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Good morning, Portland! It’s going to be hot today and even hotter tomorrow and Wednesday, with a heat advisory taking effect tomorrow morning at 10 AM. Expect temps in the high 80s today and the mid-90s tomorrow and the next day. Water and sunscreen are your friends.
Now, here’s the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• In Friday’s Good Morning, News, the Mercury described the Moda Center controversy as “hitting a fever pitch.” That’s still accurate, but now we have a few more details about some of the latest twists and turns in the saga. Late last week, Mayor Keith Wilson announced the city had handed the Trail Blazers the first draft of a term sheet for the Moda Center deal, despite many of the City Council members not agreeing to the proposed terms. The proposal said the city would give the Blazers up to $120 million for the arena renovation, and asked for a few things in return, including a stipulation that the Blazers would stay in Portland for at least 20 years and a labor peace agreement for workers at the stadium. The city also asked Rip City Management (the Blazers’ management company) to pay the city $3 million a year, roughly what they would be paying in property taxes they owned the building. As the Mercury‘s Courtney Vaughn outlined in a story Friday, many City Council members were displeased by the mayor’s public comments about the term sheet, which seemed to imply they had agreed to the proposal. As Councilor Candace Avalos put it, councilors felt they were “brought in at the last minute and expected to go along with things that were predetermined that the mayor decided.”
The skeptics on Council want Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon to contribute more—or ANYTHING—to the Moda Center renovation. The term sheet included no demands of the sort. But the city’s very mild requests of the team’s management seem to have perturbed Dundon and friends nonetheless. Yesterday, the New York Times published a story quoting anonymous Blazers insiders who say the city and the team are “very far apart” on negotiations, with one calling the term sheet a “non-starter” and accusing the city of “playing politics.” Sources said the term sheet “changed the deal dramatically,” but did not elaborate on their specific concerns. If I’m understanding the situation right, Dundon is requesting hundreds of millions of dollars in public money and won’t entertain a single request of him in return. Awesome!
• In happier news, Portland now holds the title of Guinness World Record champion for largest electric bike ride. Yesterday, in honor of Biketown (Portland’s e-bike share program) hitting its ten-year anniversary in the city, thousands gathered downtown for a massive e-bike ride and party. With 1,060 attendees, Portland lapped Seattle, which held the previous world record of 405 e-bike riders biking en masse. VICTORY!
• This weekend was also Portland’s big Pride Parade, and thousands attended the festivities yesterday. On Saturday, also as part of the Pride festivities, 22 couples married or renewed their vows simultaneously at Darcelle XV Plaza. It was a big, gay wedding, and a very happy time for all, especially since local drag icon Poison Waters officiated.
• Researchers with the University of California, Berkeley, and Physicians for Human Rights included Portland in their list of cities that have seen inordinate federal use of crowd control weapons at protests. According to the report, federal officers have repeatedly “misused” such weapons as tear gas and pepper balls, with researchers documenting more than 400 incidents of overuse. More than 90 percent of those incidents took place in Portland, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Newark. Most anyone who has been to a protest at the ICE facility in Portland could tell you the feds were overusing tear gas and pepper balls, but it’s good to see some official documentation, especially as the feds continue to insist they should be able to use the crowd control tactics liberally.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• The World Cup is over, and Spain is now the reigning champion, beating Argentina in the final match yesterday. The match, which ended with a score of 1-0 in extra time, also featured a strange halftime show featuring the Muppets, Justin Bieber, and Madonna. On Saturday, England beat France in the match for third place, which is a thing for some reason.
• Speaking of England, the UK has a new prime minister following the resignation of former Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. Andy Burnham, also in the Labour Party, has now taken over, which party leaders hope will keep them alive after Starmer’s popularity plunged. Burnham is a Manchester boy with a working class background and a slightly more populist appeal. He’s no Jeremy Corbyn but he might be alright. The main takeaway I got from this article about the situation is that British prime ministers have to get official approval from the monarchy in order to be confirmed into office. The British act all serious and stuff with their accents, but this is not serious behavior. Anyway, best of luck to Burnham, because we really wouldn’t want Brexit champion Nigel Farage to become the next prime minister.
• Three US service members have been killed in Iran since Friday, prompting the US to launch new air strikes at the country in a continued escalation of the war. Since the war in Iran began early this year, 17 American military personnel have been killed. Meanwhile, the US has killed more than 3,000 Iranian civilians, including hundreds just this month.
• Everyone is obsessed with Jimothy, the Seattle raccoon with a shorter-than-average spine. His unique shape has turned him into a worldwide sensation, and thank God for that. We all needed Jimothy. Seeing his mother care for him as a baby is especially heart-warming, as seen in the video below. Check it out, and have a good week, all!!
