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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! You can expect partly cloudy skies today with a high of 46... and is that the sun threatening to peek out today? Fingers crossed, and until then, let's peek at some NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• What the freak is up with the dead whales? After a 40-foot dead sperm whale washed up on the beach at Fort Stevens State Park last week after being struck by a ship, another whale—this time a baby gray—has been found dead near the same location. The cause of death has yet to be determined.

• Today in HA-HA-HA: The Oregon Firearms Federation—who successfully put a hold on the tough, voter approved gun law Measure 114 in court–is now being sued by their own lawyers for failing to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees.

• A Portland man has been awarded $80,000 (!!) by the city and county after being struck by a volley of less-lethal munitions by cops during a July 2020 protest for the crime of... *checks notes*... kicking a tear gas canister away from a crowd. (Note: That's YOUR money the cops just sent flushing down the toilet, and there's a lot more to come!)

• TIME TO START PAYING ATTENTION: There have been at least 15 attacks on power substations in the Pacific Northwest since 2022—and yet from the beginning, the FBI has been warning of neo-Nazi plots to take down the nation's power grids.

• Calling all horny people: America's sweetest li'l porn festival, HUMP! 2023, is coming to Revolution Hall, starting on March 3! Check out the sexy trailer and lineup here, but get those tix quick before they sell out!

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Welp, the US has officially hit its debt ceiling—and if we default it could lead to crashing markets and expansive layoffs—which is prompting the Treasury Department to go to extreme lengths to keep the government open. What's the problem? You guessed it: MAGA Republicans in Congress refusing to do their duty to keep the nation running.

•  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced she is stepping down from her office citing burnout after years of justifiably battling right-wing terrorism, the pandemic, and vitriolic sexism.

• Right on brand: "Republican George Santos says his mom was in the World Trade Center on 9/11. Records show she wasn't in the U.S."

• RIP Charlotte FC soccer player Anton Walkes, who died in a Florida boating accident at the too-young age of 25.

• And finally... me, heading into the office this morning.