I bring you this news from a makeshift hospital bed, where I have been living, immobilized, for the past four days after a dreadful sports-related injury. And so I feel the pain of Trail Blazer Wesley Matthews and the “pop” that sounded the rupture of his achilles last night in a game against the Mavericks more keenly than usual. Worse, there are growing fears about what a Matthews-less team is going to look like for the rest of the season. Check out the slow-motion horror in Rob’s play-by-play account.
City Council approved the West Quadrant Plan for downtown Portland’s development over the next two decades—notably by allowing taller buildings in certain spots. The dissenting vote was cast by Amanda Fritz, who declared herself “absolutely disgusted” with the process, claiming the changes benefit a clique of developers with close ties to city government.
Three vehicles were involved in a head-on, fatal crash this morning that has shut down US 26 between Sandy and Welches. A Hyundai crossed into the oncoming lane for unknown reasons, colliding with a tractor truck. The driver of the Hyundai was pronounced dead at the scene.
The O‘s taking a close look at Oregon’s medical marijuana industry—and unsurprisingly getting stuck trying to “untangle marijuana edibles puzzle.” Been there, done that!
The unseasonably lovely local weather continues through the weekend. Go on, spark up the BBQ and enjoy it, if you can push thoughts of the impending environmental apocalypse out of your mind, that is. (Pay no attention to the glacier caves collapsing on Mt. Hood.)
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden is the focus in trade negotiations concerning the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a controversial deal that “would be the largest free-trade pact ever for the U.S.” Critics worry that its passage would mean more of the same: corporate interests protected, and American workers’ shafted.
Oh no! Harrison Ford was forced to crash land a World War II-era plane after the engine died at 3,000 feet! Don’t worry, though. Our hero’s injuries appear to be minor, and a representative at the Santa Monica Airport Association was able to wipe the stars out of his eyes long enough to blubber that “this is an absolutely beautifully executed emergency landing, by an unbelievably well-trained pilot.”
The US jobless rate dropped to its lowest in seven years today, but youth unemployment is still on the rise.
Everyone is correctly pissed off at ISIS for its destruction of Nimrud, an ancient Assyrian archaeological site in Iraq, with Unesco declaring the act a war crime.
NASA is slowly circling the dwarf planet Ceres. Could it represent hope for escape from this doomed rock?
TENTACLE RAPE TRIGGER WARNING! Someone got ambitious at the Seattle Aquarium yesterday:
Hope you’ll be all healed up soon, Marjorie!