By Emily Scarvie
(PORTLAND, Ore.) Hello Portlanders! It's Monday, June 20 - Here's your daily round up of all the news happening in the City of Roses.
1. Thousands attend Portland Pride Parade on Sunday
On Sunday, thousands marched downtown in the Portland Pride Parade for the first time since 2019. Floats, dancers, marching bands and more walked from the North Park Blocks to Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The parade took place on day two of the Portland Pride Festival.
As the parade went by, people lined the streets and waved rainbow flags. Debra Porta, the executive director of Pride Northwest, who puts on the event, said the parade is important for Portland’s LGBTQ+ community, because queer people can feel seen.
“It’s loud, it’s rambunctious. The energy is super high. It’s kind of hard to describe until you experience it, actually,” she said. “It’s about our visibility. Our visibility to each other so we know that we’re not alone, there are other people like us. And visibility to the larger community to make sure that we are not left out.”
2. Juneteenth Oregon celebrates 50th anniversary with festival
Portlanders came together at Albina Park in north Portland on Sunday to celebrate Juneteenth, which commemorates the ending of slavery in the U.S. June 19, 1865 marks when the last slaves in Galveston, Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation and their freedom. Juneteenth was made a federal holiday last year and Gov. Kate Brown made it a state holiday starting this year.
“It’s history that we get to celebrate everything they went through, self-reflect, that we can walk outside and just be free doing it,” said Jenelle Jack, the director of Juneteenth Oregon, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. “It’s personal to me because my grandmother started this Juneteenth celebration in Oregon, so carrying on her legacy and making sure that hard work that she put out there, I’m continuing it, trying to carry it on for her.”
3. PDX sees flight cancellations, delays and high prices
Travelers across the country dealt with major issues over the weekend amid thousands of flight cancellations and delays, including at Portland International Airport. At PDX alone, at least nine flights were cancelled and dozens were delayed.
Aside from travel interruptions, prices for airfare have gone up as well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, flight prices shot up more than 18% in April alone. Travel experts say anyone looking to fly this summer can expect delays and cancellations, as well as higher price tags, to continue.
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