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Good Afternoon, Portland, and Long Live Kate Bush. I have several thick books on how to use my computer and printer, a CD-ROM encyclopedia, and other books on how to explore the internet. Yet, the operating manual for life on Earth is sadly neglected.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• In July, Portland Police Bureau chose to withhold the identities of officers who shot and killed a man who was firing a gun in a Southeast Portland, citing threats of “doxing.” However, in 2021, Oregon passed a bill that directly addressed such threats. So why is this happening? Mercury News Editor Alex Zielinski reports.

• A King County judge ruled today that Facebook's parent company, Meta, violated Washington state's campaign finance / transparency law when it claimed it couldn't disclose information about who was buying political ads on its site, saying it was too difficult to compile the information and that the request “unduly burdens political speech.” This inquest into Meta first began with the dogged reporting of The Stranger's then associate editor Eli Saunders. He's now a legal fellow with the Center for an Informed Public, but continues to document the rulings and has written about the transparency violations on his Substack.

• Aaand Amazon builds a data center in one of Oregon's smallest counties. I'm sure no aspect of that proved exploitive. The first of a three part special report from the Oregonian's Mike Rogoway dropped this morning:

A remote eastern Oregon county of just 12,000 residents awarded Amazon data center tax breaks worth ~$50m annually.
 
Some officials who granted the tax breaks are now positioned to reap their own windfall through contracts with Amazon. https://t.co/iwEPLG9vZX

— Mike Rogoway (@rogoway) September 2, 2022

• “Yes, we do plays," Portland Playhouse's Producing Director Charles Grant says. But the nonprofit theater also tries to meet the community in other mediums. Their new showcase of short films from four promising filmmakers, Return to Wonderland, will screen at the Playhouse, Kennedy School, Cinema 21, and eventually via Video on Demand.

• Portland's arts and literature communities lost an important figure this week. Julie Mancini—who led Portland Arts & Lectures before it morphed into Literary Arts—died on August 29. She was 73.

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

• A newly disclosed court filing has created questions about whether the FBI fully recovered the documents former President Donald Trump took to his Mar-a-Lago home, when they raided his estate on August 8. The New York Times reports that empty folders with classified markings and more empty folders that said they contained sensitive documents in the raid.

Many of the native fish species found in Oklahoma's waters have long lifespans. In fact, in late May 2019, an Oklahoma angler caught a 66lb female smallmouth buffalo fish that was estimated to be 62 years old. That's a whole 37 years past being eligible to date Leonardo DiCaprio.

— Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (@OKWildlifeDept) September 1, 2022

• Journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich has died. She was 81. The New York Times' obituary describes Ehrenreich's best-known book, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, as "an undercover account of the indignities, miseries and toil of being a low-wage worker" that became a bestseller and classic. Consider celebrating her life with a reread.

• As you head into the weekend, it's inevitable someone will share this pessimistic Timothée Chalamet clip, so I want to present you with the antidote, which is chaotic Benedict Cumberbatch.

@eggsandshit Such a wise man #benedictcumberbatch #benedictcumberbatchedit #sherlock ♬ original sound - EX7STENCE™