Skip to main content
PARENT GROUP ASKS PPS FOR BOND SPENDING PLAN AMID RIGHTSIZING: Safe Structures PPS, a parent advocacy group that led a groundswell in 2025 that successfully pressured Portland Public Schools to earmark $100 million of its $1.83 billion school bond for seismic upgrades, is now calling for the district to be more transparent about its plans for that money. Faced with persistent declining enrollment, the district released two scenarios early this month that would close 14 and 11 schools, respectively. In a letter to PPS Superintendent Dr. Kimberlee Armstrong on Tuesday, Safe Structures outlined its concerns that under the proposals many students would still occupy PPS’s highest-risk buildings and the district proposes closing several schools that have already received seismic investment. In the letter, parents also asked what would happen to some of the schools promised retrofits with the bond money (nine schools were identified for upgrades in late 2025 through an elaborate process that ranked them based on risk, facility quality and enrollment). Now, the district proposes possibly closing Rose City Park Elementary School, one of two schools it had eyed for a full seismic retrofit, and Beach Elementary School, where a retrofit is slated to cost about $10 million. The letter asks PPS to shed light on where money saved from these two projects would go. (The district is supposed to allocate bond funding to eight to 10 schools that pose the greatest risk of injury or death.) “To assure the PPS community—not to mention the voters who supported the bond itself—PPS must do more to outline how it will reallocate any funds for planned retrofits at schools now slated to be closed,” wrote Per Olstad, a parent with the group.
COUNCILOR PROPOSES NEW CARBON REGULATIONS FOR BIG BUILDINGS: Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos is proposing a requirement for building owners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% every five years for buildings with a footprint of 20,000 square feet or greater, reaching 0% emissions by no later than 2050. The new code would apply to both commercial and residential buildings, excluding regulated affordable housing. If passed, Avalos’ policy would require annual progress reports from buildings subject to the new rules. If a building misses the emission reduction target, the owner would pay a carbon pollution impact fee” for each metric ton of carbon emissions exceeding the goal. In a statement, Avalos said the policy would “improve health, affordability, and climate resilience for Portlanders who need it most.” In an Oct. 20 letter to members of the council’s Housing and Permitting Committee, 20 business and real estate groups requested that the committee pause consideration of the policy until “stakeholders have meaningful opportunities for engagement, updated analysis is completed and published,” and existing state requirements are evaluated. The groups, including the Portland Metro Chamber, wrote that “the diversity of organizations signing this letter reflects a broad concern that the current proposal is moving forward without the level of engagement, transparency, and evaluation necessary to ensure affordable, reliable and increasingly decarbonized housing and energy.”
FOR PORTLAND SENIORS, FEWER PATHS LEAD TO PROVIDENCE: Hark! ’Tis Medicare Advantage season, and tens of thousands in Portland’s 65-plus contingent are—or will soon be—celebrating by undertaking the annual quest for a health care plan. This year, though, prices are up and the pickings look mighty lean. Glance no further than Providence to see the changes afoot. For decades, tens of thousands of Portland-area seniors accessed the medical system’s hospitals and services through Providence Health Plan’s Medicare Advantage insurance. Others got in through one of UnitedHealthcare’s own such packages. Those days are coming to an end. The Providence Health Plan is shutting down. UnitedHealthcare is ending its Oregon Medicare Advantage contract with Providence as it draws back from an insurance line that is no longer the cash cow of yore. With some small exceptions, this leaves most Portland-area Medicare Advantage members who want to get health care through Providence with two main options. Switch to traditional Medicare, which Providence has no choice but to take. Or switch to the one general-use Medicare Advantage line the health system will accept around here in 2027, which is run by Devoted Health, a fast-growing private equity–backed Massachusetts operation that says it “brings together advanced data and AI with world-class clinical and service excellence”—and which has a minor prior history in Oregon. “Our agreement with Devoted gives Medicare Advantage beneficiaries in the Portland metro area an option to stay connected to Providence hospitals, clinics and clinicians in 2027,” a Providence spokesperson tells WW.
WE GOT TROUBLE RIGHT HERE IN RIVER CITY: This winter, for the first time in nearly 100 years, Portland business owners won’t need a special permit to operate a pool table or pinball machine. An outdated city policy—with its roots in the days when “amusement devices” like these were tied to vice—is set to sunset next month following the Oct. 14 passage of a suite of code changes proposed by City Councilor Steve Novick. Currently, around 200 businesses pay $50 to $1,000 for an annual permit to operate pinball machines and pool tables in Portland. It’s understood many establishments skirt this particular law, but for some, like pool halls and arcades—with the machines in their business model—this is more difficult. Spencer Knowles, Novick’s chief of staff, said he noticed the “silly” provision one day while perusing city code and brought the matter to the attention of his boss, who proposed getting rid of it. A package of code updates, including heightened requirements for payday lenders, secondhand stores and pawn shops—and the axing of the amusement device permit—cruised through committee. Last Wednesday, most of the changes were approved on the council’s consent agenda. The timing was intended to give relief to business owners who typically file permit applications in November and December.
