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Good Morning, Portland: It is beautiful out today and we at the Mercury hope you get to enjoy it one way or another. We have you covered for news highlights and lowlights, as well as some recommendations for your weekend if you're lucky enough to have the schedule of a total square. It's Good Morning, News. 📰

IN LOCAL NEWS: 

  • Portland City Council passed an ordinance in December that will regulate landlords who rent their facilities out as detention facilities. But the law still needs to go through a formal rulemaking process to determine how much a fine would be for violations, how enforcement works, and other crucial details. After requesting last month that the administrative side of the city’s government move quickly to implement the rules, City Councilors and 16 labor and environmental organizations sent a letter to Mayor Keith Wilson Thursday evening outlining what an effective rule should look like to meet the law’s intent. Critics fear the administration could make the law legally vulnerable if it pushes through weak rules, even if they are temporary, and they don’t want a judge to overturn it in a legal proceeding just because the administration didn’t let city staff do their homework. Meanwhile, at least some of the organizations said they signed on because federal agents teargassed children at a labor rally last month, and stopping the deportation machine requires bold action from leaders. They think accountability would be cool, actually. Read more here.

  • It's supposed to get nice next week though.

    The weekend brings clouds and slight chances of rain Saturday and Sunday.

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    — The Oregonian (@oregonian.com) February 27, 2026 at 6:00 AM

  • The Oregon Legislature took its first step toward approving payments to a billionaire for Moda Center renovations, with some caveats, like an agreement that the Trailblazers will play in Portland for the next 20 years. The state said they could pony up $365 million in borrowed money to pay for… whatever the team’s new owner says he needs to make the venue more modern. Have they thought about just throwing a 67 up on the building? Because that would skibidi and would save a lot of… wait, that’s way out of fashion already! Well, this is going to get expensive. The city of Portland also has $120 million to front, plus ongoing future payments, and Multnomah County said it could find $88 million. I love my Blazers and will stretch my boundaries on what’s reasonable here to save them, but I’m starting to think some of the crises society faces are at least a little made up. As OPB reports, “(m)ost research on public subsidies for sports venues concludes that the investments don’t result in the economic benefits that are touted to citizens. Sure, Jan (oh, is that out of fashion already too?), just give them the money and let me watch my team. Read more at OPB here.

  • Oregon Democrats introduced a bill to bar ICE employees from gaining jobs in public service in the future—just kidding, no they didn’t. That’s Democrats in four different states, which we’ll get into a little later in the national news section. 👇

Here’s some culture news, with recommendations for your weekend:

  • The first-ever ASN Zine Fest is happening this Saturday at Fubonn on 82nd Ave, a zine fest highlighting Asian creatives. Organizers say the event is rooted in a radical history of political work. Read more from the Mercury's Katherine Chew Hamilton here. 

  • Lots of Mercury Music Picks for your weekend, including early all ages show at Music Millennium (5 pm), Grace Memorial Church (2 pm), and Leaven Community Center (7:30 pm) on Saturday. Read the full list of recommendations here. 

  • HUMP! Film Festival is this weekend at Revolution Hall. (That one’s gonna be 21+)

  • The Mercury’s Do This, Do That has a bunch of recommendations, including a Portland Community College faculty art exhibition Saturday, and the final production of Sam Shepard’s play Geography of a Horse Dreamer. Learn more here.

IN NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

  • Democrats in four states (not Oregon) have introduced legislation that would bar ICE employees from getting jobs in civil service in the future. They’re hoping it will make applicants think twice before applying for a position in the gestapo. Democratic New Jersey assemblyman Ravi Bhalla introduced legislation earlier this month. He told the Guardian, “If you’re an ICE agent, you’re signing up to engage in unlawful conduct. You’re signing up to engage in racially profiling Latino communities. You’re signing up to engage in illegal detentions and deportations of people who have legal rights in this country, you’re signing up for the separation of families and children.” Outgoing DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin didn’t like it, which is a good sign that it’s probably a good idea. Read more here. And if you’re an elected Oregon Democrat, maybe read it twice.

  • Members of Congress are questioning the well-known saxophonist and former President Bill Clinton on Friday, the day after they questioned former First Lady and almost-President Hillary Clinton about the couple’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Bill Clinton has a well-established relationship with the two sex traffickers, but hasn’t been charged with any crime yet. Republicans are salivating at the opportunity to grill him under oath, as he’s the first president to be compelled to testify before Congress, and may he not be the last! He’s had to answer for sexual misconduct in the past, but we’ll see if an elderly Slick Willie can slip out of this jam.

  • Is this good? Let us know in the comments, the better for the Mercury's engagement stats.

    Breaking: Netflix Backs Out of Warner Bros. Bidding, Paramount Set to Win

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    — The Hollywood Reporter (@thr.com) February 26, 2026 at 2:52 PM

  • After Department of Homeland Security agents pretended to be local cops looking for a missing child to gain access to a building they shouldn’t have been in to detain a Columbia University student, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke to President Donald Trump. And Trump couldn’t help but smile and do whatever the heartthrob mayor asked, so the student was “released immediately” after they spoke on Thursday. There appears to be no one in the world with this kind of power over Trump; can they start having daily phone calls, and Mr. Mamdahni, can you let Mr. Trump know about the 397,880 other people who DHS has arrested since his inauguration?

  • OMG housing too?

    I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon. I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.

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    — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@mayor.nyc.gov) February 26, 2026 at 12:27 PM

  • This is how Nori feels about Mondays, and how service workers feel about “weekends.” Don’t forget to tip your bartenders and baristas.