Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Hi there! All’s OK..you’re in the friendly company of the Daily Drip community on this Wednesday, May 15, 2019. The weather in our shared shire of Portland, Oregon is cloudy, with a better-than-even chance of rain, and highs in the low 60s. Sunrise 5:40 AM, Sunset 8:34 PM.

The Blazers? No excuses, says Coach Stotts, but that really was a quick turnaround from Sunday’s Game Seven against Denver. The guys played tired, and several had limbs packed in gauze and ice following last night’s 116-94 route in Oakland. Game Two is tomorrow night.

Important to watch this situation, depending on what happens over the rest of the series: Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has formally asked Canada to assure safe passage for center Enes Kanter….in the event that the Blazers meet Toronto in the NBA Finals. Kanter, rightfully, fears being arrested by the strongman government of his native Turkey.

By the way…the Blazers’ play-by-play voice for the playoffs, Travis Demers, joins us on the K103 morning show at around 8:20 AM. Good guy, doing a great job filling the big shoes of Brian Wheeler.

It’s just one game.

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A Salem police officer was shot and wounded during a traffic stop last night. The suspect is still at large. The officer has been released from the hospital. Nearby Highland Elementary will be closed today.

That two-billion-dollar business tax for education will in all likelihood go down as Governor Kate Brown’s signature accomplishment, especially if her administration follows up by making damn sure that the “Student Success Act” lives up to its name. She’s the one who, at great cost, personally brokered the deal that brought Republicans back to the Senate floor, bigfooting legislative leaders from her own party to create a quorum that allowed the bill’s passage on a straight party-line vote. All Republicans voted no, knowing full well it would pass; they sold their tacit approval in a bargain that will play near and dear to the hearts of red-state Oregon. The Governor, in winning the fight for the education tax, killed an omnibus gun control bill–about which many Democrats, especially the powerful Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, were equally passionate. Burdick feels deeply burned. Big win for the 2A constituency. Brown also gave up the bill that would have closed immunization-law loopholes that benefit the anti-vaxxer crowd. So, for Democrats, a power play by the Governor resulting in one huge gain, for two significant losses, in a session where some thought the Blue team would run rampant. Floor discussion was profoundly heartfelt from several Senators. Lew Frederick was amazing. So I’ll be putting much of the Senate discussion about this on the air on the iHeart Radio public affairs show “Local Voices” this weekend, and I’ll link it here, for those who may not be sentient at 6 AM on Sunday.

It’s not Festivus, but we had an Airing of Grievances at a Portland City Council budget session, where Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, who’s in charge of the Bureau of Transportation, laid into city officials for not spending marijuana tax revenue on traffic safety. The Oregonian reports that Portland currently has 20 traffic cops on motorcycles and in cars….compared to 35 just three years ago.

Today is the 35th anniversary of the election of the famously eccentric but soundly pragmatic Bud Clark as Mayor of Portland. All together now–Whoop, whoop! Personal story: I’d been away from home toiling in uninspiring venues for five years, gleefully returning in 1985 to a very different, more kinetic Portland from the one I’d left in 1980, and two people took me under their wings to bring me up to date. I will always be grateful to Mike Lindberg, who was a vital voice on the Portland City Council, and to Mayor Bud Clark, for their generosity with their time, and for sharing with me their love of this magical place. We proudly have an autographed “Expose Yourself to Art” poster on our wall. (And Mildred Schwab gave me a big welcome-home smooch. Another story).

JFK threw out the first pitch at a Portland Little League game on this date in 1960, back when Oregon primaries mattered. (He won that one big, over Hubert Humphrey). There was a bill in this legislature to yank next year’s primary to Super Tuesday, but it never got off the launch pad. By the way, have you voted yet in the present school board, etc. election? Time’s a-wasting!

Comedian and actor Tim Conway passed yesterday at 85. He was a costar on Carol Burnett’s unfailingly funny variety show. “I’m heartbroken,” Burnett tells the Today Show. this morning “He was one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being. I cherish the times we had together both on the screen and off. He’ll be in my heart forever.”

Hey, Portland gets to be in another TV series! We love that, right? Um. Anyway, it’s called “Stumptown,” and ABC calls it a “crime drama”…though the trailer is purely comic, with plenty of familiar scenes and bad driving habits.  It’s three minutes of fun distraction.

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Good news! These are serious and true stories that I bury down here every day…and that sometimes I think should be the lead. Hope you check them out, at the “Coffee Cup” link right here!

–“Diver removes rope that made whale shark’s life miserable”

–“8th grader starts movement to eliminate $18,000 of lunch debt for his school district”

–“Once struggled in Math, Filipino student now works for NASA as engineer”

–“One business closes and another comes to the rescue”

–“Just thinking about coffee can improve your focus, researchers say”

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And now–who’s up for a little get-together this weekend? The folks at Maryhill Winery have invited me to come and check out their new Vancouver wine-tasting room Saturday afternoon from 4 to 6–and to bring along any friends who’d like to come! That’s you! It’s not a Dripstock–our crew has been too overwhelmed to put one together yet for this year–but it’s a chance to meet up and raise a glass to good times, say hello, take some photos…and head home in time to catch the Game Three! It’s not “hosted”–so bring your jukebox money–but I am told there may be a prize or prizes. And it’s a chance to visit Vancouver’s new redeveloped waterfront district, which I can’t wait to see. We’re overdue for a gathering, no? Who’s in? I will be there at 4 PM Saturday, May 18, at the 801 Waterfront Way Suite 105, Vancouver.