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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!👋

Query: Do you feel like you're DROWNING? Welp, continue to feel that way at least through today as heavy rains continue to drench the area, which in turn will help quell this coming wildfire season, which in turn is being fanned by Trump and Musk's firing of critical wildfire control staff. See? Sometimes drowning ain't so bad! (Besides, the sun returns in force on Wednesday through Friday.) And now let's drown in some NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• In case you haven't noticed, things are NOT business as usual with our new and decidedly improved City Council, who have been shooting pointed questions at our mayor, the county, and now? The Portland Police Bureau. Recently the councilors pushed back hard on police chief Bob Day, asking if the cops were going to do the dirty work of Trump's FBI (which is now under the control of extreme right-wing freak Kash Patel), and Day's answer was not exactly soothing. “I just cannot emphasize enough the importance of ongoing relationships and communication with our federal law enforcement partners,” Day told the Council, to which Councilor Sameer Kanal (District 2) correctly responded, “We’ve seen the FBI weaponized against communities of color, and particularly, well, I’ll just say people that look like me.” Our Courtney Vaughn has the rest of the story.

“My family was surveilled, stripped of their home, livelihood, and dignity,” City Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane told Portland police officials during discussions about an FBI anti-terrorism task force. “So my question is, how can we work together to make sure that history like this isn’t repeated?”

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) February 21, 2025 at 3:17 PM

• In other (good!) City Council news, Councilor Kanal is ruffling the feathers of Portland's police union as well, by insisting that changes must be made to the city's newest police accountability board, which the former city council watered down to the point of toothlessness. Kanal wants to increase the number of community members on the committee which nominates board members from four to five, and establish “a clear and consistent definition of ‘bias’" which he says is necessary to ensure the impartiality of board members.

• Those previously mentioned heavy rains and gusty winds have been causing a sizable problem across the Pacific Northwest, resulting in a strong wind advisory starting at noon today to warn against expected 50 mph gusts, and at least another half-inch of rain. A landslide has closed NW Cornell Road in the West Hills, and led to the first overflow of stormwater and sewage into the Willamette River from the city's Big Pipe in more than a year.

• More than 100 postal workers, supporters, and politicians gathered at the USPS East Portland Post Office yesterday to rally and protest for higher wages and against Trump's threat to take over the Postal Service's Board of Governors, who maintain the service's independence. It's assumed that Trump plans on privatizing the postal service, about which postal carrier Tina Fisher says, “The keyword is ‘service.’ We are not here to bank a whole bunch of money and become a corporation. We’re here providing a service for every customer or every American in the United States.”

• As our Abe Asher reported last week in his excellent Portland Timbers season preview, the soccer team had a big hill to climb this weekend in their first game of the season against the Vancouver Whitecaps... and didn't quite make it. After being slaughtered by the Whitecaps at the end of last season, the Timbers were once again beaten down by the also uninspiring Vancouver team, 4-1, in yesterday's season opener. 😑

Giddy-up, brain! 🧠 It's time to play POP QUIZ PDX. This week's fun trivia questions include Oregon movie sequels, verrry creative Trump expletives, and finally! YOU get to fire somebody! 😀 (See how well you score!)

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) February 20, 2025 at 9:56 AM

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• In the ultimate "bad boss" move, billionaire goofus Elon Musk sent an email to 2.3 million federal government workers on Saturday, asking them to respond by listing approximately five things they accomplished at work last week by midnight tonight, or—as he later revealed—they would lose their jobs. Apparently even his fellow dingbat Republicans are getting sick of his blundering bullshit, as the new leaders of the CIA, FBI, and Defense Department are telling their employees to ignore this stupid email. HOWEVER! In an attempt to have some fun at Musk's expense, tons of non-federal employees (maybe even you?) are replying to the email (at HR@OPM.gov, if you're interested) to let the acne-riddled DOGE bros know what they were up to last week. Don't forget your deadline is midnight tonight, and have fun!

• Today in "boy, they sure know how to pick 'em": Trump has fingered extreme right wing conspiracy theorist and podcaster Dan Bongino to become the next... checks notes... deputy director of the FBI? Bongino will help lead the law enforcement agency alongside new director and fellow MAGA crackpot Kash Patel. In the most "no shit, Sherlock" statement of the day, former Justice Department officials have "expressed concerns" that blustering buttholes Patel and Bongino don't know what the fuck they're doing. Guess we'll see!

• And the big losses for Trump just keep on comin', as a federal judge has blocked the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from stealing troves of Americans' personal information from federal agencies such as the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management. Judges have also (at least temporarily) swatted down Trump's attempts to stop birthright citizenship—a case that could eventually make it all the way to the Supreme Court.

• BREAKING NEWS: After a decade of mealy-mouthed beating-around-the-bush, the New York Times is finally occasionally admitting in their headlines something the rest of us have been saying forever—that Trump is a fucking LIAR:

News Analysis: In the first month since he returned to power, President Trump has demonstrated once again a brazen willingness to advance distortions, conspiracy theories and outright lies to justify major policy decisions.

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— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM

• Major world leaders (with the noted exception of Trump) gathered in Kiev today to show support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the three-year anniversary of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. For his part, Zelenskyy has said he would resign if that's what it would take to maintain US support for his country—though we all know that even if Trump agreed, he would almost certainly be lying since he is and always will be Putin's puppet.

• Pope Francis is in critical condition, but reportedly resting comfortably this morning, after being admitted to the hospital for breathing difficulty and contracting double pneumonia. Apropos of nothing, the excellent movie Conclave (which depicts the behind-the-scenes soap opera that goes into choosing a new Pope) won the award for "best ensemble" at last night's SAG awards.

El Capitan displays a massive American flag upside down—the traditional signal of distress or extreme emergency.

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— Alt National Park Service (@altnps.bsky.social) February 23, 2025 at 10:01 AM

• RIP Lynne Marie Stewart—famously known as Miss Yvonne from the hilarious '80s kids show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, AKA "the most beautiful woman in Puppet Land"—has died of cancer at the age of 78.  

• RIP as well to brilliant soul singer Roberta Flack ("Killing Me Softly") who has died at the age of 88.

• And finally... people often ask me what it's like being the editor of the Portland Mercury. Metaphorically? This is exactly what it's like:

@bojohnsoncomedy Still in control #standup #crowdwork #standupcomedian ♬ original sound - Bo Johnson