Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Good morning, buddy! We’re here together for a Wednesday, January 24, 2018. The early morning rain should fall off to showers with thunderstorms and highs near 50. There’s a winter storm warning in the Cascades. Sunrise 7:40 AM, sunset 5:06 PM. We achieve a first quarter moon today, growing to a full moon in a week, which will be a special occasion: a blue moon, a Supermoon, and a total lunar eclipse all at the same time. So, cool!

First thing…Oregon Measure 101…the legislature’s tax on insurance and health providers to fund Medicaid…passed easily. This makes sure that Oregon’s Medicaid program will be funded. Governor Kate Brown’s reaction: “While Washington DC falls apart, Oregonians are coming together. This vote sends a clear message that they are sick and tired of partisan efforts to reduce health care access.”

Two people got stuck in their truck in the snow at Timothy Lake last night, but Mountain Wave Search and Rescue pulled them out, and tweeted us that “everyone is home safe.” You can imagine how good home looked.

Ursula K. LeGuin, a novelist and essayist of vast intellect and verbal artistry who shined a powerful literary light upon the genres of science fiction and fantasy, was 88 when she passed away in Portland Monday. Quote from UKL: “I believe that maturity is not an outgrowing, but a growing up: that an adult is not a dead child, but a child who survived.”

A woman who killed a rival at Club Skinn was sentenced yesterday to 15 years. The two had known each other since childhood.

It’s the morning after a mass shooting at a Kentucky high school, where two students lost their lives and 18 were wounded. It sounds like the staff did a good job getting everyone to safety; people especially looked out for a special needs student who was shot in the arm. The suspect, a student, was captured, and any motive has not been released.

Congratulations to Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who announced that she’s pregnant with her second child, and will be the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Sen. Duckworth is a 49-year old veteran who lost her legs in Iraq and recently excoriated President Trump for being a draft dodger with no business pretending to support the military.

Expectations are high that Trump will be questioned soon by the Mueller Russia probe.

A tree from Oregon’s Sweet Home Ranger District will be selected as the US Capitol Christmas Tree for 2018. In part that’s because this year we’re celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Oregon Trail.

I want to say “Happy Birthday” to one of the good guys in our town–Mike Lindberg, who was known as “an urban pioneer” and “one of the nicest people at city hall” during his seventeen years on the Portland City Council.

Twenty years ago today, the “Titanic” soundtrack was the #1 album in America.
75 years ago, Casablanca first played on big screens.

On this day in 1982, Diana Ross sang the National Anthem at the Superbowl.

Media reports say Portland’s Damian Lillard has made the NBA Western Conference All-Star team. He’s got All-Star numbers, but he’s endured snubs in the past, mainly because Portland is the #22 TV market tucked away in a corner of the country that gets little or no media exposure, except when we screw up.

And now for some headlines that won’t make you throw your phone against the wall!

–“A man who took an early morning run for a pack of cigarettes ended up saving a life when he stumbled on a bicyclist who’d fallen into an icy harbor.” Take that Surgeon General!

–“Michigan woman facing homelessness wins $25,000/year for life in the lottery” (and maybe still homeless, given housing costs).

–“In-N-Out employees can work their way up to $160,000 a year with no degree or previous experience” (That’s for store managers. Triple the industry standard).

–“Husband Fulfills Dying Wife’s Request To Water Plants, Learns They’re Plastic Years Later. Says daughter, ‘I can hear my mum chuckling.'” (That’s my favorite story of the day. The dear departed in my family don’t pull pranks on the living–they just plant dimes in random places. I’ve looked into that, and it’s not just our family. It’s not uncommon for dimes to appear after someone has passed).

–“Horses Use Facial Expressions To Communicate, Just Like Humans and Dogs” Why the long face, Wilbur?

–“Betty White Reveals Her Secret To A Long Life: Vodka And Hot Dogs”

A little bit impeded, I am, after a midweek night out celebrating my sweetie’s birthday. And also an impromptu gathering of Dripsters, great folks who gave me some good ideas I’ll steal for the next Dripstock, which will come up this Spring. Details soon!