Good morning, Portland. Clear your schedule because I've got some links for you.
First up is this week's feature—out in print as of yesterday—by Heidi Groover and Sydney Brownstone. They went to Washington DC for Donald Trump's inauguration: "A lying, bigoted sexual predator is about to become president and we are headed to witness it, surrounded by thousands of the lying, bigoted sexual predator’s biggest fans. Like much of the country, we feel scared and anxious about this transition of power. We’re also hopeful about the massive protests—specifically the Women’s March—we expect to see in response."
Also out in print yesterday is our story on the Portland Police Bureau's heavy-handed response to Inauguration Day protesters downtown.
Yesterday, the ACLU of Oregon strongly criticized the PPB's response to the protest, calling it "wrong and illegal." The civil rights organization also filed an extensive public records request to the PPB and mayor's office seeking information on the response.
The PPB arrested 14 protesters yesterday after a series of protests throughout the city. They wanted Police Chief Mike Marshman fired by Tuesday night. They took to the streets throughout the city yesterday because he's still on the job.
Donald Trump's executive order would pull federal funding from "sanctuary cities" like Portland that have voted not to use local resources to enact Trump's anti-immigrant policies. Local politicians responded appropriately yesterday.
Check out Dirk VanderHart's story on the saga of City Hall's tribal liaison: "In a scenario that has inspired grumbling both inside City Hall and out, she was not among staffers retained in the transition from Hales to Mayor Ted Wheeler, and Wheeler didn’t tap a replacement. The mayor’s office is pledging to conduct a brand new hiring process in the near future, though a member of its staff participated in Davis Gibson’s selection. The hiccup has led to varying accounts of what happened to Davis Gibson’s short tenure. Several people the Mercury spoke to said Wheeler’s office would have had plenty of notice the new position existed and was fully funded."
More City Hall news, from Dirk: "Portland's elected auditor wants you to grant her more independence from the government she's supposed to watchdog," the Mercury reported yesterday. "And if the first hearing on that proposal Wednesday was any indication, it looks like Auditor Mary Hull Caballero will get her shot. Barring enormous disagreement, Portland city council appears likely to refer a measure to the May 2017 ballot that would ask you to modify the City Charter, Portland's foremost governing document."
I bet those snow/ice days don't seem so fun now: "Portland Public Schools will consider adding minutes to the school day and evening tacking on Saturday classes or shortening spring break to make up for lost time caused by an unusually snow winter,"the Oregonian reports. I would have led a large-scale rebellion against my school district if I had to show up on Saturdays.
TriMet has a dirty diesel fleet, the Portland Tribune reports. "Greater Portland's transit agency has continued running the most polluting type of diesel motors long after other agencies added filters to their buses to curb cancer-causing emissions. Portland's air is among the most diesel-polluted in the country, and the annual tally of diesel-related premature deaths statewide may run as high as 460."
Never trust a person who relies solely on cable news for information. So, don't trust Donald Trump, who just parrots what he sees on Fox News.
ABC News aired a long interview with nutty Donald Trump yesterday. He's bad. At the end of it, he's like a small child showing off a shitty finger painting he's unjustly proud of:
The @abc interview closes with more talk about inauguration crowd size 😶pic.twitter.com/67PV5Bstey
— Claudia Koerner (@ClaudiaKoerner) January 26, 2017
Some fun action at the Blazer's game, which they won, last night:
HAY GUYS GONNA CRASH UR BROADCAST KTHXHAI pic.twitter.com/mOLK3ZzGpO
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) January 26, 2017
Stylin'pic.twitter.com/TZ1WdKI98C
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) January 26, 2017