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Good morning, Portland! It's gonna be cloudy and temperate today, in the high 60s. Perfect weather, if you ask me.
Time for the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Yesterday was special Election Day in Multnomah County, and the results are in for school board seats and bond measures in the Portland area. Voters gave Portland Public Schools the green light to renew a bond to upgrade and modernize school buildings. As for the PPS board, Christy Splitt kept her incumbent seat, while Rashelle Chase-Miller beat incumbent Herman Greene. Virginia La Forte and Stephanie Engelsman also snagged seats on the board. Find out more here!
• Today is Budget Amendment Day (capitalization mine, for emphasis, because it's big) at City Hall, and it's honestly going to be wild, with more than 100 amendments on the table. Among them is a proposal from Councilors Candace Avalos and Mitch Green to float extra funding to the Portland Housing Bureau in order to lower some tenants' rents at the Everett Station Lofts in Old Town. Some of the tenants at the complex qualify for affordable housing, and believe they are being overcharged for their studio apartments. This is because of an "ambiguous" agreement between the building management and the city, which allows them to charge multi-unit apartment prices for studios. While the Portland Housing Bureau affirmed the agreement earlier this year, Avalos and Green want to step in directly to lower tenants' rents. This is somewhat relieving to the tenants, but also strikes them as somewhat inadequate in the face of the struggle they've had with their building management. Read Adlai Coleman's story here, and stay tuned to see if the amendment passes.
• Last fall, Oregon voters passed Measure 119, which aimed to require weed dispensaries and other businesses to set up labor agreements with their employees in an effort to make it easier for cannabis workers to unionize and advocate for improved working conditions. But two Portland-area dispensaries/manufacturers, Ascend and Bubble's Hash, sued over the measure, and a federal judge just ruled that the measure can't be enforced. The judge says the measure goes against free speech rights by prohibiting speech of cannabis business owners. Labor advocates, who were not quoted in the Oregonian article I just linked to, will likely say it's not about free speech—the right to organize a union is protected by the National Labor Relations Act, and when your boss makes anti-union statements, it functions as a form of coercion. It's unclear if the state will appeal the ruling.
• As always, I am honored to direct you to this week's Mercury music picks:
It's Tuesday, you know what that means: Mercury Music Picks coming at you with the best music happenings in Portland! This week's MMP is filled to the brim with Portland album releases, international (DJ) intrigue, and more!
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) May 20, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Smash the link below for the juicy deets 🧃
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IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Israel has held blocked relief from entering Gaza for almost three months, forcing Palestinians in the enclave to starve with no recourse, while also at high risk of being killed or injured by Israeli air strikes. The situation is so dire now that the United Nations relief chief said 14,000 babies in Gaza are at risk of dying within the next 48 hours (less, now) because they are so malnourished.
As another UN official, Philippe Lazzarini, said at the European Humanitarian Forum yesterday, "the worst in all this is that...the war can stop. The siege being imposed on Gaza can be lifted." This is not an unpreventable disaster—there is aid waiting for people in Gaza, if Israel would let it in.
It is unspeakably horrific, yet people calling for dignity and survival for people in Gaza are still being questioned and treated with suspicion. Recently, and absurdly, the beloved children's entertainer Ms. Rachel was accused of being a Hamas operative for daring to speak on behalf of the thousands of children who have been killed in Gaza over the last 19 months.
• The Food and Drug Administration is pursuing a policy to limit Covid vaccines to people over the age of 65 or dealing with health problems, in a move that is totally out of line with best practices for stopping the spread of a contagious, deadly disease. As I understand it, the move may not ban others from getting vaccines, but it might mean insurers (who are looking for any reason to screw us over as it is) will stop paying for them unless you can prove your "eligibility." This decision also doesn't bode well for the future of public health in the US (not that anyone was thinking optimistically about that), as it indicates the FDA under Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. may pursue restricting other vaccines—which he said he wouldn't do. When I say I hate it here, I really do mean that.
• Oh, great, just what we all needed: Sexual predator Kevin Spacey may feel empowered to return to public life after being honored with a lifetime achievement award in Cannes. Spacey was first accused of sexual assault—of a minor, I will add— in 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp said Spacey molested him at the age of 14. Since then, he has faced dozens more allegations, including in a lawsuit filed earlier this year. But that wasn't enough to stop an organization called the "Better World Fund" from giving Spacey an award for his "extraordinary contributions to the art of cinema" over the years. Keep in mind that the only "films" Spacey has been in over the last few years are random TV specials where he reprises his famous "House of Cards" role and a couple low-budget flops that nobody's ever heard of. Also, let me be clear that Spacey has never taken accountability for his horrible actions, and in fact has turned himself into a poster child for the "victimized men" movement that seems to be dominating our culture right now. The Cannes award is not a good sign, but it is in line with all the other bullshit that's happening right now.
• Mudede spitting facts, as usual:
• I really want to share some good news along with all this awful stuff. It can be hard to find, but I grabbed a couple stories. Here's one: Even with the federal hostility to climate action, more states are passing Superfund bills that hold fossil fuel companies accountable for their devastating emissions. One state representative, in Maryland, said the opposition "emboldens our fight more." Here's another: After farmers sued the US Department of Agriculture earlier this year for removing climate data from its website, the USDA has promised to restore the info. Finally, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended pain medication for IUD insertions and other gynecological procedures, which have typically been treated with a couple Ibuprofen even though they cause many people excruciating pain. I'm taking this last one as a win for women's health in a HORRIBLE landscape. I scraped the bottom of the barrel for this. If anyone has any good news to share, please send it my way.
• This is interesting, but also sad. Parrots really wanna hang out with other parrots, but pet parrots are isolated and can only hang out with their bird friends on screens. :(
