One Portlander is turning eating pastries into a collective endurance sport.

The big picture: The sold-out Portland Pastry 10K Walk will send 100 people on a 6.8-mile route through Northeast next month, with stops for coffee, croissants, tiramisu and even lasagna along the way.

• The event isn't really about exercise, though, organizer Marguerite Maguire told Axios.

"The point is connection," she said. "I'm hoping people use the walking, no direct eye contact and the love of pastries to dissolve some of the barriers between them."

Catch up quick: The idea for a pastry 10K came from the days Maguire would spend wandering around Portland with out-of-town friends.

• "We'd pick a neighborhood and basically walk all day, popping in places to get little treats," she said. "We'd end up having really good, connecting talks."
• When she pitched the 10K to her 5,000-plus Instagram followers in March, she received a flood of enthusiastic responses. Registration for the event went live a month later and sold out in less than a day.

How it works: Participants will gather at the starting line at Harder Day Coffee on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at 9am on June 6.

• There, they'll grab a croissant and a coffee then head to Café Destino for key lime pie, Tiny Love for "a secret item," Ngọt for Vietnamese-inspired tiramisu and end the tour at Lasagna Project — where chef Thomas Boyce slings tins of bolognese-layered pasta out of his house.

Between the lines: The pastry 10K isn't Maguire's first foray into community-focused events meant to spark connection between strangers.

• Maguire, a doctor during the day, also hosts another social experiment called "The Kissing Booth," where two people — strangers or a couple — hop in a photo booth for 40 seconds to kiss, exchange feedback on technique and then try again.
• "My mission with all of my life and serious work is trying to make life feel less isolating and alone," she said. "It's very life-giving to stay wild."

What's next: Look out for a Sellwood pastry tour in August and a Southeast one in September.

Tell a neighbor

A war of words has erupted between the Oregonian's sports columnist and a city councilor over whether Portland should pony up millions in public money to rehab the Moda Center.

Why it matters: Depending on who you believe, the City Council is either about to sign a blank taxpayer-funded check to a billionaire or preparing to send the Blazers packing if it doesn't.

Zoom in: It started Sunday with a column from Bill Oram accusing local politicians of "signing the Blazers' death certificate" for arguing against using city money for Moda upgrades.

• "This is what happens when a generation raised on Aaron Sorkin dialogue and majestic cello crescendos is handed actual power," Oram wrote, singling out City Councilors Jamie Dunphy and Angelita Morillo.

The other side: Morillo hit back on social media, saying Oram's column amounted to "licking the bottom of Tom Dundon's boot," referring to the Blazers' new owner.

• She also lamented cuts to city staff and services "because we always find money for the rich and never for the poor."

Yes, but: Oram led off a follow-up column on Monday saying Morillo seemed to be living in a "timeline where extreme naïveté and reckless grandstanding are precious currency."

• Morillo countered that Oram was doing more than just licking the boot, he was giving it a "sloppy toppy."

The bottom line: Between the barbs, both Oram and Morillo made substantive arguments about city funding priorities during a budget shortfall, Portland's dismal pro-sports business climate and how those things intersect.

• Which side wins the day will be decided over the coming months.

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🚦 City transportation officials are using a new nightly traffic calming measure along Powell Boulevard aimed at discouraging speeding by increasing the odds of drivers hitting a red light if they go fast. (KOIN)

📈 A new analysis from the Oregon Center for Public Policy found the state's economy is still growing but the pace is weakening, which could have future negative implications for jobs and state revenues. (Portland Business Journal)

☕️ Push Pull will take over the recently-vacated Starbucks space across the street from the Multnomah Arts Center along Southwest Capitol Highway by early August. (The Oregonian)

🛏️ Portland is poised to lose 950 shelter beds under Mayor Wilson's proposed budget.

• This comes after the county, Metro and surrounding municipalities refused to continue funding Wilson's overnight shelter plan. (OPB)

⛹🏽‍♀️ The Fire notched their first win of the season last night with a last-second bucket by Sarah Ashlee Barker to seal the 98-96 victory over the New York Liberty. (The Oregonian)

Tick bites are sending a record rate of people to the ER for this time of year, according to new CDC data.

Why it matters: "Tick season is here and these tiny biters can make you seriously sick," CDC epidemiologist Alison Hinckley said in a statement.

Zoom in: The western black-legged tick is the most common species in western Oregon and the primary spreader of Lyme disease in the state, though experts note cases of the illness are rare.

By the numbers: Across Western states, April saw 31 ER visits for tick bites per 100,000 total ER visits — up from 22 in April 2025, according to the CDC's Tick Bite Tracker.

• That's the highest for this time of year since 2017, per the CDC.

Tips to prevent tick bites

The skeleton of a 70-foot-long blue whale will soon be on display at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, one of only a handful available for public viewing in North America.

• The 5,500-pound skeleton came from a whale that washed up on Gold Beach in 2015 and underwent a meticulous preservation process in the decade since.

Installation is expected to begin this week. Curious whale lovers can tune in here.