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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Expect a cool day with the high popping up to a crisp 60 degrees under cloudy-to-eventually sunny skies. It’s turning into prime Halloween weather—which means it’s the perfect time to check out the Mercury’s Halloweeeeen print issue (on the streets now in more than 500 locations citywide), and to get your tickets now for the Mercury’s super fun “Scream Queen” Halloween dance and costume contest on October 31! If you need a suggestion for a costume this year, how about “Sexy Good Morning News”? What follows is a good example.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Say… remember the reason Portlanders voted for charter reform in the first place? It was because conservative business interests (hello, Metro Chamber) controled the city through the commission form of government for the last 100 years, until citizens finally hit the brakes and elected the most diverse and representative council in Portland history. However, these same business interests do not like that, and are doing everything in their power to regain their influence over council—especially in the District 4 election, where they are pushing a slate of candidates (Zimmerman, Clark, Torres, Arnold) to ensure there are more centrists on council than progressives. (Our centrist mayor already gets a tie-breaking vote, so “no”… things are NOT currently “fair.”) If you want to find out what type of trickery these wealthy narcissists are up to, check out the excellent article “Money Talks, It Also Lies” from the Mercury’s Jeremiah Hayden and Katherine Chew Hamilton, which exposes these centrists’ attempts to pass themselves off as progressives, while spreading their disinformation on billboards, fliers, and more. A “must read” before filling out your November 3rd ballot. Don’t be fooled!
• And apparently, we’re not the only ones who think so. Find out which Republicans are funded local centrist candidates:
• An estimated 3,000 people gathered and marched downtown on Saturday for the fourth “No Kings” rally, with this demonstration focusing on not only voting, but doing so early. Thanks to Trump’s efforts to sabotage the vote-by-mail system, concerned citizens and elected officials are encouraging voters to either drop off their ballots at designated boxes, or if they must mail them, to do so by October 27 so their vote will safely make it to their polling location by election day, November 3. There were more than 30 such rallies held in the Portland area, and millions marched against Trump, and his Republican cronies, nationwide.
• ICYMI, Portland Police shot and killed a man downtown Thursday afternoon who they say was wielding a box cutter he used to assault two people. According to Portland Police Bureau reports, Central Precinct officers were dispatched to Southwest Alder Street on reports of a suspect “actively assaulting and threatening people.” The first officers to arrive allegedly witnessed an attack in progress and opened fire, shooting the man wielding a box cutter. He was transported to a hospital, but died from his injuries. A Husky brand utility knife with a broken blade was found at the scene. While scant details (other than the assailant’s name) have been released by police, they say two men who were attacked by the suspect were hospitalized with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. There are a lot of lingering questions here, such as why the cops decided to immediately use lethal force rather than, say, beanbag rounds on a man who was in serious, and dangerous mental distress. Our Courtney Vaughn has more in her reporting.
• The city of Bend remains in mourning after a shooter killed three students—one only five years old—and a teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School on Thursday. Over the weekend, police identified the shooter as 16-year-old Griffin J. John II, a former student of the school, but little is known so far about why the teen committed the murders. A classroom teacher attempted to fight off the assailant while a parent, 36-year-old Kaylub Giamanco, grabbed a firearm from his vehicle, followed the shooter into the school and killed him—but not until after the teen had fired 15 rounds. Besides the four people killed, another student and teacher were wounded by gunfire, and are still hospitalized. In their reporting, OPB writes that one of the murdered students was 5-year-old Rhoam Summer, described by his aunt as “a very happy little boy, a ball of energy from the day he was born,” adding, “he believed every stuffed animal needed to be rescued and cared for, especially his sharks, dinosaurs, and other creatures he considered misunderstood.”
• This year, Portland Book Festival (PBF) is expanding its lineup of culinary events, making it a must-attend for food lovers. From November 6 through 8, cookbook-authoring chefs from across the country will descend upon Portland, gracing us with their culinary wisdom—not just in talks and panels, but also in the kitchen, where they’ll be cooking collab meals with local chefs at Bollywood Theater, Han Oak, L’Echelle, and OK Chicken. The lineup also includes Alexis Nikole Nelson AKA @blackforager on Instagram, who will be presenting her new book, Happy Snacking, Don’t Die! Check out all the details from our Katherine Chew Hamilton.
IN NATIONAL AND WORLD NEWS:
• Anti-government rioting and looting broke out across the nation in France over the weekend, following days of peaceful protests over poor school conditions and the ever-rising cost of living. According to officials, more than 3,000 businesses were looted or vandalized, and they admitted law enforcement has lost control over the situation, and are asking for partial curfews in certain cities. A reported half-million people joined the nationwide demonstrations, which reportedly turned increasingly violent after it appeared that French President Emmanuel Macron was ignoring their fury and demand for change, and instead attended a Celine Dion concert on Friday night.
• In their latest counterattacks on Russia, Ukraine has targeted the country’s data centers with drone strikes, in an effort to bring the war home for Russian citizens. The attacks were leveled against the Google-like tech giant Yandex, and disrupted many necessary services—including banking, office work, and even taxis and food delivery. The attacks, besides calling attention to the attempted annexation of Ukraine, also had the effect of showing many Russians how much they’ve become dependent on these data centers and the dangers of handing over so many critical services to a single tech company. (Yes, this warning is for America as well.)
• In possibly the most unsurprising news of the day, Trump’s approval ratings have hit yet another record-breaking low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipso poll. The president is staring down a humiliating 33 percent approval rating, which is down four points from a similar poll in July, and a whopping eight points down from this time last year. Meanwhile the Democrats appear to be on the rise, with 52 percent of voters currently favoring their party over Republicans, who are limping in at 44 percent approval ratings. It’s also worth noting that 55 percent of the people polled think that the GOP is “too extreme” for their taste—which isn’t surprising since the party has spent much of their legislating time picking on trans people and supporting the kidnapping of immigrants by ICE instead of working to lower prices for food and basic necessities. Hmmm… wonder if that plan will work out for them in the end?
• In entertainment news, the three-hour Nathan Fielder film You Can See Everything has raked in the highest opening weekend haul for any documentary since the concert film One Direction: This Is Us in 2013. The documentary—which offers a behind-the-scenes peek at tech fraud/weirdo Elizabeth Holmes—has also garnered some of the best reviews of the year, and pulled in an impressive estimated $15 million at the box office just for this past weekend, while costing the studio only $10 million to produce. And if you were one of the lucky folks to see it over the past few days, NO SPOILERS PLEASE! Your spoilers are the equivalent of microwaving shrimp and Brussels sprouts in the break room microwave, or clipping your fingernails at your desk.
And finally: I’m not sure I would vote for this person, but… SHE AIN’T WRONG. (Watch to the end!)
