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Good afternoon, Portland! Yes, you're almost to the weekend. First, however, may we present for your informative enjoyment... the THURSDAY AFTERNOON NEWS?

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• The Portland Timbers (and Thorns, for the time being) have a new CEO. Heather Davis was introduced in a press conference today at Providence Park, and... well, you're going to love this...

• A trio of progressive state legislators are attempting to pass a bill to force the Oregon State Treasury to divest from select fossil fuel investments, but Treasurer Tobias Reed isn't having it. Hopefully his opposition to the bill is as successful as his gubernatorial campaign. 

• The city's leaders would like you to know that they are still very much concerned about the charter reform changes that threaten to break their stranglehold on power, but do not yet have a clear means of stopping them as they appoint the city’s new geographic district-drawing commission. 

• Make some time if you can for this lovely essay by Rose Wong on food, cultural identities, and eating alone on Lunar New Year.

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Five police officers in Memphis have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols, who died days after a confrontation with police following a traffic stop. Officials in the city are bracing for protests as they prepare to release body camera footage of the incident tomorrow. 

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed an order allowing him to deploy the state's national guard to quell protests in Atlanta fueled by the killing of a protester last week at a planned police training facility.

• German chancellor Olaf Schulz announced yesterday that, nearly a year after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, his country will send tanks to the Ukrainian troops. The announcement marks a watershed in the conflict, with Ukraine's western allies seemingly now willing to lend the country the weapons it needs to go on the offensive in the conflict against Vladimir Putin's army. 

• Not six months after he was brutally attacked on stage in Chautauqua, the great author Salman Rushdie is out with a new book titled Victory City, described by The New York Times as a story about "the enduring power of language." It's a remarkable achievement for Rushdie, who may be as much an authority on the power of language as any author on Earth. 

• This was, I thought, a fascinating story on the golfer who walked away: Anthony Kim was at the beginning of a glittering career on the PGA Tour when he decided to give up the game and vanish back into the anonymity of regular life. 

• Finally... and this may or may not shock you... the president's taste in ice cream seems pretty weird?