Weekday Wrap: Here’s how Oregon spent $400M aimed at the housing crisis

The place did $400M in Oregon homelessness funding go?

A minimum of 14,600 persons are experiencing homelessness throughout Oregon, and there isn’t sufficient inexpensive housing to deal with the tens of 1000’s of residents prone to becoming a member of them. Oregon lawmakers and Gov. Tina Kotek have responded this 12 months by pushing by means of extra funding and initiatives. This isn’t the primary time that’s occurred. Throughout the 2022 legislative session, Oregon Democrats launched a $400 million proposal that Oregon Housing and Neighborhood Providers director Andrea Bell known as a catalyst for a bigger set of initiatives. That cash elevated shelter mattress capability by 530 beds and offered grant cash to assist 25,000 low-income Oregonians regain stability. It additionally bolstered investments that prevented 8,900 tenants from being evicted. Right here’s a have a look at the place else that cash went. (Dianne Lugo/Salem Statesman Journal)

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Bend launches program to propel e-biking within the metropolis

On Monday, town of Bend launched a program to make e-biking extra inexpensive. E-bikes sometimes price 1000’s of {dollars}, however now town is accepting purposes for rebates to assist low-income residents buy e-bikes. Seventy-five households will obtain as much as $2,000 every. Solely prospects of Pacific Energy are eligible to use. The utility firm and the Oregon Division of Environmental High quality are funding the grants to advertise electrical mobility choices. The primary lottery to resolve a number of the Bend e-bike winners will likely be April 17, with extra going down in Might (Joni Auden Land/OPB)

Oregon jingle dancer Acosia Pink Elk is off to a busy 12 months

Acosia Pink Elk, a champion powwow dancer from Mission, has already had a busy 12 months, taking part in an artwork venture and performing on the Tremendous Bowl. A Umatilla tribal member, she’s a self-taught jingle dancer who has gained quite a few dancing titles on the Gathering of Nations. She not too long ago joined Indigenous Enterprise in Phoenix, an intertribal, six-member collective of championship powwow dancers that incessantly performs at sporting occasions. This 12 months, she additionally participated within the “We Are the Land” public artwork venture in Portland, the place her mural-sized portrait graces a wall on the Oregon Museum of Science and business. That venture, she stated, “was about visibility and reclaiming areas. Artwork sends highly effective messages. Visible artwork is sort of a tattoo in our minds.” (John Tillman/East Oregonian)

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US Inside secretary visits Oregon, touting new initiatives

U.S. Secretary of the Inside Deb Haaland stated final week the federal authorities will fund a number of initiatives in Oregon to advertise out of doors recreation and its relationship to tourism growth. Throughout a go to to Bend on a three-day tour of Oregon, Haaland touted these efforts, together with a $45 million venture to rehabilitate sections of the East Rim Drive at Crater Lake Nationwide Park and $21 million to assist cut back the danger of wildfires. Haaland, who’s Native American and a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe, additionally met with a number of tribal leaders across the state. She stated the Biden administration is “bringing extra tribes to the desk” to get their enter, and famous that a number of clear water tasks on reservations throughout the nation are getting funded by means of the federal infrastructure invoice. “It’s a game-changer in some ways,” she stated. (Bend Bulletin and Rogue Valley Occasions)

Federal guidelines might enhance charges for visitor staff important to agriculture

It could quickly get dearer to carry visitor staff into america. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Providers has proposed a rule that will considerably enhance submitting charges for H-2A and H-2B petitions — in some circumstances, by greater than double. USCIS officers proposed the charge hike to cowl inner bills. They stated the company’s prices have not too long ago spiked attributable to staffing prices, elevated asylum claims, longer processing occasions and expanded humanitarian packages. Critics say the proposed charges are unfair and would disproportionately damage small companies. Lately, farm employers have relied extra on guestworker packages as a supply of dependable labor. Between 2017 and 2022, the variety of staff licensed by means of the H-2A program elevated by 86%, in keeping with Division of Labor information. (Sierra Daybreak McClain/Capital Press)

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In search of a brand new caretaker for the historic Jantzen Seaside carousel

The 82 horses of the Janzen Seaside merry-go-round have been a beloved Portland icon for many years beginning within the early twentieth century. Now, after 11 years stabled in a North Portland warehouse, the carousel’s handlers are searching for a brand new caretaker. Restore Oregon employees are hoping to discover a new proprietor by Sept. 15 — and say that discovering a brand new proprietor who will protect and keep the carousel is a key precedence. (Jason Vondersmith/Portland Tribune)

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