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Good morning, Portland! Hope you didn’t put your shorts away yet: after a few days of fake fall, we’re back to warm weather this week. Temperatures could get up to 80 degrees today, and it’ll be even hotter tomorrow.
Onto the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Portland and the surrounding area got a decent amount of rain at the end of last week and over the weekend. You may have even noticed Mt. Hood with a much-needed, fresh coat of snow. That moisture helped quell the area’s raging wildfires—but with forecasts showing warm, dry days to come, firefighters aren’t out of the woods yet. (Pun intended, with all respect to our heroic wildland firefighters.) The Grasshopper and Austin fires, both in the Mt. Hood National Forest, are somewhat contained—the former is far closer to being completely managed, at 91% containment. (The Austin Fire is only about a quarter contained, and some people remain under Level 3 “Go Now” evacuations.) But Oregon’s fire season typically lasts until mid-October, when the moisture really starts to set in, so put away your fireworks and keep praying for rain! (After one more lovely week of summer, that is.)
• In more weather news, this year is shaping up to feature a very strong El Niño weather pattern, and it’s somewhat unclear what the impacts will be locally. El Niño years (in which the Pacific Ocean gets much warmer than usual along the equator, shaping global weather patterns) typically mean warmer and drier winters in the Pacific Northwest. That’s not what we want, especially after last year’s dismal snow season. But during extreme El Niño years, the Pacific Northwest has actually received more precipitation than usual (weather is weird, I can’t explain it)…and climate change has made it even more difficult to forecast the impacts. So, expect anything, I guess. One piece of good-ish news from this OPB article: Even if we don’t get much snow this year, last year’s snowpack was so bad that we’ll probably at least surpass that. *Melting face emoji*
• Now, let’s discuss tsunamis (it seems today’s local news section is somewhat disaster-themed—sorry about that). A state analysis shows that the worst-case Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake scenario would trigger a tsunami that could kill as many as 40,000 people along the Oregon Coast. That’s very bad! (Keep in mind, only about 200,000 people live along the coast.) And the state is seemingly quite unprepared for this scenario. One way people can survive a tsunami is by seeking shelter in a vertical evacuation shelter—a building tall and strong enough to withstand the battering of giant tsunami waves. But Oregon only has one verified evacuation structure. Two more are underway elsewhere, but state emergency managers say the coast needs at least 15-20 of these structures in order to save lives. Let’s get more of these shelters built, please.
• It’s another week, and there’s more stuff to do! For all your event recommendations, you know where to go. (The Portland Mercury’s weekly Do This, Do That roundup.) This week’s recommendations include: a Tame Impala show tonight, the Time-Based Art Festival starting Wednesday, a romance literature fest this weekend, and Tomato Fest Sunday. MORE HERE.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• At least five people were killed in a cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport on Sunday afternoon. The crash occurred when an Amazon cargo plane overran the runway, plowing across a road near the airport used by warehouse workers. It’s not clear who died in the crash, or where the victims were located when they died. It’s also unclear what, exactly, happened to trigger the crash. An investigation is underway.
• In very alarming news, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party fared very well in recent German elections, giving the country’s far-right the most political power in decades. How many decades? Well, if my understanding of history is correct (it is), the Nazis’ rein on Germany ended when they lost World War II in 1945, after killing six million Jewish people and five million others in the Holocaust. Now, the country’s far-right party has declared victory in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which is the first of several regional elections that will take place in the country this fall. AfD doesn’t have a ruling majority, but it’s getting closer, which is very scary indeed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz still says he and his Conservative Party will not work with the AfD.
• Donald Trump refuses to stop threatening other nations’ sovereignty. Over the weekend, Trump posted a map showing the US empire extending across all of North America and extending to Greenland and Iceland. Greenland is currently a self-governing territory of Denmark, and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Trump’s posts were “disturbing and completely inappropriate,” adding “it’s obviously a sign that the U.S. president still harbors some kind of maximalist vision in his own mind. We need to rein that in.” Agreed, Lars.
• On a related note, Canada has struck back in the ridiculous US-led trade war currently going on. The country—which has shown among the strongest responses to Trump’s global economic attacks—has put tariffs on about $20 billion worth of US goods. While the trade war will likely have a major impact on their economy, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to fight back has been popular with Canadians. It could also spur stronger responses to Trump’s insane antics from other countries around the world…but we’ll see about that.
• Finally, check this out. And have a great (short) week!!
