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Good morning, Portland! Calling all comedy fans: The Mercury’s UNDISPUTABLE GENIUSES OF COMEDY is back, featuring the best Portland comedians all on one stage on January 13 at Revolution Hall! Get those tickets here, and get your news down below. 

In local news:

• When Mayor Ted Wheeler announced his expensive plan to force homeless Portlanders into mass outdoor camps, it came as a surprise to local homeless service providers who had not been briefed or asked to weigh in on the plan. Instead of looking to experts within the city, email records show that Wheeler looked to California, soliciting input from controversial nonprofit Urban Alchemy to develop the plan earlier this year.

• From the inbox: Commissioner Carmen Rubio has created a partnership with Lewis and Clark College to host a public engagement process over what to do with the five monuments that were either toppled or removed during the 2020 racial justice protests. “Valid questions were raised about some of the monuments standing in our community—and whether they should remain,” Rubio said in a press release. Lewis and Clark will host public discussions about the monuments (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt: Rough Rider, Harvey Scott, and Promised Land) in the spring—we’ll let you know when we have more details about how you can weigh in!

• Congrats to Brooklyn Bronson, one of the newest Radio City Rockettes who was born and raised in Tualatin, Oregon. Bronson, 20, competed against over 800 dancers to nab one of the Rockettes' coveted 18 newbie spots earlier this year.

• A study published in the Environment International journal indicates that trees are likely saving lives in Portland. Geoffrey Donovan with the US Forest Service compared state morality data with tree planting data from Friends of Trees, which showed a trend of fewer deaths when more trees were planted in the city. While the research does not prove a causal relationship between higher tree density and lower rates of morbidity, Donovan believes the trend is promising.

In national news:

• The major storm system traveling across the US has killed at least three people in Louisiana. Tornadoes traveled through the state, while the Great Plains region of the country has seen “blizzard-like” conditions. Forecasters believe the storm will move to the upper Midwest and into the central Appalachians for the next few days.

• The man accused of attacking alleged funny guy Dave Chappelle during his comedy show in Los Angeles in May was sentenced to jail Wednesday. Isaiah Lee received 270 days in jail for counts of battery and entering a restricted area during a live event (which apparently is a misdemeanor?). In an unexpected twist: Lee is currently facing an attempted murder charge for an unrelated incident in which he is accused of stabbing his roommate in December 2021.

• Dancer Stephen “tWitch” Boss died by suicide this week. Boss, 40, rose to fame on “So You Think You Can Dance,” had several dance-related acting roles, and is possibly best known for his time as a DJ on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. “To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt,” Boss’s wife said in a statement. “I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory.”

• The Premier Hockey Federation, the women’s professional league, will lift its salary cap for the 2023-2024 season to $1.5 million per team, double its existing cap. The salary cap covers salaries for 20 players, meaning the increase will raise the average salary from $37,500 to $75,000. The league hopes to deepen its talent pool by offering a living wage.

• Today seems like a good day to revisit this historic moment in dance TV show history: