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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! 👋

Expect a week filled with clouds, sun, and intermittent showers with highs in the mid-50s, and REMINDER: We're just over a week out from the November 5 election, so it's time to fill out that ballot! Need help? Then check out the Mercury's Election Issue (in more than 500 spots around town) which comes complete with all our endorsements AND our handy-dandy voter cheat sheet! It's got all the information you need, including some you didn't ask for... just like today's NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• In election news: Police are investigating the case of a Southeast Portland ballot box that caught on fire after someone dropped an incendiary device inside it. The fire inside the box, located on SE Belmont, was quickly extinguished by security guards on the scene, though there's no information as of yet if any of the ballots were harmed. Meanwhile, heavy smoke was also seen coming out of a ballot box at the Fisher's Landing Transit Center in Vancouver, WA, this morning just a few hours after the box in Portland was set ablaze. 👀

UPDATE: The Multnomah County Elections office says only three ballots were harmed by the fire set in the box on SE Belmont, and those voters have been contacted. No other boxes in Portland have been affected by the attack. That said, the election office notes that "anyone who dropped their ballot into the ballot box on SE Belmont between 3:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 26, and Monday at 3 a.m. should reach out to Elections at 503-988-6826 if they have any concerns."

• Seen in the wild: This full-size statue of Trump appeared on Sixth Ave in downtown this weekend (positioned next to Portland's famous Kvinneakt statue), just in time for the November 5 election. Mercury hot tipper Evelyn saw it and snapped the accompanying pic, but the actual artist who made the statue currently remains unknown. The statue includes a plaque which reads, "In honor of a lifetime of sexual assault" and goes on to repeat the horrible words Trump said in 2005 (and revealed to the world in 2016) to former Access Hollywood host Billy Bush: "I start kissing them, it's like a magnet. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything." Despite this repugnant "October surprise," an embarrassing number of Americans voted for Trump anyway, and the rest is history. And since the allegations of Trump's sexual assaults continue to grow (there are 27 so far), we can't depend on many of our fellow Americans to care. So it's more important than ever for you to do one thing: VOTE.

Photo by Evelyn

• And the election news just don't stop: It's terrible, horrible, lying election mailer season, and the worst of the worst are finding their way into your mailbox. One to look out for: A negative mailer against Multnomah County commissioner candidate Shannon Singleton bought and paid for by the Portland Metro Chamber (FKA the Portland Business Alliance, who most likely changed their name due to their terrible reputation) in an attempt to get their puppet Sam Adams elected. The PBA is hiding behind their political action group—called The Coalition for Portland’s Future 🙄—and have dumped more than $40,000 into negative mailers against Singleton, as well as another $40 grand into mailers to promote Adams. (Jeez, if these guys aren't careful with their print products, they're gonna kill more trees than the Mercury!)

• Reminder: If you like funny and SPOOOOOKY Halloween events, don't miss this Wednesday's hilarious edition of "Two Evils with Arlo & Kate"! It's the audience vs. special guest comedian (and Portland's Funniest Person 2024) BEN HARKINS in a live game show with lots of laughs and prizes. Get those tix now, babies!

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• In one of Trump's final rallies before election day, his chosen speakers went full racist at Madison Square Garden yesterday, calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” and labeling Kamala Harris "the devil" and the "antichrist." Trump—who arrived at the event two hours late, prompting many to leave—later chimed in by calling Harris (dogwhistle alert) "lazy," while yet another speaker insinuated that she's a prostitute.

• Readers of the Washington Post are (rightly) outraged and are canceling their subscriptions after owner Jeff Bezos—undoubtedly buckling under the pressure from Trump's threats of retribution against big business owners who don't pledge their loyalty—ordered his editorial department to cancel their endorsement of Kamala Harris. Two of their opinion page writers have already resigned, while news reporters are asking the public to keep subscribing to the paper to help them protect their jobs.

• Philadelphia's district attorney is suing Elon Musk and his super PAC in order to stop his multi-million dollar "patriot" giveaway, saying Musk is asking voters to "give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million," which, according to the DA, is an "unlawful lottery."

• According to the company, the beef used in McDonald's quarter pounder hamburgers is NOT the source of a recent E.coli outbreak, which sickened roughly 75 people across 13 states. The actual source of the E. Coli was reportedly a single onion farm, which the restaurant chain has stopped using. So I guess you can go back to eating those hamburgers you probably weren't eating in the first place. 🤷‍♂️

• And finally... it's sweater weather! SO LET'S FUCK WITH SOME SWEATERS!

@tikittytalk She sweaters! He sweaters! #80sfashion #80snostalgia #80saesthetic #80scommercials #vintagecommercials #kmart ♬ Sweater Sale - alicia