Smoke 'em while you've got 'em, folks. The White House is strongly hinting it'll crack down on recreational marijuana laws like Oregon's—partly because there's an opioid crisis? If it happens, this will almost certainly lead to a court challenge. It's also bald-faced hypocrisy from "states' rights" obsessed Republicans, but that is hardly surprising in this administration.
After avoiding such a step for years, it looks like Portland's finally going to treat its water's corrosive tendencies. The Portland Water Bureau is getting ready to float a pilot project that could lead to a treatment facility to change the water's pH (and potentially the water's "character") and reduce its ability to leach lead from old pipes, like those in drinking fountains near park playgrounds.
You should read about how, in 2014, the city of Portland made separate decisions that suggest very different fates for the homeless rest area Right 2 Dream Too, whose future is currently in limbo.
Hey, voters: Don't re-elect this dipshit. A Mt. Hood Community College board member fond of social media posts that portray former President Obama in a noose wants a fresh term.
Speaking of dipshits: A West Linn police officer who suggested Black Lives Matter protesters should be used for target practice has been fired.
Close GMN readers will know I have been very concerned about whatever poison was used to assassinate Kim Jong Un's half brother, Kim Jong Nam, in an airport. Turns out it was "the world’s most toxic nerve agent," considered a weapon of mass destruction. Wheeee!
Checking in on Salem: You know that $1.8 billion budget shortfall lawmakers are trying to figure out? It might be only $1.6 billion, the latest revenue forecast suggests. So that's good.
This is interesting: The White House reached out to the FBI, in a largely verboten exchange, asking the agency to refute reports Trump aides had been in contact with Russia last year. The FBI refused.
Speaking of: Y'all seen the latest New Yorker cover?
The NYT lays out Democrats' latest plan for combatting Trump, dictated by voters: Total War.
Better late than never? Oregon has jumped in on Washington State's lawsuit against the Trump travel ban.
WHY WON'T YOU DIE, FEBRUARY!? It's gonna snow a bit today.
