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Good Morning, Portland! It’s been cold this week, dripping down to freezing temperatures most nights. Did you see some snow? Did you run out of kale? If so, THAT’S IT FOR A WHILE. We’re looking at ten days of rain and ever-so-slightly warmer nights, with lows around 40 degrees! Do I ever get tired of this Madonna song? I DO NOT. Let us news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Today’s top story is REPUBLICANS! In the Oregon Senate, 12 Republicans ducked the scheduled vote on a contentious transportation tax. They’re trying to delay the bill, skooching it past a deadline that would have put the measure on May’s ballot. They’d rather have voters consider the tax in November, when they will—coincidentally, I’m sure—also be voting for governor.
• Now, about the matter of Rep. Greg Smith, a state representative who serves several eastern Oregon counties, including Umatilla, Wasco, Marion, and Clackamas. Smith is facing another call for his resignation, the second from a group of his fellow Republicans. Smith dismissed a similar resolution from another Republican group in January, calling it meaningless politicking. The call followed Smith’s admission of violating state law by not fully disclosing clients of his private consulting company. It’s hardly his first infraction.
• Democrats in Salem are advancing a bill that would disconnect the state from certain parts of federal tax code, a move they say could restore more than $300 million to the state’s budget. As it is, Oregon would typically replicate federal code changes in its state one on a certain date, as opposed to immediately adopting federal law as it unfolds. The measure stands a shot, as the state has decoupled before, but it’s not a given. Abe Asher explains more about the history and happenings.
• Today in definitely going to develop—totally going to happen. No cap.
A plan to redevelop the 24 acres of parking lots and vacant land surrounding OMSI got another funding lift Tuesday.
— The Oregonian (@oregonian.com) February 18, 2026 at 8:30 PM
• New Seasons laid off five percent of its workforce this week, cutting 95 people from across 20 stores. A New Seasons Labor Union spokesperson told the Oregonian the layoffs cut the entire overnight freight department and several assistant department managers. Staff were sent home or received calls informing them of their position’s elimination. In a statement, New Seasons blamed labor costs increasing “following the ratification of a new labor agreement.” So that’s who you buy stuff from; if you buy stuff from them.
• In response to a complaint filed by a national conservative nonprofit (“Defending Education”🙄), the US Department of Education civil rights division has opened an investigation into Portland Public School’s plans for a Center for Black Student Excellence in North Portland. The actual opening of the center is still a projected two to three years away. PPS has always maintained that the center’s resources and services will be available to all students, of all racial backgrounds.
• Drop into Mercury Music Picks this week and accept the word of Portland’s music scene: Visible Cloaks go to church. Commonwealth Skate and Mallbrawlreds get born again. Explore Black Mystery Month at the Old Church.
IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• Today in “who? His uncle? No, his brother. Okay.” The former royal, formerly known as Prince Andrew, Duke of York—currently called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and in some cases “a man in his sixties from Norfolk—was arrested today over suspicions of misconduct in public office. This is a charge that is very difficult to prove, due to the narrow conditions it must meet, but the accusations involve sharing confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy.
Britain’s former prince Andrew has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct during his time as a trade envoy, police say. “As part of the investigation, we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” the Thames Valley force said.
— AFP News Agency (@en.afp.com) February 19, 2026 at 2:27 AM
• The arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor applies pressure to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has faced calls for resignation after released correspondence revealed a close relationship between Epstein and the person Starmer had appointed to be British Ambassador to the US. So far Starmer has been like “it’s polticking!”
• Six skiers were evacuated from an area in California’s northern Sierra Nevada on Tuesday, following an avalanche near Lake Tahoe. The skiers had been on a three-day backcountry expedition around Castle Peak, overseen by four guides, but it isn’t yet understood why the group failed to heed the avalanche warnings that had been in place for the 48 hours preceding the deadly deluge of snow. Rescuers braved conditions to save the group, but were not able to yet recover the bodies of eight party members who perished. One member remains missing, but is presumed dead. The is not only the worst avalanche tragedy in recently history, but in all of North America.
• Excited for how this is going to eventually fuck up my health and that of my loved ones:
President Trump issued an executive order late Wednesday aimed at spurring the domestic production of glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller that has figured in health lawsuits.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 19, 2026 at 5:55 AM
• Today in “oh, fuck, here it comes” Semafor reports that Toyota’s Canadian manufacturing plant has leased seven robots from Oregon-based (yay?) Agility Robotics to perform physical tasks that typically require humans.\
• Some of you have already seen the VERY BEST PART of this year’s Olympics, which was when a dog joined a cross-country ski race on Wednesday, and the surrounding videographers shifted into game mode, switching between cameras to document something actually fun happening for once. Well, AP has a little more of the story BUT NOT NEARLY ENOUGH.
Love how serious Olympic commentators are taking THE DOGS, as they should be
— Razzball (@razzball.bsky.social) February 18, 2026 at 8:17 AM
• And now I send you into this glorious Thursday with concerns for your womental health.
