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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!šŸ‘‹

Query: Do you like SEX? And do you love LOVE? Then you will almost certainly enjoy theĀ Mercury's latest print newspaper product, the LOVE/SEX issue (now available online and IRL at more than 500 spots around the city)! This baby has everything: The annual (and hot) Mercury Sex Survey results, real reader valentines, the city's horniest foods, how to love yourself, an interview with a sex worker, and SO MUCH MORE! Pick yours up today or read it online, and learn to love sex (and love) all over again. And now, let's learn to love some sexy NEWS.Ā 

IN LOCAL NEWS:

ā€¢ Yesterday (and nearly three years after the fact)Ā Portland Police Chief Bob Day released a video apology, in which he described the harm caused by the police in February 2022, when an armed right-wing domestic terrorist fired on a peaceful demonstration at Normandale Park, killing June Knightly and injuring five othersā€”one of whom died from her injuries last summer. Here'sĀ what the Mercury wrote at the time:

The initial narrative from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), whose officers arrived on the scene after the shooting concluded, was that the incident was a "confrontation between an armed homeowner and armed protesters." Right-wing activists online immediately spread this statement, jumping to the conclusion that left-wing protesters had attacked a man on his property. This statement was also shared by local and national media outlets.The true dynamics of the shooting weren't made public until witnesses and victims spoke with the press.

Neither PPB or the police commissioner Mayor Ted Wheeler, have retracted that narrative, let alone apologized for the misinformation it spread. Asked why PPB identified Smith as a "homeowner" during a Tuesday press conference, PPB Chief Chuck Lovell said he "didn't know."

In the apology video, Day said he wanted to "recognize the role the Portland Police Bureau played in exacerbating the [incredible pain and trauma caused to the community]." No word yet on whether apologies are forthcoming for the bureau's repeated involvement in enabling and turning a blind eye to the right-wing terrorists (including Patriot Prayer, Proud Boys, and Trump truck caravans) that spread fear and harm through the entire city for years. But you know... don't hold your breath.

PPB's Chief Day has issued a formal apology for the lies and disinfo PPB broadcast about the Normandale shooting.Ā 

youtu.be/9qmL3eamJLY

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ā€” P.R.A.D.A. PDX (@pradapdx.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM

ā€¢ A scary incident yesterday in Portland's Old Town/Chinatown area: A man is in custody after firing a weapon near passersby at Northwest 5th & Glisan, and then flagging down and commandeering a TriMet bus, ordering the driver to chauffeur him around the neighborhood. After the passengers scooted out the back, the TriMet driver took the gunman on a short ride before he was allowed to escape. The cops showed up and, reportedly unable to get the man to disembark, fired a flashbang and smoke bomb into the bus, causing the suspect to leave the vehicle and be arrested. Thankfully no one was injured and the man is being charged with kidnapping, reckless endangerment, and unlawful use of a weapon.Ā 

ā€¢ There's a nasty case of the flu going around, and Oregon is among the states with the highest influenza A activity, joining Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and more. Experts are blaming post-COVID complacency for people refusing to get their flu shots this year.

ā€¢ I'm just going to leave this maddening, and oh-so-typical headline right here: "Kevin Dahlgren, prominent critic of Portland area homeless services, admits to stealing from one of them."

ā€¢ If you adore steak and nostalgia, get ready for a lot of both in our Andrea Damewood's latest food review in which she visits Portland's classic steakeries and gets some diamond quotes from chefs and other classic restaurant lovers on why these spots succeed and remain important to the city!

For the @portlandmercury.bsky.social, I reviewed Donnie Yen's new and very enjoyable action flick/legal thriller, THE PROSECUTOR, which premieres at @hollywoodtheatr.bsky.social on Friday

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ā€” Dom Sinacola (@sinacolad.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

ā€¢ Everyone on board is feared to be dead after a tragic in-air collision between a passenger jet carrying 64 people and an Army helicopter, which crashed in the Potomac River outside of Washington, DC. The American Airlines aircraft was flying into the DC area from Wichita and the helicopter was on a training mission. According to reports there were roughly 20 members of the US Figure Skating community onboard the plane, as well as two highly regarded Russian former figure skaters.

Regimes that commit atrocities never say ā€œweā€™re building a concentration campā€ā€”they call it ā€œdetention,ā€ they say itā€™s temporary.Ā 

They donā€™t announce that theyā€™re rounding up ordinary innocentsā€”they call those abducted ā€œdirtbagsā€ or ā€œcriminalsā€.

But make no mistake. This is what it looks like.

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ā€” Amy Sullivan (@amysullivan.bsky.social) January 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM

ā€¢ America's dimmest bulbs (and Trump boot-lickers) Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are testifying before Congress today in an attempt to secure positions in their dear leader's new administration. Gabbard wants to be the nation's director of intelligence šŸ¤Ø, Patel the head of the FBI šŸ™„, and Kennedy is under the bizarre misconception he's fit to run the Department of Health and Human Services šŸ¤®. None are worthy to clean the dumpsters behind Arby's.

ā€¢ Speaking of embarrassing boot lickers, newly anointed Trump sycophant Mark Zuckerberg and his company Meta have agreed to pay the new prez $25 million to settle a case in which they banned him after his horrific online rants following the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the nation's capitol. (In other words, it's a public announcement that they have no intention of protecting you from an administration of fascists and their cult followers. Good luck, I guess!)

Disturbing New Study Finds American 5th-Graders Only Absorbing Targeted Advertisements At 1st-Grade Level
theonion.com/disturb...


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ā€” The Onion (@theonion.com) January 30, 2025 at 7:00 AM

ā€¢ Here's your "absolutely un-shocking headline" of the day:Ā "Criminal records of Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump include rape, domestic violence."

ā€¢ Eight new hostages have been turned over by Hamas, and have been taken to hospitals for health checks before returning to Israel. The handover has been called "chaotic" as thousands of people swarmed around the handover site, which also happened to be the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. A number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees are expected to be released by Israel later today.

ā€¢ And finally... here is the best idea I've heard all day/week/month/year/millennium:Ā 

@ajaegermeister Mexico could do the funniest thing right nowā€¦do it! #mexico #usa #gulfofmexico #doit #politics #johnoliver ā™¬ original sound - MoonFlowerCreations_