Mayor Charlie Hales rode his bicycle to work yesterday, for the first time in his entire tenure as Portland mayor, and people acted like it was a big impressive deal. Jonathan Maus of bikeportland.org tagged along with the mayor for part of his trip, but at least called the situation for what it was: “Portland Mayor Charlie Hales biked into work today. That should not be a headline; but it is.” It’s actually pretty surprising that this was Hales’ first bike commute, considering some of the things he’s said recently.

Our President headed way up north yesterday to talk climate change in our 49th state, not mentioning the fact he just gave Royal Dutch Shell the okay to drill for Arctic oil even as he calls for tighter standards on carbon emissions.

If Obama won’t call himself out, though, Portlanders will. Several dozen demonstrators marched downtown yesterday to protest Obama’s recent decision.

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Oh, and the president’s decision to give Mount McKinley back its native Alaskan name (Denali!) since he’s there anyway, did not sit well with some Republicans—most notably Ohio’s congressional delegation, who are accusing the president of “unilaterally renaming Mount McKinley in order to promote his job-killing war on energy.” OHIO!

(And also Iowa!)

So, Portland’s about to have its most violent year in decades—at least according to the gang-related incidents log that cops keep. We’re not alone. In fact, we’re doing better than a lot of places. The NYT reports murder rates are creeping up in cities around the country, and no one can agree why that is.

People close to failed senatorial candidate Monica Wehby claim she’s being courted by both Republicans and Democrats to take a run at the governor’s office next year. Good luck trying to find out who those Republicans and Democrats are.

The latest Portland property that’s going to cost way too much to fix? Memorial Coliseum, which a new report suggests needs at least $35 million in work to get right with current code. Today’s Tribune does a good job of placing that in the context of a plethora of old properties that could sap Portland’s newly-robust budget.

You know, I gave Ohio and Iowa some guff earlier, but at least county clerks in those states are abiding by the Supreme Court’s sanctioning of same-sex marriage. None of them even had to be guided specifically by the court to do so. Then we have Rowan County, Kentucky’s clerk, Kim Davis. Damn it, Kim.

Hungarian officials are cracking down on the migrants surging through the country en route to Germany. That’s producing ugly tableaus like one in Budapest’s train station, where riot cops corralled migrants into a courtyard-turned-camp, refusing to let anyone board a train.

I can dig this.

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I'm a news reporter for the Mercury. I've spent a lot of the last decade in journalism — covering tragedy and chicanery in the hills of southwest Missouri, politics in Washington, D.C., and other matters...

2 replies on “Good Morning, News: Republican Mountain Tantrums, Rising Murder Rates, and the Mayor Knows How to Ride A Bike!”

  1. Mayor rides a bike!

    Ironically, while riding he his harassed by your typical Bike Portland control freak:

    The ride to the bridge was mostly smooth and uneventful. Then, about three-fourths of the way over the bridge span, our group — which was riding at a social pace — was passed by a man riding very fast. He yelled something at us as he went by and was clearly angry that we slowed him down. He also spit on the ground in front us after he passed.

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