After some tense negotiations, city council unanimously approved a deal to save the YouthPass, the program that provides Portland public school students (who have no "yellow bus" program) free TriMet passes. The city will kick in $200,000 to the program, while the school district will put in $950,000 and TriMet will forgo $1.8 million in revenue from the free passes. This is a victory for Mayor Sam Adams, who fought to keep the free passes after TriMet attempted to axe them to save money. SARAH MIRK
* * *
Speaking of TriMet's budget woes, the public transit agency has been grabbing some extra cash from pockets of fare jumpers. TriMet announced last week that it has given out nine times as many citations this year than in the past one. Since July of last year, fare enforcement officers have written 19,841 citations for $175, while the number of no-fine educational warnings has plummeted. All those tickets brought in $327,017 in revenue for the agency, which is just $16.50 for every $175 ticket written. SM
* * *
Housing activist Cameron Whitten ended his 55-day hunger strike outside city hall on July 26 with—what else?—a Voodoo Doughnut the size of his head. The specially made vegan doughnut was filled with banana cream and topped with chocolate chips. City council did not meet any of Whitten's specific and ambitious goals for the hunger strike, but agreed to participate in a Regional Summit on Homelessness and Housing and be "engaged in ongoing conversations" about the future of homeless camps Right 2 Dream Too and Dignity Village. SM
* * *
Important ladybusiness news! The parts of the Affordable Care Act affecting birth control coverage kick in Wednesday, August 1—under the new law, insurance companies must completely cover the cost of office visits and prescriptions for birth control. That's right: No more co-pays for birth control! "It's a wonderful, wonderful benefit that I hope stands up," says Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette spokeswoman Liz Delapoer. However, the law only helps people who use insurance, and that's only about 16 percent of people who go to Portland's Planned Parenthood. SM