Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Morning, campers! Here’s the Daily Drip on a drip-dry Wednesday, May 23, 2018. Portland’s in the final stretch one of the driest Mays in history, and today’s right in line: sunny, with a high of 80, nicking five off yesterday’s just-fine 85. Normal is 69. Thunderstorms may bubble up along the Cascade crest this afternoon and evening. Memorial Day Weekend begins with a slight chance of showers Friday through Saturday morning, then partly cloudy through Monday with 72 degree highs. Sunrise 5:31 AM, sunset 8:43 PM

A runaway slash fire in a clearcut spread up a hillside outside St. Helens, threatening eleven homes near the Columbia County community of Yankton. The fire was contained last night.

Something happened to a 22-year old PSU student during an Amtrak trip from Colorado back to Portland by way of California (there’s no direct route). Aaron Salazar was found unconscious along the tracks in Truckee, and is in a coma.

A 13-year old Woodburn boy was arrested for threatening on Snapchat to shoot five fellow students at his middle school. The tip first came in to the website SafeOregon-dot-com, which is set up to field such reports. And a 16-year old is charged with making threats at Hockinson High School.

American literary icon Phillip Roth has died at 85.

Willamette Week reports that Mayor Ted Wheeler is pushing for a $4-per-night tax on Airbnb’s and the like, raising up to $2.5 million for the city’s housing efforts.

As we count down to next week’s landmark 70th anniversary of the Vanport Flood–a damning chapter of Portland’s history of racism that echoes down to the present–the Vanport Mosiac Festival gets underway today with a mayoral proclamation at City Hall. The festival, at eight different venues mostly near the vast space that once was Oregon’s second largest city, is described as “preserving, amplifying, and honoring the silenced histories” of the company town that was washed away in the blink of an eye, with its survivors sorted by the city into neighborhoods according to race. Thus was created a pattern of segregation that exists to this day. The Vanport Mosaic Festival is shining a light on what went down.

Oregon is in the pages of today’s Washington Post with the story of the coastal high school principal who lost his job for ordering LGBTQ students to read the Bible as punishment for being gay. (Leviticus, maybe, but probably not John 13:34). The ACLU, which sued the North Bend School District and settled in part for the principal’s ouster, said two girls, who shocked tender sensibilities by holding hands in the hall, were subjected to other outrages like the principal’s son driving his car at them, the school cop telling them they’re “going to hell,” and a teacher saying that same-sex marriage is like “marrying your dog.” The Oregon Department of Education opens a hearing today over this clear violation of the state’s discrimination laws, and the district could face a loss of funding and a ban on interschool activities (like sports).

The Portland Public School District is shaking up its HR department, beginning with a new name: The Department of Talent and Culture. Nike’s HR has a similar name.

The Mayor of Tigard has moved out of Tigard. John Cook reports that he and his wife have found their dream home–and it’s not in the city he’s led since 2012.

People were bemused to see a pony trotting along NE Alberta. A Portland police officer and a mail carrier rounded it up, took a selfie, and let Animal Control take it from there.

A sinkhole has opened up on the White House lawn. Really. It’s right outside the press briefing room, and it’s getting larger every day. Some people blame the fact that it’s rained nine out of eleven days; others say it’s just the swamp taking over.

After the horrible cougar attack on a bicyclist in the Washington Cascades, we learn that Oregon has a cougar population of around 6000. We’ve never had a wild cougar kill a human in the state’s recorded history, but Washington hadn’t had one in almost a century.

The NTSB is recommending lap and shoulder seatbelts on all new school buses.

Las Vegas casino workers have authorized a strike, which could begin anytime after June 1.

Can’t help but like the fact that Oakland’s Lake Merritt Park was full of barbecuers of every ethnicity over the weekend, after a white woman called the cops on a group of black men for using a charcoal grill at the lake.

Something good? OK!

–“Anonymous donor gives $10,000 to pay Maine student lunch debts”

–“Vaccination method that wiped out smallpox gets unleashed today on Ebola”

–“Cancer deaths are down overall, new report says”

–“82-Year-Old Japanese Woman Learns to code, writes popular mobile app”

–“Manufacturing company offers rehabilitation rather than termination for employees who fail drug screens”

–“Dolphins now are appearing by the hundreds in the Chesapeake Bay”

Loved the comments and furtive videos from the Moda Center last night. Who else went to the Eagles concert, and who saw Taylor Swift? Reviews? Some interesting story that I can tell on the radio?? I need content for the 6:20 bit, folks! Yesterday we just read H4aHH!

Thanks for dropping by the Department of Drippage and Culture, and for adding to the fun in the comments below!