Happy Monday! Yikes, I can’t remember such an abrupt switch from sultry summer to that feeling of fall! the sweet familiar gloom, the occasional tornado warning, the Ducks crushing a hapless opponent. Today is September 9, 2019…nine-nine-oh-nine…but not an occasion to dress to the 9’s. Dress, instead, for a rainy morning, a showery afternoon, and a high of 65. Have you found your rain hoody? And with sunrise at 6:41, and sunset now 7:33, we’re subtracting more than three minutes of daylight a day as we gallop toward the September Equinox, two weeks from today. But it feels like fall is here. Now.
That was quite a feisty sky yesterday..and a strange evening! Just before 7 the TV and weather app alerts started going off, as the NWS issued a tornado warning for a rural area northwest of Portland. Folks in the broadcast booth at the Hops playoff game in Hillsboro could look north and see a ragged cloud hanging from an angry sky, and somebody said the word “rotation”…and they weren’t referring to the pitching lineup. There’s video of damage to a pumpkin patch in the Cornelius Pass area and a swirling pattern in the grass, but no official confirmation yet that a tornado touched down. Then later, a little before 8, a funnel cloud and possible tornado from that same strong cell were spotted in the Orchards area north of Vancouver, where a heavy downpour caused high water along I-5. So a second tornado warning was sent out. Again, no touchdown confirmation, but quite a night!
The commute to Swan Island could be an ugly duckling for a long time, after a UP freight train derailed and crashed into the support columns of the Going Street Bridge. That bridge is the only public access carrying thousands of cars and trucks to Swan Island every day. It needs some serious inspection to determine the extent of damage, but for now, PBOT crews have reopened two travel lanes. Since the bridge normally has three in each direction, the commute on and off of Swan Island is going to be a mess–for weeks and perhaps months.
The wage clash between major food chains and their workers’ union will be on full boil this week, as UFCW Local 555 is making plans for a job action that’ll be announced tomorrow. I don’t think they’re at the strike point, yet, but things are hurtling that way, as they often do when hardball is played.
Some guy pepper-sprayed nine people on a TriMet bus over the weekend. Then he tried to escape from the police car taking him to jail, and three cops were hurt wrestling him down.
Today would be…and as far as anyone knows, still is…Kyron Horman’s 17th birthday. He was 7 when he vanished at Skyline School.
California became the 31st state on this day in 1850. Happy birthday, neighbor!
This was the day, in 1942, when a Japanese seaplane launched from a sub off the coast dropped incendiary bombs on Mt. Emily in the far SW corner of Oregon. It was a failed attempt at starting a massive forest fire, with the objective of diverting US military resources from the war in the Pacific. They actually dropped two bombs; the second has never been found. And they tried it again three weeks later, failing again, and those bombs have never been found either.
Every single story about the Seattle Seahawks 21-20 victory over the upset-minded Bengals yesterday contains the word “escape” in the lead sentence, and the phrase “a win is a win” in the last.
The Seattle Mariners suffered their worst loss in franchise history to the Houston Astros 21-1. Yikes.
The Portland Trail Blazers hit the road today–not for a game, but to spread Blazermania across faraway corners of Oregon. The 7th annual Rip City Rally will bring team alumni, Blazer Dancers, broadcast personalities and Blaze the Trail Cat to Baker City today, and moving like a wagon train to LaGrande, Hermiston, The Dalles, and Sandy.
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Some good news for your Monday, right here in the Coffee Cup!
–“After Hurricane Dorian, Celebrity cruise ship in Bahamas reroutes to deliver food, aid”
–“Snow White comforts boy with autism who had a “meltdown” in Disney World”
–“Seattle Seahawks open a sensory room at their home field”
–“Get out your hankies…Missing 46-Year-Old Turtle Reunited In Rochester”
–“Biological age of humans reversed by years in groundbreaking study, scientists suggest”
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Monday. It’s what’s for breakfast. See you on the radio!
Portland's Daily Drip 