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Good morning, Portland! This app tells me it’s going to be a bit overcast today with a high likelihood of rain over the weekend, and I’m inclined to pass that info on to you for your planning purposes. Don’t shoot the messenger if we end up with sunny skies—I depend on this dumb app as much as the next person. Let’s get to the news. 📰
IN LOCAL NEWS:
Southbound Interstate 5 at the Rose Quarter closes tonight for the next five weeks! I repeat: Southbound Interstate 5 at the Rose Quarter closes tonight for the next five weeks! In order to do some repairs for the first time in 40 years, at 10 pm, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is closing all lanes of the 5 near the Moda Center—aka Oregon’s Arena, aka the True Heart and Soul of Portland, aka the blighted, decrepit old building where the Trail Blazers might play so long as the city okay’s sending your tax dollars straight to a billionaire. ODOT warns that during the construction, travel times for drivers could take two to three times longer than usual. Other leaders are encouraging Portlanders to “Shift Your Trip” by trying out other modes of transportation like something called a “bus,” or a “bicycle,” or a “carpool”—which sounds like something you should probably BYO towel to just to be safe. Anyway, good luck, and be kind to each other, Portland.
If you’ve decided to work from home to save on commute, why not spend the extra time reading up on the Mercury‘s 2026 elections coverage? On Wednesday, we published introductions for City Council District 3 candidates, and now District 4 candidates are out too. To be clear, these are not our endorsements—those are coming soon enough in print and online. The candidate tracker is a good way to familiarize yourself with all of the candidates who have qualified for the ballot, largely in their own words. You’ll find a bit about who else is supporting them, how they got to where they are, and what they hope to do if elected. District 4 covers all of Portland’s west side, Eastmoreland, and Sellwood, but the Council’s votes have citywide impacts so don’t sleep on the upcoming elections.
Mercury Music Picks is back this week with some good show ideas, including AMP Fest at Star Theater Friday and Saturday, Kevin Atwater at Polaris Hall Saturday, and easily the realest punk legend to grace a Portland stage this week, Patti Smith at the Arlene Schnitzer on Tuesday. Check out all the picks here, and don’t forget: Southbound Interstate 5 is closed at the Rose Quarter for the next five weeks! (If you can, try something called a Max?)
The best events calendar in town is out now. Check it out!
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
Today is the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The political aftermath of the attacks, led by Vice President Dick Cheney, President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld and others, brought unprecedented anti-Arab and islamophobic sentiment to their attempts to justify US atrocities in retaliation for the attacks. Still, the attack itself killed nearly 3,000 people, including people from 90 countries and 441 first responders, and injured thousands more. There are countless New Yorkers and others around the world who lost family members and friends. It’s natural to laugh at the absurdity that came from the mouths of government dunces at the time. But it’s also fully human to acknowledge the grief of people impacted—empathy flies in the face of the cynical leaders who became intoxicated by the tragedy in their unquenchable thirst for power. Maybe there’s something to be learned from this.
President Donald Trump’s ally Joe diGenova resigned from the US Department of Justice on Thursday, after leading an investigation into whether intelligence officials conspired in their investigations against the president over the past decade. DiGenova was leading the investigation into whether they conspired against Trump by investigating alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the classified documents case at Mar-a-Lago. DiGenova told reporters, “if you want indictments where there’s no evidence, you have an ethical problem.” More in the Guardian here.
Earlier this week, renowned satirists Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, announced they would rename the long-running television show next season after being “inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google.” The latest season of South Park, which begins next week, will be called SOUTH AMERICA moving forward. The news comes weeks after Apple and Google changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on the map apps, after President Trump announced he would change the lake’s name in retaliation for Canada’s retaliatory tariffs after Trump announced tariffs on Canadian goods and I can’t believe we have to write about this guy’s demented whims for a living. “We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount—a Skydance Capitulation,” the announcement said. FYI, the Mercury is, at the time of this writing, still the Mercury. More at AP here.
Ladies and gentlemen, the weekend. Enjoy your podcasts, and a maybe big bowl of minestrone.
