GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Lawmakers wrestle with plans for kicker ‘windfall’
Portland Tribune
Oregon has come into an unexpected windfall, and now it’s up to lawmakers to figure out what to do with it. Personal and corporate income tax collections during the 2019 tax filing season were dramatically higher than state economists expected, according to a report that was released Wednesday, May 15. While much of that money will go back to taxpayers next year in the form of Oregon’s unique “kicker” rebate, the new forecast gives legislative budget-writers about three-quarters of a billion dollars more to work with as they decide how Oregon will spend its money over the next two years.
Candidates Run To Be 1st Latinos On Salem-Keizer School Board
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Salem-Keizer school district has 42,237 students. More than 40% are Hispanic/Latino. Yet that population has never been represented on the school board. Marquez isn’t the only Latino candidate running for a school board seat. Parent and electrician David Salinas is running in a different zone. “I thought about it a lot before I ran,” Salinas said. “I always think, ‘Is this something I should even be doing? Am I qualified? Is this something I have a chance at?’ There’s a lot of cultural things that keep us from engaging as much as we should.” Both candidates talk about the district using an equity lens in their work when it comes to programs and resources available to students.
Portland Drafts Ordinance To Crackdown On Airbnb
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Portland’s mayor is planning to introduce an ordinance that would force online short-term rental companies like Airbnb to take down unpermitted rentals. The proposed crackdown in Portland follows a federal court ruling in March that dealt a legal blow to Airbnb’s long-held position that it is not responsible for policing unpermitted listings on its site. Portland’s revenue division has been trying to reach a voluntary agreement with the company for more than a year over unpermitted rentals.
In Trump’s Trade War, Americans Will Be Asked To Show Economic Patriotism
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Trump will have to appeal to Americans’ national pride, and even their patriotism, to succeed in leveling the playing field with China. That’s because virtually every American is likely to feel an impact if Trump’s tariffs go forward on just about everything imported from China. He will have to persuade Americans that what’s at stake transcends their own interests. Americans may not like paying higher prices on imported products, but they are more likely to tolerate them if they perceive that American values are at stake, says Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
Revised tenant protection measures scheduled for Thursday
Portland Tribune
Commissioner Chloe Eudaly will try again Thursday to convince a majority of the City Council to support new tenant protection measures. The measures are intended to limit the reasons that landlords can reject a rental application and regulate when security deposits can be withheld, among other things. Eudaly has revised her measures after they were first heard by the council on April 3 and 4. At that time, they were strongly opposed by landlords, who complained the screening requirements could force them to rent to convicted criminals. Landlords also called the new requirements too complicated to understand and follow.
LOCAL
Amid #MeToo, states debate teaching consent to kids
Oregonlive
Inside a Catholic school in Portland, high school sophomores break into groups to discuss some once-taboo topics: abusive relationships and consent. At one desk, a girl with banana-colored fingernails begins jotting down some of the hallmarks of abuse: Physically hurting you, verbally abusive, can be one-sided. She pauses to seek input from her classmates, boys and girls alike, before continuing: “It messes up your mentality and your, like, confidence.” For the first time this year, Central Catholic High School, like public schools in the city, is using educators from a domestic violence shelter to teach kids about what it means to consent. The goal is to reduce sexual violence and harassment among teens and help them understand what behavior is acceptable — and what’s not — before they reach adulthood.
Minor inland earthquake shakes Oregon Coast
Oregonlive
A minor earthquake was reported about eight miles east of the Lincoln City, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. The magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred at 9:23 a.m. A quake of that magnitude is large enough to be felt but typically causes little damage. None was immediately reported. Weak shaking was reported along the Oregon coast from Waldport to Cloverdale with scattered reports further inland.
Portland metro Monday traffic: Beaverton open house looks at OR 217 improvement plans
Oregonlive
The public is invited to an open house to discuss Oregon Department of Transportation plans for auxiliary lanes on OR 217 in the Beaverton and Tigard area. The open house is 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, at Beaverton City Library, 12375 S.W. Fifth St., Beaverton. During the event, ODOT will answer questions about the plan to add new auxiliary lanes that connect with on and off ramps along 217. The plan hopes to improve safety and help prevent the current bottlenecks that the highway often experiences. Auxiliary lanes have been shown to reduce merging slow-downs and cut back on crashes.