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Good morning, Portland! How's it going, dear reader? Good? Okay? Horrible? Sorry to pry. If it's the last one, at least you can count on seeing some sun today, with temps expected to hover in the late 50s.
Now, let's get to the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• On Monday, around 300 protesters gathered outside Portland's Tesla dealership in the South Waterfront, calling out Elon Musk's despicable and criminal actions to dismantle many key parts of the federal government from his post atop President Trump's new administration. While many protesters appeared to be fighting against the Trump administration and Musk at large, thinking of the Tesla store as a symbolic setting for a rally, others are working with the specific goal of taking Musk down by targeting his electric car company. The latter group is calling for a Tesla boycott, as well as asking larger agencies (like the Oregon Public Employee Retirement System, AKA PERS) to divest from the company. They say Musk's actions have led to Tesla's stock tumbling in recent weeks, and hope to keep the downward momentum going. Find out more about the protests by reading the Mercury's story here.
• Three federal buildings in Portland are set to go on the market soon, as the Trump administration initiates its new ridiculous and harmful "cost-cutting" "strategy" to sell "non-essential" government real estate. The list includes 10 buildings in Oregon and three in downtown Portland and the Lloyd District, including the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, BPA Building, and 911 Federal Building. In total, these buildings represent more than a million square feet of office space. Seeing as Portland's office market is famously not really picking up, it's unlikely the guv'ment will be met with people champing at the bit to buy building space. Another question: How are government employees supposed to meet back to office requirements if their offices have been sold? Ladies and gentlemen, the most powerful thought leaders in the country!
• In other Portland real estate news...
A lender is considering foreclosing on a more than $500 million construction loan backed by Block 216, the opulent home of Portland’s Ritz-Carlton hotel.
Ready Capital, which holds a construction loan that was supposed to be paid off by December, said it’s still owed at least $503 million.
— The Oregonian (@oregonian.com) March 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM
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• Here's how Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China might impact Oregon's economy. Like in many US states, these countries are all among our top trading partners, largely in the tech sector.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday imposed taxes on imported goods from major trading partners Canada, Mexico and China — and that could send shockwaves through Oregon’s economy.
— OPB (@opb.org) March 4, 2025 at 7:32 AM
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• It's time, yet again, for the Mercury Music Picks! Here's what's on offer this week (sneak peek, Erykah Badu is gonna play for real this time. You can also see Trauma Unit, Fish Narc, Pigeon Pit, and more. I'm so glad we have Music Editor Nolan Parker to tell us about these things, because I've never heard of the latter three artists and never would have without their guidance).
If you wanna go, you gotta stay in the know! The Mercury Music Picks cup runneth over this week, smash the link to read all about what's happening in Portland music 🔊
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 4, 2025 at 10:55 AM
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• The Mercury's sandwich week is still on!! Get your delicious, $10 sandwiches at restaurants across the city through Sunday.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Trump gave a joint address to Congress last night (apparently not the official State of the Union, though), and it went about as well as you can imagine. In other words, Trump lied (example: He said Elon Musk's bogus Department of Government Efficiency has found "hundreds of billions" of dollars in federal fraud), spat hateful comments (about trans kids participating in sports, among other topics), and talked about his ridiculous dream to buy Greenland for the United States, which he said will happen "one way or the other" despite international opposition to the idea.
Trump also touted his economic policies, blamed former President Biden for the still-high price of eggs at the grocery store, and said the outrageously high tariffs he just imposed on Mexico, Canada, and China won't have much of an economic impact for US residents. Meanwhile, the stock market is in free fall and the administration has already hinted at reducing the tariffs yet again—because maybe it is a bad move to start a destructive trade war for literally no reason?
• Trump's speech received thunderous applause from Republicans. Democrats, meanwhile, took the opportunity to do just about nothing—with the exception of Rep. Al Green, a Dem from Texas who was removed from the speech after yelling at the president that he "didn't have a mandate to cut Medicaid." Now, he may face censure from House leaders. Other Democrats did walk out of the chamber, including Oregon Representatives Maxine Dexter and Andrea Salinas. Some Democratic women wore pink to protest. That latter tactic was met with particular scorn by many people who want Democrats to be strong leaders in this moment, instead of protesting silently and inconsequentially.
If all your representative is going to do is sit silently and wear pink, you need to replace them with somebody that will do this.
— Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 2:45 PM
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A better idea for resistance? Don't go to the damn speech at all. This was the path Oregon Senator Ron Wyden took, holding a virtual town hall for Oregonians instead. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spend her evening on social media answering questions. Nothing groundbreaking, but certainly a better use of their time than watching Trump lie and Republicans kiss his ring for two hours. The bar is very, VERY low, people.
• The Trump administration is trying to hire back some Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff they fired a few weeks ago, apparently realizing the error of their ways. Staff are being asked to return "immediately" to the roles they thought they were fired from. The reason behind this reversal is unclear, including to the employees who are being asked back to work. But there isn't much rhyme or reason to any of this, is there?
• Speaking of reversals...maybe those Portland buildings won't be getting sold, after all? How am I supposed to report the news when it changes this fast!???!!
The list of government buildings for sale is now entirely gone. This is what you see when you click the GSA link:
— Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) March 5, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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• Oh yeah, happy Ash Wednesday to all who partake.
for lent this year I’m giving up
— ditchpony (@ditchpony.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 8:11 AM
