6AM City In-house

Happy birthday to us 🧁

A look back at one year of PDXtoday
PDXtoday Portland anniversary birthday
The PDXtoday team celebrated with lunch at Miss Delta and a Blue Star donut. | Photo by PDXtoday
Today, we celebrate PDXtoday’s first birthday — and what a year it has been. From the first newsletter we sent on Dec. 6, 2021, to today (259 newsletters later), we’ve had so much fun getting to know our city better and sharing the wealth with all of you. So we’re stopping to smell the roses with a recap of highlights from the past 12 months.

Keep Portland Weird

The slogan shines brighter with every layer we peel back. Sometimes, the best way to get to know someone is by uncovering their quirkiest traits.

Portland Weather Machine | The resident meteorologist in Portland’s Living Room.

Stark’s Vacuum Museum | This shop on Northeast Grand Avenue has a wall dedicated to the household machine. Ironically, it doesn’t suck.

Interviews

Chuck Palahniuk’s book “Fugitives and Refugees” opens on a discussion with fellow author Katherine Dunn. She says, “Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives.” That just makes us three times more interesting, right?

Here are some excerpts from our favorite conversations with locals.

“Although raising awareness about animals from around the globe is an incredible part of zoo work, giving people an opportunity to connect with the wildlife they live among can be astoundingly impactful.” - Ali Azevedo, keeper at Oregon Zoo

“Comfortably we can put eight adults in there. We have filled it with 14 drunk adults no problem.” - Jeanette Schenk, owner of Hammie the Photo Booth

Our favorite memories

Time flies when you’re having fun.

The Crow Patrol | From the top of a parking garage to city streets, Ben will never forget photographing falconer Kort Clayton and his Harris’s hawk as they worked to keep the pesky corvids from making a mess downtown.

Springtime is showtime | Not many people get to say they explore local hiking trails for work. PDXtoday’s Hike of the Month series is one of Cambrie’s favorites, with her trip to the Gorge in search of wildflowers topping the list.

We would be remiss without mentioning how much of a pleasure it was hosting Eva Limmer from Munich for her two-month Arthur F. Burns fellowship. You can bet her guide to eating and drinking like a German in Portland is authentic.
READER FAVORITES + MORE
6AM City In-house

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Tuesday, Dec. 6
  • ZooLights | Tuesday, Dec. 6-Thursday, Jan. 5 | 4:30-9:30 p.m. | Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon Rd., Portland | $21-$29 | Walk through dazzling displays of more than 1.5 million lights celebrating the animal kingdom.
  • Christmas Ships Parade | Tuesday, Dec. 6-Wednesday, Dec. 21 | Times vary | Willamette + Columbia rivers, Portland | Free | This local holiday tradition celebrates its 68th year with colorful flotillas of ships decked out in whimsical lights.
Wednesday, Dec. 7
  • Winterhawks vs. Prince George Cougars | Wednesday, Dec. 7 | 7 p.m. | Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 Winning Way, Portland | $26-$41 | Come see the on-fire home team kick these cats out into the cold.
Thursday, Dec. 8
  • Christmas Cooking Class | Thursday, Dec. 8 | 5-8 p.m. | Cookin’ Class, 9265 SW Greenburg Rd., Tigard | $120 | Join Natalie’s Estate Wines to prepare (and eat) a gourmet holiday meal with wine pairings.
Friday, Dec. 9
  • The Great Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition | Friday, Dec. 9 | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW Sixth Ave., Portland | Free | Caroling groups will serenade a 10-block radius around Portland’s Living Room; the top three groups will compete in a “carol-off” with the winners chosen by crowd applause.
  • The Portland Gay Men’s Chorus Presents: “Light the Way Home” | Friday, Dec. 9-Sunday, Dec. 11 | Times vary | Portland Gay Men’s Chorus, 921 SW Washington St., Ste. 222, Portland | $20-$56 | Hear holiday classics and new favorites in this magical choral concert that will wrap you in the spirit of the season.
Saturday, Dec. 10
  • ScanFair | Saturday, Dec. 10-Sunday, Dec. 11 | Times vary | Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland | $0-$30 | Experience Scandinavia with food and drink, vendors, live entertainment celebrating cultural heritage, games, activities, crafts, and more.
We have a calendar filled with events and activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.
AN ADVENT CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Weather
  • 42Âș | Cloudy | 19% chance of rain
  • It didn’t take much (just a tenth of an inch to be exact), but the year’s first snowfall on Sunday, Dec. 4 set a new record in the Portland metro area. The light dusting surpassed the previous record of “trace amounts of snow” set in 1980. ❄ (KOIN)
Sunrise + Sunset
  • Rise: 7:36 a.m.
  • Set: 4:27 p.m.
Health
  • Providence’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Portland Medical Center is taking emergency precautions in response to a statewide surge of critically ill infants. Crisis of care standards allow health workers to treat more patients and, if needed, prioritize those with a higher likelihood of survival. đŸ©ș (OPB)
Sports
  • Evander da Silva Ferreira, the current leading goal scorer in the Europa League, will join the Portland Timbers. The Brazilian was signed for a club record fee (approx. $10 million) from Danish Superliga side FC Midtjylland and will occupy a designated player spot until 2026, with a club option for 2027. âšœ (Stumptown Footy)
Learn
  • Most I-5 bridges will likely remain standing following “The Big One,” according to new modeling by researchers at the University of Washington. Thanks to softer, seismic energy-absorbing sediment beneath Northwest cities and strong construction, these bridges “will still be usable after a magnitude 9 earthquake off the coast.” (OPB)
Biz
  • A shoe brand founded in Portland last year has released what it calls the world’s first fully biodegradable shoe. Unless Collective’s new design, The Degenerate, is made entirely of plants and minerals. When the shoes wear out, customers can send them back and the company will turn them into soil products. 👟 (Portland Inno)
Portlander
  • Sophia Takla, a 2019 Jesuit High School grad who was crowned Miss Oregon in June, is getting ready to compete for the Miss America title. The legislative ambassador for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network who dreams of singing on Broadway travels to Connecticut this week for the scholarship competition. 👑 (Portland Tribune)
Real Estate
  • A fan is buying “The Goonies” house in Astoria. The buyer, whose name won’t be released until the deal closes in January, plans to preserve and protect the iconic home that’s inspired countless fan pilgrimages to the Oregon Coast. He’d better be working on his truffle shuffle. đŸŽâ€â˜ ïž (The Oregonian/Oregon Live)
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‘Remembrance In Paint’

New mural in Southeast Portland honors the late Jason ‘J.’ Brown
PDX Portland mural graffiti art Jason J Brown memorial
Altogether, the various pieces along the bottom spell out “Portland” in an abstract style. | Photo courtesy of Portland Street Art Alliance
A new mural in Southeast Portland honors the late Jason “J.” Brown and his advocacy work, which is credited for pushing the City of Portland to loosen its street art laws.

Brown, who died in 2011, was the owner of a Portland streetwear shop in the early 2000s called New American Casuals (NAC). The massive new mural is located at All Service Moving — just blocks from NAC’s original location at 326 SE Morrison St.

The “Remembrance In Paint” memorial mural was created in a classic graffiti style by a team of internationally known aerosol artists organized by Jaymeer in partnership with Portland Street Art Alliance. Ground Score Association, a local program helping people with housing insecurities access paid work opportunities, helped prepare the wall.

Quotes from Brown are featured in the work, along with related imagery from an original mural on NAC that helped spark a debate about freedom of expression in Portland.
6AM City In-house
THE WRAP

Today’s issue was written by Cambrie.

Editor’s pick: We celebrated our first birthday at Miss Delta Restaurant & Bar and all three of us ordered the jambalaya. Let me just say: if you’re craving Southern food, this is the spot.

Missed yesterday’s newsletter? We shared three tips for navigating changing real estate market conditions in PDX.
Connect with us.

Editorial: Cambrie Juarez, Ben McBee, Britt Thorson, Emily Shea | Send us a scoop, question, or feedback.

Sales: Terri Kiesenhofer | Advertise with us.

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