Good morning! Let’s stick a toe into the water of this Thursday, August 9, 2018–oh! It’s fine, at 68 degrees at 4 in the morning when I post this. But later today, we’ll need a meat thermometer to tell our level of doneness. High today 95, for our 25th day above 90, before we retreat to 85 Friday, 75 with showers Saturday, and 85 Sunday. Sunrise 6:04 AM, Sunset 8:27 PM. Portland’s air quality is wobbling between good and moderate, with hazy skies thanks to distant wildfires. (Sacramento’s been covered with smoke for two weeks).
Some breathtakingly bad judgment is seen in a video taken on the high bridge over Moulton Falls on the Lewis River in Yacolt, Washington. A 16-year old girl in a bathing suit, part of a group of partying teens, was standing on the ledge and obviously hesitating about taking the three-story leap, when another young woman behind her gave her a shove from behind and down she went. The 16-year old survived, but with five broken ribs and a lung injury, and no word yet on consequences for the pusher.
Meantime a 52-year old man leaped from the top of a waterfall in Skamania County, plummeting sixty feet to the bottom, and it took both a high-angle rescue and a Coast Guard helicopter to bring him to the hospital. His condition is unknown.
Does it seem risky and unwise that a large percentage of Portland’s rail and transit traffic is funneled over the century-old Steel Bridge? The TriMet management broached that spendy topic yesterday by revealing they’re analyzing future alternatives: new bridge? Tunnel under the river? Does anyone have a spare billion dollars?
Nobody knows what’s become of a 28-year old mom and her 6 and 7-year-old daughters, who were last seen walking barefoot on a road in Gold Hill, in southern Oregon, at around 10 Tuesday morning. Relatives say the mother may be in a mental crisis, and a search is underway. They had water with them…but she has no car, no cell phone, and no money.
A Portland City Council meeting was noisily disrupted by people protesting police brutality during Saturday’s waterfront clash. One protester clobbered a security guard with a megaphone; two people were arrested for trespassing, including a 67-year old woman.
An extensive story in Willamette Week says right-wing protesters like the hundreds who came primarily from out of town last weekend have declared Portland “enemy territory,” and plan to come here again and in greater numbers to show the city the error of its ways. They are huge fans of Alex Jones, the right-wing radio ringmaster, who has devoted extensive time to the condemnation of Portland. (He’s the guy who denies that Sandy Hook happened).
Voter turnout in Clark County this week was 25.9%–even though the state paid for the postage stamp.
Somebody locked their terrier in their car in the noonday sun yesterday, and the poor pup was barking crazily, according to a poster on Reddit. The owner arrived just as the poster was about to call the police non-emergency number, as you’re apparently required to do, before bashing out the window.
Newsweek says it’s come up with records showing that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has her family’s $40 million yacht on the Great Lakes registered as a foreign-flagged vessel from the Caymans, a haven for tax dodging.
Football time! The Seattle Seahawks preseason begins tonight at 7 at Centurylink Field against the Indianapolis Colts. The Hawks have one of the best quarterbacks in the game in Russell Wilson, but they’re coming off their first postseason miss since 2011, have lost some key but aging players like Richard Sherman, and will have 15 new starters on the fie;d tonight..
The Unipiper was behind the anchor desk at Channel 8 last night at 11. I’m sure it kilt in the ratings.
Changes in the Oscars: a new category for “Best Popular Film” is being created, specifically for blockbusters, which kill at the box office but often go un-Oscarred. And they’re trimming the broadcast to a mere three hours, by presenting some of the awards during commercial breaks.
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Two important historical events on this date: In 1945, Nagasaki was devastated by the atomic bomb code-named Fat Man that was dropped from an American B-29. The plutonium for this fearsome weapon was created 200 miles up the Columbia from Portland at Hanford, Washington.
And in 1974, Richard Nixon waved his arms one final time and boarded a helicopter to historical oblivion, while Gerald Ford became President of the United States, with comforting words: “Our long national nightmare is over.”
Happy birthday to the Dude! Sam Elliott, actor and David Douglas graduate, born this day in 1944.
It’ll be hit after hit, spanning decade after decade, as Hall and Oates and Train play tonight at 7 at the Moda Center.
Prolific comedian and actor Amy Schumer is at IIlani tonight, up in Ridgefield.
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Good stuff!
–“LEGO launch their first sustainable blocks made from sugarcane”
–“It’s 2 miracles: 2 cats found weeks after Kansas house explosion”
–“A teenager who was given a 1% chance of full recovery after a skiing accident has achieved seven As in his exams”.
–“Spanish man helps his grandma who can’t read or write to use her phone by drawing intricate doodles in a customised address book”
–“Lab-Grown Organs Could Save 20 People a Day”
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Hmmm..I must’ve dug the coffee beans out of the caffeinated jar, instead of the decaf…I’m in a really good mood this morning! Excited about going to the radio station and having fun with Bruce and Janine on K103!
Portland's Daily Drip 