The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
Good morning, Portland! Enjoy another moderate May day, with a high of 74 and possible afternoon sunshine, and a low of 48 overnight.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Portland’s deputy city administrator of Community and Public Safety, Bob Cozzie, is leaving the job. Cozzie’s departure was announced Tuesday. He previously oversaw the city’s 911 system for seven years before he was tapped to lead the Public Safety service area last summer. Cozzie’s last day at the city will be May 18. The city will launch a national search for his replacement, with City Administrator Raymond Lee III overseeing the Public Safety division until then. Cozzie is the second person to leave that job in less than a year.
• As you’ve probably heard, city leaders are considering reforming the Portland Arts Tax. This afternoon, Portland City Council is scheduled to crack open the issue. Currently, a new fee structure is being proposed. Instead of a flat $35 fee on anyone earning $1,000 or more in income, Councilors Jamie Dunphy, Tiffany Koyama Lane and Elana Pirtle-Guiney want to raise the income threshold to $20,000 for single filers and $40,000 for joint filers. If City Council approves the proposed changes, the fee would increase to $50 and would be indexed to inflation starting next year. What’s more, they want to make it EASIER TO FILE, rather than the current cumbersome, ridiculous system that expects everyone to proactively hop online and pay $35 separately from other income tax collections. You can read more about the proposal here.
• The tragic death of an 18-year-old two years ago in Aslea, Oregon has triggered a lawsuit against the Corvallis hospital that treated him. According to a new lawsuit filed by the family of Ethan Cantrell, Cantrell sought medical care for a wound he sustained after falling off a log in August 2024. The lawsuit claims a doctor cleaned the area and stitched it, but failed to remove twigs and pine needles, leading to a serious infection that caused his arm to swell and gave him a fever. The Cantrell family says when they called with concerns about a high fever and swelling of his arm following his emergency room visit, a nurse brushed it off since he’d been prescribed antibiotics. But four days later, when he returned to the hospital where he’d been treated, another doctor realized the teen’s arm was badly infected and had organic matter left inside. He was rushed to OHSU, where doctors amputated his arm to try to save his life, but the recent high school grad died the next day. The family is seeking $25 million in economic losses, the Oregonian reports, in addition to $75 million for pain and suffering, though, as the O notes, state tort claim limits could reduce that amount to just $500,000.
• By now, you’ve probably received your ballot for this month’s primary election. If the names and races on that bad boy are making your head spin, we gotchu. Check out the Mercury’s 2026 primary election endorsements for insight, education, spiritual guidance, or just to laugh at us if you’re one of those insufferable people.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Spirit Airlines has started the process of dismantling its operations and inventory after the airline shut down last weekend. The company, which owns nearly 160 planes, is undergoing bankruptcy, and completely unwinding its business could cost an estimated $217 million, CNBC reports. The airline had been struggling for years, but a lawyer for the company cited the recent spike in jet fuel prices as an untenable cost for the company. I’ll admit the demise of the company isn’t a shock, but you know what was? Every fucking Spirit flight I ever took, from the turbulence to the piss-poor customer service and the feeling you were left with when you actually de-planed in one piece. Let’s all trauma bond over the memories…
• Emoluments clause be damned! Looks like Donnie is getting an airport named after him after all. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill paving the way for the Palm Beach International Airport in Florida to be renamed after President Trump. What do you think the airport code will be for a place called President Donald J. Trump International Airport (currently PBI)? Maybe we can just dump all the old Spirit Airlines planes there and make it real authentic since it was Trump’s war with Iran that drove oil prices so high, it put the nail in the coffin for the discount airline. Or maybe park them at his new presidential library in Miami.
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the New York Times in a case the agency says was discrimination against a white man who was passed over for a promotion, allegedly because he’s white and male. Axios reports the agency’s lawsuit points to a “well-qualified white male employee” who didn’t get a promotion, along with the NYT’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, “and a 2021 ‘Call to Action’ to increase non-white and female representation in its leadership.” The EEOC claims the outlet violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by factoring an employee’s race or sex into an employment decision, saying in a statement later that “there is no diversity exception to this rule.” The NYT calls the lawsuit politically motivated and vowed to defend its hiring and personnel practices vigorously.
• The Department of Homeland Security is apparently doing away with its fast-track training program that saw new ICE recruits hitting the streets with just six to eight weeks of training. Politico reports that ICE is also working to revise its training protocols for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations. Last year, with bolstered funding, DHS went on a hiring spree that led to many new applicants being offered jobs quickly, with questionable background checks in some instances, as documented by one undercover journalist earlier this year.
• And in “water is wet” news, an estimated 30 percent of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using data from 2024, the CDC found that among the adults whose sleep patterns were included in the survey, those age 50 to 64 were the most likely to be getting less than the minimum recommended seven hours of sleep each night, followed closely by adults ages 35-49, 33.4 percent of which also fell into the “ain’t sleepin” category. Honestly, I thought this number would be closer to 60 percent, so assuming 70 percent of the population gets a decent night’s rest, I think we’re doing pretty OK. Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to myriad health issues and “increased risk of death.” So yes, I’ll sleep when I’m dead. 💀
Please enjoy these clips of Marco Rubio desperately trying to be kooooool.
