Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Good morning, and thank you for your order for the Daily Drip on this Tuesday, March 13, 2018! The suburbs made 70, while Portland stalled at 69 yesterday. And now the weather’s taking an abrupt downturn, with rain spreading inland, and temperatures falling from the overnight 60’s to around 55. We’ll stay in that showery cool zone through the weekend. Sunrise 7:26 AM, sunset 7:14 PM.

The Washington Post reported it first…and President Trump confirmed it via Twitter minutes later as follows: “Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!”

Not since that kid pitched a firecracker into the Columbia Gorge has the Portland air quality been so compromised. This morning, as a matter of life safety, thousands of people are evacuated from their homes in the shadow of that five-alarm junkyard fire near NE 75th and Killingsworth. The fearsome upboiling of nasty black smoke is polluting the wind with any number of carcinogens, and late last night, the neighborhood between NE Columbia and Alberta from NE 60th to 76th was evacuated. That’s probably 4,000 people. Improving air quality enabled the health department to shrink the evacuation zone this morning. Seems like half the fire department was there, but they couldn’t stop this monster from spreading to a nearby duplex and sixplex. The human residents escaped but sadly not all of their animals did; sixteen cats are known to have perished. Folks in the Cully neighborhood are noticing their tap water is a sickly yellow; that’s from sediment stirred up by firefighters extracting every inch of pressure they could from antiquated pipes. Fire crews will certainly be there throughout the day, and they’ll provide an update later in the morning. The cause isn’t known, but the manager hinted at holes in the fence that homeless people sneak through, while other neighbors say they’ve been warning for some time that gasoline emptied from the junked cars was being stored unsafely.

This is special election day in some Oregon communities. Sherwood is picking a new mayor…Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue’s territory may spread out to include the Newberg area..and if there are ballot items today where you live, let me know. There’s also a special election today to fill a congressional seat in suburban Pittsburgh left vacant by a Republican congressman who resigned over an affair. Democrats have a shot at flipping the seat, but Trump won it by 20 points in 2016.

The Portland Trail Blazers won their tenth game in a row last night, beating the Miami Heat 115-99 at the Moda Center.

Two years probation seems a little soft for a man who intentionally pointed a laser into the cockpit of a TV news helicopter covering an anti-Trump demonstration on the Burnside Bridge in November 2016, temporarily blinding the pilot. But he said he’s sorry, so. OK.

Three cheers for the waitress at Thai Noon on Alberta who saw a man stealing the tip jar from the counter–and grabbed him by the collar. He scrambled out but left the tips behind.

Wieden+Kennedy has created a magically animated tourist commercial for Travel Oregon, with flying whales and people drinking wine in hot-air balloons and newspaper-reading frogs and a swelling, inspirational theme performed by the Oregon Symphony.  Check it out here! Makes me want to come and visit again and again!

A bride-to-be was arrested for DUI–in her flowing white gown–on her way to her wedding.

Weird but true headline from Atlas Obscura: “Millions of European Clocks Are Running up to Six Minutes Slow.” It’s because almost all of Europe is on one electrical grid, and it’s temporarily out of balance.

Here’s a rock-era trivia question that I will ask now…and hide the answer before we wrap up. Try not to give it away! Question: What is the only act that had #1 hits before, during, and after The Beatles?

The impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson began 150 years ago today.

Tell me something good, OK?

–“UK Researchers Say Soaking In A Hot Bath Burns As Many Calories As A 30-Minute Walk”

–“Baltimore Orioles invite kids to attend games free this season with paying adult”

–“Meowing cat credited with saving owners’ lives when fire breaks out in home without smoke detectors”

–“Brothers complete 3,000 mile unsupported Atlantic row in memory of their late father”

–“Irish Bachelor Party finds a piano in an underground station and starts entertaining the crowd”

–“Green, feminist and pregnant: Meet New Zealand’s Minister For Women”

–“Google Japan Now Has Street View From a Dog’s Perspective”

One week until Spring! My second-favorite of the four seasons! And one month until Dripstock II!