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Good morning, Portland! In the past week itâs both been in the mid-70s and⊠snowed? If this is confounding to you, itâs time you get caught up on the latest UN report on climate change. (Spoiler: Humans have done irreversible harm to our planetâs future!) Today's snow should start melting around 11 am. Now, the news:
- Letâs start with campaign drama: The proposed Metro ballot initiative that would reallocate taxpayer dollars reserved for permanent housing for homeless individuals and spend it on mass shelters has failed to pass the muster of Metro attorneys. In a Friday letter, Metro Attorney Carrie MacLaren explained that the initiativeâposed by âtough-on-crimeâ lobbyist group People for Portland âwas written in a way that doesnât meet constitutional requirements. Weâre certain this wonât be the end of People for Portland, though.
- In other campaign news, a group of local business interests is allegedly pooling its funding to back Portland City Council candidate Vadim Mozyrsky in hopes of defeating Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. Nothing like a bunch of people with money trying to take down the first Black woman elected to City Council to define a Portland election!
- Portland General Electric is vying to condemn and control a piece of property alongside Willamette Falls that is critical to tribal fishing access. On Friday, the utility filed a legal complaint against the state to be able to operate its hydroelectric project at the falls without being beholden to tribal fishing treaties.
- Today in: âSeems Badâ:
Bloomberg is reporting that there were five Amazon drone crashes in Pendleton during a four-month period in 2021. At least one of those crashes caused a field fire. https://t.co/JIJgpoMrbK
â Antonio Sierra (@antonio__sierra) April 11, 2022
- At least a dozen states are following Florida's cue in drafting their own versions of legislation that would prohibit public schools from discussing gender identify or sexual orientation in the classroom. Dubbed âDonât Say Gayâ bills, these policies are nothing less than institutionalized homophobia and transphobia. "What is truly concerning,â a legal expert tells NPR, is that these bills have been âcoupled with legislative proposals that forbid teaching about structural racism and slavery, and patriarchy and sexism, on the grounds that these concepts make others uncomfortable."
- Elon Musk will not be joining Twitterâs Board of Directors, if you were wondering.
- After a shooter targeted houseless people living in DC and New York, reporters gathered perspective from unhoused DC residents. None of them expressed surprise by the deadly spree, and instead explained how frequently theyâve been targeted with violence for living outside.
- Pakistanâs parliament ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday, a decision some say were spurred by USâ displeasure with Khanâs support of Russia and China. More than 20,000 protesters demonstrated in the streets of Karachi following the vote of no confidence, demanding Khanâs reinstatement.
- The US says it will give Ukraine the âweapons it needsâ to fight off an expected offensive from Russian troops this week. Russia keeps plugging away at the war crimes in the meantime.
Russian missiles destroyed an airport in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro
â Lucas Webber (@LucasADWebber) April 10, 2022
âThere has been another attack on Dnipro airport. There is nothing left of it,â Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Sunday https://t.co/Pi6ucHOY7V