We’re easing into another summer day of morning clouds and afternoon sunshine, with highs of 80 degrees, on this Tuesday, July 30, 2019…this has been such an enjoyable summer in the NW; only a few days above 90, and no sign of any extended heat waves. We’ve earned this departure from what’s sure been looking like the New Norm. Sunrise 5:51 AM, sunset 8:42 PM.
I-5 road-trippers in Southern Oregon should factor in some delays as ODOT plans “rolling slowdowns” so they can clear hazardous trees in the area of the Milepost 97 fire…which is now 15% contained.
It’s plenty warm to be on the water, but there’s been some bad behavior on the rivers…the Oregon State Marine Board reports that “In the past few weeks we’ve had several reports of motorized boats capsizing or swamping dragon boats and small crew boats in the Portland area.” The chickenhearted drivers of said motorboats made eye contact with their victims–and sped away. That’s getting into felony territory.
The webs are abuzz about a floating shack right out of Tom Sawyer anchored in the Willamette under the Boone Bridge in Wilsonville. Some kind of an elaborate homeless situation? No…it’s (according to its website) “FLOTSAM!…a troupe of musicians, circus performers and puppeteers traveling from town to town on a handmade raft, giving free performances in every town along the way.” Next one is Thursday in Oregon City, with Sellwood, downtown Portland, and St. Johns on August 2,3, and 4th.
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A huge data breach at Capitol One may have exposed the personal information of an estimated 100 million people in the US. A Seattle software engineer’s been arrested.
Getting on with the task of thinning the herd, tonight is Democratic debate, Round Two, night #1. Five PM Pacific on CNN. I see “Oregon for Pete Buttigieg 2020” has a watch party at Revolution Hall…if you know of others, tell us please!
California investigators haven’t made any conclusions yet about the motive in the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, but the 19-year-old with the assault rifle had been reading “a proto-fascist white supremacist manifesto by a pseudonymous 19th-century author.”
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Strike votes continue for UFCW employees in SW Washington today, both at the Vancouver Hilton and the Kelso-Longview Red Lion.
Contract talks are at an impasse between OHSU and 7,000 pharmacists, radiology technicians and housekeepers who are represented by AFSCME Local 328.
A now-ex-baggage handler at PDX will be locked away for six months after admitting that he stole six guns and ammo from passengers’ checked luggage last year. He switched the tags so the bags would be misrouted, sometimes around the world, in order to delay reporting of the missing weapons. All but one have recovered.
Forget about the Ritz–did you know Portland is getting a hotel named KEX? It’ll open in late fall on MLK north of Burnside, and no, it’s not named after the Mighty 1190 radio station down the hall from K103. KEX is the name of an apparently famous hotel in Reykjavík, and will feature a restaurant with Icelandic fare like dried fish and dung-smoked meats. Wait, what?
The Backstreet Boys are at the Moda Center tonight.
Happy birthday to Pat Schroeder, who was born in Portland on this day in 1940. She went to Harvard Law, then served in Congress from Denver for nearly a quarter of a century. I crossed paths often with this brilliant and kind woman in my cub reporter days there. Her memoir is titled, “24 years of House Work…and the Place Is Still a Mess.”
Do you happen to have a backyard fruit tree that drops more than you could ever jam into a pie? Starting today, and through September, Portland Cider Company is calling on folks to donate fallen and unwanted backyard apples, plus other fruits and berries, to be pressed into a “community cider” to be sold for the benefit of Hunger-Free Oregon. Google Portland City Company for info.
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I really like the “Something Good” links today. Hope you do too!
–“Tour de France leader gives the famed yellow jersey to a freezing boy”
–“Car mechanic shifts gears, becomes a doctor at age 47”
–“The ‘stars aligned’ to help these hikers find a dog who was missing for 11 days”
–“Man Proposes to Girlfriend After Spelling Out ‘Marry Me’ on 15-Mile Bike Ride”
–“Strangers jam in a saxophone battle in NYC subway”
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And yep! We’ll have a “save the date” announcement for Dripstock III later today. Just the date; other details will follow. The question was asked, when I first sent out the heads-up, ummmm what is a Dripstock? Understandable; the group has grown. It’s a gathering, a happy hour or two, a chance to meet in person some folks you’ve been chatting with on the Drip threads for years. Many a selfie is taken. This year, we’re doing it differently–it’s a non-station event–and we’ll talk about that too, as the time approaches!
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