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Del. Stacey Plaskett speaks on the second day of former President Donald Trumps second impeachment trial at the US Capitol.
Del. Stacey Plaskett speaks on the second day of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial at the US Capitol. Getty Images / Pool

OK Portland, rise and shine—and don't forget your booties cause it's coooold out there today! Yes, I realize this Groundhog Day reference is a week late, but it felt appropriate for the first day of what's expected to be a real-day winter storm. Portland's expecting to be doused in freezing rain this afternoon, following by a shift to snow and blasting cold winds (and there might be a blizzard in Troutdale?). Beware of icy roads, quickly-dropping temps, and potential power outages. Check in on your neighbors. Don't do anything dumb. For more important tips, take a peek at Multnomah County's winter weather resource website.

- During the second day of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, House prosecutors shared new, chilling footage of the January 6 insurrection that captured the rioters' attacks on an outnumbered police force and showed just how close the angry mob was from coming face-to-face with the very lawmakers the wanted to kill. The prosecutors paired security camera footage, police body cams clips, audio from police radios, with Trump's incendiary tweets to paint the scene. Here's a segment of the presentation:

And here's how I feel after viewing this clip:




- House prosecutors will finish presenting their case to the Senate jurors today, starting at 9 am PST. Follow the trial live here.

- According to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wearing a cloth mask over a surgical mask offers 95 percent more protection against COVID-19 and its various variants. I feel like this is both a 'duh' conclusion but also critically important? Double up, friends.

- Another report, this one published in The Lancet medical journal, estimates that in the US, 40 percent of all COVID-19 pandemic deaths in 2020 (or 461,000 deaths) could have been avoided if it weren't for Trump and his indifference to preventing the virus' spread.

- Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler magazine and subsequent empire, died Wednesday at 78. Did you know Flynt lived most of his life paralyzed from the waist down after a bigoted man shot him for showing biracial couples in his magazine AND that Flynt persuaded the court from sentencing the guy to death, since Flynt opposed the death penalty? Maybe you did, BUT I DID NOT.

- A peek at some late-breaking Wednesday night news (stay tuned for more coverage):




- We updated our story on an uprising at Multnomah County's Inverness Jail—which is in the midst of a massive COVD-19 outbreak—to provide more details on what actually led to the Sunday evening fracas. In brief: A man requested a COVID-19 test, jail deputies told him to be quiet, and then tased him.

- Under Gov. Kate Brown's new order, Multnomah County restaurants will be allowed to open for in-person dining Friday. But should they?Eater Portland editor Brooke Jackson-Glidden writes about why waiting a few months to eat indoors might still be a kind idea: "Prioritizing financial stability over the lives of restaurant workers illustrates the grim reality of life in this country, where people are making incomprehensible choices simply because we are unwilling to pay to keep people at home," she writes.

- More than a dozen businesses in East Portland's Jade District, the majority of them owned by Asian-Americans, have been targeted with racist and costly vandalism in recent weeks. This comes nearly one year after the COVID-19 outbreak inspired a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes across the United States and Portland.