Thursday, January 31, 2019

Good morning to friends near and far, warm and cold, and welcome to the Daily Drip for Thursday, January 31, 2019! Portland is off to a chilly morning (by our standards) ahead of another sunny and 52 degree day, although light rain moves in tonight and sticks around for the weekend. And we promise to keep an eye on this: the predicted snow level for Sunday night, Monday, and even Tuesday has dropped from 1000 feet to only 500, and that puts most of Portland’s urban hills within reach of some pretty, but hopefully nonaccumulating, snowflakes. We’ll watch, and we’ll see, and we’ll crank up the Daily Drip Storm Center if there’s a need. Sunrise 7:33 AM, sunset 5:15 PM.

Let’s dive a little deeper into the snow possibility. Here’s how the National Weather Service folks on duty are putting it in their morning post: “Some of the coldest air of the season will spread into the region and snow levels likely will be the lowest thus far this year. Yes, not saying too much there. The bigger question, and as of yet the larger unknown: Will we see snow down to sea level/the valley floor? For now, the best answer remains…perhaps.” Meantime the Accuweather private service doesn’t mention snow for Portland at all. So we’ll stay close and post updates and if anything weird happens, we’ll fire up the Daily Drip Storm Team…of which you are a member!

Meanwhile, the Polar Vortex barrels eastward from the heartland and brings its cold embrace to the eastern time zone. Current temps as of 0400 Pacific: Minneapolis -25, Chicago 16 below, Philadelphia 6 above, NYC plus 4, Boston and Portland Maine 3 above. Portland, OR…+37.

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A week from today the Portland City Council will unanimously pass a resolution condemning white supremacism and the alt-right movement. It doesn’t mention “Patriot Prayer” or Joey Gibson by name, but that’s where it’s aimed. The resolution begins, “Whereas, nationally, there has been a rise of white nationalist, white supremacist and alt-right hate groups, many of which have been emboldened by the words and actions of the current presidential administration,” and continues, “there has been a recent surge of alt-right hate group activity and hostility, here, in our home, conjuring painful memories of our city’s past and causing harm to current residents.”

The superintendent of the St. Helens School District says he is ashamed of the treatment of the Parkrose High School girls’ basketball team at a recent game at St. Helens High School, where three men hurled racist insults and followed the players as they left the building. This foul behavior apparently continued without anyone trying to stop it, even though referees have the authority to do so. I hope OSAA is looking into that. Superintendent Scot Stockwell wrote, “I am personally mortified and embarrassed by the bigoted actions of those involved. It is upsetting that the ignorance of a few reflects on our entire community.” Which it certainly does.

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. Said he: “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me… All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”

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Eleven days until Spring Training.

The Blazers played one of their best games of the year last night, thumping the hot Utah Jazz 132-105 at the Moda Center.

The recent springy weather has allowed crews to make good progress on the expansion of PGE Park, where they’re creating a triple-deck seating section along the SW 18th side. Once known as the left-field wall.

That Netflix documentary about Rajneeshpuram called “Wild Wild Country” will now get the big-screen treatment, directed by Barry Levinson (Tootsie..The Natural…Rain Man) and starring Priyanka Chopra as Ma Anan Sheela. People here are groaning about this; we’d rather let Baghwans be Baghwans.

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I haven’t yet cracked the code for our new improved website posting tool, so we’re back to doing it the old way until I learn. The links to these stories are all in the first comment section below, although the image for only the first one will display under the comment box.

–“Monarch population up 144 pct at Mexico wintering grounds”

–“Chicago Polar Vortex Sparks Stray Cat Mission, Save ’em with Straw”

–“Kenya inventor creates glove that translates sign language to speech”

–“Marathon competitor runs 19 miles carrying a PUPPY after finding it in the road during her race”

–“Couple Stumble on 1950s Suitcase Full of Cash Hidden in a Wall While Renovating Basement”

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While throwing an orange rubber ball to the pup in our field yesterday I paused and just watched the limitless sky, peering way up high to see Airbuses and 767s from Anaheim and Oakland spreading long white vapor trails (above the green terrain) at 38,000 feet before beginning their steep descent into SeaTac or Vancouver BC. I know we’re in a drought and should be concerned about summer, but haven’t these clear winter days been spectacular?

That’s the DD for this last day in January! Bring on February, the shortest month–just four weeks from here until March!