Happy Wednesday! Here’s some Daily Dripness for December 4, 2019. A flock of high clouds flew over us like migrating birds during the night, squirting a tiny bit of rain, and today there’s a 20% chance of precip with highs of 50. Sunrise is at 7:33 AM, and sunset comes at 4:27 PM–the earliest sunset of the year, and here it will stay for the next 13 days before becoming ever-so-gradually later!
Portland’s air quality sank to a moderate level and worse, so Multnomah County’s Health Department used its powers to ban fireplaces. That’s still in effect until noon today, but as of 0400, the AQI is still a moderate 70. By the way, pellet stoves are included in the ban. They can be quite efficient, some can greatly contribute to poor air quality.
Speaking of the tenuous state of the air quality here: Portland’s School Board along with House Speaker Tina Kotek are saying “not so fast” to ODOT’s plan to widen I-5 at the Rose Quarter bottleneck without a full review of the environmental impacts on the neighborhood it cuts through–especially at Harriet Tubman Middle School, which already suffers from the nearby freeway exhaust.
And: the acrid roar of gas-powered leaf blowers may be muted in Portland, soon, as the City Council votes today on a directive to all City bureaus to use only electric or battery-powered blowers instead. Neighbors for Clean Air are big supporters of the switch, noting that “Running a leaf blower for one hour was deemed to create the equivalent pollution as the 1100 mile drive from Los Angeles to Denver.”
The Oregonian followed up on the deaths of three men in a collision in Corvallis last week, reporting that they were among a group of thirteen Guatemalan migrant laborers coming off a long shift harvesting Christmas trees. Others remain hospitalized. Oregon’s Christmas tree industry, one of the largest in the country, is heavily dependent on migrant labor.
A family in Vancouver is wondering what they’ve done to deserve the repeated slashing of their tires on the quiet street where they live. The family is Hispanic, and they’re questioning whether that’s why they’re being targeted.
The impeach train moves today from Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee to Jerry Nadler’s Judiciary Committee, with a hearing featuring four law professors that begins at 6 AM. Coverage on your cable channel of choice; I doubt that it’ll pre-empt GMA or the Today Show.
OPB reports that Knute Buehler, a Republican who’s considering a run for Greg Walden’s seat in Congress, is regifting to charity about 22K that was donated to him by Gordon Sondland; Ted Wheeler did the same when Sondland’s involvement in the Ukraine mess first hit the news cycle.
Bloomberg News reports that bad weather has damaged the potato crop in the US and Canada–and the result may be a shortage of french fries next year.
The Blazers come home to battle the Kings tonight, after being clubbed 117 to 97 by the LA Clippers last night.
Very cool dude Jeff Bridges has been abiding for 70 years today!
***************
Looking for something good? You’ve come to the right place!
–“Cheerleader with Down syndrome ‘accepted by all’ at high school”
–“Getting in shape is a family affair”
–“Ex-Seahawk Richard Sherman Surprises Middle School With Check To Clear All Student Lunch Debt”
–“6th grader saves student’s life, honored for heroism”
–“A Kentucky mom couldn’t find a Christmas story about a brown boy. So she wrote her own”
Portland's Daily Drip 