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City Council to line up behind People for Portland effort to return the Thompson Elk to its honkin large, traffic-blocking base.
City Council to line up behind People for Portland effort to return the Thompson Elk to its honkin' large, traffic-blocking base. Suzette Smith

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Get ready for a weekend of "WET," kicking off today with showers and possible heavy thunderstorms and a high of 57 degrees. YEAH!! Now, let's look at some NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

ā€¢Ā Today in "EYE-ROLLING POLITICAL POSTURING": Next week, Portland City Councilā€”and in particular Commissioner Dan Ryanā€”will be lining up in support of returning the Thompson Elk statue to its original spot on SW Main... with it's original, honkin' big, traffic-blocking fountain intact. (It was going to sit on a narrower base allowing for smoother traffic and bike lanes, until the dark money cry-baby organization People for Portland pitched a fit.) In a truly barf-worthy press release, Ryan said, "For countless Portlanders, The Elk is part of the soul of our City, and restoration of the fountain is connected to the healing of Portland." VOMIT. This is just another great reason to vote on May 17 for a candidate who's not so beholden to silly rich people.

ā€¢Ā Speaking of voting: Have you seen the Mercury's Endorsement Cheat Sheet? It looks exactly like this!

ā€¢ Response time for 911 calls have gotten even slower due to a new software system installed to speed things up, according to a new OPB report. Even worse, the city pushed through the new system as dispatchers warned them it would slow down the response time for emergencies. (Fun fact: Commissioner Mingus Mappsā€”endorsed by the Portland Business Alliance and the town's wealthy realtorsā€”is in charge of the Bureau of Emergency Communications that ignored dispatchers warnings. He is not up for reelection at this time.)

ā€¢ On Thursday, traffic engineers for the Interstate 5 bridge replacement project presented their most recent plan, recommending an eight-lane bridge design (Ooh! That's a LOT.) along with high-capacity light rail to a panel of regional politicians and stakeholders. So what did the panel think? As you might expect, there were MIXED REVIEWS. Our Isabella Garcia breaks it all down for you.

ā€¢Ā Hey, looking for a good deal on food from local restaurants, while cutting food waste at the same time? Our Suzette Smith introduces you to the app "Too Good To Go"ā€”which hooks you up with restaurants who will sell their excess, end of the day meals for cheap!

IN NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

ā€¢ Ukraine's military is striking back against Russian forces, launching an offensive to drive their troops out of the cities of Kharkiv and Izium. Meanwhile, a new evacuation effort has launched to rescue the civilians surrounded by Russian troops in a Mariupol steel plant. Also of note: The US reportedly fed the Ukraine government intelligence to help them locate that Russian warship their forces sank in the Black Sea.

ā€¢ Former Portland hotelier (and Trump crony) Gordon Sondland has a profile in the Washington Post today in which he attempts to whitewash his role in carrying out Trump's wishes to besmirch Hunter Biden, and clear his own name. Surprise! It's not very convincing.

ā€¢ First abortion, then trans kids, and now: "GOP Lawmakers Now Demanding LGBT Content Warnings for TV Shows."

ā€¢ Say hello to Karine Jean-Pierreā€”the new White House Press Secretary, who also just happens to be the first Black woman AND openly gay person to hold down the role!

ā€¢Ā And finally... do they give Oscars for TikToks? They should.