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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! You know I hopped into my car, didn't get very far. Before I had you on my mind, why be so unkind? LET'S GO TO PRESS.
• After a summer of declining numbers, Oregon's coronavirus cases are seeing a disturbing uptick, with 328 new positive cases reported yesterday and three additional deaths. Besides the usual surge spots in the state, Lane County—where University of Oregon students are returning—are jumping up as well.
• Mayor Ted Wheeler has threatened to yank funding from the county's Joint Office of Homeless Services if they aren't able to find more beds for the houseless. County Chair Deborah Kafoury found the threat "outrageous," adding that “His threat to undo the progress this community has made, and risk services for thousands of people, is merely a desperate attempt to win a contentious reelection campaign.” Ouch.
• While the upcoming wet weather would ordinarily be a boon for firefighters taking on Oregon's many blazes, wind preceding the rain could fan the flames and make them spread.
• Portland Police have announced they're preparing for two protests this Saturday (Sept 26) which feature, as they call it, "differing ideologies": One is the Proud Boys (a clearly racist, homophobic, and misogynist group of white nationalists declared a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center) while the other are ordinary Portlanders who don't want Proud Boys terrorizing our community. Yep, those are certainly "differing ideologies"! Wonder which group the cops will serve and protect?
Good lord! The MAGA rally that started in a parking lot of a mall in the suburbs and ended with a caravan to Portland that resulted in death appears to have been a Russian op. It was organized by Alek Kyzik who is still on Facebook - not his real name!https://t.co/cYnIhLQTcg
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) September 22, 2020
• According to police, two people were seriously injured during a protest last night in Northeast Portland after getting into a fight where one was shot. Both are expected to survive.
• A Portland man and three teenage accomplices have been arrested for allegedly robbing three cannabis dispensaries in less than an hour.
11 people were arrested during the sweep. Among them was JPR reporter April Ehrlich, who had been on the scene since dawn to cover the anticipated police action. https://t.co/MzmoQvsQOR
— JPR News (@JPRnews) September 22, 2020
IN NATIONAL NEWS
• The body of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose outside the Supreme Court today where the public is invited to pay their last respects. More than 100 of Ginsburg's former adoring clerks will also show up to say their fond goodbyes.
• The US death toll for COVID-19 victims has surpassed 200,000, which equates to "roughly the size of Salt Lake City or Huntsville, Alabama," and is by far the largest number of deaths worldwide. Just imagine the number of lives—friends, relatives, and loved ones—that would have been saved if Trump had done anything at all to stop it.
In unguarded moments with senior aides, Trump has maintained that Black Americans have mainly themselves to blame in their struggle for equality, hindered more by lack of initiative than societal impediments, according to current and former U.S. officials.https://t.co/Te6HRTFLBB
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 23, 2020
• A lot of health experts are growing increasingly concerned that Trump will bypass the advice of scientists and legally authorize the approval of an unsafe and untested coronavirus vaccine before election day.
• A fourth potential COVID-19 vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson has entered the final stages of testing, BUT AGAIN, preliminary results won't be ready until mid-November at the earliest, and distribution wouldn't happen until deep into 2021.
• Instead of using the $1 billion that Congress allocated to them to shore up the nation's medical supplies during COVID, the Pentagon spent the money on "jet engine parts, body armor, and dress uniforms."
• House Democrats are working on a bill that would stop future Trumps from using the presidency for their own evil purposes, and is designed to "limit the president’s pardon power, strengthen laws to ban presidents from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments, better protect independent agency watchdogs and whistleblowers from firing or retribution and require better reporting by campaigns of foreign election interference." Doesn't sound like enough to me, but a good start, I guess!
President Trump said he signed an executive order that bans contractors with the federal government from conducting racial sensitivity or anti-racist training. https://t.co/T5PlypqLUd
— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) September 23, 2020
• Need some laughs? Then DO NOT MISS the upcoming Thursday Oct 1 livestream edition of the I, Anonymous Show, featuring a panel of nationally-beloved comedians riffing on the weirdest and wildest submissions from our famous I, Anonymous column and blog! It's HILARIOUS, and you need that.
• Now let's examine the skies for a guess at the WEATHER: Lots of rain and wind today with a cool high of 66.
• And finally, dance like no one is watching Paul Rudd.
Paul Rudd dancing to September is exactly what I needed today... pic.twitter.com/oRrSjD1ye8
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) September 22, 2020