QUICK COMEY UPDATE: Trump tells NBC he did, indeed, fire FBI Director James Comey, partly because of an ongoing investigation into his campaign’s ties with Russia. So….
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: We want this investigation to end, & by firing Comey, we’ve taken steps to make that happen.https://t.co/a4eJS25DWo pic.twitter.com/bHjNlILDjA
— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) May 11, 2017
Also, at least two people say Trump demanded “loyalty” of Comey during a dinner meeting on his seventh day in office, but that the director, by his own telling, refused to say yes.
And now Trump’s suggesting there might be secret tapes of their dinner conversation?
We have more details about the man shot and killed by police on Wednesday. His name was Terrell K Johnson, he was 24 and homeless, and he allegedly had a box cutter. His family tells police drug use might have affected his mental health.
ICYMI: The first (weak and sort of nonsensical) challenge to the city’s new law allowing people to be excluded from public meetings was tossed by a judge last week.
More reasons to vote on Tuesday: The Oregonian takes a look at all the places in city schools where lead paint is causing potential hazards for students.
Reminder: The Mercury suggests you vote ‘yes’ on the $790 million bond for Portland Schools. Here’s our guide for local measures. Also: Too late to safely mail your ballot. Drop it off.
Another weird, Jets-versus-Sharks-style meet up between antifa types and Trump supporters in East Portland—this time in the parking lot of a grocery store where a woman was recently harassed for telling them to put away their confederate flag rugs.
Luckily, KATU was on hand to film:
This could be us but you playing: Car ownership in Seattle is falling faster than any city in the country. (Full disclosure: That’s according to Census data, and since there is truly no site on the internet more garbage than that of the Census, I did not actually pull up Portland’s numbers.)
Decent news for University of Oregon and Portland State University students—but not great news for administrators: A state committee has swatted aside requests for tuition hikes.
As in every year, city council held its final listening session last night before it approves a budget next week. It was far less crowded than in years past, but there were hotbutton issues. One, of course, was the Portland Police Bureau’s Mounted Patrol.
Doesn’t happen often: A man who was apparently sober when he ignored all sorts of warning signs and ran down a 75-year-old pedestrian in East Portland, killing him, has been convicted of a felony. William Rugg won’t see prison time (unless he re-offends), but won’t be able to legally drive a care for a decade, at least.
Hey! No drought warnings! For the first time in six years!
Speaking of which: RAIN
