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Good Morning, Portland: And good morning RAIN—today. Rain—tomorrow! Rain—Sunday! That's just Portland being Portland; let's hit the news!

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• On Thursday afternoon, President Trump made more threats towards Portland, once again dropping the word 'insurrection' in there, casually—like a little kid using a big word incorrectly. 

• Hey do you drive—at night—on I-5 between  I-405 to Terwilliger Blvd? Be aware of these upcoming closures this November:

• A new entry in the National Register of Historic Places may be a spot you regularly pick up dog poop! That's right, Balch Gulch Bridge—spanning the gulch between NW 29th and NW 31st, where many pick up Forest Park's Lower Macleay Trail—was officially designated by the National Park Service in September. Bridge heads likely already know that the steel structure makes use of a load-bearing framework of triangles fastened with flexible pin connections. This pre-rivets/bolts method can only be seen today in 12 other Oregon bridges. In 1905, the bridge's construction allowed the city's streetcar lines to better connect Willamette Heights neighborhood to the rest of Portland's Northwest,  increasing the area's growth. The streetcar doesn't go that far north anymore, and it's instead served by a bus route.

• That'll be on Pop Quiz PDX at a later time, I'm sure. Did you take this week's local and topical news quiz? The theme is Party Time at ICE!

• Your Friday morning ticket drop is arriving shortly, and EverOut has drawn up a list of shows hitting the streets. We're buying tickets for MAY? Okay! Grip seats for the Last Dinner Party at the Schnitz or Echo & The Bunnymen at Rev Hall.

• Today in Ice Cream news—just a little something I thought you should know about:

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• A new study published in the journal Nature shows that COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccines can train the immune systems of cancer patients to kill tumors, even if the mRNA is not related to cancer. A study of clinical outcomes for more than 1,000 late-stage melanoma and lung cancer patients showed that patients who took the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine were more than twice as likely to be alive after three years compared with those who didn’t. It's more complicated than that, and you can talk to your doctors about it and/or find out more here.

• How's that shutdown being? Welp, it continues after the Senate failed to pass three bills on Thursday that would’ve ensured federal workers get paid. A bill from Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (say that three times fast!) that aimed to pay federal employees who are still working during the shutdown failed, with most Democrats rejecting the proposal. Dem lawmakers had concerns that Johnson’s bill gave the White House budget director too much authority to determine which federal workers get paid. Republicans voted down two bills that sought to pay all federal workers, including those who aren’t reporting to work. Among the two bills Republicans rejected was one from Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen that would trigger immediate pay for every federal employee, regardless of whether they’ve had to report to work. Van Hollen’s proposal would have also blocked Trump and his Cabinet from laying off any federal workers during the shutdown.

• Who's Trump pardoning NOW? It's Changpeng Zhao, "the richest man in crypto," who admitted in 2023 to money-laundering violations which led to terrorist groups—like Hamas, Al Qaeda, and the Islamic State—using Binance it move funds outside of legal channels. Zhao received a four-month sentence, which he finished last year. Trump's pardon could make it easier to retake control of Binance and challenge domestic bitcoin. So why did Trump pardon him? Well, let's hear from the man himself:

COLLINS: Today you pardoned the founded of Binance. Can you explain why you did that? TRUMP: Which one was that? COLLINS: The founder of Binance TRUMP: I believe we're talking about the same person, because I do pardon a lot of people. I don't know. He was recommended by a lot of people.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM

• The entire East Wing of the White House is now demolished, to make way for a sprawling, 90,000-square-foot ballroom that likely will rival the size of the White House itself, which clocks in at 55,000 square feet. Associated Press calls the East Wing, which was home to the office of the First Lady, as well as other offices, a space “where first ladies created history.” President Trump said in July that the cost of the ballroom would be about $200 million, but that cost was updated to $250 million last week, and now, Trump pegs the cost at somewhere around $300 million, which he says friends and generous donors are paying for. The demolition and forthcoming construction moved ahead without any permission or permits from the governing commissions and agencies that approve major site changes to the property.

• Now I leave you with a metaphor for Portland, and the spirit of our goofiest lil guys, turning chaos into costumes.