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Good morning, Portland! It’s looking to be a gorgeous weekend, and looking into next week it appears it’s going to stick. Fall is upon us, sort of. Temperatures appear to be in the high 70s and low 80s this first week of October, which I’m sure is 🔥 fine🔥 — just don’t think about it too much. Let’s get to the news. 📰
IN LOCAL NEWS:
Oregon gubernatorial candidate Christine Drazan and incumbent Governor Tina Kotek faced off in their first debate Thursday night in Eugene. The two candidates, who are neck and neck in the race for who gets to appease (the former candidate) or push back on (the latter) the Trump administration, “traded barbs” at the debate over issues ranging from affordability, data centers and education funding to the economy and wildfire mitigation, according to OPB. Drazan appears to be leaning in to try to pick up some of Kotek’s liberal supporters, saying she believes in climate change, that Biden won the 2020 election, and some stuff about lowering taxes. But make no mistake: Drazan has already told voters who she is, and she’s far cozier with the right-wing than she appears on TV. Read more at OPB.
A recent City Council committee meeting was intended to be a place for updates and a discussion about the city’s investment policy, which some councilors are seeking to improve by barring the city from investing in corporations whose products facilitate global human rights atrocities. But while the discussion was about applying a universal screen to filter out companies that contribute to atrocities globally, Councilor Eric Zimmerman said the supporters were fixated on sending an “anti-Jewish statement,” and were being antisemitic. Last week, four letters arrived in councilors’ inboxes from different coalitions in favor of a policy, saying the comments gravely mischaracterized the intent of the policy, and appeared more as “weaponized charges of antisemitism.” The Mercury spoke with a handful of Portland advocates who are pushing the city to ensure it isn’t sharing in the profits from war crimes and genocide—anywhere. And that includes the United States, particularly as it relates to brutal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, for example. Read more on what’s transpired here.
The Portland Trail Blazers yesterday hired a new broadcaster, Braiden Bell, who is… wait… let’s start again. The Portland Trail Blazers yesterday fired a new broadcaster, Braiden Bell, who was announced as the new hire the same day. After misogynistic and racist tweets resurfaced by a KGW reporter from when Bell was a teenager, the Blazers announced they would no longer move forward with the announcer. When cheapskate owner Tom Dundon bought the team last year and started demanding a bunch of public dollars to renovate the Moda Center, he also let the well-loved Northwest Icon—the former Seattle Supersonics and most recent Blazers announcer—Kevin Callabro go, probably to save money. It appears the Temu version didn’t exactly work out. More at KGW here.
There’s a lot of music to hear this weekend! The 2026 Oregon Symphony production is coming to and end this weekend with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 at the Schnitz, the bedroom pop band Hey Nothing comes to the Hawthorne Theatre, and more shows run into next week. Read more Mercury Music Picks from our Starly Lou Riggs here.
There are a lot of arts events this weekend! Tonight, there’s a poetry festival at Atrium Movement, the Portland Greek Festival Check comes to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the Craft Chocolate Festival takes place at Olympic Mills, and Pride and Prejudice is at Portland Center Stage. And that’s just Friday!? Find more Do This, Do That event recommendations for your full weekend from the Mercury‘s Lindsay Costello.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
If your local story has become a national story about police, the news probably isn’t great. The Intercept reported yesterday that Eugene, Oregon is trying to charge the local media outlet Double Sided Media $2.5 million for public records about its officer Justin Peckels, who has been the subject of a handful of complaints, including punching a resident in the face. The Eugene Police Department claimed providing the records would take nearly 45,000 hours of staff time. Oregon law requires that public bodies do not unreasonably delay public records requests because, well, they’re public. They are the public’s records. But some jurisdictions, and police in particular, get around that legal obligation by making it cost prohibitive for the requestor, who may ultimately give up. It’s unclear at the time of publishing if the small local outlet will ever come up with $2.5 million, but for now, they’re appealing the estimate. Read more at the Intercept.
A man who ICE agents shot in Austin, Texas last month has finally received surgery to remove the bullet that was lodged in his back. The Venezuelan delivery driver Rafael Garcés Perez was shot by a federal agent and was taken from a hospital directly to a detention facility in what some people refer to as the greatest country in the world. Garcés Perez is facing 20 years in prison for an assault charge for driving away after being questioned during a traffic stop while an ICE agent allegedly came into contact with the car’s side mirror. He is also facing deportation. The shooting has renewed protests in Austin against the Trump administration, particularly the wet sock Stephen Miller, and its horrific approach to what it calls immigration enforcement. Read more in the Guardian.
Students in France are protesting poor conditions in their schools the way the French often protest: the city is going up in flames. The demonstrators are protesting a lack of teachers in schools, overrun classrooms, and deteriorating building conditions. The BBC reports that not all protesters are necessarily there for the same reasons, saying the protests have turned from a student demonstration to a public disturbance. One might argue that the disturbance is the people’s government failing to do basic governance by providing quality schools for everyone, and the response to that disturbance is more akin to a public demanding better of its government. Anyway, the French are wildin’ out as always, and we sincerely hope no one gets hurt. More live updates here at the BBC.
I hope you get to relax this weekend, and don’t forget to tip the wonderful service workers who make our city such a wonderful place to be.
