Murmurs: Sacred Mushroom Takes a Bad Trip

SACRED MUSHROOM TAKES A BAD TRIP: The parent company of the Sacred Mushroom, an 11,000-square-foot psilocybin retreat that promised good times for patrons and wealth for its shareholders, says a lack of capital is forcing it to take a hard look at the operation. “In April 2025, we suspended payroll to our employees due to capital constraints, and we are evaluating the operational structure of the facility with a view to restructuring operations in order to generate greater revenues,” Kaya Holdings Inc. said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month. Kaya, based in Boca Raton, Fla., opened the Sacred Mushroom on the seventh floor of a building in Old Town, festooning the space with massage chairs, singing bowls and lots of plants. Most psilocybin service centers—facilities licensed by the state where customers trip under supervision—are geared toward mental health. The Sacred Mushroom offers recreation, too, pitching the space for corporate retreats, Halloween and even the Super Bowl (“Riding the Shroom Boom,” WW, Aug. 21, 2024). In SEC filings, Kaya said it was the first publicly traded company to “operate a U.S.-based licensed psychedelic treatment facility.” Despite that distinction, Kaya shares have lagged the rest of the stock market, bouncing between 3 and 4 cents a share since the beginning of the year after peaking at 5 cents in 2024. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, by contrast, has risen 18% in the past 16 months. Reached by phone for comment, Kaya chief executive Craig Frank said: “We’re still in business, and I have nothing to say to you guys.”

FIXING CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM COULD START WITH FULL SCHOOL WEEKS: Reducing chronic absenteeism at Portland Public Schools could start with expanding the number of full-length school weeks, a community budget review committee report suggests. The report, submitted to the School Board on May 6, presents a shocking statistic: This academic year, the district’s decision to chop up many school weeks with either early-release or noninstructional days means PPS students attend just 16 five-day weeks out of 38. That means just 42% of school weeks in a PPS student’s school year are full weeks. The committee, comprising volunteer parents, staff and community members, evaluates and makes recommendations on Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong’s proposed budget, which aims to address a $40 million deficit in the upcoming 2025–26 school year. PPS continues to report chronic absenteeism rates well above the national average, with 36.9% of its students, or 15,544, chronically absent in 2023–24. While the committee wrote that it was encouraged to see Armstrong identify reducing chronic absenteeism as a priority, especially because missing school contributes to the district’s “widening” achievement gap, “the connection between stated priorities and actual funding remains unclear.” It recommends changing the calendar to “dramatically decrease” the number of interrupted weeks, and recommends the district commit long-term funds, when available, to lengthening the school year.

DISTRICT 1 COUNCILORS SEEK OFFICE BUILD-OUT: Two members of the Portland City Council representing East Portland, Candace Avalos and Jamie Dunphy, are seeking money from the council for a $1.2 million build-out of a District 1 office in the Gateway neighborhood. They began asking their colleagues on the City Council to contribute money for offices in the brand-new Nick Fish Building last month after declining fellow District 1 Councilor Loretta Smith’s offer to join them in her office lease within the Nick Fish. “I believe we can all work out of one space that is built out,” Smith wrote to Dunphy in a March 21 email. “Please join us and let’s share an all-District 1 office and take the financial burden off everyone.” At the time, Dunphy appeared to be open to the idea, saying he was “shocked” by the build-out cost estimate and wanted a plan that “we can defend with a straight face.” But that changed at some point. So far, Avalos and Dunphy have received pledges from Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Vice President Tiffany Koyama Lane, and Councilor Dan Ryan. “No offices declined to donate, and some may be willing to donate in the future if needed,” says Avalos’ chief of staff, Jamey Evenstar. Even if the build-out goes forward, a city spokesperson said it would likely be a year before Avalos and Dunphy could move in.

PIONEERING JOURNALIST RUSSELL SADLER DIES: Russell Sadler, a reporter and commentator whose work made an enduring difference to transparency in Oregon, died April 20 at his home in Friday Harbor, Wash. He was 82. Sadler covered the state Capitol, writing and commenting for newspapers, radio and television for more than 30 years. His lasting achievement, though, emerged from a 1975 lawsuit against the Oregon State Bar. Sadler sought the disciplinary records of a judicial candidate, ultimately winning a decision in the Oregon Supreme Court that left the State Bar with the most transparent records of any Oregon licensing board, making it a national model for openness. “The transparency of our regulatory system does not just serve the public,” bar spokeswoman Kateri Walsh says. “The legal profession also benefits from the greater trust in a system that is visible to the public.” In its 1976 decision, the high court predicted the effect Sadler’s quest would have on Oregon lawyers—and the protection it would afford the public. “Opening up the files of the Bar to the public may restore confidence in the integrity of the individual attorney and assure those concerned that the profession is truly committed to maintaining the highest legal ethics,” the court wrote.