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Good morning, Portland! It’s Wednesday, January 7. We’re in for more rain and chilly temps today, with a high of 42 and a low of 35 degrees. We can also expect moderate winds of up to 14 miles per hour.

It’s a good day to hang inside and catch up on the news. 

IN LOCAL NEWS: 

• Yesterday, Portland’s mayor sent a memo to the City Council informing them of his plans to oust some people from the city’s 10 alternative shelter sites. Alternative shelters allow guests to stay up to 120 days in pod-like structures or designated RV parking areas. Mayor Keith Wilson says the city will start exiting people who don’t engage with services via a case worker, forcing them to go to a temporary or overnight shelter. A few city councilors have their own thoughts about Wilson’s plan. Members of the Homelessness and Housing Committee aren’t thrilled. 

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson is planning to exit some homeless residents from the city’s alternative shelters, instead referring them to emergency overnight shelters and day centers.

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) January 6, 2026 at 9:29 PM

• Speaking of City Council, they’re scheduled to vote on a new council president and vice president today. That might sound somewhat unremarkable, but last year’s first-ever meeting of the Council was marked by fireworks and a lengthy, contentious process to select leadership. It’s unclear whether the current Council President, Elana Pirtle-Guiney, will seek a second term in the role. Pirtle-Guiney is known for her even-keeled demeanor during meetings, but she’s clashed with a few councilors over agenda-setting priorities, as well as her process for running meetings on a few occasions–namely last year’s budget adoption. The Mercury has also learned that several of her colleagues have asked her not to seek reelection to the position. Tiffany Koyama Lane currently serves as Council vice president. Read our quick and helpful explainer to get up to speed! 

Portland City Council is set to decide who will hold the council president’s gavel for the next year. It’s the first item on Wednesday morning’s agenda, which is scheduled for two hours, but if last year’s election is any indication, you’ll want to bring a snack. 🍿

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) January 7, 2026 at 9:08 AM

• Ever dreamed of working at the Mercury? If you’ve got a newsy background, are organized, and enjoy working closely with others, this might be the gig for you. The Mercury is hiring a managing editor to help strengthen and fine-tune our editorial processes and support our awesome staff. We don’t bite, but we will put your karaoke skills to the test and force you to listen to our rants and terrible jokes.

• Trump’s DOJ won’t let up on its petty attempts at retribution against Portland. OPB reports the DOJ is arguing it’s entitled to police records such as body camera footage of arrests during anti-ICE protests–including footage related to ongoing investigations. According to OPB, during a recent court hearing over the city’s longstanding settlement agreement with the city, DOJ attorneys said they want footage and any records that could demonstrate “viewpoint discrimination” from the Portland Police Bureau during arrests of conservative influencer Nick Sortor. They also want records related to the alleged assault of Katie Daviscourt, who reports for right-wing outlet The Post Millenial. The DOJ has already said it’s investigating the Portland Police Bureau for alleged discrimination against conservative influencers and counter-protesters at the ICE facility. In other words, the DOJ is using the settlement agreement to try to obtain records that would help them build a case against the city. Portland’s city attorney called the move “nakedly political.” 

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS: 

• Hey, so, remember when we bombed Venezuela and kidnapped the country’s leader and his wife and proceeded to do a crotch chop while yelling “Suck It!” behind Congress’s back? Well, it turns out the Trump team forgot to install actual leadership and make sure the country was stabilized before going rogue. The AP reports that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio contradicted one another while they both made statements about Venezuela’s leadership, and its immediate future. “Seemingly contradictory statements from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have suggested at once that the U.S. now controls the levers of Venezuelan power or that the U.S. has no intention of assuming day-to-day governance and will allow Maduro’s subordinates to remain in leadership positions for now,” the AP writes. By Wednesday morning, media reports indicated at least 75 people were killed in Venezuela after the raids.

• After a Hilton hotel in Minneapolis canceled reservations for ICE agents, the company’s stock has apparently taken a hit. CNBC reports Hilton stock shares dropped 2 percent after DHS took to X to publicly complain/shame the hotel for canceling reservations citing the guests’ work tied to immigration enforcement. An email to federal agents indicated the Minneapolis location is “not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property.” That particular site was one of many Hilton-franchise locations that’s independently operated. Nevertheless, Hilton issued a statement emphasizing that the location was independently operated and the email sent to agents doesn’t reflect the company’s policies or values. “They have taken immediate action to resolve this matter and are contacting impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated,” a spokesperson for Hilton told CNBC. By Wednesday, the Hilton corporation announced it was severing ties with that independent location. What will it be now that it's no longer a Hilton???! 

Hilton said it is breaking from a franchise that was accused of canceling ICE agents' reservations at its Minneapolis-area location

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— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) January 6, 2026 at 8:03 AM

• “Corporation for Public Broadcasting votes itself out of existence” is arguably one of the saddest headlines we’ll see this month, or possibly this year. Since the 1960s, the private organization managed funding for public broadcast outlets like NPR and PBS, but the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) Board recently began reducing its operations after Congress voted to defund the entity. In a statement released Monday, Patricia Harrison, CPB’s president and CEO, said public media is still “essential to a healthy democracy” but the organization couldn’t operate without federal funding. “CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving, rather than allowing the organization to remain defunded and vulnerable to additional attacks,” Harrison stated. 

Can we just go back to the '90s when Maria and Elmo taught kids how to recognize numbers and served as de facto babysitters for latch-key kids? 

@magsdee08

Let’s get back to the pre-2000s parenting expectations. By those standards I have already overachieved with water bottles and snacks.

♬ original sound - Mags