The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
Good morning, Portland! Time to get used to the gray. Today’s weather will feel much like yesterday’s. Expect a cloudy day with a high of 53 degrees and a chance of overnight showers. Buuut, “the sun will come out tomorrow, tomorrow…” maybe, a little bit, according to the forecast.
Here’s a mid-week peek at what’s going on in the world.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
-
Portland is close to selecting a city administrator to replace Michael Jordan, who’s served in the role since January and will retire at the end of the year. The city administrator is largely responsible for overseeing the city’s budget and daily operations, with the help of a team of deputy city administrators who run the city’s bureaus. The top three finalists include former Mayor Ted Wheeler’s first chief of staff, and two other candidates from Colorado and Texas. The candidates were interviewed by city councilors this week, and as Jeremiah Hayden notes, councilors may have different objectives when it comes to desired qualifications. The mayor is responsible for hiring the new city administrator, but City Council must confirm the mayor’s pick. If the last year was any indication, pleasing all 12 councilors could prove the biggest challenge the new city administrator will face.
A nationwide search to find a new city administrator is much closer to being finalized, after the city narrowed nearly 100 applicants down to three. City Council will vote to confirm the final hire, and councilors have ideas about what they want to see in the new top bureaucrat.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com)November 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
-
Speaking of City Council, today’s Council agenda includes a vote on a proposed ban on the use of AI-based rental software. The legislation was introduced by Councilor Angelita Morillo shortly after she took office. Critics, including federal prosecutors, say AI-driven software is responsible for illegal price-fixing in the rental industry. Morillo says it uses algorithms to generate recommended “market rate” rent that maximizes profit for property owners by allowing rental companies to collude to keep prices high, even if that means keeping units vacant. Notably, Morillo is facing pushback from developers who claim it will stifle the production of new housing, even though the legislation would not dictate what property owners can charge for rental units.
- In case you forgot, Portland is still a music city. This week’s Mercury Music Picks includes a genre-spanning rundown of noteworthy shows happening this week. You’re welcome!
Travel the spaceways, travel to Hell. Hear Australian folk, and Portland ambient. Feel the Temptations of Four Tops. (Who doesn’t?) There’s all this a more happening in this week’s Mercury Music Picks. Link below for the unhinged recommendations of our music editor 🤪
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) November 18, 2025 at 2:31 PM
-
If you saw either of director David Freyne’s warm, funny, queer-coded films, you might think that Eternity, the new rom-com from Freyne and A24, could have some real Guadagnino potential. BUT YOU WOULD BE WRONG. Eternity is the straightest rom-com that ever did straight. HR Smith tears the whole thing to the fucking ground!
If you saw either of director David Freyne’s warm, funny, queer-coded films, you might think that Eternity, the new rom-com from A24, could have some real Guadagnino potential. BUT YOU WOULD BE WRONG. Eternity is the straightest rom-com that ever did straight.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) November 18, 2025 at 8:24 PM
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
-
Back in September, California enacted a law banning most law enforcement officers from wearing masks to disguise their identities while on the job. Unsurprisingly, the Trump administration is now suing to block the state’s legislation. California lawmakers who initiated the ban did so after federal immigration agents began operating in plain clothes without visible identification, while using masks to shield their faces. The move made it easy for anyone to impersonate a law enforcement official, as we saw earlier this year when a Democratic lawmaker in Minnesota was killed and another injured by a man with a hit list who posed as a cop. US Homeland Security officials argue the agents are at risk of being doxxed if they can’t shield their identities. 🧐
-
While we’ve already seen some emails naming Trump in the trove of still unreleased Epstein files, Congress has now passed a bill calling for the release of all unclassified information and files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Still, whether or not the US Department of Justice complies with that ask is another story. Trump last week ordered an investigation into any prominent Democrats linked to Epstein. As the Washington Post reports: “The legislation that Congress agreed to pass Tuesday gives the Justice Department a few exceptions under which it can refuse to release material. Among them: If release ‘would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution.’”
- ICYMI: The head of FEMA resigned on Monday. The Guardian reports David Richardson “resigned after only a brief stint leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency amid a furor over his responsiveness, especially during the catastrophic flooding in Texas during the summer that swept away a children’s camp and killed more than 130 people.” He’s the second FEMA director to leave or be fired since May.
- And finally, nothing exemplifies the times we’re living in more than Taco Bell’s latest release. If your family insists you bring something to the Thanksgiving dinner, tell them you’re bringing pie.
@s_johnson_voiceovers I didn’t have Baja Blast Pie from Taco Bell on my holiday season bingo card… Have y’all had this? Y’all gonna get it? . #foodreview #dessert #foodie ♬ original sound – Stefan Johnson
