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Good morning, Portland! Things are heating up this week. Today, we’re in for a high of 80 degrees, but by this weekend, temps are expected to reach the high 90s.
Side note: There are roughly five weeks of summer left. Let’s cool it with all the “end of summer” sales and social media posts. We don’t care if your kids are back in school. DO NOT deprive us of the most glorious season Oregon has to offer.
That was a public service announcement. Now here’s the news.
In Local News:
• Last year, Carpenter Media bought up two major Oregon news companies–Pamplin Media Group and EO Media Group. Pamplin published the Portland Tribune and about a dozen other community-focused newspapers in the surrounding suburbs. EO Media Group published papers in Eastern Oregon, including the Bend Bulletin. Many of those newspapers weren’t doing great financially, but now several are either gone or have seen sizable reductions. The Portland Tribune is down to two news staffers, and is now web-only. Other community papers like the Sandy Post and Estacada News saw their lone reporter laid off and their print editions discontinued. In central Oregon, reporters at the Bend Bulletin are fighting with Carpenter for a living wage. Read the latest from Abe Asher about how a media giant’s expansion into Oregon caused the news landscape to shrink.
In 2024, Carpenter Media acquired two major Oregon newspaper companies, including Pamplin Media Group. So far, Carpenter's ownership role has been marked by labor fights, layoffs, and the discontinuation of select print products in an aggressive move to cut costs.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com)August 19, 2025 at 7:31 AM
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• A lot of cool shit is happening across the city, from live music, to sports, comedy, and more. Need help deciding what to do with yourself? Our weekly Do This; Do That installment is here for you! Revel in it. Let it remind you that Portland is buzzing with entertainment and art.
What are you up to this week? If your answer falls somewhere along the lines of "Uhhhh, I dunno..." then do we have the roundup for YOU. This week: Roller derby, environmental art, and dozens of DIY cartoonists dropping by Lloyd Center.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) August 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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• Organizers of the annual Rose Festival and the Waterfront Blues Festival say they’re struggling to keep up with permit fees levied by Portland Parks & Recreation. KATU reports that both festivals combined pay about $330,000 a year to the city’s parks bureau to put on the annual events, which involve heavy use of Tom McCall Waterfront Park downtown. “Records obtained by KATU News from Portland Parks and Recreation through a records request show the Rose Festival spent nearly $1.4 million between 2015 and 2024 on city fees, even without downtown events for two of those years. The Waterfront Blues Festival spent just over $1 million in that timeframe.” This year, the city waived the fees for both events, but the organizers want that fee waiver to become permanent. Removing fees for heavy-use events could further strain PP&R, which is already facing a lack of adequate funding.
In National/World News:
• President Donald Trump’s ongoing attempts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine continued Monday. Trump reportedly called Putin while Zelensky was with other European leaders at the White House. As Axios reports, Trump “hoped to quickly arrange a trilateral summit involving both Putin and Zelensky, but Putin has yet to agree to that idea.” This feels a lot like middle school, when two of your friends were fighting and one–either the most mature of the pubescent pod, or the nosiest bitch among them–decided to call up one of the two fighting friends while the other is staying over during a sleepover. In the end, one teen always has a decent reason for being pissed, while the mediator just wants to smooth things over so they can feel good and go back to having two girls telling them their outfits are cute, instead of just one. Oh, and Trump apparently showed off his collection of tacky MAGA hats.
Showing the endangered leader of an invaded country my hats
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell.com) August 18, 2025 at 7:08 PM
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• As we mentioned yesterday, Dems in Congress are in an ongoing fight to prevent gerrymandering in Texas that would undoubtedly favor Republicans. Last night, Rep. Nicole Collier of Ft. Worth spent the night in the House chamber of the Capitol, rather than being escorted and monitored by police. According to the Associated Press, “Rep. Nicole Collier’s overnight stay stemmed from Republicans in the Texas House requiring returning Democrats to sign what the Democrats called 'permission slips,' agreeing to around-the-clock surveillance by state Department of Public Safety officers to leave the floor."
• In a practice dubbed "job hugging," US workers are more likely to stay at their current jobs amid a lagging employment market, but Fortune says they're likely to jump ship as soon as better opportunities come along and market conditions improve. A stagnating labor market has led employees to stay put, but Fortune says growing discontent could lead to "another Great Resignation once market conditions improve."
This about sums it up.
@tedymakesmusic The next male pop diva fr #originalsong #worklife #corporatelife #working #manifestation ♬ Rich - Tedy
