Morning, cowpokes! Welcome to Thursday, September 12, 2019. Portland weather is back to the good old summertime for one more day, with a shining sun after the morning clouds and highs that could hit 80. This could very well be our last 80-degree day of the year. Enjoy! Sunrise 6:45 AM, sunset 7:27 PM.
KPTV’s meteorologist Mark Nelsen makes a good point about the summer just ending: although we didn’t have as many scorching hot days as the previous two summers, it was still plenty warm. In fact, says Mark, on his weather blog: ” this summer was WARMER than any summer before 1958. A better way to state this? In the 1930s-50s this would have been considered one of the warmest summers on record! That shows how our summer climate has warmed over time.
Early-fall weather is spectacular at the coast, but don’t be splashing in the surf! The Oregon Health Authority this week has cranked out six..that’s 6!..warnings for not-very-nice levels of bacteria in at prominent beaches on the Oregon Coast. To wit: the warnings cover Agate Beach, Beverly Beach, Seal Rock State Park Beach, and D River Beach in Lincoln County, and Neskowin Beach and Rockaway Beach in Tillamook County. Something’s going on, and I think it’s related to our recent rain washing abundant emoluments of cow poop downriver. (Being an English major, I know about sending cow poop downriver). Seems like that could affect other beaches, non? Playing in (muddy) waters is an invitation for tummy trouble. Go to the coast, but go fly a kite!
We’ve got a Creep Alert on the west side, where a Mom tells deputies that two kids were trying to cross a street when a man stopped his white Outback right in front of them, rolled down his window–and showed them his dog. Nice grey dog with a red collar. He told the kids that his dog was happy, and loves children….especially little girls. Creep! Just then Mom showed up and he hit the gas. This was in a neighborhood on the sundown side of the West Hills, near NW Miller at Cornell Rds, not far from all those the TV and radio towers. Folks are being told to keep their antennae up.
It’s debate night for Democrats, with the field whittled to ten. We’ll see Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden at center stage, together for the first and not last time (Bernie Sanders’ll be on Joe’s other side), along with Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, Beto O’Rourke, and Julián Castro. Five PM on ABC-TV. Keep an open mind, folks..the season is young.
Shippers on the Columbia River finally got the news they’ve been waiting for, and it’s not what they wanted to hear: the damaged Bonneville Dam navigation lock won’t return to service until Monday, September 30. Barges full of just-harvested Oregon wheat have been lining up at the gate for almost a week already.
The season is over for the Hillsboro Hops…and our beloved minor league baseball team takes home the crown! The Arizona Diamondbacks short-season A team won the Northwest League championship, defeating TriCity 3-1 last night. It’s the third title for the Hops in their 7th year of existence.
But the Portland Thorns lost hard to North Carolina–6 to zero–in front of over 17,000 folks at Providence Park.
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The light rail line we once called “Westside MAX”–now part of the Blue Line, the busiest of all MAX lines–opened on this date in 1998. It was originally designed to end at SW 185th, but the city of Hillsboro fought hard to be included, and that’s where the line terminates to this day.
All of a sudden it’s mid-September…so it’s time for Mt. Angel’s Oktoberfest! Celebrating the harvest in German style, this four-day blend of family fun, music, food and beer brings thousands to a picturesque Marion County town where a monastery was founded to serve the Bavarian settlers in the mid-1800s. From Portland take I-5 to exit 282A through Woodburn, follow the signs…and let a non-partaker drive home. The Marion County Sheriff is using a state grant for DUI patrols.
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Something good here!
–“‘Game-changing’ immunotherapy cancer drug boosts survival rates five-fold”
–“Two hikers found a message in a bottle and helped rescue a stranded family. Now the family wants to thank them”
–“Muslim engineer who fled Pentagon helped build 9/11 memorial chapel”
–“The people of Hong Kong left cash on MTR ticket machines for protesters to buy single journey train tickets to get home”
–“Hasbro launches Ms. Monopoly game that pays women more than men”
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A commentary piece by Oregonian reporter Lizzy Acker is generating some chatter about how considerate Portlanders are, or not. It’s titled, “Hey, you! Why won’t you give up your seat to a pregnant person on public transit?” Lizzy, who’s like 38 weeks along, relates that she recently was “on a bus where an older woman gave me her priority seating seat. Then another pregnant woman got on and another older woman gave her her priority seat. The young men occupying the other seats just sat there.” I cannot, well, conceive of not giving up a seat to a pregnant lady! Or anyone who needs it! I was on a crowded subway in Nuremberg, Germany last year when an older Muslim lady climbed aboard, hauling bags of groceries, and she was clearly exhausted. Yet all of these commuters sat on their seaters and did nothing while she hung onto a post. So I discretely got the lady’s attention and we switched spots. Seems so very basic! And not just an American example of oblivion to the needs of others. Grr!
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