If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s news reporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
Good morning, Portland! Today will likely be very wet, but a little warmer than yesterday, with a high of 54 degrees and a low of 44. We can expect showers throughout most of the day. Reminder: It’s OK to use an umbrella.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Today we’re following news in the Lund Report about a new Oregon law that was meant to prevent private equity firms from owning or controlling health care facilities here. The law was well-intentioned, but may not have enough teeth to be clearly enforceable. Nonprofit health care org PeaceHealth is carrying out a plan to contract out emergency services at three of its Oregon hospitals to a for-profit company based in Atlanta. “Observers say the new arrangement … appears to exactly mirror the sort of arrangement that the Oregon Legislature sought to block with a law passed last year,” according to the Lund Report.
• Here’s a little reminder that the Mercury publishes an excellent entertainment news column aptly called The Trash Report every week for your enjoyment. If you’re thinking to yourself, “but I don’t read or care about celebrity gossip columns,” that’s because you don’t know any better. Though to be fair, none are as good as ours, so I can’t blame you if you’ve been quick to dismiss news about hot, rich, and often obnoxious people. Give our girl Elinor Jones a read.
• This weekend marks the Portland Shamrock Run, where a horde of people in compression pants and sneakers with better endurance than you will take over a stretch of downtown to sprint for a 5K, 8K, or half marathon. Expect some road closures on Sunday, March 15, especially along Naito Parkway.
• Portland Public Schools plans to cut several high-level administrative positions in the district as it contends with a $50 million budget gap. The school district is proposing other ways to close its budget deficit, like asking staff, including teachers, to take furlough days next year.
• Portland was pretty stoked when Damian Lillard bid adieu to Milwaukee and returned to Rip City to once again don the Trail Blazers jersey. The man is invested in Oregon, literally. He owns a Toyota dealership in McMinnville and most recently, he launched Honorable Mention–a new sports lounge inside the Benson Hotel. Lillard’s cocktail and culinary journey includes major business partners from the likes of Urban Restaurant Group, restaurateur JP Duperrier, and Moda Health’s president, to name a few. Mercury editor Katherine Chew Hamilton has all the delicious deets on Dame’s new bar.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• The US military launched strikes on 16 Iranian ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil supply channel along the Persian Gulf. Axios reports the strikes were a preemptive move, amid concerns that Iran was placing mines in the strait. Mines—explosive devices placed in waterways to destroy boats and ships—would be deadly and pose a serious threat to commercial shipping in the waterway, as well as the transport of oil. Reuters reports that the U.S. and Israel-led war against Iran has already put major constraints on global shipping and oil within the Strait of Hormuz. In response, multiple countries have agreed to release a stockpile of oil to combat the disruption. Meanwhile, Trump still can’t articulate exactly why we’re helping Israel go to war with Iran, or how long the US will stay involved in the conflict.
Trump: we’re gonna kill you all. we’re gonna regime change you. we want nothing less than unconditional surrender Mojtaba: guess we’re going down together then trump: [surprised pikachu.jpg]
— Sky Marchini (@sky.skymarchini.net) March 10, 2026 at 7:39 PM
• In bizarre celebrity news, a 35-year-old woman from Florida is in custody and faces attempted murder charges after shooting at the home of pop singer Rihanna and her family at the singer’s Los Angeles mansion on Sunday. Rihanna and her partner, A$AP Rocky, were reportedly home at the time of the shooting.
• We already knew US citizens were being caught up in immigration enforcement and even killed by federal agents, but now, Trump appears to be floating an idea to deport US citizens convicted of crimes to El Salvador. This could be another one of his half-cocked ideas he rattles off without thinking, or it could signal some extension of this administration’s already illegal tactics that winds up doing serious harm and ties up the courts who have to explain the Constitution to federal attorneys who probably already know but still get paid to pretend they don’t.
When the world feels dismal, try getting a plant!
@saintplanthony Our country has gone rouge 💅
