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LOCAL REPORTER DIES AFTER CANCER BATTLE: Oregonian reporter Zane Sparling died Sunday morning after a yearslong battle with a rare type of cancer. He was 33 years old. Sparling, a longtime courts reporter who imbued bits of humor into the grimmest of stories, was a bright light in the local journalism world. He invited newcomer reporters to social gatherings (publication immaterial) and offered consistent levity in a competitive industry. He was a good friend to those who had the pleasure of knowing him, which included several WW reporters over the years. And, to Willamette Week, Sparling was equal parts fan and critic. He read each issue from cover to cover. While sometimes offering praise, he had much more fun pointing out errors. Always a performer, he had a recurring habit of arriving at Joe’s Cellar for after-work drinks, a copy of the latest WW tucked under his arm. He’d unfurl it, slap it down on the table, flip to a dog-eared page, and point out where he had circled in red pen an extra comma, or a misspelled word, or a missing space between two sentences. He was the best kind of critic: a witty and accurate one, who under all the flair and teasing was one of the deepest lovers and supporters of journalism in this city. He will be missed.
AI COMPANY’S DATA COLLECTION RAISES RED FLAGS FOR A PPS BOARD MEMBER: Like districts across Oregon, Portland Public Schools is working to align its policies with two newly passed state laws that will ensure children have access to high-quality education regardless of immigration or citizenship status. It took its first public step June 15, when officials introduced a draft policy to the district’s policy committee. The Protecting Student Access and Safe Schools policy includes detailed provisions about notifying families, refining how school staff respond to federal immigration officers and, notably, protecting student information. Under the policy, PPS would not disclose education records without appropriate legal authorization, including records that might disclose immigration or citizenship status. But School Board member Stephanie Engelsman told fellow committee members she had concerns about how PPS would regulate keeping information confidential. Specifically, she cited an active contract PPS has with Amira Learning, an artificial intelligence software that “listens, assesses and tutors in real time” to help students achieve reading proficiency, according to its website. The $5,160 contract that WW obtained through a public records request covers a pilot program at 10 PPS schools primarily for “supplemental literacy tutoring” in the 2025–26 academic year. Buried in the contract, however, is what Engelsman flagged: a long list of data the software collects from students. The list includes everything from place of birth and languages spoken to English language learner status, disability information, living situations (including homeless or foster care), and migrant status. “Federal immigration officers, if they get their hands on data that shows a family is a migrant family and/or where someone is born, they can get a judicial warrant based on that information,” Engelsman said. Sharon Toncray, the district’s chief legal officer, said she would revisit the contract. “It may be that we’re requiring them to deidentify the data,” she said. “They have to comply with our rules about it.” (The contract notes that Amira may not disclose or sell such data unless it has written authorization from the district, or as required by law.) Amira did not immediately respond to WW’s request for comment.
WILSON IMPLORES COUNCIL TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT MODA CENTER: Mayor Keith Wilson implored the Portland City Council in a public letter June 23 to fund its share of Moda Center’s renovation. The letter comes as the council debates both whether and how the city should pony up $120 million to round out an estimated $600 million renovation of the arena. And it comes as Tom Dundon, the new Trail Blazers owner, is set to make his own appearance at the arena for a business summit on June 24. Both the Oregon Legislature and Multnomah County have pledged to help fund the renovation in hopes it will ensure the Trail Blazers stay in Portland and not relocate to another city—a looming threat since Dundon, a Texas billionaire, purchased the team earlier this year. City Hall has been the sole holdout so far. “Our share may be comparatively smaller, but it’s enough to put the brakes on the project if we don’t take our role seriously,” Wilson wrote in the letter. “I want the best deal for Portland, a deal that centers the thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions in annual economic activity generated by the team.” The City Council is scheduled to hold a work session on Moda Center negotiations at the same time Dundon appears at the summit.
SOME PPS STUDENTS COULD LOSE IN-SCHOOL THERAPISTS: Many Portland Public Schools students will likely have to see different therapists next year, as the school district ends its short-lived partnership with a mental health contractor that embedded providers in schools during the recent academic year. The contractor, Stronger Oregon, reports that the therapists—16 of whom worked across 40 PPS schools—saw more than 300 PPS students last year. Their removal from the schools is a local expression of a broader reconfiguration in the mental health system underway for months, as the Oregon Health Authority seeks to reshape how it directs mental health care dollars. The school district says it ended the contract with Stronger Oregon when it learned the provider could no longer take clients served by CareOregon, which manages benefits for most Oregon Health Plan members in the Portland area. “The current lack of a contract with CareOregon CCO creates an undue burden for our families—especially those already facing significant barriers to care,” Jey Buno, chief of student support services, told Stronger Oregon in a May 5 email. “To ensure equitable access and continuity for all students, we must prioritize providers that align with our families’ insurance needs.” For a brief period, it looked as though the split might be averted as Stronger Oregon tried to figure out a way to keep working with CareOregon members. But PPS confirmed to WW in recent days that the district would not renew its partnership with Stronger Oregon when it signs contracts with community mental health providers in August.
