Welcome, Daily Drip crew, to Monday, November 4, 2019–the ninth day in a row of zero precipitation in Portland! For a city that styles itself as weird, this is really weird! Today’s weather will be sunny with a high of 58 but here’s a nosewrinkle: we are under an Air Stagnation Advisory until Wednesday at 4 pm. Pollutants are trapped close to the ground, where we the people are. Portland’s Air Quality Index at 0400 is a grim 124, unhealthy for sensitive groups. So Multnomah County’s health department is asking people to avoid burning wood, unless that’s our only source of heat.
And of course….with yesterday’s great lurch backward to Standard Time, today’s sunrise comes unaccustomedly bright and early at 6:54 AM, and sunset’s at 4:53 PM. We may have changed our clocks, but it’ll take a while for our bodies to get the memo.
Our town is minus one tough mother, today, but the air is full of tales of the late Gert Boyle: stories of how she took command of the family business when her husband died young, and with the help of son Tim grew Columbia Sportswear into a company with a market cap of six billion-dollars as of today; of how she parodied her gruff image in an enduring series of television commercials; and of how, at the age of 86, she coolly bamboozled a home-invasion robber into believing she just had to disable the home alarm in order to let him in; she hit the silent panic button instead, and West Linn cops came running. Like another shatterer of glass ceilings–Mayor Vera Katz, whom we lost two years ago–Gert Boyle was born to a Jewish family in pre-War Nazi Germany, courageously escaping and winding up in Portland, and creating a legacy that will outlast all of us.
A teenage boy was hit and killed by a freight train while taking his senior photos near the Troutdale Bridge late Saturday afternoon.
Election day is tomorrow! Lots of school levies and other items of local import are on the mail-in ballot, and they’ll be decided with around a 30% turnout. The SOS website says my ballot was received on October 22, keeping intact my lifelong streak of voting in every election! (I think).
The 2020 presidential election is one year from yesterday. It’s way too soon to relax or leap to conclusions, but the latest national poll on Fox News shows Joe Biden beating Donald Trump by 12 points…with Bernie Sanders winning by 8…and Elizabeth Warren by 5.
Ronald Reagan was elected president on this day in 1980…and Barack Obama on this day in 2008.
The steering committee for Southwest Light Rail meets tonight in Tigard. They’ve decided not to reduce the number of lanes on Barbur Blvd. after all. That would have been a disaster.
PBOT crews begin work today on creating a fourth lane on the bottlenecked North Going Street Bridge.
More than 500 inmates in Oklahoma are being set free today after their sentences, for minor drug and property offenses, were commuted to time served under a voter-approved law. It’s believed to be the largest one-day prisoner release in American history. This should save taxpayers $12 million.
The Blazers visit the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors tonight; their star player is out for three months with a broken hand.
Last night the Winterhawks lost to Kamloops 6-5.
Walter Cronkite was born 103 years ago today.
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Good news links!
–“One year after fire, Paradise HS football finishes regular season undefeated”
–“Nurse Adopted Man With Autism After Knowing Him Just 2 Days So He Could Receive a Heart Transplant”
–“A dog named Mr. Wrinkles leads police to family members of unconscious man
–“Pup that dropped from the air into a backyard garden turns out to be endangered breed””
–“Man Reunited With 310-Year-Old Violin After It Was Left on a Train”
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Have a grrreat Monday!
Portland's Daily Drip 