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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Expect a mostly dry and warmer day with a high of 58 degrees. Now let's dip into an anything-but-dry bucket of NEWS!

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Hate homelessness? Then maybe support this idea: A new bill written by state senators would impose stricter rent control limits in order to protect tenants from being priced out of their homes and into homelessness. Naturally, property owners and landlords think this idea stinks because they see lower rent regulations as (actual quote here) "biting the hands that feed" renters. WOOO-WHEEE, so they're actually doing us this huge favor instead of merely providing half of an exchange of goods? OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! (Our Isabella Garcia reports.)

• Whoopsee-doodle, turns out that Oregon's former head of the state's department of environmental quality, Richard Whitman, who abruptly resigned last September for alleged "personal reasons" was actually forced out of his role due to engaging in an inappropriate relationship with an employee he directly supervised. (Though he might consider that a "personal reason.")

• OH NO! Sad/bad news for our beloved Damian Lillard (and particularly the Blazers): The team's top player will reportedly be sitting out for the rest of the season (seven games) due to a calf injury. Also possibly out for the rest of the season are Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, and Jerami Grant, due to various injuries. 😭

• Not only does Idaho hate us, it hates their own women as well.

• And another one....

• Don't miss this excellent (read: scary) OPB investigation into far right extremists who are successfully worming their way into the Pacific Northwest political parties and elections, such as Rick Riley who now chairs the Clackamas County Republican Committee, and wrote the following on their website: "Down will come the ‘woke’ school boards, down will come CRT (critical race theory), down will come a two-tiered justice system, and down will come our entire election apparatus that was designed to cheat." (Sounds like a very level-headed fan of democracy.)

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• More info has been revealed about the shooter who killed three kids and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville. According to the cops, the killer had been under care for an emotional disorder, and yet? Was still able to legally purchase seven guns over the past three years. For those keeping score, this mass murder was the 19th shooting at a school or university... in the last three months.

• Responding to a national surge of drug overdoses, which are the leading cause of accidental deaths in the country, the FDA has approved the life-saving Narcan—an opioid overdose reversal drug—for over the counter use.

• A Wisconsin elementary school has banned its first grade students from singing a Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus duet song called "Rainbowland" that promotes LGBTQ acceptance, because "it could be perceived as controversial." Yes, it could... and it could also be perceived that these school officials are homophobic and should lose the privilege of teaching kids.

• For those who love a good show, Senator Bernie Sanders laid into Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz today over allegations that his company fired and intimidated employees who attempted to form a union demanding better working conditions. (Almost 300 Starbucks locations have voted to unionize since 2021.)

• And finally, now that I've written this? GOOD NIGHT.