Hello and good morning! It’s a summertime Monday, June 10, 2019, and Portland’s weather is ready to take us there. Sunny and 80 to 85 today…95 or more–some say 98–on Tuesday and Wednesday..and then, when we’re ready for a break, we drop to the low 80s to take us into the weekend. Coastal highs will be at least 15 degrees cooler. Sunrise 5:21 AM, sunset 8:58 PM. That 5:21 sunrise is the earliest of the year…and it’ll hang suspended at that moment for the next 12 days, while the moon is growing toward fullness one week from today. Plus, with clear skies tonight, our gaze will be drawn to the intense light of Jupiter, which will be at its brightest and closest point of the year when it rises at 8:43 PM.
It was a rough Sunday morning in the Pearl District, where a man was shot and killed by Portland police after he claimed that he had a knife, a bomb, and a hostage in a building at NW 13th and Lovejoy. Police say a woman, the apparent hostage, suffered a wound and was taken to the hospital. The building, which houses a Safeway and other businesses, was evacuated. The bomb squad was able to find no explosive device.
It’s a good time for the chat with the kids about creepy strangers handing out goodies: one such man–in his 60s with long hair and an eye patch, driving a beat-up pickup with a canopy, offered “treats” to an 11-year old girl in Gresham if she and her dog would get in the car. She made a getaway and told her folks; cops are on the lookout.
Most of the ships in the Rose Festival Fleet set sail today, leaving behind a city that truly welcomes the young men and women in uniform. I believe the Coast Guard’s buoy tender Bluebell departed yesterday.
A steering committee votes today on whether to recommend a funicular railway to carry passengers from the proposed southwest MAX line to the medical facilities on Marquam Hill.
A TriMet bus driver is out on bail after she was arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant–but not alcohol– in Cornelius, where witnesses reported the otherwise-empty bus was swerving along Baseline Road.
You can probably still smell smoke in the SE neighborhood where a metal parts warehouse burned down in spectacular fashion Friday night. Smoke visible all over town.
Portland’s Pride Festival begins today at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Huge parade is happening this coming Sunday.
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Guests were rushed out of Six Flags Magic Mountain as Southern California as firefighters raced to battle a brush fire burning nearby. Park’s open today.
Former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is “out of danger” following surgery, after being ambushed by a man who rode up on a motorcycle and shot him in the back at a bar in his native Dominican Republic. A crowd captured the alleged gunman and beat him up.
The Toronto Raptors are a game away from closing out the suddenly feckless Golden State Warriors for the NBA Championship.
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Yikes! OK, how about something good?
–“NJ teacher donates bone marrow twice to child in Germany”
–“Uniformed Minnesota officer mows woman’s lawn after checking on her welfare”
–“California restaurant offers free pizza to diners who lock away their phones”
–“‘I’m home’: Former custodian starts new job as school principal”
–“He did it! Man rows Portland-built boat across the Pacific from Washington State to Australia” (I know people who’ve been following every step, and they’re thrilled).
Portland's Daily Drip 