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Happy Halloween, nerds! It's going to be a classic wet and rainy PNW Hallow's Eve, so get ready to ruin your kid's day by throwing a raincoat over their inflatable dinosaur costume. Now, for the headlines you may have missed from the weekend:
- A group of tenants living in city-established affordable housing in Portland's Overlook neighborhood declared victory Friday for successfully stalling major proposed rent hikes at their apartment complex, the Prescott. Those 50 percent rent increases are now delayed for at least 18 months.Â
- Election day is in eight days, meaning pre-election shenanigans are in full swing. On Sunday, City Council candidate Rene Gonzalez sent incumbent Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty a cease and desist letter for printing allegedly âlibelousâ statements about him in campaign mailers. The night before, a window at Gonzalezâs campaign HQ (which he is renting for allegedly market-rate) was smashed with a rock.Â
- Speaking of election day: Have you filled out your ballot yet? Curious who we suggest ya vote for? Look no further than the Mercuryâs handy endorsement guide.Â
We tried a psilocybin-infused coffee made in collaboration with Puff Coffee, the new coffee venture of Stumptown Coffee founder Duane Sorenson. https://t.co/RQwVHYw5OM
â Portland Mercury đ (@portlandmercury) October 28, 2022
- Portland's second âsafe rest villageâ is slated to open this weekâa full year after Commissioner Dan Ryanâs initial deadline. The Southeast Portland location will have space for up to 55 people and be run by homeless service nonprofit Cultivate Initiatives.Â
- Two people were injured Friday when a person drove over an occupied tent in Portlandâs Old Town neighborhood in an attempt to escape police.( Just a friendly reminder that this is not the fault of the homeless victims, but of a careless driver!)Â
- Twitterâs new dad Elon Musk is going to start requiring people pay $20/month to be verified on the social media platform (aka have a dumb blue check by their name). I feel like this miiiight defeat the legitimacy of verificationâa process to let users know a source isnât a bot/trollâin the first place? Yay, capitalism!
_ The city of New York is paying $26 million to settle lawsuits filed on behalf of two wrongfully convicted men who were exonerated last year for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. Only one of the men is still alive. âPolice and prosecutorial misconduct cause tremendous damage," writes the attorney representing the men, "and we must remain vigilant to identify and correct injustices.â
- The scariest thing to happen this Halloween weekend: A crowd surge in a popular Seoul neighborhood killed at least 154 people Saturday night and injured almost as many. According to witnesses, people out socializing on Halloween weekend were packed so tightly into narrow streets in the capitalâs nightlife district that it was impossible to breathe, which can cause asphyxia and other fatalities.Â
- In other international tragedies, a suspension pedestrian bridge built in the 1800s and spanning a river in India collapsed Sunday, sending hundreds of people into the water and killing at least 133. Â
- Luiz InĂĄcio Lula da Silva has won the Brazilian presidential election, beating out far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. This is huge for one of the worldâs largest democracies that was spiraling towards authoritarianismâand itâs a win for the Amazon rainforest. Lula has vowed to bring government-led deforestation to zero, a move that could impact climate change on a global scale.
- I leave you with this bizarre local-ish rental listing:
When Jurassic park is life đŠđŠ
â Zillow Gone Wild đĄ (@zillowgonewild) October 29, 2022
Currently listed for $1,299,000 in Washougal, WA. pic.twitter.com/UF1LIn6wYR