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Good Morning, Portland: Won't you join me in screaming at the sky? It's Friday—but it's gonna be one of THOSE Fridays. Let's hit the cream cheese.

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Earlier this week we told you about a new mayoral candidate for Portland, Keith Wilson. We now have a little more background on Wilson, the freight company owner who says homelessness and climate are top priorities. Check out the latest on our mayor's race coverage.

• The Portland Bureau of Transportation recently released the city’s 2023 bicycle count data, revealing an uptick in bike ridership compared to the year prior. As a person who pretty much moved here to ride my bike and be hit by cars less, this pleases me. Taylor Griggs has the story.

• At the end of January, we reported that Korean barbecue cart Kim Jong Grillin was leaving the spot on Division it had occupied for ten years to move into downtown's Cart Blocks Pod. Yesterday he and his team reopened the cart and were met with a line of excited fans, leading to a sell out on their first day. "I guess I’ll prep more tomorrow. Thank you downtown!!!" read a post on the business' Instagram.

• As Mercury music columnist Jenni Moore wrote earlier in the week, there's so much good Portland-relevant music competing for our brainspace right now. It's a good problem to have. This weekend the Portland Jazz Festival kicks off two weeks of bonafide legends and emerging artists playing right here in our city. Where should you start? We have five picks you won't want to miss.

• All the shows going on sale this morning are kind of bleh, but if you want to look at them—our long-suffering calendar team made a list.

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service announced today that Russian activist Aleksei Navalny lost consciousness and died after taking a walk in the prison where he was being held, inside the Arctic Circle. According to the New York Times, "Navalny had been serving multiple prison sentences — on what supporters said were fabricated charges." Here's an August 2023 NPR break down of his charges and history of imprisonment.

• Oh Russia—so corrupt! Not like our... oh wait so remember that former FBI informant who said President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden asked for millions of dollars in bribes from a Ukrainian company? It was kind of a shitfest during the 2020 presidential campaign, and plenty of people still believe it happened. Well, THAT GUY, Alexander Smirnov, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with making false statements and obstructing the government investigation. In this instance, his lies could get him a maximum of 25 years—which is kind of wild considering how much people fucking lie with absolutely no repercussions.

• Last night I was at a show and a comedian was complaining about the terrible US economy. And this is why anecdotal evidence is kind of fucked. There's so much misinformation about the economy right now. It's actually looking pretty good:

• Greece legalized same-sex marriage. Thank you for joining us, Greece. I don't know if you've been inundated, of late, with aggressive ads about how one country is kinder (you shouldn't have...) to LGBTQ+ folks than another country, but maybe look up if same sex unions are legal in the country that is so vociferously patting itself on the back over it's pro-LGBTQ+ practices. Then pour yourself a fucking drink.

• Okay, let's fuck this Friday UP—but afterward, don't forget to wind down with Delilah.

@alexbegs Delilah will forever have my heart. ❤️ #delilah #growingup #radio #valentinesday #90s #momsoftiktok #pov ♬ original sound - Alexander Joe