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Good Morning, Portland. PDX Arctic Blast sounds like a flavor of Hard Mountain Dew; what we're looking at seems more like a PDX Wintery Mix, amirite? Instead of getting a snowy glow-up, Portland may just get really cold for the next few days. Will it warrant me getting into my Michigan coats? More on that soon; let's hit the news!
IN LOCAL NEWS:
⢠Today in HOT AUDITOR REPORT news: The Portland City Auditorâs Office dropped a HOT AUDITOR REPORT Wednesday, saying that SOMEBODY isn't doing enough to ensure the success of programs like Portland Street Response and the Community Health Assess and Treat (CHAT). These are programs VOTERS DESIRE that also help free up police and fire resources. WHO IS FUCKING THIS UP? Mercury News Editor Courtney Vaughn will explain who is fucking it up in an even, non-accusatory tone.
⢠But if you are trying to feel accused or do some accusing, don't sleep on this week's Pop Quiz PDX which includes my boss (humorously!) calling Commissioner Rene Gonzalez "Bringer of Death and Destroyer of Worlds." Ha ha, who doesn't love Galactus �
â˘Yesterday, Portland Police Bureau arrested 19 people, at a demonstration against genocide in Gaza, outside Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in downtown Portland. The event had been planned by Jewish activists and allies to coincide with an International Court of Justice hearing at the Hague in Netherlands, where South Africa presented a case that Israel has violated the 1948 Genocide Convention. Portland Police Bureau says the activists were arrested on disorderly conduct charges. We'll have more on that story a little later today. GET IN, LOSER and follow us for updates.
⢠BUT ABOUT SNOW!
Here's a wonderful illustration from our neighbors to the south of the uncertainty facing Oregon late FRI-SAT. If the low traverses further north,âŹď¸ Portland snow lovers rejoice. But if it tracks further southâŹď¸the metro won't see much. ~150miles makes a huge difference! https://t.co/AUx3wxNRjW
â NWS Portland (@NWSPortland) January 12, 2024
⢠One thing is certain, it's gonna GET COLD tonight. UPDATE, 10:10 am: Multnomah County is opening several severe weather shelters tonight; all should be open by 8 pm. We'll have a more comprehensive post soon, but pets are welcome at the shelters, and Trimet rides are free if you say you're going to a shelter. People can call 211 for further transportation help.
An overnight winter shelter at Portsmouth Union Church (4775 N Lombard), funded by the Joint Office and operated by All Good Northwest, will switch to 24-hour operations. The Countyâs Behavioral Health Resource Center is also adding capacity.
These sites open at 8 pm:
- Salvation Army: 5325 N Williams, located in Portland, operated by Multnomah County
- Cook Plaza: 19421 SE Stark, located in Gresham, operated by Cultivate Initiatives
- Friendly House: 1737 NW 26th, in Portland, operated by Do Good Multnomah
- Ascension Catholic Church: 743 SE 76th, in Portland, operated by Multnomah County
- Powell Shelter, 7332 SE Powell, in Portland, operated by Transition Projects
- Market Street Shelter, 120 SE Market, in Portland, operated by All Good Northwest
⢠From the inbox: Portland Public Schools is closing three hours early today to allow more transit / prep time before the wintery mix sets in. PCC is closed for in-person classes. Mt. Hood Community College is closing at noon.
⢠Truly shocking, Vincent Gallo is fucking up again. The reason I'm bringing it up, is he could be fucking up someplace near youâas Gallo and co-star James Franco were spotted filming scenes in Milwaukie, Oregon in December. Rolling Stone reports that two women who auditioned for roles in The Policeman (in which Gallo is set to portray the Golden State Killer) filed complaints to the actors union SAG-AFTRA, alleging that Gallo made some unprofessional-as-all-hell comments to them during auditions. One alleges that he guaranteed her role if she put up with his boundary-crossing directionsâwhich is the job of an intimacy coach, not an actor. The allegations are creepy, and I encourage you to read with care.Â
⢠If you are vegan, if you like hotdogs, if you craft etc. get ready to become PERSONALLY INVESTED in this brief but powerful story. A Portland ceramics studio is trying to reunite an artist with their ceramic hot dog. Plz spread the wrd. Additionally, please reach out to me if this is your ceramic hot dog.
@daffodill.studios probably 3 people will watch this but tiktok please help me find them 𼺠#portland #pdx #sculpture #ceramics ⏠original sound - Daffodill Studios
⢠Bory, the music project of singer-songwriter Brenden Ramirez, just put out a debut full-length record called Whoâs A Good Boy. And while this may sound like a tall order, music critic Ben Salmon says it actually sounds like Ramirez dipped into some of Portland-deity Elliott Smith's insistent hooks then mastered them with Elephant 6's buzzy guitars. Click through. He explains it better.
⢠Friday morning tickets are about to drop for upcoming shows in and arriving in Portland. The Mercury's EverOut calendar team a list of shows for youâones that look good and ones we have to write about even though Jeremy ruined Oneohtrix Point Never for us FOREVER. Oh, but Julia Holter's playing Aladdin Theater in May. Neat!
IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
⢠The US and the UK returned missile fire against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels Friday morning, the Associated Press reports, as a warning to the "militant group to cease their drone and missile attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea or face severe consequences."
⢠Always good to ask, who are these people, and why is the US attacking them?
Hereâs what to know about the Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group backed by Iran, who have launched dozens of attacks on ships sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal since the Israel-Hamas war began. https://t.co/sknydcOAZu
â The New York Times (@nytimes) January 12, 2024
⢠Mars rover Opportunity was the longest running rover on Mars; sciency folks may be familiar with the last message she sent from the red planet: "My battery is low, and it's getting dark." She's been bumping around the zeitgeist lately, and yesterday the opposite-of-crime podcast This Is Love released an exceptionally wonderful episode about the rover, "TAU = 10.8," featuring plenty of interviews with the women engineers and scientists who loved her. This Is Love is the spin-off show to the true crime podcast Criminal and where Criminal is the most responsible show ever created about the ways crime intersects with human life, This Is Love captures the ways humanity and goodness interact with the world. It's not sappy, and every once in a while it kicks out a bangerâ"TAU = 10.8" is one such banger.
⢠This morning's news really has everything, including "lost cities in the Ecuadorian rainforest." According to the Associated Press (who found out from science journal Science), laser-sensor technology recently revealed what archaeologists StĂŠphen Rostain and Antoine Dorison had long suspected: There was a hidden civilization of connected cities that existed approximately 2,000 years ago, along the Andes mountain range in South America. That would have been around the same time as the Roman Empireâyou are permitted to switch over to thinking about the people who lived in this range, along the Upano riverbed at least once a day.
⢠And nowâwho's that? Oh, that's just an economist.
@planetmoney Stores CAN'T write-off those checkout line donations. Also the tax system for philanthropy is anti-democratic #philanthropy #charity #deduction #learnontiktok ⏠original sound - planetmoney