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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!👋
Expect another broiling (but slightly less broiling) day today with a sunny high reaching 94 degrees... butty, but, BUT! A significant cool-down is heading our way with a more reasonable 87 on Tuesday and then plummeting down to a brisk 68 with a chance of showers by Saturday. Now let's cool it down with some very brisk NEWS!
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Speaking of that extreme heat, Portland Public Schools announced they will be closing all their schools three hours early today. Since only 15 percent (!) of all PPS buildings have air conditioning, and the heat will be topping 90 starting around noon, elementary school students will be released at 11:30 am, K-8 schools and high schools will get out at 12:30 pm, followed by the middle schools at 1 pm. (I encourage the kids to use this afternoon's free time to reflect on why state legislators refuse to properly fund their schools. Either that or have a water balloon fight.)
• Seriously though, it's going to be a very hot one today, and since area cooling shelters will not be opening, those suffering from the heat are encouraged by city officials to visit local libraries (which are extending their hours) and malls to escape the soaring temps.
• A long-running houseless community residing in the Sandy River Delta was forcibly removed last week under orders from the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) who had been planning a major restoration project in the area. When a protester/bystander approached a member of the hired hazmat team who was tearing down the encampment, they were sprayed with Mace—allegedly along with other members of the homeless community whose entire lives and possessions were at this site. When our Kevin Foster began asking questions about the sweeps and the Mace attack, a DSL official appeared alarmed by the accusation, and has hit the brakes on the project until an investigation can be made into the hazmat team's behavior. Read the story here.
Dozens of people have been living in tents along the Sandy River delta for years, undisturbed. This week, the state hired a hazmat crew to clear the longtime encampment, who Maced protesters and at least one resident. The situation highlights pitfalls in Oregon's approach to chronic homelessness.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) June 6, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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• If you depend on the city's bridges for your morning commute... well, thoughts and prayers, because they will be raising and lowering the bridges all the way up until 11 am as the Fleet Week ships depart for another year. (See you next summer, boys! And even though I'm sore, thanks for the memories! 😉)
• Here's your reminder that just because the Portland-hating, conservative, and dark money group People for Portland (P4P)—which went a long way to trashing our city's reputation on the national stage—may be gone, the people who funded it are still on their grind. The newest group to look out for is Partnership for Progress (also P4P), who is currently crapping on City Council for their decision to reallocate a paltry $2 million in the bloated cop budget to help care for Portland Parks. However, I do have to say their newest email campaign needs a little work. FOR EXAMPLE:
1) If you're going to attempt to terrify residents into believing the city is trapped in a "doom loop" 🙄, at least learn how to spell "residents."
And just to be clear, the police budget is NOT being "cut," since that extra $2 million was an unasked for gift from Mayor Wilson who is apparently trying to impress the wealthy business crowd. Read more about that here.
2) In this same email, P4P tries to play on people's emotions with this picture of a cute Portland cop empathizing with an older gentleman who was probably just trying to mind his own business:
However, a closer look reveals that this picture was almost certainly AI generated, because...
... Portland Police shoulder badges look nothing like this, and name tags usually aren't written in ancient Sanskrit. And if this photo was not produced by AI? Get this guy to a dermatologist, stat! (Do better, P4P.)
Strap on your brain, it's time for another endlessly entertaining POP QUIZ PDX! In this week's sassy-ass trivia questions: the roller rink of MYSTERY, bad news for King Taco, and helloooo sailors! It's FLEET WEEK. (See how well YOU score! 🤓)
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) June 5, 2025 at 10:14 AM
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IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• It's been three days of occasionally violent protest in Los Angeles as demonstrators are pushing back hard against the Trump administration's racist deportation policy, in an attempt to protect their immigrant neighbors. While thousands marched peacefully (including shutting down the 101 freeway), there was also a much smaller group who reacted violently, damaging businesses, throwing rocks at the cops, and setting Waymo autonomous taxis on fire. While dozens were arrested, it should be noted that the most violent part of the protest is only happening within a downtown radius of just a few blocks—similar to what Portland experienced in 2020—so be sure to tell your Fox News-watching family members that actually LA isn't a burning hell-hole that's trapped in a "doom loop."
• The state of California announced they are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for ordering the deployment of the National Guard to curb the ongoing protests against King Fool's racist deportation policies. As we clearly saw during Portland's 2020 protests, bringing in the Feds only enflamed tensions, and since a whopping 5,000 + Portlanders showed up to demonstrate for racial equality when federal agents came to town, it's clear that Trump is doing what he does best: making a terrible situation much, much worse.
Trump’s border czar is furiously backpedaling after alleging that Newsom could be arrested for interfering in the crackdown on protesters in Los Angeles.
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast.bsky.social) June 9, 2025 at 8:25 AM
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• And the blatant Trump racism just keeps on rolling with his 12-country travel ban which kicks into action today. Citizens from countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and more are barred from entering the United States, because of (according to King Fool) "national security and terrorism" concerns, and (according to me) "fascism."
• Israel's military forces have reportedly intercepted and detained the occupants of a Gaza-bound ship, which included several activists and climate warrior Greta Thunberg. The ship, which was on its way to help deliver humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged people of Gaza, was stopped and boarded in international waters. Israeli officials say they will be deporting the ship's passengers back to their home countries in an expedited fashion.
More than 90 scientists at the National Institutes of Health signed a letter in protest of Trump administration policies they say are harming people’s health, in a rare sign of open resistance by career government employees.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost.com) June 9, 2025 at 7:58 AM
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• Here's your reminder that Evangelical Christians are exactly ZERO FUN: "Southern Baptists target porn, sports betting, same-sex marriage and ‘willful childlessness’." (Ummm... hello? When are we going to start treating Christians the same way we treat Elon Musk?)
• And finally... let's check in on "Kim the Gorilla" for the vibe check of the day.
@kimthegorilla ♬ original sound - Kim The Gorilla
