Community Corner
🌱 Patch AM: What Portland’s housing office shake-up means for development plans now
Coming up: Good Together; Akwaaba Table Beer Dinner on the Portland Patch calendar
Good morning Portland! Your connection to what's happening around town is here. Take a sip of coffee and read on. ☕️️
In today's newsletter:
- What Portland's housing office shake-up means for development plans now
- How will Portland's nightlife change after the 100-foot buffer repeal?
- Could Portland itself become your next landlord for affordable housing?
Also on today's calendar: Good Together; Akwaaba Table Beer Dinner and 9 more events.
Today's riddle: What did one strawberry say to the other strawberry? 🤔 (Answer below!)
- Tuesday: An afternoon thundershower, with a high of 75 and low of 59 degrees.
- Wednesday: Partly sunny and pleasant, temps: high: 77, low: 60.
- Thursday: Beautiful with sun and clouds, with a high of 76 and low of 64 degrees.
📰 News we're reading
1. Portland housing and economic development director resigns (mainebiz.biz) — Portland's housing and economic development director Greg Watson has resigned after returning briefly from paid administrative leave tied to an assault charge that was later dropped for lack of evidence. Assistant city manager Dena Libner had been filling in, and veteran municipal leader Pat Finnigan will now serve as interim director while the city prepares a search for a permanent replacement. 
2. Portland rolls back 100-foot buffer zone for businesses with entertainment licenses (wmtw.com) — Portland's city council has unanimously repealed a decades-old rule that banned entertainment-licensed venues from operating within 100 feet of each other, opening the door for more nightlife options downtown. Bar owners like Cocktail Mary's Isaac Macdougal say the change will boost drag and dance events and better match today's Old Port, which city leaders describe as more retail- and hospitality-focused than in the 1990s.
3. Portland's new social housing task force presents recommendations (wgme.com) — Portland's social housing task force has delivered recommendations that could see the city directly owning and financing new mixed-income, permanently affordable housing. Ideas include about 40 city-owned rentals on Cornell Street and additional units in a Portland Housing Authority project on Congress Street, funded through municipal bonds as officials seek to keep residents in downtown neighborhoods.
4. PBS News Hour Richard Russo visits places left behind in 'Under the Falls' (pbs.org) — Portland readers might enjoy knowing that novelist Richard Russo now lives and works along Maine's coast and has family running a bookstore in Portland. In a new PBS NewsHour interview, he talks about his latest novel "Under the Falls," his Adirondack mill-town roots, and why he keeps returning to struggling communities in his fiction.
📸 Around Portland
Show off your photography skills and the sights around town! Click here to submit your Photo of the Day to Patch AM!
🗓 Upcoming Events in Portland
Add your event to our calendar and newsletter!
- Longfellow Open House
Longfellow School-Portland Portland, ME 04103
4:00 pm - Longfellow Popsicle Social
Longfellow School-Portland Portland, ME 04103
4:30 pm - Early Release / Staff PD Students Released at 1:10
Ocean Avenue Portland, ME 04103
5:15 pm - OAES Open House and Watermelon Welcome
Ocean Avenue Portland, ME 04103
8:00 pm - BACK TO SCHOOL POPSICLE PARTY
Riverton School Portland, ME 04103
8:00 pm - Popsicle Party with Rowe Families
Amanda C Rowe School Portland, ME 04102
4:30 pm - Popsicle Party
Amanda C Rowe School Portland, ME 04102
4:30 pm - Good Together; Akwaaba Table Beer Dinner →
The Cellars at Allagash Brewing Company, 100 Industrial Wy, Portland
6:00 pm - First Day of School - Grades 1 through 5
Ocean Avenue Portland, ME 04103 - Learn The Truth About Getting Rid Of Your Stuff →
The Clarion Hotel, 1230 Congress St, Portland
10:00 am - Ghostland Beer Release and Merch Pop-Up, feat. Ghost of Paul Revere →
Allagash Brewing Company, 50 Industrial Wy, Portland
1:00 pm - Gimme Gimme Disco →
Aura 121 Center Street Portland, ME 04101
9:00 pm
Wednesday August 26
Thursday August 27
Monday August 31
Tuesday September 1
Saturday September 5
Saturday September 12
📣 Portland Shout Outs!
Want to say something great about someone in town? Click here to submit your Shout Out to Patch AM! It's free!
Have we missed something on our calendar? Add an event yourself! As always, before attending confirm event details to ensure accuracy.
Thank you 👏👏👏 to these businesses for making Portland PatchAM possible:
- Insurcomm Restoration — (866) 708-5357
Click here to show your appreciation! 💚
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💬 Chatter
What your neighbors are talking about on social media
- My neighbor found this kitty on her porch on Fellows Street in Portland.
Looks like she has a injured hind leg. We fed her she was hungry. Having a difficult time walking because of the injury. Portland Police were… (Nextdoor Rosemont Triangle) - Overheard on the Peaks Island to Portland ferry.
Sitting in our car, when we heard someone in another car ask: "Excuse me, I have a question… is this going to Peaks Island?" Ferry worker: "This IS… (Nextdoor Peaks Island)
- Menzies Aviation, plc posted a job opening for Ramp Agent in Portland. Apply here.
- Unifi Aviation, LLC posted a job opening for Airport Ramp Agent PT (Delta) - PWM in Portland. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Portland here.
Ok Portland! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!
-- The Patch AM Team
P.S. The answer to today's riddle: If you weren't so sweet, we wouldn't be in this jam! (Thank you Patti F. for sending it in!)
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!
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