New Contract for Portland Teachers

The Portland School Board has approved a new contract that gives teachers a same raise. The taxpayers will continue to fund 93% of their health care costs and provide a 3.4% pay raise for teachers with less than 12 years on the job.

Make your own decisions on whether this is right or not in these bad economic times.

Portlans Stays Weird, JTTF Not Going to Happen

Despite a near disaster last year in Pioneer Square, the Portland City Council has voted to keep Portland Police out of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The Christmas tree lighting ceremony has become a must go to event every year. On the Friday evening after Thanksgiving 1000’s gather in Pioneer Square to watch a 100 foot tall tree get its lights turned on. Last year, a young terrorist was caught in a sting by the FBI trying to detonate a truck bomb near the crowd. 100’s would have been killed or wounded

The unofficial mantra of Portland is “Keep Portland Weird” (look here and here) and this most certainly qualifies. Portlanders have been known for decades to run against the flow, probably something to do with the fact that the state fish is the Salmon. I am from Portland (a suburb actually) and have witnessed first hand Portland’s weirdness. It is what makes the city unique and I firmly believe decisions like not being part of the JTTF is a conscious one.  Seattle will always be known as the crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest so Portland has to do something to separate itself from the shadow of its much larger cousin city to the north.