Oregon

A Quick Trip To Portland (Oregon, Not Maine)

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

A Quick Trip To Portland (Oregon, Not Maine)

Posted on April 17, 2024

Posted by Athena Scalzi

In a recent post of mine, I said that I felt like I wasn’t doing much of the things I enjoy lately. One of these things is travel, and another is spending time with friends. When the opportunity arises to combine the two, who could say no? So at the end of March, I popped over to the West coast to spend a few days with an old college pal who is currently living in Portland, Oregon. She played tour guide and showed me around to some amazing spots in Portland. We hung out, had good food, good drinks, and had a great time overall. I thought I’d share some highlights with y’all!

I had been to Portland once before, when I was sixteen for the 2015 Westercon. From what I remembered, I quite liked Portland, and coming back almost ten years later seemed like a lot of fun.

My flight arrived into PDX at 8:30pm, and I ended up making it to my friends place at about 9:30, so they suggested a place that was open late for food. Specifically, a place that is only open late, that being between 7pm to midnight, and they only serve coffee, tea, and desserts.

I thought that sounded just like my cup of tea (ha!), and we walked a few blocks to Rimsky-Korsakoffee House. I was so excited to try it, but when we stepped inside I realized I had literally been here before. Some very cool people from Westercon had taken me here, and it was only when I saw that familiar, whimsical, cozy string lighting that I recognized it. Regardless, I was more than happy to be back, and had a difficult time choosing what dessert to get.

Rimsky's laminated menu. There's a coffee section, tea section, and dessert section.

I ended up getting the Ginger Cake with Warm Caramel Sauce, and an orange cappuccino. The ginger cake was for sure an amazing choice if I do say so myself, as it was warm, moist, and spiced to perfection. The orange cappuccino was a wonderful pairing. Honestly if I lived in Portland I would make it a point to try every dessert listed.

The next morning, it was a short jaunt over to Flour Bloom, a coffee shop that has plants, pastries, and, you guessed it, coffee!

A mural on the wall inside the coffee shop. It looks very 70's hippie style, with a disco ball, ribbons of pinks and greens, large simplistic flower decals, and it reads

There was art for sale from local artists, tons of plants you could buy, and a photobooth. My friend and I both got “The Flower Child”, which is a honey-lavender-rose latte with cardamom and dried rose petals.

Two iced coffees sitting next to each other on a yellow-ish counter top. The plastic cups have the Flour Bloom logo on them, a pink vase with a rose coming out of it, as well as Greek style lettering on the sides of the vase reading

(Though we got the same drink, my friend got hers with oat milk, so it’s a slightly different color than mine.)

After our coffee, my friend took me all around the Industrial District and we explored so many different and super unique antique/vintage/thrift stores.

One of them had this vintage style kitchen that was totally to die for.

A pale pink and green vintage style kitchen set up in the middle of the thrift store.

As well as this super cool wall of old stereos!

A wall covered in floating shelves, each one holding a vintage, old style stereo. In the middle of the wall arrangement is a giant orange neon light fox.

After gettin’ my thrift on (I bought so many trinkets), we headed to McMenamin’s Kennedy School. It’s basically an old elementary school that got repurposed into a hotel and restaurant type of thing.

Again, I realized I’d been here before, but my friend and I got to do something I didn’t do last time, which was spend an hour in their soaking pool. I love me a good warm body of water to relax in, especially when accompanied by a crisp, cold cider. I got the blackberry cider and my friend got the blood orange ginger cider. I didn’t take any pictures of the pool or anything because it was prohibited (which is totally understandable). It was a great time despite it being a little crowded.

For dinner we went to a modern Japanese place not far from my friend’s apartment called Wa Kitchen Kuu, where we tried a sake flight, some seriously good chicken, and I also got a roll.

A white bowl filled with small pieces of fried chicken that are sprinkled with seasoning and nori.

A sushi roll consisting of eight pieces in a straight line. Each piece is topped with a piece of eel.

Everything was so delish, I was tempted to go back for dinner or lunch another day, but my friend said we should try to avoid repeats and I agreed.

After dinner we went to Studio One to see a movie, and it was unlike any theater I’ve seen before. Each auditorium has a different name and is set up with all sorts of comfy furniture, like couches and plush chairs. There’s also tables for your drinks and food. Which, by the way, you can order your drinks and food right from your seat! Like real, hot food, not just movie theater popcorn. And also drinks with alcohol in them! It was so luxe.

We had already had dinner so I just got a drink and a crème brûlée, which was extremely yummy. We had intended on seeing Godzilla: Minus One, but accidentally saw Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. It was very bad. But honestly laughing at it the whole time with my friend was so fun it was worth seeing that garbage.

And that completed my first full day in Portland! The next day, my friend and I got breakfast at a place called Harlow which is classified on Google as a health food restaurant and I can totally see why. I got the pesto garden scramble which was eggs, seasonal vegetables, yams, potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and kale, with walnut basil pesto. Plus a side of quinoa.

A bowl full of roasted veggies, eggs, and pesto, topped with roasted walnuts.

This was so tasty and filling, and I felt so healthy eating it! The bee pollen on top of my turmeric golden latte with coconut milk might’ve been too healthy for my taste, but these veggies, eggs, and pesto really hit it out of the park.

Later on we grabbed a quick bubble tea from Mochinut. I got the Thai tea which is one of my favorite kinds of boba to get.

A tall plastic container of Thai tea with tapioca pearls (boba) at the bottom of the orange, milky liquid.

That night we were going to a club called 45 East for a rave, and I had nothing to wear to said rave, so we went shopping at this very interesting shop that had Halloween costumes, huge platform shoes, lingerie, wild accessories, all sorts of funky stuff! I threw together an outfit of a black dress, neon green fishnets, and these absolutely amazing Demonia boots.

A pair of big, black, chunky, spiky goth boots.

I’d always wanted to go to a rave and I was not disappointed. The music was boppin’, the people were friendly, the lights were colorful, and it was so much fun. My feet definitely hurt from dancing, though.

After that we popped over to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite and a drink, and I got a seriously delicious drink called “Dirty Pretty Dirty Chai” which was chai infused vodka, Mr. Black cold brew, miso-vanilla, and oatmilk. I also got these strange, fried deviled eggs.

A small circular black plate containing four fried deviled eggs, topped with microgreens and chives.

They were certainly something.

The next day I got to go to the infamous Portland Saturday Market. It’s basically a giant art vendor market and there’s also things that aren’t art, like clothing, home decor, and food (not that home decor and clothing can’t be works of art).

There was so much to see, so many more vendors than I thought there would be! If I hadn’t had to fly home with my suitcase, I would’ve bought way more stuff. But I ended up buying a few items like a shirt, some stickers, and I got some food, too. My favorite thing I ate was this rice pudding.

Three small plastic cups of rice pudding topped with pistachios and rose petals.

Following the market, my friend took me to Lan Su Chinese Garden, which was a beautiful place full of Chinese history, culture, and gorgeous foliage. Not only did we walk through the tranquil gardens, but we stopped at the lovely tea house and had tea and pastries. I honestly didn’t take many pictures because I was trying to really soak everything in and just enjoy the flowers, tea, and nice weather. It was an excellent time.

After walking around downtown for a bit and exploring some more, we stopped at Dan & Louis Oyster Bar, and I was so excited to get some West coast oysters while being in the actual West coast!

A bowl of ice with six oysters on the half shell. There's three condiment cups and a lemon wedge.

These oysters were really good, I honestly wanted to get more but I ended up being pretty full from the clam chowder, calamari, and shrimp cocktail we had.

A cocktail glass filled with cocktail sauce. Around the rim of the glass there's six big, plump shrimp.

That night we went to my friend’s friend’s party, a Queer Prom, and I met so many amazing people and had such a fun time, and the party lasted late into the night.

And then the next day I flew home!

My time in Portland was time very well spent, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I loved hanging with my friend and meeting her friends, had so much good food, saw so much unique, cool stuff, and was just glad to be out doing something I like to do. It was great.

Have you ever been to Portland, or maybe even live in Portland? Do you have recommendations for me for the next time I go? Do you like thrifting and West coast oysters? Let me know in the comments, and have a great day!

-AMS

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Oregon

Oregon lawmakers advance one-year moratorium on tax breaks for data centers

Published

10 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Oregon lawmakers advance one-year moratorium on tax breaks for data centers

Written by Alma McCarty & KGW:

SALEM, Oregon — In the final week of Oregon’s legislative short session, lawmakers in Salem discussed regulating data centers — specifically, placing a one-year moratorium on certain tax breaks.

Governor Tina Kotek has been looking to expand the state’s enterprise zone program, which is intended to grow Oregon companies and attract new ones. Businesses that locate or expand within designated zones can qualify for property tax exemptions on new investments if they meet eligibility requirements.

However, some advocates argue that extending incentives to data centers may not be sustainable long term.

“Data centers have been around for a while,” said Kelly Campbell, policy director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “Data centers are getting bigger and bigger. Some of these new AI hyperscale data centers are exponentially bigger than those tiny ones. They’re really just using a lot of energy, a lot of water.”

However, some advocates argue that extending incentives to data centers may not be sustainable long term.

Last week, Columbia Riverkeeper released a report examining data centers operating or planned along the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington.

“I think the question becomes, do we want to stick to our climate goals of getting to 100% renewable? Or do we want to have these big, mega data centers owned by big tech companies — some of the wealthiest corporations in the world — getting to use whatever energy they want? We would say, no, that’s not OK,” Campbell said.

On Monday, lawmakers amended an economic incentives bill to block new data centers from qualifying for certain tax breaks for one year.

“I think this moratorium is a pretty short pause to give the advisory council time and space to do their work,” said Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, during a subcommittee meeting Monday morning.

The Data Center Advisory Committee, convened by Kotek, held its first meeting Friday. The group’s goal is to develop policy recommendations addressing the rapid growth of data centers.

“There are some businesses that will need them, but freestanding data centers, the way we’ve been growing in the state, is not sustainable,” the Governor told reporters during a press conference last week.

On Monday, her office sent KGW a statement regarding the moratorium:

“The moratorium will address immediate concerns and also allow for the Governor’s Data Center Advisory Committee to develop recommendations to strategically pursue economic development opportunities while ensuring utility costs, infrastructure investments, and environmental impacts remain sustainable and equitable for all residents.”

Supporters of data center growth, particularly in rural communities, also spoke during work sessions.

“This moratorium will have a disparate impact on communities east of the Cascades — communities like Prineville, Hermiston and Redmond that have leveraged enterprise zones and data centers to bring hundreds of living-wage jobs to their communities,” said Alexandra Ring, a lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities.

“While data centers may be seen as a nuisance or inconvenient in Washington County, they are not in Crook County. They are not in Morrow County, in Umatilla County,” said Sen. Mark McLane, who represents several Eastern Oregon counties, including Baker, Crook, Grant and Harney.

Even if the House and Senate ultimately approve the moratorium, it would apply only to new data centers — not those that already receive tax breaks or projects currently underway.

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Oregon

Iranian in Oregon says he was a political prisoner in his home country

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Iranian in Oregon says he was a political prisoner in his home country

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — A member of Oregon’s Iranian community on Monday reacted to American and Israeli strikes in his home country and the death of Iran’s supreme leader over the weekend.

That reaction came as the conflict in the Middle East expanded into a third day. President Donald Trump indicated it could go on for several weeks.

Amin Yousefimalakabad says right now he is concerned about his family, who he says lives near military bases in Tehran, the capital of Iran.

He described businesses with shattered windows and explosions near his family’s home.

At the same time, Yousefimalakabad says he felt relief learning about the killing of the ayatollah.

He says he fled Iran four years ago after facing political persecution.

“I used to be a political prisoner in Iran. I got arrested in one of the protests that happened in Iran, and I was under torture for two weeks,” he said in an interview with KATU News. “They put me in prison for six months. I had, even when I was thinking about those days, it made my body shake from inside because I didn’t deserve that. I just wanted the first things that I can have in a foreign country like America in my country. I wanted freedom. I wanted to have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, to choose who I want to be.”

Meanwhile, Yousefimalakabad says he still can’t return to Iran, fearing he would be punished for his Christian beliefs and says although the regime could change, the ideology in Iran might not.

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Oregon

How Wisconsin Badgers logistically pulled off extended West Coast trip

Published

2 days ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

How Wisconsin Badgers logistically pulled off extended West Coast trip

Wisconsin has taken time zone changes into account when planning West Coast trips like the recent one to Oregon and Washington.
Oregon and Washington were ‘super hospitable’ to the Badgers when they were traveling from Feb. 23-28.
Wisconsin’s Lindsay Lovelace and Eli Wilke have done a “really good job” in their operations roles.

SEATTLE – Wisconsin men’s basketball’s day that ended with a resounding 90-73 win over Washington did not exactly have a resounding start.

After loading the bus at the team’s downtown Seattle hotel before the Feb. 28 game roughly four miles away at Alaska Airlines Arena, there was a slight issue.

The bus broke down.

But the Badgers had another bus and were only delayed “maybe 10, 15 minutes at the most.”

“All the managers and everybody moved all the bags onto the other bus,” said Lindsay Lovelace, Wisconsin’s assistant director of basketball operations. “So thankfully we had that second bus, and then the bus company did a really good job of getting us another one really fast.”

Wisconsin’s quick pivot was part of the extensive efforts that have gone into an extended road trip like what the Badgers recently concluded against Oregon and Washington.

“Knowing where we’re going, we reserve flights in July and August,” Lovelace said. “Once we finalize game times and stuff, then we can finalize our flight times and everything. And then I started booking hotels for every trip in September-ish, I would say – September, early in October.

“It kind of starts with those big pieces, and then about a month, month-and-a-half out, we start doing meals and scheduling with itineraries.”

The pair of West Coast games made for a six-day, five-night trip as the Badgers played at Oregon on Wednesday, Feb. 25, and at Washington on Saturday, Feb. 28. It was just UW’s second time this season staying on the road between road games, albeit not nearly as long as the 11-night stay in Salt Lake City and San Diego in the nonconference schedule.

“It seems like it’s a big trip, but it’s essentially just two trips, two days each basically,” said Eli Wilke, who is in his first season as Wisconsin’s operations coordinator after previously working as a graduate manager.

As UW did for the Salt Lake City/San Diego trip earlier in the season and the Los Angeles trip last season, the Badgers arrived two days before the first game instead of the typical one day for shorter road trips on the Big Ten schedule.

“We all decided that it’s just the best to get out there one night earlier, try and get their sleep adjusted as best as possible and then give them a day to sleep in and get up and then practice,” Lovelace said.

Lovelace, who has been in her role since 2021, had the benefit of leaning on last season’s Los Angeles trip and past postseason trips. But the Oregon-Washington trip marked the Badgers’ first road game at Washington since 1955, and it was the Badgers’ first regular-season road game at Oregon since 1990.

The Badgers did have a blueprint for traveling to Eugene following their 2023 NIT game against the Ducks. This trip naturally allowed for much more planning time, too, than a postseason game.

“I said to [UW general manager] Marc [VandeWettering], ‘I remember liking the hotel that we stayed at for the NIT,’” Lovelace said. “And he agreed. The food was good, and the setup they had was really good. It was pretty close to the arena.”

Lovelace also turned to her counterparts who work with Wisconsin football and volleyball, which have similarly been adjusting to the new Big Ten cities. UW volleyball made its first trip to Seattle during the 2025 season, and both UW football and volleyball played in Eugene.

“I talked to John [Richter, UW’s director of football operations] a little bit, but a lot with Jess Williams from volleyball,” Lovelace said. “And she kind of gave me some pointers on traffic and making sure you plan ahead for Seattle because traffic can be really busy at times.”

Wisconsin’s men’s basketball operations staff got a helping hand, too, from Oregon and Washington’s operations personnel.

“Especially with these West Coast trips, these teams are used to it now with these teams doubling up,” Wilke said. “Because they’re all super hospitable and trying to help us out.”

That hospitality includes everything from laundry service to logistical information such as parking and practice options.

Wisconsin secured two practice times in the two days leading up to the Wisconsin-Washington game at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Badgers practiced at Matthew Knight Arena in Oregon the day before and had a shootaround the day of the very late game.

The Badgers were at the mercy of whenever Alaska Airlines Arena was available, though, which turned out to be on a Thursday evening and Friday evening before a Saturday early-afternoon game.

“We know that we really have to be flexible on what they give us,” Lovelace said. “I think everybody wanted to practice at Alaska Airlines Arena. … If we wanted to have an earlier practice, we could have looked elsewhere for gym time, too.”

Washington provided laundry service for Wisconsin on the Badgers’ first night in Seattle. The courtesy is not something to be taken for granted either after what nearly happened when the Badgers traveled to San Diego.

“I was looking at all the laundromats,” Wilke said, following the suggestion of the tournament organizers.

That’s when Nick Boyd – UW’s team leader in points and assists – delivered a big off-the-court assist after playing with his connections at San Diego State, where he played in 2024-25 before transferring to the Badgers.

“Nick connected with one of his old managers, who connected with the current manager at San Diego State and helped connect us with their equipment person who was willing to help us out,” Wilke said. “We got lucky with Nick there.”

The extended trips often come with a larger travel party and the added responsibility of managing logistics for non-basketball excursions. The activities help “keep guys fresh and keep loose,” Wilke said.

The San Diego trip earlier in the season involved a visit at the zoo. The year before, Wisconsin went to an NBA game while in Los Angeles for the USC and UCLA games. This time, UW toured a joint military base in the Seattle-Tacoma region on Feb. 27.

This is Lovelace and Wilke’s first season spearheading Wisconsin’s men’s basketball operations together. VandeWettering was the team’s director of basketball operations for eight seasons before being promoted to a new general manager role in the summer.

UW then promoted Wilke to operations coordinator, all while he continues to finish his master’s degree in sports leadership. He has yet to miss an assignment although he does “cut it very close.” When Wisconsin played Iowa on Feb. 22, he had an assignment due that day.

“I was writing my paper as our guys were doing pregame warmup shots,” Wilke said. “One of the event staff was just laughing behind me because they saw me. I’m just typing away.”

Coordinating operations specifically at a place like Wisconsin “makes my life easier,” Wilke said.

“I don’t really have to worry about guys forgetting things because they’re pretty on top of it,” Wilke said. “I think that’s kind of how the culture of the program’s been over the last few years.”

Even when life is not so easy – an already-loaded bus uncharacteristically breaking down might be one of the top examples – UW’s operations duo has earned rave reviews.

“There’s a lot of moving parts, and there’s going to be hiccups,” VandeWettering said. “And I think you just got to understand that there are going to be things beyond your control, and you just got to be able to roll with it. I think they’ve both done a really good job of continuing to do that to the best of their ability.”

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