren Dake dropped a bombshell report: Oregon DHS is placing foster children in unlicensed short-term rental homes and paying a religious nonprofit more than 100 times the amount they pay foster care parents to watch children in unregulated short-term rental homes. The nonprofit, Dynamic Life Inc., was founded by a former pastor based in Keizer, Oregon.
Willamette Week reports that the Oregon Medical Board has accused “the new medical director of Multnomah County’s jails of ‘gross negligence’ in his care of two patients while in his previous role as a surgeon at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City.”
Eleazar Lawson was licensed to practice medicine in Oregon in 2019, and the investigation relates to surgeries he performed in 2020 and 2021—before his tenure with the Multnomah County jails.
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4. Metro Councilor Christine Lewis on housing, climate, and transportation
Metro Councilor Christine Lewis has had an extensive career in Oregon politics. A Portland Business Journal "40 Under 40" honoree, she graduated from Reed College and quickly entered the world of political organizing. She has worked as campaign manager for former Senate President Peter Courtney, former State Rep. and Multnomah County Commissioner Jules Bailey, and several ballot measures. She also worked on the "official side" (non-campaign) for then-Speaker Tina Kotek, the City of Portland, and the Bureau of Labor and Industries.
In 2018, she was elected as a Metro Councilor representing a large district including much of Clackamas County and parts of Multnomah and Washington. In this episode, we talk about Christine's career in politics and how Metro intersects with the most important policy issues facing the Portland area today: housing, homelessness, transportation, and more.
5. Portland profiled by the Wall Street Journal; Oregon congressional candidate in the New York Post
Headline from the WSJ: “Once the Cutting Edge of Cool, Portland Is Now Taking Lessons From Milwaukee”. Read the full story here.
In other national news, Oregon congressional candidate Courtney Casgraux, who is challenging Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici in the Democratic primary, appeared in The New York Post. Here’s the headline: “Democrat doxxed as dominatrix bolsters congressional campaign with Playboy profile”
The mayors of Troutdale, Wood Village, and Fairview sent a letter to Multnomah County demanding the county address the lack of ambulances, reports WW. The county’s contractor, American Medical Response, has struggled to to staff its ambulances, and there are 50 open, unstaffed shifts, according to the letter. The county recently fined AMR $500,000 for not meeting contractual response time guidelines.
From WW: "The letter endorses a strategy to fix the problem proposed by AMR—replacing one of the two paramedics in each ambulance with a lesser-trained emergency medical technician. According to AMR, Multnomah County is the only one of its ‘267 operations’ that has a ‘dual medic requirement,’ says the letter.”
More news from around the region:
According to OPB, the Burnside Bridge will be “fully closed” for five years (!!!) starting in 2027 for a seismic rebuild.
From The Oregonian: “Multnomah County mental health leaders agree some patients need involuntary treatment — but where?”
A jarring excerpt from a piece in the Willamette Week: “From 2010 to 2020, the Oregon secretary of state’s Elections Division received an average of 188 complaints a year. Since 2020, that average has more than doubled to 388 per year, including a record 431 received through the first 11 months of this year—which features barely any elections.”
From The Oregonian: “Unhoused Portlanders account for 45% of pedestrian traffic fatalities so far this year”
According to Willamette Week, La Mota founder Rosa Cazares has been at work expanding in the state of New Mexico.
6. Sports Round Up: Ducks and Huskies rematch, devastation for Oregon State football, Lillard speaks out, and more!
The University of Oregon Ducks are set for a rematch against the Washington Huskies in the PAC-12 championship to be played in Vegas next Friday in a must-win game for both teams. Washington won in a nail bitter last time and whoever comes out on top is likely to make the college football playoffs.
Oregon Ducks Quarterback Bo Nix is leading in the run for the Heisman Trophy right now as he also cements himself as the leader in passing yards.
After Oregon State’s loss to the University of Oregon at Friday’s annual Civil War game, news broke that OSU’s football coach Jonathan Smith is leaving to become coach at Michigan State. This comes after the dissolution of the PAC-12, which also saw notable Beavers players opting to transfer in another major blow for the University’s football program.
Recommended reading this week from Bill Oram, columnist for The Oregonian: “The death of a rivalry, a lifelong Oregon-Oregon State observer’s lament”
Former Trailblazers all-star Damian Lillard spoke out on a podcast about why he thought it was time to leave Rose City. Lillard highlighted that he didn’t think the Blazers franchise was ready in terms of winning a championship.
7. News Roundup: Merkley calls for ceasefire, group attempts to block Trump ballot access, and more!
Sen. Jeff Merkley on Monday became the first member of Oregon’s congressional delegation to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, joining one other senator and 40 members of the U.S. House.
A group called Free Speech for People is pressing officials in Oregon to keep Republican front-runner and former President Donald Trump off of the presidential primary ballot. The organization is leading efforts in a number of other states as well. Julia Shumway has the story for the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Beaverton City Councilor Nadia Hasan was the subject of a story in The Oregon Capital Chronicle titled: “Beaverton city councilor questions whether Hamas attack happened as tensions run high”
Jails across Oregon are struggling to provide support for those battling substance abuse. Taylor Bayly has the story for the Bend Bulletin.
For the first time in over 15 years, the University of Oxford has awarded its prestigious scholarship Rhodes Scholarship to a University of Oregon student, reports KGW. Nayantara Arora is one of 32 U.S. recipients of the scholarship.
What’s going on in Brookings? Here’s a headline from OPB: “Brookings City Council to appoint new members, rankling recall campaigners”
Tips? Feedback? Ideas? Corrections? Email benjaminwbowman@gmail.com or kristinaedmunson@gmail.com.
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About the Authors
Ben Bowman is the state representative for Oregon House District 25 (Tigard, Metzger, and South Beaverton) and a member of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board. In his day job, he works as an administrator for a public school district. Previously, he worked as a legislative aide for former Reps. Margaret Doherty and Val Hoyle. He also co-hosts The Oregon Bridge podcast. In the newsletter and podcast, he speaks only for himself.
Alex Titus is a small business owner and consultant to businesses, nonprofits, and associations. Previously, he served as an Advisor in the Trump Administration and as a Policy Advisor to President Trump’s Super PAC. His writing has appeared in National Review, Fox News, The Hill, RealClearPolitics, and other publications.
Kristina Edmunson has been everything from press assistant for Gov. Kulongoski, media advance associate for VP Biden, and communications director for AG Rosenblum. Born and raised in Eugene, she has been involved in some of the biggest policy and legal decisions in Oregon over the last decade. Today, she runs her own communications practice, and sits on Multnomah County’s Community Involvement Community. She speaks only for herself in The Liftoff.