🌱 Federal Money Comes To Portland + Mask Mandate Ending

Dominic Anaya
Updated ·6 min read

How are we doing everyone? Wednesday is here, which means we're halfway through the week. There's lots going on today, so let me tell you about it.

First, today's weather:

A cloudy morning clears a bit in the afternoon and gives us a high of 56. Wow, it's getting warm.

Here are the top five stories today in Portland:

  1. Many hospitals in the Portland area are dealing with staffing shortages. Vivian Longora, a patient at Vibra Specialty Hospital, said it’s impacting the care she is receiving. She said she’s had problems since she arrived there about 20 days ago. “Staff was scrambling saying they didn’t know anybody was coming and it took until about 12:30 that evening to finally get me settled,” Longoria said. She said it often takes a long time for a nurse to come to room when she calls for help. (KPTV.com)

  2. The American Rescue Plan Act made nearly $2 trillion available for communities across the country. In the Portland-metro area, $164 million has already made its way to Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, Portland, and Gresham. Portland got the largest portion with $103.9 million. Tigard saw the least with just under $7.5 million. How will this money be used? Each city has its own ideas about how to use it. (KATU)

  3. The massive earthquake that’s expected to one day hit off the coast of Oregon is scary enough without considering what would happen to the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub. The CEI Hub, as it’s known, is a collection of huge white tanks you see on your right as you head up U.S. Route 30 to Sauvie Island to go berry picking. There are 630 of them, full of 150 different liquids, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. (Willamette Week)

  4. State officials say that when March 31 gets here, if not sooner, Oregon's indoor mask mandate will be over. The Oregon Health Authority made the announcement on Monday. The move comes a week after the state adopted its rule making mask wearing indoors permanent. At the time, officials stressed that "permanent" does not mean "forever." (Portland Patch)

  5. A Portland man is facing federal charges after he and several others used a sledgehammer to break into a Southeast Portland pawn shop and steal nearly 50 guns. The charges stem from a break in discovered by the pawn shop owners on Jan. 31. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the owners discovered two large holes in a concrete wall on the outside of the building. On the interior, concrete debris was “littering the inside,” according to documents. (KPTV)

From our sponsor:

Today's Portland Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at GoodRx — the best way to save money on your prescriptions. GoodRx helps you locate the lowest prices for medications at local pharmacies, so you're not overpaying. Works for pet medications too! To see how much you can save, go to GoodRx.com.

Today in Portland:

  • Join Director of Popular Music and Performing Arts/Rock Historian Bob Santelli as he listens to and discusses "The Harder They Come," a 1972 soundtrack to the film of the same name, featuring music by Jimmy Cliff. In 2021 The Library of Congress deemed the album "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry. This is a Zoom virtual event and online registration is required. 7:00 PM.

  • Do you like to craft with fiber, such as knitting, crocheting, sewing and the like? Then you should know about the SCRAP Fiber Circle. Come meet fellow crafters as SCRAP in downtown Portland opens its Education Studio. Staff will be on hand to admire your project and give any advice they can, if needed. Bring your projects and fiber with some fellow fiber nerds! Suggested donations start at $5. Today's Fiber Circle is at 5:00 PM.

  • Neoliberals of Portland unite! And what better way to do it than over a beer at the Portland Neoliberal Happy Hour going on at Wayfinder Beer in SE Portland. Join them for their first event of 2022! Enjoy outdoor beers from Wayfinder, meet fellow neolibs and plan priorities for the year ahead. 5:30 - 7:30 PM.

  • Come see the local singer/songwriter known as Storie Grubb at Kelly's Olympian in downtown Portland. Also performing will be Time Theft and Olyv. Mask and proof of COVID vaccination or negative COVID test required for entry. Doors open at 8:30 PM.

  • Powell's Books Virtual Events presents author Chuck Klosterman. In his book, The Nineties, bestselling author and essayist Chuck Klosterman gives his take on the much reminisced upon decade, examining "wholesale shifts" in society such as the rise of the internet and the "paradoxical belief that nothing was more humiliating than trying too hard." Klosterman runs through the film, music, sports, TV, politics, and culture of the era with his signature precision, delivering a "fascinating examination of a period still remembered by most, refreshingly free of unnecessary mythmaking." Online registration is required. 5:00 PM.

From my notebook:

  • Portland Trail Blazers: "A message to #RipCity from the newest members of the Blazers family 🌹" (Instagram)

  • Portland Audubon: "American Kestrel’s are North America’s smallest falcon and also one of the most colorful raptors you’ll see. They feast on both insects and small animals and their ability to see ultraviolet light is helpful when hunting as the trails of..." (Instagram)

  • Portland Art Museum: "Not Wordle, just a Josef Albers.🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟦🟪🟪🟪🟦🟦🟪🟥🟪🟦🟦🟪🟪🟪🟦Albers conceived of his “Homage to the Square” series as a great color experiment. Created over forty years while maintaining the same compositional ..." (Instagram)

  • Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend, with hot wings being a traditional accompaniment. So it's great that Portland Monthly published a piece about the best places to get hot wings around town. Yum! (Portland Monthly)

  • If you haven't been to Pix Patisserie and seen the Pix-O-Matic, a self-serve 24-hour vending machine, now would be a great time to check it out. It's packing them with all sorts of goodness and creating a Valentine's Day theme. Kohr Harlan has more on how you can spoil your special someone when you swing by the location on Portland’s Eastside. (KOIN)

  • The Portland Winter Light Festival is going on all week, with multiple installations around the city. If you've never been, check out this video from Holly & Brian as they walk around Pioneer Courthouse Square where there are illuminated art displays, music, and live performances. (YouTube)

Loving the Portland Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

That's your Wednesday my friends. You don't have to have fun with it, but why wouldn't you? I'm off to find my own brand of fun, but I'll be right back here tomorrow to talk all about Portland.

— Dominic Anaya

About me: Doctor, educator and now a writer/artist, I'm just chillin' in Portland, OR with my wife, our ferrets, our chickens and our goats.

This article originally appeared on the Portland Patch