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GOOD AFTERNOON, PORTLAND! Enjoy this gorgeous day, because the rain returns with a vengeance tomorrow with a high of 58. Now allow me to avenge you... with some NEWS!

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Great news for those looking for affordable rent: A judge has ruled that downtown office space is only worth $250 per month! As you recall, council candidate Rene Gonzalez was fined $77,000 for accepting and REFUSING TO REPORT a sweetheart deal from his pal Jordan Schnitzer, in which the candidate only had to pay $250 per month for downtown office space that usually rents for $6,900 per month. HOWEVER! As our Isabella Garcia reports, an Oregon administrative law judge has revoked Gonzalez fine after determining that $250 per month for rent is actually "fair market value." (Based on the "overwhelming" opinion of four brokers handpicked by the Gonzalez campaign.) Sure, that doesn't make a lot of sense, BUT you know what that means... now YOU TOO can get downtown office space for the low, low price of only $250 per month! Just contact Jordan Schnitzer at 503-242-2900 and get your super cheap office space today!

• Yesterday over 200 people offered public testimony for and (mostly) against Mayor Wheeler and Commissioner Ryan's sprawling, politically motivated, and unfunded plan to criminalize homeless people. As you can imagine, the actual experts on homelessness (non-profits and the homeless themselves) were not asked for their input—and they were not happy. Our Alex Zielinski was there and files this report.

• BTW, if you need further proof that the majority of city council is in the pocket of Portland's wealthiest people... LOOK. 👇🏻

• Are you a DEMOCRAT? Then you might be interested in this not-very-flattering opinion piece from the Multnomah County Democrats about Rene Gonzalez:

As this race for City Council unfolds, it is becoming increasingly clear that Rene Gonzalez does not align with the Multnomah County Democrats’ platform. He has repeatedly vilified Portland’s homeless population, saying Portland is “overrun” and “under siege.” When he’s not threatening them with the criminal justice system, he says he wants to drive segments of the unhoused out of the city.  

OUCH (and it gets better)! Read the whole thing before you vote, DEMOCRATS!

• GREAT NEWS!

• An internal Department of Homeland Security report, that was once heavily redacted, has been re-released and it's NOT A GOOD LOOK for Trump's DHS who heavily politicized their intelligence operations in Portland during the 2020 protests. Not only did they produce "baseball cards" bearing highly personal information about Portland activists, but they were convinced all the protests were run by one Antifa mastermind or organization. (No, not the Mercury.)

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Add another loss to Trump's ever-growing pile: A federal appeals court has said HELL NO to the criminal president's attempt to keep his tax records out of the hands of a congressional committee. Trump's next step: Running crying and screaming to his hand-picked Supreme Court.

•  In another one of his famous rambling, belligerent speeches, Vladimir Putin once again railed against the west, but this time labeled conservative Americans in particular as "cosmopolitan elites." HAHAHAAHAAAA... see how YOU like it, GOP!

•  A domestic terrorist pee-hole who violently assaulted a Washington Metropolitan Police officer on January 6 was just sentenced to a whopping 90 months in jail—the second longest sentence passed down for these trials.

• Apparently this is a big (fun) problem:

• Today in "I don't believe him for a second": "Elon Musk says he won’t let Twitter become a 'free-for-all hellscape'."

• And finally... hey, look! It's Commissioner Dan Ryan and Mayor Wheeler!