The settlement avoids a jury trial that would have started next week. Former Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has accepted $680,000 from the city’s police union and two officers to settle claims that officers shared information that falsely implicated her of committing a hit-and-run.

The Joint Office of Homeless Services has failed to provide data and refused to answer questions posed by members of the community budget advisory committee, writes Daniel DeMelo, who chairs the committee. It is unclear how effective its efforts have been, despite its soaring budget