“Maybe it is time for us to look at beefing up security,"Mayor Ted Wheeler tells OPB, which has been doing stories on the increasingly raucous audiences at city council meetings. An employee of Commissioner Nick Fish recently got a restraining order against a frequent attendee, it turns out. Staffers have raised concerns about safety more and more recently—particularly after a series of protests in which demonstrators packed out the building's upper levels.
Lots of Willamette River news yesterday (and even more today). A Multnomah County judge who's been overseeing a lawsuit against the city over how it spends sewer and water money issued an opinion yesterday, clarifying that the city can, for instance, charge water customers for efforts to clean up the polluted river. That timing is useful, since the US EPA is getting ready to unveil a long-awaited and final plan for mopping up the Portland Superfund this afternoon.
While that was happening, the Port of Portland (which will have to foot some of the bill for river cleanup) joined the city in suing Monsanto for dumping toxic PCBs into the river. Lots of people are suing monsanto for this, these days.
Don't read the comments on this story about how four black Chicago residents are facing hate crime charges for the alleged abduction and prolonged assault of a mentally disabled white man—some of it broadcast on Facebook live. All of this is bad.
Also awful: The remains of a family of five were found in a home that was set on fire intentionally Tuesday in Hubbard, south of Wilsonville. Authorities weren't offering many details on how the blaze was set on Thursday.
There's another study that suggests racist and sexist beliefs were more potent in helping Donald Trump secure the presidency than, oh, the economy. In case you thought that wasn't a thing.
Speaking of Trump, remember The Wall? You're paying for it. Politico reported yesterday the president's scheming with House Republicans to insert cash for a border wall into a funding package up for a vote in coming months. The politicians insist they'll still be getting the money back from Mexico. Democrats are planning to fight it.
Oh, and House Republicans are also pushing forward to snatch federal funding from Planned Parenthood—funding that, by and large, has nothing to do with the abortions they're so concerned about, but much-needed reproductive health care. They're planning to slide that on into the same legislation they'd use to kill Obamacare. Congressional Republicans have been obsessed with this for years. Now, with Trump in the White House, their efforts won't face an automatic veto.
Not done. The Washington Post reports that senior Russian government officials straight-up rejoiced when Trump won, and the incoming president is shattering precedent by insisting that all of Obama's ambassadors leave their stations immediately upon his inauguration. "The mandate... threatens to leave the United States without Senate-confirmed envoys for months in critical nations like Germany, Canada and Britain."
It's blisteringly cold, and Wednesday's Hotel Alder fire has some of the building's roughly 90 residents left without a place to go. Most are staying in a downtown shelter, and they won't be able to go back home anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Ted Wheeler's office has put campsite sweeps on hold—at least for this cold snap. The Oregon Department of Transportation? Nah.
AHAUIOFhdfguhw. Ice and snow are coming back this weekend—obviously right as I have a flight to catch.
