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Bernie v Buttigieg tonight in the latest Democratic debate. LET THE ANNOYING TWITTER SHIT-TALK BEGIN!
Bernie v Buttigieg tonight in the latest Democratic debate. LET THE ANNOYING TWITTER SHIT-TALK BEGIN! Scott Olson / Getty News

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! There's only two types of people in the world: The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe. Well baby, I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl. LET'S GO TO PRESS.

To prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trump must be removed from office, he and his blind followers are promising revenge for putting him through the impeachment trial and are already retaliating against his enemies.

Oh, and apparently the impeached Trump made some sort of speech yesterday in which he crowed about being vindicated, but not a lot of people saw it and no one but his cult followers listen anymore to anything he says because he's a liar that has lied tens of thousands of times. That's why it's worth nothing more than a mention and shrug.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council aide/brave patriot who testified against Trump, is expected to get shoved out of his current position in the next few days by the impeached president, in retaliation for telling the truth. Staff members closer to Trump aren't safe either, as sources say acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney may get the boot as well.

And as predicted, TRUMP'S CORRUPTION CONTINUES, as exhibited in this headline: "Secret Service has paid rates as high as $650 a night for rooms at Trump’s properties."

The Democratic presidential field continues to winnow, and tonight marks their next debate broadcast on ABC at 5 pm PST. Expect a showdown between frontrunners Sanders and Buttigieg (who exited the Iowa Caucus Clusterfuck in a near tie, which means the clusterfuck is continuing), Warren and Klobuchar will be taking hard swings at the dudes on top, while Biden joins Yang and Steyer at the bottom of the heap.

PROGRESS:

A doctor in China has died from the cornonavirus—the very same doctor who tried to warn the government of the mysterious virus and was ignored. And the citizens there are outraged. The death count has risen to over six hundred. HOWEVER! A cautious World Health Organization notes a drop in cases over the last two days which could be good news.

IN LOCAL NEWS: Lane Martin was killed in 2019 after being shot nine times by Officer Gary Doran outside an East Portland apartment complex, and videos of the altercation have been released by PPB. Our Alex Zielinski has more.

The defense in the Jeremy Christian/MAX stabbing trial began making motions to get certain charges dropped, following the prosecution resting its case.

A gas tax first approved by Portlanders in 2016 is heading back to the ballot, and our Blair Stenvick has the details.

The Blazers squeaked out a win over the Spurs last night, 125-117, with much thanks given to Gary Trent Jr.'s spree of three-pointers.

HEY... you love "love," right? Then send the one you love a FREE Mercury readers valentine that we'll print in the paper on Valentine's Day! But hurry—the deadline is TODAY, FRIDAY FEB 6, AT NOON!

Also also HEY... if you're looking for fun stuff to do this weekend, we've got reviews for the new Birds of Prey/Harley Quinn flick, as well as Locke & Key on Netflix.

Now let's squint our eyes skyward at THE WEATHER: Expect a balmy day and rain this evening with a high of 54. (Plus a mostly cloudy weekend.)

And finally, in case you feel like you're getting yourself too wound up about the presidential election—fire-spitting rapper Yello Pain is here to tell you what really matters: local elections.