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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Oooh-la-la, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and if you TRULY love the person you claim to adore, don't you think they'd flip if you submitted a FREE Mercury Valentine that we'll publish in our upcoming February 7 Valentine's issue? It's gonna be in 500 spots all around the city, so EVERYONE will see it—an action which will almost certainly moisten the nethers of the one you love! (Everybody has nethers, so back off.) But hurry, deadline for the print issue is this Friday, January 26! And now allow me to moisten your nethers... with NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Hey kids! Remember... school? Well, after last week's ice storm the majority of you are going back to it starting today, with the exception of a small handful of schools which will remain closed to to damage incurred by the storm, such as burst water pipes which resulted in extensive water damage. (And if you're a curious parent or student wondering how last week's storm will affect this year's makeup days... so is everyone else, but the district plans to figure that out soon.)

• Everybody in Portland agrees we gotta get some low income housing up in this joint! But there's a fine line between getting such housing built and lining the pockets of developers (some of whom are not very nice people). Our Taylor Griggs wrote a terrific deep dive article about the political ramifications of the city council loosening regulations for developers, and how the mayoral aspirations of certain members (you can probably guess who I'm talking about) are clouding the issue.

• Meanwhile, Portland Fire & Rescue are kicking off a new program designed to help those suffering from overdoses and addiction called the Mobile Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) program. Paramedics will respond and administer Suboxone—which helps ease opioid withdrawal symptoms—to overdose victims and then enroll the patients in a detox program through Central City Concern. Our Courtney Vaughn has the deets!

• Speaking of a good use for Fire & Rescue...

• So what's going to happen to that Walmart in Eastport Plaza on 82nd that was recently sold for $20 million? Reports say it's going to be turned into a Hông Phát supermarket, the fourth to open in the area. The remaining space in the huge complex will be rented out to tenants—and you gotta love this shade from owner and CEO Brandon Wang:

“Walmart had their reasons for” closing the store, Wang said, “but we are local, we’ve lived here for a long time and I guess we understand more about how to put together and open a business to serve the area.”

• In weather news, warmth is returning to the region with temps hitting around 50 degrees for most of the week (along with a bevy of showers). Unfortunately for the Columbia River Gorge and the upper Hood River Valley, however, they've got more freezing rain to come.

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Cue the "sad trombone," because feckless loser and Florida governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In a probable and pathetic bid to snag the Veep position, DeSantis has thrown his support behind his chief rival Trump—even though the country is united in never wanting to see that creepy smile again.

• Meanwhile the GOP presidential race is down to two: Trump and Nikki Haley, who trails the former president by a wide margin in New Hampshire. Both are holding dueling events in that state today ahead of their primary. (And unless that Trump conviction comes in the next few hours, like DeSantis, Haley's dreams will most likely be dashed.)

• Today in "you know it's bad when....": "Judge Judy stumps for Haley."

• Today is the 51st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, and President Biden is marking the occasion by announcing new initiatives to protect abortion rights, along with strengthening access to abortion medications and contraception, and making sure patients receive the emergency care they need.

• And finally... Now I know who I'm going to for my Angelina Jolie tattoo!