The newest season of Bravos Top Chef premieres this April—and its set in Portland.
The newest season of Bravo's Top Chef premieres this April—and it's set in Portland. STEPHANIE DIANI / BRAVO

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

In local news:

• On Sunday evening, tensions boiled over among inmates at Northeast Portland's Inverness Jail. After watching a COVID-19 outbreak infect nearly one hundred inmates over the course of a week—a flare-up that paused court hearings and forced many dorms into lockdown—the residents of Dorm 11 responded with protest when a corrections officer reprimanded one of their fellow inmates. Corrections staff responded by shooting pepper spray into the crowded dorm.

• A recent decision from the Oregon Court of Appeals could determine whether or not police are allowed to ask TriMet passengers for proof of fare—but it's complicated. Read more about the decision and its potential implications.

• The newest season of Bravo's Top Chef premieres this April—and it's set in Portland! The new trailer just dropped, and it's jam-packed with familiar sites and faces.

• Portland's been mostly snow-free so far this winter—but that might change later this week.

In national news:

• Rep. Ron Wright, a Republican congressman from Texas, died yesterday after being hospitalized with coronavirus complications. Wright is the first sitting member of Congress to die after being diagnosed with COVID-19. More than 60 congresspeople have tested positive for the virus so far, along with an additional 360 Capitol Hill staffers.

• Donald Trump's second impeachment trial will begin this week in the Senate. In case you've forgotten already from last year's impeachment, here's a guide on what the first week will look like.

• The Biden administration appears to be considering means-testing its next stimulus check, meaning only Americans earning under a certain amount per year will be given the boost. But some economic experts warn that means-testing is unnecessarily petty, and could be worse for the economy in the long run. Here's a deeper dive into that debate.

• Fox News fired longtime Trump-rooting host Lou Dobbs last week, after the network was hit with a $2.7 billion lawsuit over the myths of election tampering perpetuated by several Fox personalities, including Dobbs. Now, Fox has replaced Dobbs with... Larry Kudlow, a veteran of the Trump administration.

And just for fun:

• It's Monday afternoon, and you deserve a drink, if that's your thing! This week, you can get your to-go cocktails with a side of drag queens or pinball wizards.

• Consider yourself warned: