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Good morning, Portland! It's times like these I kind of wish I was an NBA fan.
COMFORTABLE RANGE FOR DAME! pic.twitter.com/WluoIcXL3D
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 30, 2020
Here are the headlines!
Impeachment Update: Today is the final day of the question and answer phase of the impeachment trial. Next, senators will reconsider whether they want to hear from witnesses before voting (you know, like how every trial works), or if Republicans will acquit him right away. It's not looking so good.
MAX Ride Gone Wrong: The second day of the Jeremy Christian trial saw eight witnesses—all of them people who had been on the MAX train with Christian on May 26, 2017, or who were on the scene shortly after Christian stabbed three people, killing Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche and wounding Micah Fletcher. The witnesses’ varying accounts of that afternoon, and their own reactions to it, shows how thin the line can be between an uncomfortable but manageable interaction and a fatal one.
It also offered insight into how people’s reaction to violent rhetoric is informed by their own identities and life experiences.
Iowa! In what is a big deal for both Iowans and nerds (and particularly Iowan nerds!), the Iowa caucuses are on Monday! That means all the theoretics about who might win the Democratic primary will finally come head-to-head with reality. But how the hell does a caucus work?
Everything Old Is New Again:
It’s been 27 years since Sam Adams got his first job in Portland City Hall. Now, after his political career was cut short by several scandals, Adams wants his longtime employers—the Portland public—to give him another shot. Will they?
It's complicated. https://t.co/JZgk5guhWH
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) January 29, 2020
The Feds: The Portland City Council voted last year to leave a joint terrorism task force with the FBI, citing the valid concerns of people of color and religious minorities who'd had bad experiences with the agency. But the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) is still updated when that task force turns its focus to Portland residents. It referred 10 of those cases to PPB last year.
Unbooked: The author of American Dirt, the new novel that has been roundly mocked and criticized for misrepresenting the Mexican experience, was supposed to do a reading at Powell's today. That event—and her entire book tour—have been canceled.
Regulation Now: This will be particularly welcome news for folks following the Zenith saga:
We just got word today that @karin_power has introduced bill to regulate certain classes of fossil fuel infrastructure, including pipelines and oil trains.
The House Energy and Environment Committee will (tentatively) hold a hearing on February 11th from 1:00-3:00 PM. pic.twitter.com/JUd5XmFJQM
— Center for Sustainable Economy (@csesustainable) January 30, 2020
Asking the Hard Questions: "Are any of these complex hazy IPAs with too much crap in them actually any good? We’ll be the judge of that!"