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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Three things of note, right off the top: Thing 1) Due to last week's snowy shutdown, the Mercury's HIGHBALL week has been extended through Sunday March 5, YAY! Thing 2) The deadline for you to fill out the Mercury's sexy SEX SURVEY is this Wednesday, March 1, PANIC! Thing 3) The similarly sexy HUMP! film festival kicks off this Friday, March 3, THANK GOD. Oh... almost forgot.... Thing 4) Here is your NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• This huge story broke late last Friday afternoon, which means it was summarily ignored by everyone, BUT I REFUSE TO ALLOW IT: Last week City Council mysteriously shut down a proposal to let Portlanders vote on having a "transparency watchdog" to watch out for government shenanigans when Charter Reform kicks off in 2025. BUT! As the O reported, the reason why Council refused to bring it to the voters is because the watchdog would have the power to investigate city officials—and they didn't like that! They tried to strong arm the City Auditor into watering down the position thereby stripping away the watchdog's teeth, but she was not having it. Don't worry, I'll remind you about this again when it comes time to vote every member of this Council out of office.

• Also breaking this weekend, the beloved Doug Fir Lounge and concert venue is moving out of its current space next to the Jupiter Hotel on East Burnside, and will take over the former Le Bistro Montage space in the Central Eastside. Our Suzette Smith has the early details.

• More snow? Yes, apparently we can expect more snow today as a wintry mix of precipitation will fall haphazardly on Monday and Tuesday, with a possibility of one to three inches in low-lying areas. Overnight temps will hover around freezing, so if you're in need, keep an eye on our warming shelter updates.

• Folks... the Blazers' Dame Lillard went OFF on the court last night in the team's 131-114 win against the Houston Rockets, scoring a career high of 71 points! Ka-BANG!! 💥

• In other sporty-sport news, the new season for the Portland Timbers kicks off this evening with a match against Sporting Kansas City. What can we expect in the coming months—especially in light of all the drama that happened last year? Our Abe Asher breaks it all down for you in his Timbers season preview!

IN NATIONAL/ WORLD NEWS:

• More than 40 million people are holding their breath as the Supreme Court looks at President Biden's decision to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt. The court will be ruling on whether Republican states have the right to pitch a greedy hissy fit and sue the administration for their justified decision, and whether Biden had the right to enact such a sweeping plan.

• Well, this isn't alarming at all:

• Yet another earthquake has struck Turkey, this one with a magnitude of 5.6, which caused previously damaged buildings to collapse, killing at least one and injuring hundreds. 

• Tornados and high winds are wreaking havoc in the Southern Plains, while the Northeast prepares for yet another massive dump of ice and snow.

• The SAG Awards went down last night, and the big winners were Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Jennifer Coolidge for White Lotus, and Sam Elliott who won a best actor nod for 1883—WHICH once again provides the opportunity to reprint this photo of me and Sam that one time he visited the Mercury offices. (And NO, it's NOT a "deep fake"... you're the deep fake!!)

That was a damn good day.

• I'm just going to leave this ignorant bullshit right here: "Elon Musk defends ‘Dilbert’ creator, says media is ‘racist against whites'."

• And finally... thank god this near disaster was averted.