Identifying as a Republican in Oregon is an increasingly lonely affair. The party's share of registered voters has hit a new low—just 30 percent. And after another bad election cycle, in which the party's fundraising was arguably more anemic than its vote totals, state Republicans are once more looking for a new leader.

The street fee, in case you missed this last night, has been put on "pause," Mayor Charlie Hales has announced. How come? State lawmakers and the governor have assured city hall they'll focus on transportation funding during the upcoming legislative session—and they might even give city hall permission to do some things it currently can't. Like create a Chicago-style vehicle sticker.

Dig the apparent perils of high-rise condo living in Portland. Several buildings have taken legal action against the same plumbing supplier over annoying leaks caused by disintegrating and/or prematurely failing parts.

The editorial board of our venerable daily paper has decided that climate change isn't worth its attention because, its members say, climate change is best addressed nationally or internationally. Which is, I guess, one reason not to worry about Oregon and Portland's role in making things better... or worse. I bring that up in light of three mildly to intensely concerning reports this morning.

2014 was the hottest year on record. (Those records, I'll note, only go back to 1880.) And it's also the 38th year in a row in which temperatures were above average, which maybe suggests we need to redefine what's average.

Sea levels are rising faster than we thought. A new study that's reexamined tidal records kept in the 20th century found a 25 percent acceleration over the past few decades, likely related to polar melting. Because it's gotten so damned hot.

And then there's this bit on the tipping point before the world ends as we know it. Humans, according to a pair of newly released papers are “eating away at our own life support systems," causing more change and damage to the Earth in the past 60 years than at any other point in the last 10,000 years.

Europe is cracking down on suspected Islamist sleeper cells. Sweeps in France, Germany, and Belgium have led to more than a dozen arrests the confiscation of several weapons, including AK-47s like the ones used in the Charlie Hebdo massacre. Most of the arrests came out of Belgium, which also saw two men killed and where authorities were afraid an attack on a Jewish school was imminent.

Duke University has buckled under a storm of righteous evangelical outrage—siding with militant Christians and retracting a promise to let Muslim students have their call to prayer broadcast from the university's chapel once a week.

Oklahomah's gotten back to state-sanctioned murder for the first time since it fouled up an execution last spring. Officials let the man talk as they administered a paralytic known to cause intense pain. "My body is on fire."

Oh, dear sweet Florida. Cops in North Miami have been caught using real mugshots of real African American men for target practice. The pictures were accidentally left behind at the shooting range where the officers train.

Oh, dear sweet Florida. A 17-year-old wearing an "anesthesiology" lab coat, mask, and stethoscope spent a month roaming the halls of a hospital, maybe even observing an OB/GYN examination, until someone complained about a doctor who looked like a child. The kid won't face any charges.

Speaking of deceitful little shits... Remember the boy whose true story of going to heaven and back warmed so many cockles that the publishing and film industries both cashed in? The kid's since admitted it was all malarky.

Lost dog! Found! On Mars! Or maybe it was just a space probe! Whatever!

MAAAAAAYBE PUT ON YOUR HEADPHONES FIRST.