Hi there! Welcome to a summer-not-summer Tuesday, April 24, 2018! It’s already 60, with a howling east wind slamming my wind chimes together (I should do something about that), and we’ll zoom up to a record-melting 80 or 85 degrees today, and tomorrow and Thursday as well. That’s twenty degrees above normal for us. Yesterday we pegged 74 in Portland. If you’re skywatching early, that’s Saturn and Mars climbing in the east, and Jupiter settling in the west. Sunrise 6:09 AM, sunset 8:08 PM.
Rivers are cold and fast. Full of hidden debris. Willamette river temp is 52 degrees. Clackamas 46.
Quick update on breaking news:
No specific motive has been assigned yet by authorities in Toronto, where a man driving a van mowed down pedestrians along a mile-long stretch of a busy street, killing 10. The suspect, 25-year old Alex Minassian of Ontario, was not known to police, and a classmate said he struggled with mental problems.
Our latest word on President George H.W. Bush is that he has stabilized and is “responding to treatment” after an infection spread to his bloodstream.
You know the White House doctor who examined President Trump and described his health in weirdly superlative terms–he could live to be 200, etc–and Trump soon appointed him to head the VA? Senate confirmation hearings may be put on hold as CBS News tweeted last night as follows: “Sen Vet Affairs Comm is reviewing allegations against Ronny Jackson which include a hostile work environment, excessive drinking on the job and improperly dispensing meds.”
Today is the voter registration deadline for Oregon’s May 15th primary election. To register in Oregon, you must be a US citizen, a resident of Oregon, and at least 16 years old. (They won’t send you a ballot til you’re 18).
Fifty years ago today, presidential candidate Richard Nixon was campaigning right here ahead of the Oregon Republican Primary, which he won.
Hey I am not a cook, but I love good wine, and tonight’s glitzy White House state dinner honoring French President Emmanuel Macron–who drinks wine with every lunch and dinner–will serve two deftly-selected Oregon wines–one white, one red–direct from the Dundee Hills of Yamhill County, but with French connections. From the menu:
“The Domaine Serene Chardonnay ‘Evenstad Reserve’ 2015 is the product of American and French collaboration—a combination of French plants from Dijon that thrive in the volcanic Oregon soil and colder temperatures. The Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir ‘Laurène’ 2014—This wine uses the motto ‘French soul–Oregon soil.’ The grapes at Domaine Drouhin are harvested and sorted by hand and fermented in French Oak barrels.” (About $60 a bottle).
Speaking of Oregon products…perhaps you’ve tripped over while crossing the street, Mill Ends Park, the wee little flower patch between traffic lanes at SW Taylor and Naito Parkway, supposedly the World’s Smallest Park. Don’t know if it’s still there, but the Portland Mercury reported yesterday that poking up among the pansies was a little marijuana plant.
Burgerville workers at 92nd and Powell voted 18-to-4 to unionize as members of the International Workers of the World (yes, the Wobblies), becoming the first fast food union in the country with formal recognition.
Fast thinking and nice teamwork by a Milwaukie police officer and a bystander who came on yesterday’s noon-hour apartment fire soon after it started, saw somebody hanging out of a third-floor window–and quickly spotted a ladder on a pickup truck in the parking lot. The grabbed it, raised it to the window, and the person clambered down.
The Cowlitz Tribe’s Ilani Resort Casino opened one year ago today near La Center, the largest gaming venue near metropolitan Portland. They recently opened an enormous ballroom and event venue, and Jay Leno will be there jawing with the crowd this Sunday.
It’s Barbra Streisand’s birthday (1942). Did you know she doesn’t read music?
For today’s rotating title of the H4HH/TMSG feature, Kim suggests: “The Stuff of Smiles”
–“Animal shelters across U.S. teach cats how to high five to make them more attractive for adoption”
–“Waffle House Hero Is Raising Money for Attack’s Victims”
–“3,000 missing children traced in four days by Delhi police with facial recognition system software”
–“Passing motorists pull woman from vehicle sinking in Montana flood waters”
–“Pope Francis hands out gelati for Rome’s poor”
Mmmm gelato!
If you haven’t been…the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn is enjoying a spectacular spring, and the time to go is on a sunny day during the week…
Off into a Tuesday. I’ll proofread this later; gotta rescue some wind chimes. May the warm Gorge wind blow some good news our way!
V-4
Portland's Daily Drip 