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Good Afternoon, Portland! Holy nuts, whatta week. If you are saying, what do you mean? There was a week (?) sit tight and let us catch you up on some news before you blast off into weekend space.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• On Tuesday, Portland chef Sarah Pliner was biking to work when she was hit and killed by a semi-truck. The fatal accident has renewed calls for better safety measures on SE Powell. The Mercury's Isabella Garcia reports.

• On Wednesday an incident in the Lloyd District led to a Multnomah County sheriff's deputy shooting a member of the public. We still don't know a lot about what happened and why a deputy fired their gun. Mercury News Editor Alex Zielinski runs down what we do know, at this time.

• It makes scents that Salt & Straw—long the butt of twee ice cream shop jokes, but never ceasing its inventive stride—would expand into the realm of whiffs and wafts. Read all about their collaboration with Portland perfumers Imaginary Authors.

• This weekend is full of events worth swinging by, whether you want to get out and have a good time or get in the Halloween spirit early. We have options for you, from Emo Nite to Portland Open Studios.

• Twenty-seven of your fave restaurants are cookin' up creative, $6 plates of wings—but ya gotta hurry... it all ends Sunday!

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

• Protests from the families of the 19 elementary school students and two teachers who were killed at a school in Uvalde, Texas in May have led to the suspension of five officers and a security guard. The district will, for a time, operate without its officers.

• Hey, did you know there are drugs—like Paxlovid, among others—which reduce the severity of Covid? I sure as heck didn't, when I got the virus for a second time in August. Why aren't these drugs getting into the hands of people that could use them? The New York Times' David Leonhardt weighs in.

• Two organizations and one activist were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize today. There's already some controversy over one of the organizations being Russian, although it was a human rights group that Russian President Vladimir Putin shut down in 2021. 

• Now OUT with you! You have permission to hit your weekend as hard as this blithe spirit:

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Chihuahua (@chihuahua_ins_gram)