Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today.

Good Morning, Portland! Look, I'm no Cokie Roberts, but I'll do my best, okay?

Here are the headlines.

Strike! About 80,000 Kaiser Permanente workers plan to strike in four weeks—and that includes about 6,000 employees in Oregon and Washington. The workers want higher wages and better benefits—you know, things that will help them thrive.

Setting the Table: Contract negotiations between the city and the Portland Police Association are expected to begin soon—read Alex Zielinski's Hall Monitor for context and details of what to expect, including a visit from Black Lives Matter activists DeRay Mckesson and Samuel Sinyangwe.

Full Steam Ahead: It looks like we can expect a special legislative session—that is, a quick session held after the close of the normal Oregon legislative session—to "fix" a new law that will dramatically reduce the number of cases that are eligible for the death penalty. No death row inmate has been executed in Oregon for over 20 years, which makes the urgency behind this special session feel... odd. Almost like—hear me out here—it has more to do with politics than with the death penalty?

Bitter Pill:

Purdue Pharma is now declaring bankruptcy to get out of the literally thousands of public lawsuits waged against them for their part in the opioid crisis—including one from @ORDOJ. I wrote a little about Oregon's case against Purdue back in May.https://t.co/0a43duBulr
— Blair Stenvick (@BlairStenvick) September 16, 2019

Another Strike! This Friday brings a potentially massive international climate strike—and it's all being organized by a 16-year-old Swedish girl. Portland's participation in the climate strike is being led by a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led environmental activism group.

They're Watching: The Portland City Council is meeting today to consider a ban of all facial recognition technology in Portland. The ban, being championed by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, could be the most wide-reaching one in the country.

BYE BITCH: Shane Gillis, the boy you got randomly partnered with for a middle school science project and who made you do all the work while he wrote "rap lyrics" in his spiral notebook, has been let go from SNL before appearing on a single episode. Gillis was under fire for his very recent use of anti-Asian and homophobic slurs, so it feels appropriate to give a queer, Asian comedian the last word here:

Thinking of “taking a comedic risk” where I just like say a slur and then there’s no joke attached to it because it is just my actual opinion????
Will report back!!!!!!
— Patti Harrison (@Party_Harderson) September 13, 2019

ARE YOU HUNGRY? Then may I interest you in the Portland Mercury's Chili Jamboree and Nacho Week? YOU LOOK LIKE YOU NEED A LAUGH. Get your tickets now for the Undisputable Geniuses of Comedy, coming at you on Sept 21! OH! AND YES, YOU DO LOOK SEXY! Tickets for HUMP! 2019 are right here.