By Emily Scarvie
(PORTLAND, Ore.) Hello Portlanders! It's Monday, Jan. 10 - Here's your daily round up of all the news happening in the City of Roses.
1. Several Portland-area schools move online amid surge in COVID-19 cases
Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases among students and staff, several Portland-area schools are closed Monday and moving classes online until at least Friday. Portland Public Schools announced that McDaniel High School, Cleveland High School, Roosevelt High School and Ockley Green Middle School will be holding classes remotely until the end of the week.
Tigard’s Durham Elementary School is also closed on Monday, as well as all schools in the Parkrose School District. The Beaverton School District hasn’t canceled in-person classes yet, but is changing the way extracurricular activities operate, limiting crowd capacity at sporting events to four tickets per athlete and getting rid of concessions.
2. TriMet reduces service on 20 bus lines amid staffing shortage
Starting Monday, TriMet is reducing service on 20 bus lines amid a severe staffing shortage related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency first announced the service reductions last month, citing employee attrition and not enough applicants to meet expected hiring goals. According to TriMet, the reductions will improve schedule reliability, so riders will experience less late or canceled rides.
The following lines will be reduced:
- Line 4-Fessenden
- Line 8-Jackson Park/NE 15th
- Line 12-Barbur/Sandy Blvd
- Line 15-Belmont/NW 23rd
- Line 17-Holgate/Broadway
- Line 21-Sandy Blvd/223rd
- Line 30-Estacada
- Line 33-McLoughlin/King Rd
- Line 35-Macadam/Greeley
- Line 52-Farmington/185th
- Line 54-Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy
- Line 56-Scholls Ferry Rd
- Line 62-Murray Blvd
- Line 67-Bethany/158th
- Line 70-12th/NE 33rd Ave
- Line 71-60th Ave
- Line 75-Cesar Chavez/Lombard
- Line 76-Hall/Greenburg
- Line 77-Broadway/Halsey
- Line 78-Denney/Kerr Pkwy
All of the reductions are to weekday bus services. For frequent service lines, buses are expected to arrive roughly every 15 minutes during the busiest travel times.
TriMet is currently hiring bus drivers. Anyone interested can apply here.
3. BIKETOWN expanding ride service by 25%
Transportation Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, joined by officials with the Portland Bureau of Transportation, Lyft and BIKETOWN, announced Monday that BIKETOWN will expand its service by 25%.
According to officials, the program will be expanded into east and north Portland, areas with a high percentage of communities of color that have been traditionally underserved when it comes to transportation infrastructure.
For more information on the program, click here.
4. Sunshine Division, Kaiser Permanente distributing free food boxes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
On Monday, the Sunshine Division and Kaiser Permanente announced that they will distribute free food boxes in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 17. The organizations distributed roughly 3,000 food boxes last year and thanks to another $90,000 grant from Kaiser, they expect to do the same next week.
According to the Sunshine Division, Kaiser’s grant equates to 1,000 food boxes distributed through their home delivery service and 1,000 bulk food deliveries to partner organizations in Cowlitz, Clark, Washington, Clackamas and Marion counties. Another 1,000 drive-up food boxes will be available next Monday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Kaiser Permanente parking structure located at 500 Northeast Multnomah Street.
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