If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution to the Mercury, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
Good morning, Portland! I hope everyone’s day is off to a good start. It’s gonna be a hot one, with temps in the high 80s or even cracking 90. As usual, stay hydrated and SPF’d. Onto the news…
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• The somewhat-arbitrary deadline for Portland City Council to vote on funding Moda Center renovations with city funding is coming up next month. But the Portland Trail Blazers, the so-called brokers of this “deal,” have failed to present details of the renovation, saying they won’t share designs until the city agrees to the funding.
Here’s a super unrelated tangent: Remember a few years ago, when that financial advice columnist for New York Magazine wrote an article about how a scammer convinced her to hand over $50,000 in a shoebox? The con artists presented themselves as kind but firm, letting their target know she would be ok as long as she handed over the money, which they would hold for her. This was urgent, the scammers said, with no time for careful considerations. If she consulted anyone about the situation, the scammers said they’d stop “helping” her. So she handed over the money, even though she didn’t really know what it was for, or what the problem actually was. This was a very unfortunate situation, particularly because the woman who got conned was supposed to be a financial expert, but it’s not terribly unusual. When people are trying to get money out of you, they’ll make all kinds of threats, but rarely provide a coherent explanation of what’s really at stake or what they’re going to do with the shoebox of cash you provide.
Okay, back to the Moda Center. Don’t let people (or newspaper editorial boards) gaslight you into thinking it’s unreasonable to ask for details here. It’s highly concerning that those skeptical of massive public subsidies for a mystery stadium renovation are being painted as unreasonable, ignorant children. Cards on the table: I would literally lose my shit if the Trail Blazers left Portland. I would cry real tears. I really, really want the team to stay, for many reasons. Even so, we’ve gotta live in reality here, and given what we currently know, it’s ridiculous not to acknowledge how shady this whole situation has been. Otherwise, you kinda seem like the type of person who takes financial advice from someone who gave a scammer $50,000 in a shoebox.
• A Portland man named Khanh Tran bought a 1.2 acre “dream property” in East Portland earlier this year, planning to raise his young family there. But after returning last month to start work on his new home, Tran was greeted by a very unpleasant surprise: A massive pile of 50,000 to 75,000 tires. This would be extremely costly to clean up, and Tran was understandably extremely stressed by the tire discovery. After some investigating, Tran said he believes the out-of-control pile consists of used tires from local shops, who hire unlicensed haulers to get rid of their old tires. The haulers proceed to dump them at random, and apparently, it can really pile up. In addition to being a major source of grief for property owners, uncontrolled tire disposal is a huge environmental hazard. Tires are made of toxic chemicals and are easily flammable. Piled up, they’re popular breeding grounds for mosquitos and rodents. In summary, it’s a mess. Sending my best to the Tran family, and my worst to the tire dumpers.
• Portland was recently the location of the USA Fencing Summer Nationals, the biggest fencing competition in the country—and the first time it’s been here in 70 years. Our Corbin Smith was there with his camera to learn more about the fighting sport, and why it has continued to capture the imagination of athletes and spectators for centuries. To the surprise of no one, it’s more complicated than it looks! (And it looks pretty cool, as Corbin’s photos show.) Check it out here.
• There’s a lot going on this week, Portland! There’s a bike ride about trees and shade equity on Thursday, the Cathedral Park Jazz fest Friday-Sunday, and the Portland Pride Parade and Waterfront Festival Saturday and Sunday, just to name a few major happenings. You can find out more in this week’s Do This, Do That. But wait…I’d be remiss not to make sure you’re properly informed about the Mercury‘s very exciting food-themed bike ride, kicking off from Sewallcrest Park this Saturday at noon. I’m helping to lead the ride, along with my wonderful colleague Katherine Chew Hamilton, and we’ve picked out an exciting route full of lots of yummy eats and refreshments. See you there!!!
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• A 26-year-old man was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Maine yesterday morning. The man was identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a father and husband who moved to the United States from Colombia. It’s entirely unclear why the ICE officer killed Guerrero, other than the fact that he could. Any rationale the federal government provides should be viewed with extreme skepticism, and it’s frankly journalistic malpractice that many reports appear to present the feds as a trustworthy source here. What we know is that Guerrero was in his car on the way to work, and he was apparently not a suspect in any crimes, although it wouldn’t have been acceptable to shoot him even if he was. The shooting happened less than a week after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Texas. Both situations are horrific tragedies we should not become numb to or ignore.
• Well, the US military is back at the Strait of Hormuz (if it ever truly left). The US announced it will start blockading Iranian ships in the waterway today, and Iran promised to fight back. All-out war is likely not far behind. Trump, the great negotiator. Pray for the world, if that’s your thing.
• South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has appointed someone to fill the newly-vacant seat left by the recently-deceased Senator Lindsey Graham. The new senator is nobody else but Darline Graham, Lindsey’s sister. I honestly don’t know what else to say about this situation, which I realized after I already typed up the details. It’s nepotism and it’s kinda weird, but honestly, I doubt she will be much worse at the job than her departed brother or most other Senate Republicans. Kinda funny to just be able to drop everything going on in your life to take over your brother’s Senate seat, though. Maybe that indicates how seriously most people take the job.
• There’s a World Cup today, in case you still care about that kind of thing. It’s France versus Spain. England plays Argentina on Wednesday. If you are big into soccer, you already know that. The whole series ends Sunday.
• Me, most mornings. (Probably not as cute, though.) OK TTYL bye!!! Have a good Tuesday.
