Murmurs: Street Roots Pleads for Financial Help

STREET ROOTS PLEADS FOR FINANCIAL HELP: Street Roots, the nonprofit organization and newspaper, is asking for money amid what it describes as a budget crunch. It’s seeking to raise an additional $288,000 by Sept. 30—it’s already raised another $312,000 from private donors—as part of an “emergency fundraising campaign.” Street Roots cites a number of factors that led to the cash flow problems: an inability to cover operational costs at its new headquarters in Old Town; what the nonprofit calls “optimistic hiring and program expansion decisions made without the financial infrastructure to support that growth”; and staff and leadership turnover. That likely refers to Kaia Sand, the nonprofit’s longtime executive director, who went on leave late last year and resigned shortly afterward. At the time, Street Roots’ board declined to answer questions about Sand’s departure. In a document shared with WW about its funding campaign, Street Roots wrote that “the exit of key leadership staff” last year led the board to realize that “necessary checks and balances were not in place and understood that leadership decisions needed to be made with more oversight from the board.” Street Roots board chair Nick Bjork says additional one-time liabilities from last year “have been paid and aren’t expected to come up again.”

STATE DEFERS ACTION ON ROSS ISLAND PENALTY: The Oregon Department of State Lands was scheduled to resolve a proposed $2.9 million fine against Ross Island Sand & Gravel on Aug. 20 for the company’s failure to comply with the terms of its agreement with the state to reclaim riverbed and uplands affected by 75 years of mining the Willamette River. But at a long-delayed hearing, the state said it wants to pause enforcement to add to previous allegations of noncompliance. “The agency is withdrawing the enforcement documents in this case to allow it to reissue new documents that include additional violations and civil penalties that have accrued to date,” DSL spokeswoman Alyssa Rash says. “We are committed to holding RISG accountable for the reclamation of the lagoon and are using the legal tools available to ensure that happens.” Meanwhile, the Oregon Health Authority on Aug. 19 lifted a health advisory related to the toxic algal bloom emanating from the Ross Island Lagoon that first led the agency to close the river between Ross Island and Kelley Point Park to recreational use on Aug. 3 and again on Aug. 10. Some environmentalists hope to open the lagoon to the river’s flow to fix the stagnant conditions that promote the growth of the toxic cyanobacterial blooms.

PPS TAKES LOOK AT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POLICY: Portland Public Schools folded some guidance on artificial intelligence into its district technology policy for students and staff over the summer, though some district officials say the work is far from complete. The guidelines permit certain district-approved AI tools “to help with administrative tasks, lesson planning, and personalized learning” but require staff to review AI-generated content, check accuracy, and take personal responsibility for any content generated. The new policy also warns against inputting personal student information into tools, and encourages users to think about inherent bias within such systems. But it’s still a far cry from a specific AI policy, which would have to go through the Portland School Board. Part of the reason is because AI is such an “active landscape,” says Liz Large, a contracted legal adviser for the district. “The policymaking process as it should is deliberative and takes time,” Large says. “This was the first shot at it…there’s a lot of work [to do].” PPS, like many school districts nationwide, is continuing to explore how to fold artificial intelligence into learning, but not without controversy. As The Oregonian reported in August, the district is entering a partnership with Lumi Story AI, a chatbot that helps older students craft their own stories with a focus on comics and graphic novels (the pilot is offered at some middle and high schools). There’s also concern from the Portland Association of Teachers. “PAT believes students learn best from humans, instead of AI,” PAT president Angela Bonilla said in an Aug. 26 video. “PAT believes that students deserve to learn the truth from humans and adults they trust and care about.”

OREGON HEALTH PLAN FACES BUDGET WOES: Under what it says is “increasing financial strain,” CareOregon, the Oregon Health Plan’s largest insurer, recently added McKinsey & Company to its roster of consultants. A nonprofit, CareOregon provides mostly Medicaid-funded health insurance to hundreds of thousands of Oregonians, with a particular concentration in the Portland area. It says per-person payments it gets from the state are not covering the actual cost of care—especially when it comes to behavioral health services. “We have no choice but to rethink our approach to everything we do, from staffing to network policies,” CareOregon tells WW in a statement. It’s already made some changes. Earlier this summer, CareOregon says it made voluntary separation agreements with 73 employees, laid off 80 people, and eliminated 70 vacant positions. It announced July 31 that it would stop paying for out-of-network behavioral health services in two months—a timeline numerous therapists said they found outrageously fast as they scrambled to refer their patients to new therapists. All this comes as the Oregon Health Authority sets the rates it will pay Medicaid insurers like CareOregon in 2026. Given rising costs, the insurers say the 6.8% average rate hike the state recently proposed is woefully inadequate. The proposed rate for CareOregon, according to an internal document obtained by WW, would be “less than half of what we need to break even.”