Good morning, and hi there! Suddenly it’s Thursday, November 1, 2018, a showery-and-62 kind of day in good old Portland, with an 8000-foot snow level in the nowhere-near skiable Cascades, and rough bar conditions on the lower Columbia. Always stay out of rough bars, my Daddy said. Sunrise 7:50 AM–nearly the latest sunrise of the year–and sunset 5:57 PM. It’s Day #305, with 60 days left in the old year.
Tonight at 6, look around. That’s about how dark it’ll be Sunday at 5. We set our clocks back this weekend.
Demonstrators, including the family of a young man who was shot by police in September, blocked traffic for hours in the area around the government blocks after a grand jury cleared Portland Police officers of wrongdoing in the shooting death of Patrick Kimmons in a parking lot at 3rd and Harvey Milk, formerly Stark at 3 AM on September 30. One of the problems with getting news on social media is that we’re exposed to the reactions to a story more than to the stories itself. We might have an opinion before we know anything about it. So there’s a link to a story by KEX’s Brad Ford on the link farm in the comments. After the Grand Jury decision came down, there were tense exchanges between protesters and motorists, one of whom drove a car slowly into a line of demonstrators and hit one, who turns out to be Kimmon’s brother. He’s OK, but the driver was arrested on assault and reckless driving charges.
Oregon State Police say their crime lab has now cleared its backlog of more than 5,000 rape kits, some dating back decades. In Multnomah County, it’s resulted in 3 convictions, one from an attack in 1996.
Quick update from the Elections folks: Oregon mail-in turnout is now 24%, and Washington is at 27. Today is the last day that you can mail in your ballot and be safely assured that it’ll make it by the deadline.
President Trump, saying now that the number of troops deployed to the border could surge to 15,0000, is headlining eleven rallies in six days ahead of the midterms. But none other than Oprah Winfrey is knocking on doors for gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in Georgia.
Portland was a decade ahead of everyone, but Clackamas County says it’ll put together a climate action plan in 2019. “Virtually all of the people in the actual climate science business that have not been captured by special interests have come to the conclusion that carbon dioxide, methane and other gasses of that nature are causing climate change,” writes Commissioner Ken Humberston. “The United States military and the insurance companies, both, see climate change as the single greatest threat to our national security,” he added. “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
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The Springwater Corridor trail is finally open again. It was closed for four months for completion of a huge new fish-friendly passage that for salmon and other wildlife. Basically, a “salmon subway” that reconnects the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and the Willamette River for the first time in over 100 years,” said the aptly-named Commissioner Nick Fish, who adds: “Juvenile salmon now have a rest stop on their journey to the ocean.” And thousands of bicyclists have their customary way to work open again.
That spooky video of 200 people in witch costumes paddle-boarding on the Willamette River over the weekend made it onto “Late Night with Seth Meyers, ” who joked that they oughta be burned at the stake. But dang if the host didn’t pronounce it “Will-met.”
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An historical note and I know it’s before your time, but did you ever hear of this? Today was the day in 1955 when a DC6 on a flight to Portland from Denver exploded over Longmont, Colorado–because of a dynamite bomb that was placed in the checked luggage by a man to punish his mother for putting him up for adoption as a child. He confessed to the crime and was executed.
A woman was rescued six days after her car veered off the road in the Arizona desert. She was found when highway workers noticed a broken fence.
Sad news for West Coast baseball fans as Hall of Famer Willie McCovey has died at age 80. He was one of the most popular San Francisco Giants in history.
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Portland Trail Blazers vs. New Orleans Pelicans, tonight at 7:30 at the Moda Center. Nationally televised. Hey, weren’t these the Pelicans that shoved the Blazers out of the playoffs in the first round last year? Payback due. Long homestand, by the way, and tickets are available.
Say, I’m gone tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that the English singer Mike Rosenberg, who calls himself “Passenger,” is at the Crystal Ballroom Friday night. He’s done several albums, with one big worldwide smash–the sweetly sad “Let Her Go”–that made its way to the top of American charts thanks to its appearance in a Budweiser commercial in the 2014 Super Bowl. It’s titled “Puppy Love.” In fact, I’m going to link to that in the TMSG section, because it warms the heart. And I wonder: do the guy and the girl get together there, in the final frame? Hope so!
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So let’s pass along some headlines, to happy up this gray November Day!
–“Police ‘save the day’ after bringing riot van to six-year-old’s party”
–“Man plays piano to soothe ailing, blind elephants at sanctuary in Thailand”
–“Three paralyzed men, who were told they would spend the rest of their lives in a wheelchair, are able to walk again thanks to doctors in Switzerland”
–“Virtual reality brings trick-or-treating to sick children”
–Budweiser Commercial Mystery: Do They Get Together? Wait for the last frame!
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Anything weird happen on your Halloween? Outrageously creatively costumed kiddos appearing at your door to beg for toothrot? Zippo, here in my spooky forest, but apparently a couple of teens in Grants Pass went on a vandalism binge and wound up in juvie. In Forest Grove, firefighters handed out almost 3000 glow sticks for trick or treaters to use on the dark streets, all paid for by the firefighters association.
Portland’s living room Christmas Tree arrives one week from tomorrow.
Again, I’m gone tomorrow, keeping my 2018 resolution to use every single vacation day, plus we have a happy event happening imminently within my circle, about which I haven’t yet been given the OK to report, so I won’t. But I’ll stick up a howdy when I roll out in the morning, so we can vicariously experience the thoughts, pix, and lives of the Dripsters!
Portland's Daily Drip 