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Good morning, Portland! We’re in the thick of spring, where one week you’re moseying around in shorts and a t-shirt and the very next you’re back in a sweater and raincoat. We’re likely in for more rain today, with a high of 63 degrees and a low of 50. If you’re bummed about this week’s drizzly forecast, just remember, we all need to hydrate, and the foliage is no exception.
In Local News:
• Cold case solved: A body found more than 40 years ago off the side of the I-5 freeway in Oregon has been linked to a serial killer in California. Oregon State Police say with the help of police in Orange County, California, they were able to ID a John Doe as 30-year-old Larry Parks. Parks’ body was found near Woodburn in 1980. Police linked DNA to Randy Kraft of California, who is already in prison after being convicted in 1989 for killing 16 men. Kraft, often called the “scorecard killer,” has been in prison in California. He was arrested after being pulled over for driving erratically in 1983. During the traffic stop, a Highway Patrol Officer found the body of a US Marine in Kraft’s passenger seat and a “coded list” in his trunk that was later assumed to be a list of victims. Investigators believe Kraft may have actually killed nearly 60 people before his conviction.
DNA samples led to the identification of the unknown victim as Larry Eugene Parks, whose body was found in July 1980 along Oregon’s Interstate 5.
— USA TODAY (@usatoday.com) May 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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• Last adventure: The Oregon-based outdoor gear retailer Next Adventure, will start liquidating inventory at each of its four Oregon stores, starting May 28. The company’s founders plan to retire, and are closing all stores.
• Peacock bully goes to prison: A man who harassed a flock of peacocks in SE Portland, then shot a man who confronted him, will serve more than seven years in prison. KOIN reports Dylan Levi Rhoads was harassing peacocks at a home in 2023 when a man in a nearby house confronted Rhoads. Rhoads allegedly shouted “Bock, bock, bock, you next,” at the man, then eventually drove away, but when the victim got in his own car to leave, he saw Rhoads a few blocks away at an intersection. Rhoads shot at the victim from the driver’s seat, grazing him. Rhoads apparently had eight other pending cases against him.
The victim, and the peacocks, did not suffer serious injuries. Details: https://www.koin.com/news/portland/peacock-harassment-shot-man-tried-to-stop-him-prison-sentence-guilty-05122025/?cid=bluesky_
— KOIN 6 News (@koin6.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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• Cocktails, galore: If you were looking for an excuse to grab a cocktail, we’ve got you covered! It’s the Mercury’s Highball Week. That means more than 40 local bars are offering unique, specially-crafted cocktails ranging from spring floral notes to deep, smoky vibes, for just $10 each. Cheers!
In National/World News:
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Good news about a bad person: Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she won’t run for a Senate seat in the 2026 Georgia midterm elections. Greene, whom political pundits suspected might be a leading opponent to Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, took to social media to fire off a tirade. Among other things, Greene said the current Senate is dysfunctional and got big mad at “elites” in the Republican party. Realistically, she probably can’t win the seat, as some polling suggests. Could it be because she’s a lunatic who spouts off conspiracy theories and is a sycophantic Trump supporter with no moral compass? 🤷Several Republicans are now likely to enter the race. While she won’t seek a Senate seat, Greene could still run for re-election in the US House of Representatives when her term is up next year.
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Here’s a plane: It bears repeating that Donald Trump is poised to accept a massive, luxury plane from Qatar to use as Air Force One. Dubbed a “palace in the sky,” the sizable gift is problematic for numerous reasons. Arguably, it represents a conflict of interest for a sitting president to accept a bribe…errr…major gift from a foreign country, and also raises questions about self-dealing (using his position of power for self-enrichment). Trump’s no stranger to corruption, but he’s wholly unfamiliar with legal consequences.
Strains bounds of propriety? Strains…bounds…of…proprietary? Am I having a stroke? What is happening?
— Kai Ryssdal (@kairyssdal.bsky.social) May 12, 2025 at 4:20 PM
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White supremacy: The Trump administration has resorted to illegal deportation tactics in an attempt to remove immigrants from the United States, but…surprise! He’s willing to make exceptions for particular white people. Trump, likely influenced by first bro Elon Musk, is allowing white South Africans to migrate to the US as refugees, claiming they face racism and oppression in South Africa. (Al Jazeera reports about 73 percent of privately-owned land in South Africa is owned by white people, despite white Afrikaners comprising just 7 percent of the population.) Worth noting, the Episcopal Church, which has for years worked with the federal government to help resettle refugees, now says it's terminating its relationship with the feds after the church was asked to help resettle the Afrikaners.
This BBC snippet says it all. “The South African government said the group were not suffering any such persecution that would merit refugee status.
The Trump administration has halted all other refugee admissions, including for applicants from warzones. Human Rights Watch described the move as a cruel racial twist, saying that thousands of people - many black and Afghan refugees had been denied refuge in the US.”
• Now we got bad blood: The partner of Elizabeth Holmes, who is currently serving a prison sentence for defrauding investors via her faulty blood-testing company, Theranos, is... starting a new blood testing company. Billy Evans is reportedly launching the startup company, which aims to use AI to help detect diseases. The company, Haemanthus (which translates to "blood flower" in Greek), insists, "this is not Theranos 2.0."
May we all have the negotiating pizazz of Baby Billy Freeman.
