It's 8pm and standing-room only on a recent Saturday at Central Eastside dive bar the Slammer Tavern.

• "Cough Syrup" by Young the Giant plays on the TouchTunes jukebox, barely audible, while a group of Santa hat-clad twentysomethings walk in and immediately order Jell-O shots.

Over the course of the night, the raucous crowd moves like a group of synchronized birds. They ebb and flow to make more room, with drinks in their hands and smiles on their faces, which reflect the strings of red, green and blue lights flickering above.

The big picture: The Slammer Tavern, a fixture on the corner of Southeast Stark Street and Eighth Avenue for more than four decades, is known for displaying its Christmas lights year-round — in a delightfully haphazard fashion.

• The exterior can look dicey, but it boasts itself as "possibly the friendliest bar" in Portland for a reason.
• Plus: Every year after Thanksgiving, the bar goes pedal to the metal with holiday decor. The building is filled with so many ornaments, nutcrackers, stockings and Saint Nick figurines you'll be wondering who spiked the nog.

Zoom in: Inside, the U-shaped bar is the centerpiece. There's no drink menu, but the bartenders are happy to make you anything from the well — even if that means adding a splash of cranberry juice to your spicy margarita to make it look more festive.

• Food options are standard sober-up bar bites, from a bowl of chili to hot dogs and quesadillas.

Yes, but: It's more about the vibe.

• The vending machine has old issues of Playboy, bedazzled sunglasses and whatever is in the mystery $10 "quickie wedding in a bag."
• It's a rite of passage to hang your print from the photo booth on the wall, and the Skee-Ball machine is a great way to kill time or engage in friendly competition with a fellow patron.
• You may even run into Lizzie Robarts-Dille, who was a barkeep at the Slammer long before she bought the place. Her fiery red hair and "don't poke the bear" mantra ensure the place remains the right kind of rowdy.

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Multnomah County's Preschool for All program is growing beyond expectations, even as modeling suggests there might not be enough kids to fill all the seats in coming years.

Why it matters: The program, passed by a sizable majority of voters in 2020, has come under criticism from Gov. Tina Kotek and others for imposing too high of a tax burden on high-earning Portland-area residents.

The latest: The program is set to offer more than 7,400 seats for the 2026-27 school year, officials announced Thursday, though that number was preliminary and could be revised downward.

• Still, that number is nearly double the program's current capacity of 3,844 seats, and exceeds the target for next school year by 65%.

Yes, but: The total number of seats needed may be much less than originally thought.

• The county previously estimated the program would need 11,000 seats by 2030 to offer a seat to every child who wants one.
• But new modeling from county demographers shows a preliminary number closer to 7,500, the Oregonian reported.
• That shift — a reduction of roughly 30% — could mean a more rapid expansion of access and a potential delay on scheduled tax increases that fund the program.

What they're saying: "This changes many of the program's assumptions, both about cost and sustainability," County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards said, per the Oregonian. "For me, it also raises questions of the county's ability to effectively and confidently manage this program."

What's next: County commissioners are set to discuss the latest developments with the program at their next meeting on Tuesday.

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🥫 New work requirements for people receiving federal food benefits now apply statewide, affecting roughly 37,000 Oregonians. (KATU)

NW Natural plans to cut about 30 local jobs due to ongoing financial concerns impacting the utility's operations and high costs on consumers. (Portland Business Journal)

🏫 Willamette and Pacific universities, two of Oregon's oldest private colleges, plan to merge, in a new proposed system tentatively called the University of the Northwest. (OPB)

🍽️ L'Echelle, the late-chef Naomi Pomeroy's legacy restaurant, was named Portland's best new restaurant of the year, nodding to its playful riffs on classic French cuisine and warm service. (The Oregonian)

As of Wednesday, 51 infants have been hospitalized for suspected or confirmed botulism in an outbreak linked to ByHeart baby formula, some of which is bottled in Portland, the FDA says.

• Several children in Oregon are among those impacted.

Why it matters: Though botulism in infants is rare, it's become a new concern for parents of formula-fed babies.

• The FDA doesn't require formula companies to screen products for the bacteria that causes botulism.

What's happening: Infant botulism happens when a baby swallows Clostridium botulinum (also called C-bot) spores. Then, a toxin is produced as the bacteria grows in the gut. It can be fatal if left untreated.

• No deaths have been reported to date.

What we're watching: After C-bot was identified in unopened ByHeart formula, an investigation by federal and state health officials seeks to pinpoint the cause of the infant botulism outbreak and determine whether it was tied to a specific ingredient or another part of the ByHeart supply chain.

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Hanukkah starts at dusk on Sunday with Monday as the first full day of the holiday this year.

What's happening: Hanukkah 2025 begins on a different day on the Gregorian calendar than it did last year (and will next year), but it's on the same date annually on the lunisolar Hebrew calendar.

Between the lines: Hanukkah starts on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar.

• The Hebrew calendar — also called the Jewish calendar — is timed according to the moon, with a "leap" month added seven times in every 19-year cycle.

Mazel!