It's really wet out there, Blogtown! Let's have some news.
Hundreds of Lewis and Clark students on Wednesday staged a sit in demonstration to protest racism on campus, specifically threatening statements made on social media app Yik Yak. Each year the after a campus event called "The Race Monologues" there is apparently similar racist backlash.
The Utah man who "ended homelessness" in his state spoke in Portland Wednesday, touting the program he started that provided free housing, therapy and health care. He thinks Portland could do the same thing to get permanent shelter for the thousands who are living on sidewalks or in tent cities.
Getting those folks some dry, safe, permanent housing would be wonderful, considering it's real cold and real wet:
Esco, a company that makes mining equipment, announced Wednesday it's closing its Portland plant and lay off 247 workers.
Portlanders who built accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and got a tax break from the city for it got hit hard by the county this year, seeing their taxes nearly double. County Commissioner Loretta Smith wants the county to rethink its taxing policy after many homeowners in her district complained about the huge new bill.
Speaking of huge bills, the "renter protections" approved by City Council last month had the opposite effect in the short term. Home Forward, Portland's housing authority, reported an unprecedented number of rent increases as landlords scrambled to beat the Nov. 13 inception of the protective measures.
Black Friday is coming. Ugh. Two states, Minnesota and California, are making admission to state parks free that day for those who don't want to join the hordes stampeding one another for great deals on electronics and other Christmas cheer. Hey, Oregon State Parks and Recreation, your move.
France officials are on a hunt for those responsible for the recent terrorist attacks. On Wednesday the search culminated in a firefight in which more than 5,000 rounds were fired and two men were killed, though authorities weren't sure if one of the dead was the suspect they were searching for.
Two former US service members who, for years, operated US unmanned aircraft that killed innocent civilians in foreign countries wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama, calling the drone wars "recruiting tools" for extremist groups like ISIS.
Apparently it's "cruel" and "despicable" to scare your cat with a cucumber, according to cat-behavior specialists. Fine. I mean, it's cruel to startle humans, too, but it's still pretty funny. So let's watch it one more time:
