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Good Morning, Portland! This morning I have watched an AI drama where aliens keep humans as pets (but still get cats for them) and tried to add myself to my own airdrop contacts instead of writing Good Morning, News! Don’t be like me; read the dang news!
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• The holiday season is upon is. The Mercury’s Holiday Issue is here to support you through this dire time. It’s got cozy bars, gift ideas, and “A Holiday Survival Guide (for the End Times).” Read it all online, or find this prized stallion out on stands around the city.
• ABOUT WEATHER: Remember that torrential rain from Monday and Tuesday? Not today! But Friday? Get your toilet rat a cheeseboard because Big Rain is back on Friday.
• Will you brave the torrents in the name of art and fun? Mercury Music Editor Starly Lou Riggs has some concerts they think are worth re-waterproofing your booties for… SUCH AS iconic Reiko Takahashi of Japanese City Pop fame, LA-based Agriculture’s post-black metal, Dev Lemons’ campy pop performance, and more.
• If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times! Don’t leave your numerous unique miniature horse figurines in your car downtown overnight! A release from Portland police says that a woman reported a Sunday night theft from her parked, unoccupied rental car in the area of SW Harvey Milk and SW 10th. She also told police she’d heard someone was passing out horse figurines after the theft. Portland Police Central Precinct Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) identified a suspect selling or handing out horse figurines to others, and on Wednesday, they arrested him. Terrible news for news interns being sent to purchase illicit tiny street horses, but great news for the original owner.
• The Oregonian just dropped this gorgeous deep dive into the state’s history of permitting families to refuse medical care for their children due to spiritual beliefs. In 1999, Oregon’s legislature removed it as a defense for second-degree manslaughter and criminal mistreatment, but those whose religion forbids medical intervention still struggle with the choice. This investigative piece by Noelle Crombie isn’t a gotcha crime story, but it does include a charismatic preacher named Walter White and a father who faced widespread community shunning for taking his young son to the hospital—an action which saved his son’s life.
IN NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• If you’re reeling from the news of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang having an extramarital affair with an alleged spy, buckle up. Because Huang resigned Thursday morning, following Wednesday revelations that he also conducted an affair with his company’s vice president of health care—an executive who reported to him. 😬 And I’m with you, why do we care about this guy’s weird affairs? Well, this is currently news because Nvidia is set to invest $10 billion in Anthropic’s Initial Public Offering (IPO), which had been pushed back before, but was set to go ahead on November 19. On a larger scale, the business world has been focused on AI technology as the next big thing and processing chips are a major part of that. PJ Vogt’s podcast Search Engine just churned out an episode titled “What Was Jensen Huang Thinking?” wherein Vogt asserted: “Every other podcast this week is gonna tell you this is a story about sex because they think you think sex is exciting.” Vogt thinks this is about an export control rule change in 2022 that banned US companies from selling their most cutting edge chips to China, which locked China from chips that their AI companies really wanted. So now… Nvidia needs a new CEO, and tech pundits stayed up all night making their vision boards. Let’s dream, people.
• Mississippi has elected a senator from the Democratic party for the first time since 1982, according to the latest returns, which put Scott Colom over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by 4,669 votes on Wednesday. Colom also represents the first Black senator to represent the state since 1881. CNN reports that Colom, a local district attorney, centered his campaign on affordability issues, labeling Hyde-Smith “Cindy High Prices.”
• A three-story building collapsed in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The New York Times reports that the structure crumbled into a large hole created by an adjacent construction site. Further reporting has thus far revealed that the Department of Buildings had previously ordered the construction site’s property owner to halt demolition in March, due to inadequate protection for nearby properties. Upon re-inspection, the department found that a previously standing one-story structure had been leveled anyway. The department issued a $10,000 fine for the violation, but by August the order to hold construction was fully lifted. At this time, it appears that two people have died and 17 were injured by the collapse, with four of those injuries considered critical.
• An Army sentinel guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier chastised Pete Hegseth on Wednesday after the defense secretary and the group he was with broke into laughter at the solemn site. Hegseth, his wife, and a few others had been posing for photos and chatting on the memorial’s steps as part of a Veteran’s Day visit with President Trump. Located in Arlington National Cemetery, the tomb represents remembrance for military members killed in battle who remain unidentified. Arlington Cemetery famously prohibits yelling and/or making any other “boisterous” or “unreasonably loud” noise.
• On Tuesday, the US House blocked an effort to impeach Pete Hegseth, losing the vote by just seven and allowing a Republican majority to shelve the idea. It turns out that 11 Democratic party members were absent from that vote! And what’s their excuse for missing it? The majority of them blamed traffic. 😬
• A retired US circuit judge Richard A. Posner died Tuesday at age 87. Posner is an interesting figure because he was most-cited legal scholar in the second half of the 20th century by a wide margin. NYT reports that a 2000 study conducted by Fred R. Shapiro showed Posner beating runner-up Ronald Dworkin by a factor of almost two.
• Nothing can prepare you for how dark this Ben Harkins stand-up set gets before the pure crowd candy of his “Men’s Mental Health” song.
