The 12-member Oregon State Board of Higher Education will welcome a new member in March: yesterday the Governor appointed Jill Eiland, the head of public affairs for Intel Corporation, to a seat on the board. The Board of Higher Education is in charge of administrative and finance decisions for Oregon’s seven public universities. One of […]
Stefan Kamph
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Good Morning, News!!
Dick Cheney once again gets to go snarl on television. Meanwhile, Biden smiles. Keep smiling, Biden! NATO rockets kill 12 civilians during a much-publicized offensive against the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan. A bomb in a restaurant kills foreign tourists in India, near Muslim and Jewish religious centers. Ammonia leaks on an astronaut while he’s building […]
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Schoolhouse Block
Teachers’ Contract Negotiations Reach Impasse
Portland Public Schools declares impasse in teachers’ contract negotiations.
Posted inPortland
Bitching About Portland: There’s an App for That!
The City of Portland has released its “Citizen Report” iPhone app for beta testing. Our good upstanding citizens can use it to report problems in the following categories: Graffiti, Park Maintenance, Parking, Sewer Cleaning, Street Lighting, and “Pothole.” You can also log your current location and take a photo of the problem. I chose “Street […]
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Starbase Contract Pulled from Board Agenda
I was expecting a pretty contentious Board of Education meeting last night—teacher contract woes, High School Redesign anxiety—but one controversial item was pulled from the agenda just hours before the meeting. The STARBASE program (yes, all caps, it’s one of those weird military acronyms) uses money from the Department of Defense’s recruiting budget to send […]
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Contract May Signal High School Closures
Portland’s Board of Education is scheduled to approve a $75,000 contract tonight to look at drawing new boundaries for the city’s high schools. The move, which comes before Portland Public Schools has officially announced plans to close any schools, has led some to ask whether closures are a foregone conclusion. For months, the school district […]
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Why Vancouver’s College Walkout Matters
Yesterday around 300 students walked out of afternoon classes at Washington State University in Vancouver, as part of a statewide protest against higher tuition. Their actions could serve as a warning to administrators at Portland State University (PSU), where students are speaking out against a plan to give individual universities more control over tuition and […]
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BREAKING: Teachers’ Contract Negotiations Break Down, Could Lead To Strike
Portland Public Schools has declared impasse in its months-long negotiations with the teachers’ union. After a 30-day cooling off period, the teachers could strike. Teachers disagree with PPS on issues like pay raises, workday limits, and insurance rates. Additionally, PPS could implement its final offer: essentially, pay the teachers what it wants or have them […]
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Dirty Duck, We Hardly Knew Ye
City council voted four-to-one yesterday to approve the demolition of the Dirty Duck building—even though the city’s own staff recommended preserving it. ILLUSTRATION BY ZACK SOTO THERE’S NO DUCK-ING THE WRECKING BALL The Portland Development Commission, which has owned the property since 1999, is handing it over to the Blanchet House of Hospitality so they […]
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The Wrong Chickens
Misdirected Theft Stops Would-Be Chicken Killer
A plan to slaughter chickens creates local uproar.
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Gettin’ Laid: Eastside Streetcar Tracks
Exciting news! Or bad news, if you hate streetcars! Today the first rails went in for the Eastside extension of the Portland Streetcar. The rails are being welded together in a staging area up the hill on Lloyd Boulevard, and installed on NE Grand Ave. The stretch directly in front of Metro headquarters is already […]