The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

Good morning, Portland! Why wait? Let's jump right into the news.

In local news:

• Officials determined arson as the cause of the fire that destroyed an abandoned church downtown Tuesday. One person has been arrested and is facing multiple arson charges. The church, which used to house the Portland Korean Church, is scheduled to be demolished because of the significant damage from the fire. 

• HOT OFF THE PRESSES: Mayor Wheeler showed up to City Hall Wednesday on crutches. According to Wheeler’s chief of staff, he fell on some ice. Politicians: they’re just like us!

• Starting today, Multnomah County Animal Services is pausing its intake of stray animals as it addresses issues of overcrowding in county-run animal shelters. According to county officials, the shelters received an influx of stray pets over the holidays, likely due to pets running away during fireworks around the New Year. The county is working to return to in-person adoptions to help with capacity and will resume intake on January 11.

• The COVID pandemic is still happening! Oregon’s total death toll from the pandemic has surpassed 9,000 people, according to state data released Wednesday. Oregon has the eighth-lowest COVID death rate in the nation.

In national and international news:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine this weekend for the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday. It’s unclear if battles will actually stop on the front line over the weekend—Putin did not make the cease-fire conditional on Ukraine’s agreement to also cease-fire. Throughout the 11 month-long war, Ukraine has dismissed Russia’s statements around peace and used the time to regroup and prepare for additional attacks. 

• Coastal California is still facing hurricane-force winds and a deluge of rain due to the worst storm the state has seen in the past five years. About 35 million residents—90 percent of the California population—are under a flash flood watch. Two people died due to the storm conditions Wednesday as rainfall threatened to reach one inch per hour.

• The Biden administration announced Thursday that it would immediately begin turning away Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans who cross the US-Mexico border illegally. The move is part of the US’s efforts to curb a rise in immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. The US will allow 30,000 migrants from the four restricted countries to migrate to the US legally per month for two years.

• Amazon is slated to cut 18,000 employees as the trend of tech companies slashing jobs continues. Salesforce, a software company, is also axing 8,000 jobs, citing the uncertain economy and rapid growth in the past few years. Meta, HP, Twitter, and Snapchat’s parent company have all cut thousands of jobs in recent months.

• I find watching rhinos eat watermelons is more effective at reducing my stress than meditation. Maybe you do too: