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Good morning, Portland! It’s going to be cool and cloudy with a chance of showers today. It’s April in Oregon! There’s currently a car alarm going off outside my apartment. In my opinion, this is the worst thing that a person can deal with.
Ok, it stopped. Let’s get to the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Oregon’s Republican gubernatorial primary is heating up, with a lot of contenders in the race, including a few frontrunners. Because the world sucks now, people are turning to online betting markets to weigh in on who they think will win. There haven’t been any polls asking voters who they’re going to choose for the Republican ticket, so this is pretty much all we have to go off of. According to online betters, who may or may not be a reliable source of information, Oregon Senator (and former candidate for governor) Christine Drazan is neck and neck with Rep. Ed Diehl, who was a key figure in the anti-gas tax referendum that’ll also be on the May ballot. Chris Dudley, former Portland Trail Blazer who has been supported by Phil Knight, is not viewed as a winner by the gambling community. Do what you will with this information.
• What’s going on with a potential new Portland street fee to fund the city’s transportation system? How can Portland get more people to ride their bikes? What’s the deal with Portland’s new e-bike rebate program? Those questions and more are pondered in the Mercury‘s latest Street View column, featuring the transportation news (and hot takes) you need to know.
• The Portland Trail Blazers won both of its games this weekend, setting the team up for the post-season. On Friday, the Blazers beat the LA Clippers in a fun, fast-paced game with a little stress—check out the Mercury‘s recap here. Yesterday’s win was against the Sacramento Kings, which everyone was pretty sure they were going to win. And they did, ending the season with a winning score of 42-40—the team’s first winning season in five years. Now, the Blazers go to the play-ins to compete for the 7th seed in the playoffs. They’ll be in Phoenix tomorrow night, playing against the Suns. Stay tuned.
• And here’s some new Portland Fire news:
• Portland has another killer new bagel spot, and the Mercury‘s Katherine Chew Hamilton is once again on it. Enter Red Hen Bagelry: An under-the-radar, weekends-only spot for killer bagels, with a residency at Red Sauce Pizza in Northeast Portland. Look for egg everything, sweet-salty sesame, black sesame chopped chocolate, and za’atar bagels—if you can get there before they sell out.
• In this week’s Spin Cycle column: Three must-listen records by artists best known for their killer live shows. Do the albums translate well to recorded audio? You (and writer Ryan Prado) can be the judge.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Viktor Orbán, the far-right, authoritarian prime minister of Hungary, got the boot yesterday after 16 years leading the country. Hungarians turned out to the polls in massive numbers to vote Orbán out after five terms, voting in opposition leader Péter Magyar. Orbán’s defeat comes after Vice President JD Vance traveled to Hungary last week to campaign for him. Am I saying Vance caused his downfall? No, but his endorsement certainly didn’t help. Orbán’s defeat has been celebrated worldwide as a sign that reasonable minds will prevail. If the Trump administration is doing one thing right, it’s convincing others around the world to ditch their authoritarian leaders…because why would you wanna be in the club with us?
• In one of his more unhinged rants to date, President Trump took to Truth Social last night to call Pope Leo “WEAK on crime and terrible for Foreign Policy,” (his capitalizations, not mine) among other accusations. Calling the pope “weak on crime” is really something. These people would really hate Jesus! Anyway, the Truth Social posts came in response to the pope’s criticism against Trump’s decision to start a war in Iran. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the pope is against war, but Pope Leo’s words likely hit harder because he’s the first American pope and Trump assumed that meant the Vatican would go MAGA. (Also, he speaks English, so Trump doesn’t have to read subtitles in order to know what he’s saying.) In response to Trump’s unhinged posts, the Vatican accurately said the president was clearly trying (and failing) to contain a “moral voice.” “Unable to absorb that voice, power tries to delegitimize it. Yet in doing so, it implicitly acknowledges its weight,” a Vatican spokesperson said. Facts!
• After a weekend of talks between the US and Iran that failed to result in a deal, the US plans to enact a blockade of its own, barring any ships going to and from Iranian ports. The US seems to be on its own in this effort, with British and French leaders saying they wouldn’t be assisting in the blockade. This whole situation is unbelievably poorly-conceived and bad in every way. Meanwhile, crude oil prices continue to rise, and Trump has acknowledged that gas prices are unlikely to fall before the midterm elections (and may even get higher!). But you should vote for Republicans who support Trump and this war anyway, because….um….reasons.
• US Rep. Eric Swalwell has suspended his campaign for governor of California after several women accused him of sexual assault. The assault allegations were described in a detailed and well-reported CNN piece last week, which Swalwell at first tried to fight. After dozens of people rescinded their endorsements for Swalwell’s campaign and called on him to exit the race, he had to accept it was game over. Kudos to the women who were brave enough to come forward, and to the investigative reporters who dug into it.
• Finally…I’m with Oreo!!! Happy Monday everyone. XOXO
