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In-person applications have priority starting January 6 Portland Parks & Recreation ( PP&R ) is the proud steward of more than 200 parks, gardens, and natural settings which can be reserved for weddings  and/or receptions. The PP&R Customer Service Center will begin granting reservations for weddings scheduled for the 2025 calendar year on Monday, January 6, 2025. In-person reservations will be prioritized from 8am-12pm. Beginning at 1pm, staff will begin processing requests received by phone, by mail, and online.  In keeping with past events, PP&R staff expects future brides- and grooms-to-be to line up outside the Customer Service Center (at the Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Avenue, ground floor) in the wee hours of the morning on January 6. At 8am, people waiting in line will be invited inside the Portland Building for light morning refreshments while workers begin processing wedding requests. For the first time, Portland Parks & Recreation will be hosting local vendors offering services in support of your wedding event at the Portland Building from 8am-12pm. Interested vendors can find more information and the application process online at www.portland.gov/parks/wedding or by calling the PP&R Customer Service Center at 503-823-2525. Portland Parks & Recreation is the proud steward of more than 200 parks, gardens, and natural settings which can be reserved for weddings and/or receptions. These lovely settings are the perfect locations for ceremonies and celebrations. Please see the 2025 PP&R wedding brochure  for locations, fees, policies, insurance, and more reservation information. While weddings may be scheduled at a picnic site, receptions cannot be scheduled in a wedding garden (only the ceremony portion). City code requires that a permit be obtained for any wedding in a public park where guests are invited. Permits are issued by the Portland Parks & Recreation Customer Service Center.  Weddings are not permitted at the Japanese Garden, Pittock Mansion and surrounding acres, or Portland International Raceway.

Meet 60+ Oregon Authors at the 55th Annual Holiday Cheer Book Sale Kick off the holiday season on Sunday, December 8 at Holiday Cheer: A Celebration of Oregon Authors. Visit with more than 60 local writers as you sip on hot cocoa, listen to carols, and get a jump on your holiday shopping! For 55 years, OHS has celebrated the state’s rich literary talents at this annual book signing event. This year, some of the Pacific Northwest’s most prominent authors will be at OHS selling everything from children’s books to guidebooks to mysteries to histories! View a full list of participating authors at ohs.org/holidaycheer . To add to the holiday cheer, The Dickens Carolers will be strolling through the museum performing lively holiday songs from 1:30pm–2:30pm, and Santaland is back on view! Visit this nostalgic vignette, which features items from the original Meier & Frank Santaland including Rudolph, animatronic elves, holiday decor, a model of the famous monorail, and even the famous Cinnamon Bear costume! Each year, our museum team adds a new “Easter egg” to the display; can you spot the difference this year? Book sales at Holiday Cheer support the Oregon Historical Society’s mission to preserve our state’s history and make it accessible to everyone in ways that advance knowledge and inspire curiosity about all the people, places, and events that have shaped Oregon. Holiday Cheer begins at noon and authors will be signing until 4pm. Admission is free to both the book sale and to visit museum exhibitions, with OHS’s galleries open until 5pm. In addition to Santaland, current exhibitions include A Fountain of Creativity: Oregon’s 20th Century Artists and the Legacy of Arlene Schnitzer and Crossing Boundaries: Portraits of a Transgender West.

Decision made weeks before scheduled sentencing (AP) - President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter, sparing the younger Biden a possible prison sentence for federal felony gun and tax convictions and reversing his past promises not to use the extraordinary powers of the presidency for the benefit of his family. The Democratic president had previously said he would not pardon his son or commute his sentence after convictions in the two cases in Delaware and California. The move on Sunday night comes weeks before Hunter Biden was set to receive his punishment after his trial conviction in the gun case and guilty plea on tax charges, and less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to the White House. It caps a long-running legal saga for the younger Biden, who publicly disclosed he was under federal investigation in December 2020 — a month after his father’s 2020 victory — and casts a pall over the elder Biden’s legacy. Biden, who time and again pledged to Americans that he would restore norms and respect for the rule of law after Trump’s first term in office, ultimately used his position to help his son, breaking his public pledge to Americans that he would do no such thing. In a statement released Sunday evening, Biden said, “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice.” The president’s sweeping pardon covers not just the gun and tax offenses against the younger Biden, but also any other “offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.” In June, Biden categorically ruled out a pardon or commutation for his son, telling reporters as his son faced trial in the Delaware gun case, “I abide by the jury decision. I will do that and I will not pardon him.” As recently as Nov. 8, days after Trump’s victory, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre ruled out a pardon or clemency for the younger Biden, saying, “We’ve been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.” The elder Biden has publicly stood by his only living son as Hunter descended into serious drug addiction and threw his family life into turmoil before getting back on track in recent years. The president’s political rivals have long used Hunter Biden’s myriad mistakes as a political cudgel against his father: In one hearing, lawmakers displayed photos of the drug-addled president’s son half-naked in a seedy hotel. House Republicans also sought to use the younger Biden’s years of questionable overseas business ventures in a since-abandoned attempt to impeach his father, who has long denied involvement in his son’s dealings or benefiting from them in any way. “The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election,” Biden said in his statement. “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son.” “I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision,” Biden added, claiming he made the decision this weekend. The president had spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Massachusetts, with Hunter and his family, and departed for Angola later Sunday on what may be his last foreign trip as president before leaving office on Jan. 20, 2025. Hunter Biden was convicted in June in Delaware federal court of three felonies for purchasing a gun in 2018 when, prosecutors said, he lied on a federal form by claiming he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. He had been set to stand trial in September in the California case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. But he agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges in a surprise move hours after jury selection was set to begin. David Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Delaware who negotiated the plea deal, was subsequently named a special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland to have more autonomy over the prosecution of the president’s son. Hunter Biden said he was pleading guilty in that case to spare his family more pain and embarrassment after the gun trial aired salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction. The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would have avoided prison time entirely. Hunter Biden was supposed to be sentenced this month in the two federal cases, which the special counsel brought after a plea deal with prosecutors that likely would have spared him prison time fell apart under scrutiny by a judge. Under the original deal, Hunter was supposed to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses and would have avoided prosecution in the gun case as long as he stayed out of trouble for two years. But the plea hearing quickly unraveled last year when the judge raised concerns about unusual aspects of the deal. The younger Biden was subsequently indicted in the two cases. Hunter Biden’s legal team this weekend released a 52-page white paper titled “The political prosecutions of Hunter Biden,” describing the president’s son as a “surrogate to attack and injure his father, both as a candidate in 2020 and later as president.” The younger Biden’s lawyers have long argued that prosecutors bowed to political pressure to indict the president’s son amid heavy criticism by Trump and other Republicans of what they called the “sweetheart” plea deal. Rep. James Comer, one of the Republican chairmen leading congressional investigations into Biden’s family, blasted the president’s pardon, saying that the evidence against Hunter was “just the tip of the iceberg.” “It’s unfortunate that, rather than come clean about their decades of wrongdoing, President Biden and his family continue to do everything they can to avoid accountability,” Comer said on X, the website formerly known as Twitter. Biden is hardly the first president to deploy his pardon powers to benefit those close to him. In his final weeks in office, Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in law, Jared Kushner, as well as multiple allies convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump over the weekend announced plans to nominate the elder Kushner to be the U.S. envoy to France in his next administration. Trump, who has pledged to dramatically overhaul and install loyalists across the Justice Department after he was prosecuted for his role in trying to subvert the 2020 presidential election, said in a social media post on Sunday that Hunter Biden’s pardon was “such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice.” “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” Trump asked, referring to those convicted in the violent Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement that he will never take for granted the relief granted to him and vowed to devote the life he has rebuilt “to helping those who are still sick and suffering.” “I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport,” the younger Biden said. Hunter Biden’s legal team filed Sunday night in both Los Angeles and Delaware asking the judges handling his gun and tax cases to immediately dismiss them, citing the pardon. A spokesperson for Weiss did not respond to messages seeking comment Sunday night. NBC News was first to report Biden was expected to pardon his son Sunday.

Oregon Community Foundation Announces New Grant Opportunities Culinary training for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Peer mentorship for unhoused adults in Washington County. Mental health counseling for survivors of sex abuse. These are just a few of the projects and programs in the Portland Metro region and North Coast receiving a $2,615,695 boost from the 2024 Fall Cycle of Community Grants from Oregon Community Foundation. The statewide funder has distributed 105 new grants in the Portland Metro region and North Coast to support capacity building, small capital and new or expanding projects by nonprofits.    The announcement comes on #GivingTuesday, an international day of generosity that follows Thanksgiving. Statewide, the new round of funding includes 248 grants for nearly $5.8 million. That brings the total awarded in Community Grants by OCF to a record $11.1 million for the year, including funding previously announced in the spring.    “Collectively, these projects support community resources that help to build a sense of belonging in the communities we serve,” says OCF Board Member Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Community Initiatives at Moda Health and Delta Dental of Oregon.    “From job training to mental health support to services to people experiencing homelessness, Oregon Community Foundation is extremely proud to support our nonprofit partners making a difference in the metro region and all across our state.”     The grants are possible because of the generosity of Oregon Community Foundation donors.  Just as the new funding reaches Oregon nonprofits, OCF has opened the next round of Community Grants to be distributed in spring 2025. The deadline is Jan. 14, 2025. .  The goal is to provide equitable access to flexible funding for organizations serving communities’ most pressing needs throughout Oregon.  For 27 years, OCF’s Community Grants program has invested in community livability and vitality by listening and responding to people closest to innovating opportunities they want to advance. As Oregon has grown, so too has the complexity of issues facing so many Oregonians. Compounding these challenges is a history of systems that have not benefited everyone equitably. OCF recognizes this reality. The Community Grants program continues to provide funding for nonprofits addressing the pressing needs of communities across Oregon, informed by the voices of people who know their communities the best.  Since 1973, Oregon Community Foundation has worked to improve the lives of all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. In partnership with donors and volunteers, OCF strengthens communities in every county in Oregon through grantmaking, scholarships and research. In 2023, OCF distributed $225 million in grants and scholarships. Individuals, families, businesses and organizations can work with OCF to create charitable funds to support causes important to them. To learn more, please visit oregoncf.org .

Millions of Americans are looking for 2025 coverage  AP-Everyone likes a good deal, and health insurance bargains abound  this time of year . But buyers should look beyond price when searching for a plan. Shoppers also should consider doctor networks and coverage limits to avoid getting stuck with big bills after care. Millions of Americans are looking for 2025 coverage now during annual enrollment windows for  Medicare Advantage plans  and individual insurance. Plus,  many employers  are telling their workers about their coverage plans for next year too. Insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans are dangling coverage with $0 premiums, and individual insurance marketplaces created through the Affordable Care Act offer tax credits to help with the premium or cost of coverage. Here are other factors to consider beyond price. What is the deductible? This is the annual amount a patient pays for many covered services before the insurer starts paying a portion of the bill. Plans with low premiums can come with deductibles well over $1,000 for individuals and a few thousand dollars for families. Shoppers should look at the size of the individual deductible and understand where it applies. Regular visits to a specialist can lead to some hefty patient bills. Deductibles are different from copayments or copays. Those are flat amounts that a patient pays for a covered service or doctor visit. Copays typically do not count toward paying off a deductible. Are my doctors covered? Insurers form networks of covered doctors and health systems. Some plans may provide no coverage for care sought outside those networks. The federal government’s  website for finding insurance plans  makes it easy to filter for covered doctors and hospitals when looking for plans, said Emily Bremer, president of a St. Louis-based independent insurance agency, The Bremer Group. Bremer says shoppers should think about more than whether their doctors are in the network. They also should also consider which hospital system they would want to visit if a big emergency happens. What about prescriptions? Insurance plans come with formularies, or lists of covered drugs, that vary by plan. Those lists often group drugs in tiers with different costs for the patient. Shoppers should check to see how a plan will cover the regular prescriptions they already take. Don’t immediately rule out the plan if the bill would be too high. Help may be available. Drugmakers often have coupons or discount programs that can cover patient costs as long as the drug has coverage, Bremer said. Websites like GoodRx also may be an option for getting a price break. “If you take a lot of stuff and see a lot of doctors … it can be really hard to find one perfect plan that’s going to cover everything,” she said. “Sometimes you have to make choices.” What’s coinsurance? This is the portion of a bill the patient is responsible for after meeting the deductible. It’s a percentage that can vary. Usually plans with lower premiums leave patients with bigger coinsurance. Coinsurance payments can hurt, so it’s important to know the percentage and the risk you face. For instance, a childbirth by cesarean section may generate a $25,000 bill. A patient responsible for a $1,000 deductible and then 20% of the remaining bill through coinsurance could pay $5,800 of that total. “Most people will focus on the deductible and forget about the coinsurance, and they should not,” Bremer said. “(It) can really sneak up on you when you have a large claim.” People with low incomes may qualify for help with some of these out-of-pocket expenses through cost-sharing reductions found in the ACA marketplaces. What are the limits? Health insurers will start handling all costs for covered, in-network care once you reach a plan’s out-of-pocket maximum for patient spending. That can vary by plan. For coverage sold on the ACA marketplace, that annual maximum cannot be more than $9,200 for individuals and $18,400 for families  next year . Those who reach this level of spending may only see temporary relief. Patient spending totals that count toward that out-of-pocket maximum generally reset at the start of every calendar year or if you switch plans during the year.

Leaders Gathered to Mark Grand Opening Washington County, the City of Beaverton, Metro, and state leaders gathered to mark the grand opening of the Beaverton Shelter. The Beaverton Shelter, which features space for 60 guests, will provide beds, meals, showers, and resources on a 24/7, 365-day basis. Housing navigation and supportive services will be provided by Open Door, as well as a dedicated coordinated care space to ensure greater stability to individuals experiencing homelessness and offer a critical link to housing. “Washington County has dramatically scaled up shelter capacity thanks to the Supportive Housing Services measure, and we are proud to support over 430 shelter beds county-wide,” said Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington. “As the first of three first purpose-built shelters opening in Washington County, we’re working to create a system of care that centers our most vulnerable community members. To achieve this vision, ongoing investments are critical.” “The work is certainly not done, but the opening of this shelter today shows us – despite the uphill battle we’re fighting – that we are making real progress, that we remain unrelenting in our goals,” Governor Kotek said. “We can change Oregon lives and communities. I am energized by the continued collaboration with local leaders to build a healthier, safer, more prosperous Oregon, where everyone has a safe place to call home.” “Our staff have been the boots on the ground serving people experiencing homelessness in shelter and on the streets for many years,” said Open Door HousingWorks Director Jeremy Toevs. “Being able to do this work in a space designed to meet people where they are at, with long-term housing resources to connect shelter guests with, is life changing.” “The opening of this shelter marks an important step forward for our community,” said Mayor Beaty. “It’s the result of remarkable teamwork and dedication from state and federal legislators, county officials, local non-profits, city councilors, and city staff—all working together to make this vision a reality. This shelter reflects what we can achieve when we come together, providing essential support and services for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.” “Our region’s housing crisis knows no boundaries, but for too long, our shelters have been concentrated in Portland – not accessible to all the region,” Metro Council President Lynn Peterson said. “Thanks to voters, we are taking a regional approach to homelessness by bringing services to communities where people are struggling. The Beaverton Shelter will be a critical resource for this part of the region as we work toward ensuring that homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring.” “I’m so proud to have been a part of the team that secured the resources which made this project possible,” said Sen. Kate Lieber (D-Beaverton, SW Portland). “There is a critical need for supportive services and warm, dry beds throughout the region as we continue to combat our homelessness crisis, and this new shelter is an important step forward.” The shelter is made possible thanks to $4.8 million from the voter-approved Metro Supportive Housing Services measure and approximately $9 million in state and federal funding, including American Rescue Plan Act funds. Ongoing operations will also be funded by the Washington County allocation of the Supportive Housing Services measure. The 12,000-square-foot property located at 11380 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Highway is situated in an established business area, centrally located near transit, and within walking distance to groceries, social service agencies, and employment opportunities.

Special Honor for American Abolitionist  (AP) - Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on November 11. Dozens gathered on Veterans Day at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Maryland’s Dorcester County for a formal ceremony making Tubman a one-star brigadier general in the state’s National Guard. Gov. Wes Moore called the occasion not just a great day for Tubman’s home state but for all of the U.S. “Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title of veteran,” Moore said. “Today we celebrate one of the greatest authors of the American story.” Tubman escaped slavery herself in 1849 and settled in Philadelphia. Intent on helping others achieve freedom, she established the Underground Railroad network and led other enslaved Black women and men to freedom. She then channeled those experiences as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War, helping guide 150 Black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina. Nobody would have judged Tubman had she chosen to remain in Philadelphia and coordinate abolitionist efforts from there, Moore said. “She knew that in order to do the work, that meant that she had to go into the lion’s den,” Moore siad. “She knew that leadership means you have to be willing to do what you are asking others to do.” The reading of the official order was followed by a symbolic pinning ceremony with Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece, Tina Wyatt. Wyatt hailed her aunt’s legacy of tenacity, generosity and faith and agreed Veterans Day applied to her as much as any other servicemember. “Aunt Harriet was one of those veterans informally, she gave up any rights that she had obtained for herself to be able to fight for others,” Wyatt said. “She is a selfless person.” Tubman’s status as an icon of history has only been further elevated within the last few years. The city of Philadelphia chose a Black artist to make a 14-foot (4.3-meter) bronze statue to go on display next year. In 2022, a Chicago elementary school was renamed for Tubman, replacing the previous namesake, who had racist views. However, plans to put Tubman on the $20 bill have continued to stall.

FBI Seeks to Tips to Identify Suspect The FBI’s Seattle Field Office is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person responsible setting incendiary fires at two ballot boxes in Vancouver, Washington, and one in Portland, Oregon. On October 8, 2024, between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., an unknown individual placed an improvised incendiary device on a ballot drop box in Vancouver, Washington. Subsequently, on October 28, 2024, between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m., improvised incendiary devices were placed on ballot drop boxes in Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.  A surveillance camera captured images of an early 2003 to 2004 Volvo S-60 sedan, dark in color, with dark wheels and a light-colored interior, driven by the suspect believed to responsible for these crimes. The vehicle does not have a Volvo logo on the front grill. At the time of the October 28, 2024, incidents, the vehicle also displayed a fraudulent temporary Washington license plate on the rear and no front license plate. The plate, which is not associated with a Volvo, may no longer be on the vehicle.  The driver of the vehicle is described as a White male, approximately 30 to 40 years old with thinning hair. It is believed that he may have some experience with metal work and welding. Anyone with information is asked to call your nearest FBI office, provide information online at tips.fbi.gov , or call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).

New Mural at Rosewood Initiative PSAA is excited to announce the completion of a new mural located at The Rosewood Initiative. The mural, titled The Eastside,   celebrates the vibrant and diverse community of East Portland, where so many stories of resilience and growth take root. Set among a garden of iconic Portland roses and new blooms, the mural honors the strength of immigrant journeys and the pride in the many cultures that shape this community. Though often overlooked and underserved, East Portland continues to strive, thrive, and uplift its members, standing as a vibrant hub of economic growth and opportunity.   The Portland Environment Management Office (PEMO) of the City of Portland provided a grant to support the creation of this mural.   The mural was designed and painted by Portland-based mural artist and founder of Art Larger Than Me, Daren Todd. Daren creates vibrant, community-driven artworks that blend abstract art and graphic portraiture, capturing the interconnectedness of humanity and nature. If you look closely, you can spot him in the mural.   The Eastside   represents the diverse community that the Rosewood Initiative serves, and includes stylized portraits, symbolic of the many cultural groups who call East Portland home. Daren thoughtfully illustrated the spirit of this well-loved social service hub and its important role as an anchor in the East Portland community, along with their slogan “Building Our Community Together."   This mural came to life through a process of carefully selecting images from The Rosewood Initiative's archives, capturing moments from community events and the everyday life of East Portland. By combining the emotion and pride in the portraits with a variety of Oregon’s native plants and flowers, Daren aimed to create a design that would brighten the previously faded yellow exterior of The Rosewood Initiative.   “The Eastside   took about a week to complete, with the help of a small, dedicated team of assistants. I’m incredibly proud of the outcome and deeply grateful for the opportunity to visually represent what The Rosewood Initiative stands for. My hope is that this mural truly reflects the spirit of the people who make East Portland what it is.” – Daren Todd   "We are thrilled to see this mural come to life! Daren’s art brings together an important piece of our growing community hub. It has transformed the outside of our building into a welcoming space that invites community members in, and captures the resilience, diversity, and beauty of East Portland. We have so much gratitude for Portland Street Art Alliance and the Portland Environment Management Office for being great partners in this process and making the mural possible.”– The Rosewood Initiative Team

Financial Losses Pile Up and Debt Payments Loom Spirit Airlines said Monday that it has filed for bankruptcy protection and will attempt to reboot as it struggles to recover from the pandemic-caused swoon in travel, stiffer competition from bigger carriers, and a failed attempt to sell the airline to JetBlue. Spirit, the biggest U.S. budget airline, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition after working out terms with bondholders. The airline has lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020 and faces looming debt payments totaling more than $1 billion in 2025 and 2026. The airline said it expects to continue operating normally during the bankruptcy process. Spirit told customers Monday that they can book flights and use frequent-flyer points as they ordinarily would, and it said it will continue to pay employees and vendors. The airline said it received commitments for a $350 million equity investment from existing bondholders and will convert $795 million of their debt into stock in the restructured company. The bondholders will also extend a $300 million loan that, combined with Spirit’s remaining cash, will help the airline get through the restructuring. People are still flying on Spirit Airlines. They’re just not paying as much. In the first six months of this year, Spirit passengers flew 2% more than they did in the same period last year. However, they are paying 10% less per mile, and revenue per mile from fares is down nearly 20%, contributing to Spirit’s red ink. It’s not a new trend. Spirit failed to return to profitability when the coronavirus pandemic eased and travel rebounded. There are several reasons behind the slump. Spirit’s costs, especially for labor, have risen. The biggest U.S. airlines have snagged some of Spirit’s budget-conscious customers by offering their own brand of bare-bones tickets. And fares for U.S. leisure travel — Spirit’s core business — sagged this summer because of a glut of new flights. The premium end of the air-travel market has surged while Spirit’s traditional no-frills end has stagnated. So this summer, Spirit decided to sell  bundled fares  that include a bigger seat, priority boarding, free bags, internet service and snacks and drinks. It also dropped cancellation fees after rival Frontier Airlines did so. Those are huge changes from Spirit’s longtime strategy of luring customers with rock-bottom fares and forcing them to pay extra for things such as bringing a carry-on bag or ordering a soda. In a highly unusual move, Spirit plans to cut its October-through-December schedule by nearly 20%, compared with the same period last year, which analysts said should help prop up fares. But that will help rivals more than it will boost Spirit. Analysts from Deutsche Bank and Raymond James say that Frontier, JetBlue and Southwest would benefit the most because of their overlap with Spirit on many routes. Spirit has also been plagued by required repairs to Pratt & Whitney engines, which is forcing the airline to ground dozens of its Airbus jets. Spirit has cited the recall as it  furloughed pilots . The aircraft fleet is relatively young, which has made Spirit an attractive takeover target. Frontier  tried to merge with Spirit  in 2022 but was outbid by JetBlue. However, the  Justice Department sued  to block the $3.8 billion deal, saying it would drive up prices for Spirit customers who depend on low fares, and  a federal judge agreed  in January. JetBlue and Spirit  dropped their merger  two months later.

Democrat Janelle Bynum Flips Oregon’s 5th District (AP) — Democrat Janelle Bynum has flipped Oregon’s 5th Congressional District and will become the state’s first Black member of Congress. Bynum, a state representative who was backed and funded by national Democrats, ousted freshman GOP U.S. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Republicans lost a seat that they flipped red for the first time in roughly 25 years during the 2022 midterms. “It’s not lost on me that I am one generation removed from segregation. It’s not lost on me that we’re making history. And I am proud to be the first, but not the last, Black member of Congress in Oregon,” Bynum said at a press conference last Friday. “But it took all of us working together to flip this seat, and we delivered a win for Oregon. We believed in a vision and we didn’t take our feet off the gas until we accomplished our goals.” Chavez-DeRemer conceded the race Thursday, the day that The Associated Press declared Bynum the winner. “I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity I had to serve as Oregonians’ voice in Congress,” Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement posted on her social media. “Although this isn’t the outcome we had hoped for, I’m proud of what we accomplished together.” The contest was seen as a GOP toss up by the Cook Political Report, meaning either party had a good chance of winning. Bynum had previously defeated Chavez-DeRemer when they faced off in state legislative elections. Chavez-DeRemer narrowly won the seat in 2022, which was the first election held in the district after its boundaries were significantly redrawn following the 2020 census. The district now encompasses disparate regions spanning metro Portland and its wealthy and working-class suburbs, as well as rural agricultural and mountain communities and the fast-growing central Oregon city of Bend on the other side of the Cascade Range. Registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by about 25,000 in the district, but unaffiliated voters represent the largest constituency. A small part of the district is in Multnomah County, where a ballot box just outside the county elections office in Portland was  set on fire  by an incendiary device about a week before the election, damaging three ballots. Authorities said that enough material from the incendiary device was recovered to show that the Portland fire was also connected to two other ballot drop box fires in neighboring Vancouver, Washington, one of which occurred on the same day as the Portland fire and damaged hundreds of ballots.

Walking Can Improve your Overall Health Janet Rapp strode briskly down a paved path through the city zoo, waving at friends and stopping briefly to greet emus she knows by name. The 71-year-old retiree starts each morning this way with a walking club. “I’m obsessed,” she said. Not only does it ease her joint pain, “it just gives me energy … And then it calms me, too.” Medical experts agree that walking is an easy way to improve physical and mental health, bolster fitness and prevent disease. While it’s not the only sort of exercise people should do, it’s a great first step toward a healthy life. “You don’t need equipment and you don’t need a gym membership,” said Dr. Sarah Eby, a sports medicine physician with Mass General Brigham. “And the benefits are so vast.” Walking can help meet the U.S. surgeon general’s recommendation that adults get at least 2 1/2 hours of moderate-intensity physical activity every week. This helps lower the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, dementia, depression and many types of cancer. Walking also improves blood sugar levels, is good for bone health and can help you lose weight and sleep better, added Julie Schmied, a nurse practitioner with Norton Healthcare, which runs the free Get Healthy Walking Club. Another advantage? It’s a low-impact exercise that puts less pressure on joints as it strengthens your heart and lungs. James Blankenship, 68, said joining the walking club at the Louisville Zoo last year helped him bounce back after a heart attack and triple bypass in 2022. “My cardiologist says I’m doing great,” he said. For all its benefits, however, walking “is not enough for overall health and well-being” because it doesn’t provide resistance training that builds muscle strength and endurance, said Anita Gust, who teaches exercise science at the University of Minnesota Crookston. That’s especially important for women’s bone health as they age. Experts recommend adding such activities at least twice weekly – using weights, gym equipment or your own body as resistance — and doing exercises that improve flexibility like yoga or stretching. Nearly everyone has heard about this walking goal, which dates back to a 1960s marketing campaign in Japan. But experts stress that it’s just a guideline. The average American walks about 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day and it’s fine to gradually work up to 10,000, Shmied said. Setting a time goal can also be useful. Shmied suggests breaking the recommended 150 minutes per week into 30 minutes a day, or 10 minutes three times a day, for five days. During inclement weather, people can walk in malls or on treadmills. As they become seasoned walkers, they can speed up the pace or challenge themselves with hills while still keeping the activity level moderate. “If you can talk but not sing,” Eby said, “that’s what we consider moderate-intensity exercise.” How do you stay motivated? Walking with friends – including dogs – is one way.   Walking clubs have popped up across the nation. In 2022, New York personal trainer Brianna Joye Kohn, 31, started City Girls Who Walk with a TikTok post inviting others to walk with her. “We had 250 girls show up,” she said. Since then, the group has walked every Sunday for around 40 minutes, with some meeting afterward for brunch or coffee. The Louisville Zoo launched its walking club in 1987, partnered with Norton in 2004 to expand it, and now boasts more than 15,000 registered members. Every day from March 1 through Oct. 31, people walk around and around the 1.4-mile loop before the zoo officially opens. Tony Weiter meets two of his siblings every Friday. On a recent morning, they caught up on each other’s lives as they zipped past zebras in a fenced field and a seal sunning itself. “I enjoy the serenity of it. It’s cold but the sun is shining. You get to see the animals,” said Weiter, 63. “It’s a great way to start the morning.”