Friends and neighbors near and far, here’s the good old Daily Drip on Thursday, December 12, 2019. Safe to go out? Lemme take a peek: Well, it’s mainly dry, with showers scattered around, but we have a 100% chance of rain and highs of 45. And up in yon mountains, there’s a winter storm warning in effect all the way until noon tomorrow. Sunrise 7:41 AM, sunset at 4:27 PM. The moon is officially full as of 12:12 AM. On 12/12. This was the day of a wild daytime windstorm that flattened homes and snuffed out power to 100,000, back in 1995. I wore out my chain saw on a Doug Fir that fell in our back yard in Lake Grove.
Let’s do a quick check with ODOT on the mountain passes: Government Camp has bare pavement and 35 degrees; Santiam has snow flurries with slush and snowpack, and 35. The snow levels are starting out high enough that heavy snow is not expected at pass levels today. But the snow level drops to pass levels tonight, and passes could have half a foot of new snow by Friday AM.
We wake up to the news of a sex abuse scandal at Catlin Gabel School, the respected private academy in West Portland. An internal investigation commissioned by the Board of Trustees finds that at least nine former teachers and other staff members sexually abused students dating back to the 1970s. A statement from the school says, “We profoundly apologize for the pain and suffering that these alumni endured. What happened is inexcusable.”
Portland bartenders are understandably edgy after a wave of barroom robberies– at least 8 of them in the past month. Cops say it’s too early to conclude that the same bad guys are doing it, but they’ve all been east of the Willamette, almost all have been late at night, and all have hit established neighboring watering holes that have video lottery terminals. No arrests have been made.
The House Judiciary Committee began formal consideration of two impeachment articles against President Trump last night, with a final vote, and a whole lot of fireworks, expected today.
The House passed a bipartisan bill that would grant legal status to thousands of undocumented farmworkers–who make up an estimated 15% of the nation’s agricultural workforce.
It’s officially being downplayed, but two TriMet board members say the agency looking at the possibility of eliminating fares, and becoming a free transit system, as Kansas City just did. Critics say that’ll basically make the system a homeless shelter on wheels. Or rails.
This is the day the famous In-N-Out burger spot is opening in Keizer. Folks waiting in line need an umbrella, because they’ll spend a lot of time Out before they get IN.
Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin are Together On Stage at Revolution Hall. I dearly love Mary’s music: her “The Hard Way” motivated me to dig in when times seemed thin; her “Only a Dream” helped my emotions flow when the kids were leaving the next; and her “Come on, Come on,” was the soundtrack of my 40s.
It’s Frank Sinatra’s birthday (1915-1998, although the lifespan of his influence is 1940s-to-forever).
The 10-15 Blazers, who blew out the lowly Knicks the other night and I was too distracted by other events to even mention it in the Drip yesterday, are at the Denver Nuggets (14-8) tonight. The game’s on TNT, and on Rip City Radio, Super 62.
This is the birthday of Admiral Samuel Hood, the British naval officer after whom Mt. Hood was named (by a subordinate, seeking to butter him up). He fought against our French allies during the American Revolutionary War, yet his memory is honored not only with Oregon’s tallest mountain, but with the name of Washington’s Hood Canal as well…even though he’d never been here..and even though was on the other side in our war for independence. When I’m president, on Day One I will restore the native peoples’ name to that majestic mountain, Wy East. Wy not?
************************
It’s always a good day when every other story in the Coffee Cup is a dog story!
–“IKEA Store In Italy Opens Its Doors To Homeless Dogs To Protect Them From The Cold”
–“Bone Marrow Donor Is Moved To Tears When He Meets The Young Girl He Saved”
–“She Was Scared Of Her Neighbor’s Pit Bull, Then The Good Boy Saved Her Life”
–“Bloods and Crips Unite to Steer Kids Away From Gang Violence”
–“Man saves dog who’s leash got caught in elevator” Intense video with a happy ending.
********
Let’s have a happy ending to this Thursday! Happy beginning, too! What’s new with you?
Portland's Daily Drip 