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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! While you may see a cocktail of sun and showers today (with a high of 58), the sun returns with a vengeance starting tomorrow with a high of 65 and shooting up to a scorching 85 (!!) by Friday. Let's prepare ourselves with some scorching NEWS, shall we?
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Heads up! The conservative powers-that-be behind (and within) city government have started their insidious campaign to slowly ruin one of Portland's most productive city programs. After a majority of employees of Portland Street Response showed their disapproval of Commissioner Rene Gonzalez cruel, anti-homeless tent ban, one PSR employee has announced they are resigning after the organization was ordered to assist the city with their worthless, and traumatizing homeless sweeps—a task that is antithetical to PSR's goals of getting the houseless to trust and help them. Expect more of these types of shenanigans from Gonzalez and his Republican benefactors before he's drummed out of office in 2024.
We can’t let @PDXStResponse be destroyed by city leaders who starve out our national model in non-criminal crisis response by (1.) stripping away staffing & supplies (2.) forcing the program into enforcement. Read @Nicole_A_Hayden deepdive. https://t.co/dyCr1il7EU pic.twitter.com/SH3bwVaR7A
— Kaia Sand (@mkaiasand) April 23, 2023
• Good news: Regardless of who wins in the upcoming May 16 elections, for the first time in history the Portland Public School Board will be made up of a majority of people of color.
• ICYMI, after years of trying to squirm out of using body cameras, the Portland Police Association—the union for rank-and-file cops—has finally reached an agreement with the City of Portland to start wearing them. The major sticking point involved cops who wanted to see body cam footage of their deadly encounters before filing their report, but they eventually agreed to doing interviews about the incidents before reviewing the footage. Reminder: The DOJ advised the cops to start using body cams back in 2014.
Let's go, brainy pants! Time to play POP QUIZ PDX, the world's most head-scratchingly hilarious trivia game. This week's theme: Let's dunk on rich people! Yaaayyyy! I HATE RICH PEOPLE. 😡https://t.co/X8Ifjkdr7P
— Wm. Steven Humphrey (@WmSteveHumphrey) April 21, 2023
• Very good news: Beloved former dive bar Holman's Bar & Grill (just off SE 28th and Burnside) will once again serve hungover patrons in the near future, after being purchased by the same team who revived the Alibi, the Vern, and Sandy Hut. Our Suzette Smith has the scoop!
• Mark yer calendars! One of Portland's greatest events, the World Naked Bike Ride, has set their 2023 date for Saturday, August 12—which gives you plenty of time to figure out how to cover your seat.
Ready for a little EEEEVIL? Then don't miss the Mercury's new comedy game show, TWO EVILS with Arlo Weierhauser and Kate Murphy! It's audience vs. special guest comedian Amy Miller in a hilarious battle for good vs. evil! 👹https://t.co/4Q8Ri8ShzY
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) April 23, 2023
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• The former Louisville police officer who was fired after fatally shooting Breonna Taylor in her bed during a botched raid has been REHIRED... AS A COP... in a county just north of the city. The Kentucky Law Enforcement Council decided against revoking his certification, meaning he could be rehired in the state. 😡
Some have described being in a state of suspended and suppressed angst: fully yet nervously behind Joe Biden.
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) April 24, 2023
My look today at how most Democrats have cast aside their reservations about the coming re-election campaign of the 80-year-old president.https://t.co/oXicCrmNOJ
• In related news, Kim Potter, the former Minnesota officer who says she mistook her taser for her sidearm and killed Duante Wright during a traffic stop, has been released from prison after serving 16 months of her two year sentence. (She is NOT eligible to be rehired as a cop.)
• Meanwhile in Tennessee, where Republican lawmakers are pushing for a law restricting drag queens from performing in public, pop goddess Lizzo said "OH HELL NO" to that, and on Friday night brought several beauties onstage at her Knoxville concert to perform alongside her.
Why do we go to Florida? For the same reasons @Lizzo went to Tennessee. Why would [we] not go where people need to hear the message the most? We have to give LGBTQ+ young people a safe space and a message of support, encouragement, and love. pic.twitter.com/Ie1TkiUWvD
— Rainbow Youth Project USA (@RainbowYouthUSA) April 24, 2023
• RIP to the curmudgeonly, but kind longtime judge on Dancing with the Stars, Len Goodman, who died at the age of 78.
• And finally... me, ever so gingerly poking holes through every day of the coming week... AND WAITING FOR THE DISASTER TO RAIN DOWN UPON ME.
Young kids come up with the best games and I’m here for it pic.twitter.com/VMVUofBltM
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) April 21, 2023