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Good afternoon, Portland! It's time to brace yourself—not just for this possible snow, but also for... THE NEWS

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Speaking of that possible snow... three emergency shelters will open in the Portland area tonight at 8 pm, as forecasters are saying there could be between one to three inches of snowfall expected overnight. The shelters will then close at 7 am on Tuesday. TriMet will provide rides to anyone going to or from a shelter, regardless of their ability to pay. For more info, check out Isabella Garica's story. 

• A coalition of progressive legislators and organizations are again pushing to make Oregon the first state in the country to restore voting rights to people incarcerated for felonies. A similar bill failed in the state legislature in 2021 and 2022, but there's a sense this year that it has a chance to pass and re-enfranchise some 12,000 Oregonians. 

• The Oregonian is reporting that Mayor Ted Wheeler's office appears to have selected a privately-owned, lightly-used property in the Central Eastside between the Brooklyn and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods as the future site of one of the city's oh-so-very humane, oh-so-very-well-thought-out large tent encampments. Sam Adams is presumably celebrating the news somewhere. 

• Boy oh boy, are those administrators over at the OLCC in trouble for their little bourbon diversion scheme. OLCC Director Steve Marks submitted his letter of resignation on Monday, and I doubt he'll be the last person to pay for this scandal with his job.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

• Things are getting very White Noise in and around East Palestine, Ohio, where authorities have carried out a controlled release of the toxic chemicals inside a number of derailed train cars—leaving residents terrified for their long-term safety in a community whose life has been upended. Might this incident contain any lessons for Portland City Council...? 

• Kansas City won a highly entertaining Super Bowl last night, and I'd like to extend a special congratulations to KC head coach Andy Reid—a man so enamored of his childhood favorite, Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers in Los Angeles, that he has their burgers shipped frozen to Kansas City. He says they're "good for your joints—the grease. Keeps you lubed up, man." A champion in every sense.

• Everyone continues to be all aflutter about these flying objects that the US and Canada keep shooting down. Are they connected to that alleged Chinese spy balloon? Are they ALIENS? The White House press secretary and a spokesperson for the National Security Council answered these questions earlier today. They don't think they're aliens.

• The fallout continues from the horrible earthquake that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in Turkey and Syria over the last week-plus, with recovery efforts in Syria seemingly hinging in part on whether Bashar al-Assad is willing to open points of access into the rebel-controlled Idlib province. The UN announced some good news on that front today.  

• Finally...