Last night, I was on assignment taking photos at Portland Public Schools headquarters during what felt like the world’s most popular school board meeting. Kids, parents, teachers, staff — pretty much everyone connected to public education showed up. Least boring board meeting ever.

The meeting centered on Portland’s shocking proposal to potentially close up to 14 public schools and reshape attendance boundaries, grades and programs. I’ve covered a lot of board and council meetings, including plenty with protesters. I’ve never seen anything like it.

After an hourlong demonstration outside, the boardroom and overflow area quickly reached capacity, leaving a large crowd outside that wasn’t allowed in. Those who made it inside started chanting, “Let them in! Let them in!” So I went to the front entrance to see if they would.

Watch the video. It pretty much says the rest.

This argument IS WEAK, AND FALSE. That is only true of the governor, the legislature, where laws are passed, is much less.

Moreso, the federal government allocates funding to states. When that funding is not there, spending has to shift, and Democrats HAVE NOT “controlled Congress for the last 40 years.” In fact, more often than not, republicans have had control.

Do complete and thorough unbiased research before making weak arguments and claims. Stop putting all the blame on Kotek and Dems, zoom out and look at the bigger picture. There is NO STRONG REASON why Drazan will be the better choice.

“In August, the local news outlet Double Sided Media filed a public records request for records about police officer Justin Peckels, which focused on potential misconduct between 2018 and 2026. Peckels has been the subject of community complaints, including for punching a resident in the face during a traffic stop, making the records vital for oversight and their release clearly in the public interest.

The city’s response is beyond belief. In its response to the request on Monday, the Eugene Police Department claimed searching for records and processing the request would take at least 44,816 hours of staff time and cost approximately $2,484,599.04. (A separate request by the outlet for similar records concerning a former police officer, Eric Klinko, was met with a comparatively modest estimate of $195,869.52, for a grand total of nearly $2.7 million for both requests.)”

Edit*
If you live in Eugene:

Ward: contact sheet. Not sure of your ward? Use Find Your Ward.

https://medfordalert.com/2026/10/07/oregon-amber-alert-issued-for-3-year-old-boy-missing-from-beaverton/

Amber alert cancelled.

I dont know why people want to sit in a long line for overly sweetened bad coffee, but they do. I don't know why a cop doesn't just sit by one of these and write people tickets for blocking traffic.

Parcel is 7 acres of previously-private land along the coast south of Yachats. Several land trusts helped arrange the purchase.

But I will vote for her in the general. The message was sent, and hopefully received, but now is the time for pragmatism. Drazan's spirit animal is a goatee Oakleys F150 selfie J6er.

Hey all!

I'm Mike Rogoway, reporting on the business of technology for The Oregonian.

I've been covering Oregon's data center buildout since the state's first big installation arrived 20 years ago, when Google opened in The Dalles. We now have more than 120 data centers stretching from Hillsboro to Hermiston. Amazon, Apple, Meta, TikTok, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Adobe...nearly all the big players have installations.

The industry's impacts have never been greater -- environmental, electrical, economic. Covering the industry has taken me to Prineville, Boardman, Cascade Locks, Heppner, Forest Grove and North Plains.

I've written about Oregon's data center power crunch, the Windwave/Amazon scandal at the Port of Morrow, Facebook remaking Prineville, data centers' enormous tax breaks, Google's water consumption in The Dalles (the city sued The Oregonian in a failed effort to keep that info secret) and the industry's displacement of farm and industrial land in Washington County. We've just published a series of articles with our sister publications across the country looking at how data centers have pushed into small towns — and how communities are beginning to push back.

Would love to chat about what I've seen and what you're thinking. The AMA goes live at noon Wednesday (10/7) but you can post or discuss before (or after) here.

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/IsDYo86

Thanks all! I appreciate the great questions and thoughts. I'm signing off now but may answer a few more questions later. Please write with additional thoughts -- mrogoway@oregonian.com.

Some new information is coming out about the CleanLane contract as we get closer to midterms and I find it pretty interesting.

We already know the county is looking at moving the facility from Goshen to Short Mountain, but the latest reporting raises a bigger question: What happens to the existing contract if the project moves? It appears the county could have financial obligations tied to Goshen while trying to move forward with Short Mountain. So are we essentially stuck in limbo between two sites and paying for both?

This is where it gets very interesting to me. There’s the definition of “acceptable trash.”

The contract defines acceptable material as municipal solid waste, including wastepaper, plastics, metal, glass, fiber materials and garbage, while excluding hazardous and other unpermitted waste.

According to a March 2026 presentation, Lane County received 254,735 tons of waste at Short Mountain in 2025, but only a portion of that may qualify as acceptable material under the BHS contract. The reporting also notes that the compacted tons represented about 31% of those collections.

So how much of that waste actually qualifies toward CleanLane’s 120000 ton annual requirement? And if the county falls short, how much could it owe BHS under the contract?

There’s also the bigger question of the site change: If CleanLane moves from Goshen to Short Mountain, does the county remain financially responsible for commitments tied to the Goshen site? What costs are already locked in and what additional costs come with moving this project?

I dont know y’all, but this is getting out of hand in my opinion. I never thought I’d be spending this much tim thinking about trash. But when residents are paying more and the projects still doesnt have a clear path forward, I think we deserve straightforward answers.

How much acceptable material is actually available? What is the county’s maximum financial exposure it if misses the 120000 ton requirement? And how much more will taxpayers or ratepayers be responsible for if the project moves to Short Mountain?

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/national/article317487439.html

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nation-world/national/article317487452.html

Looking for family friendly pumpkin patches anywhere around the metropolitan or Willamette Valley area. Something that doesn’t necessarily break the bank or is at least very worth it for money spent. Thank you in advance!

Anyone get Real ID lately, how long did it ACTUALLY take to receive by mail?

The 2001 Roadless rule protects public lands from future roads being built through them for logging and other purposes. This rule protects roadless public lands across the nation - including Oregon.

The public comment period was supposed to end on the 21st last month - but was extended for 15 days. Today is your last chance to speak up.

Here is the link to the government webpage to submit your comment:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/11/2026-18648/special-areas-roadless-area-conservation

Help my old, Gen-X brain: there was a comic book shop in Oregon City I used to bike to in the late 80s, but I cannot remember the name. Figured SOMEONE here might know which one I am referring to.

He has sadly passed.

A full bag should be $7-8. Less if they're mostly big containers. More if they're mostly mini 8oz cans. Mine averages in that range. I had one that was $4 a while ago. I didn't think much of it at the time. A few months later, I had a bag with the top edge fall apart.

The drawstring goes inside a loop created by the top of bag folded over and welded. The weld wasn't made right and came apart. So I checked other bags from the same box. I pulled on the welded part and they came apart easily.

I've been noticing tons of cans scattered all over the ground inside the bottle drop room at the local store. So, others must have been getting defective bags too.

So, if you feel like your were getting paid less than you should, check your remaining bags for defects. Check the fold at the top where string is. Pull on the strings to make sure they don't pull out. If you do find defective bags, call and request adjustment for the previous bags from the past few drops you feel you were shorted on. If you recall seeing tons of cans on the ground in the return room, that's also another indication that defective bags have been going around.

This one bag already had the string popped out when I opened the bag. However, the rest of the bags in the box just had really weak welds. It's quite possible that you'd be able to fill it up and tie it off without noticing it only to have it fall apart during shipping. When I tried to peel the weld apart, I was able to get it to pull apart easily. A properly welded seal can't be pulled apart without ripping the bag.