Good morning! It’s Monday! And that, friends, is the last time I’ll ever write that exact phrase at 4:25 in the morning! Six or 7? Maybe! Anyway, it’s December 16, 2019, just six days until the start of Hanukkah, and nine until Christmas. Radar shows a band of precip slashing in from the coast; afterward, Portland’s weather will be sparkly and dry, with highs of 45 and lows down to the frost zone. Sunrise 7:44 AM, sunset 4:27 PM, glimpsing us all of 8:43 of daylight today, just a minute more than the shortest day of the year. We’re about to round the bend, friends, and head for brighter days!
But first…we may deal with a substantial storm late in the week, from an atmospheric firehose waving untethered and targeting Northern California, Oregon and Washington, depending on its whim, during the Wednesday night through Saturday time frame. Some models say there’s a potential for flooding.
Speaking of firehoses…an off-duty Portland firefighter spotted a fire licking out of a house and was able to save the man inside, and summoned the on-duty colleagues to put out the flames.
An injured woman was rescued from the trunk of a car near SE 104th and Division in SE Portland Saturday, and a man was arrested on felony domestic violence charges. May this be fulcrum point toward freedom and happiness in her life, while he meets justice.
Somebody mistook the gas pedal for the brake on their Crown Victoria, and sent the big car roaring into the Lane Bryant clothing store in Gresham. Employees screamed and ran while the car cut through the store and wound up in the winter coat rack. Along with broken glass and assorted damage, there were mannequins sprawled and broken everywhere. But nobody was hurt.
They’re both OK, but two local notables were shaken up in separate crashes: “Wild” author Cheryl Strayed was bumped by a hit-and-run driver on NE Broadway, and Unipiper Brian Kidd was hit by a Subaru on his two-wheeler in the Buckman neighborhood.
A guy chopped down and stole 78 Christmas trees from a family farm up the road in Federal Way. He also stole a truck and a trailer. His big plan was to sell the trees, worth thousands, at a popup roadside stand, but the law intervened.
Best wishes to Kris Balliet, who’s resigning as the longtime head of Tualatin Riverkeepers. She’s fighting Parkinson’s disease. The Tualatin is a vital body of water to our corner of the state, and TRK does a lot to keep it healthy and loved.
Oregon’s Humane Society is happy to report that the blind and abandoned kitten, named Ilene, who was found crying in the trash in Modesto and brought to Portland for care and shelter, was adopted into her forever home over the weekend.
The Hallmark Channel has yanked a wedding ad featuring two brides after objections from a conservative group.
They flicked on the lights along Peacock Lane last night, and that four-block stretch between Stark and Belmont east of the former 39th will be aglow from 6 to 11 every night through New Year’s Eve. The street’s open to pedestrians only tonight and tomorrow night.
A couple of classical musical landmarks are celebrated today, including a big one: Ludwig van Beethoven was born this day in 1770. And 123 years later Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E Minor was performed at Carnegie Hall, as he brought the “New World” to the New World. (My #2 desert island album. #1 is the birthday boy’s 9th, and #3 varies by mood).
Tonight at the Schnitz it’s The Storm Large Holiday Ordeal. I can imagine. The Nutcracker is 7 shows into an 18 show run at the Keller; they are on a weekday break now but they’ll be elanc’ing, tourne’ing, and glissading across the sumptuous set again on Thursday.
The Blazers are at the Phoenix Suns at 6 tonight. The Portland Winterhawks lost to Seattle 4-3 in OT last night, and now they get to skate away for Christmas; they’ll be back in action on the road against Kennewick on December 27.
******
One thing that may go away with my departure from K103–one Dripster said I should call the Erickson exit “Erexit”–is the Coffee Cupon the K103 web site. But we’ll still find a way, as the Drip evolves, to share the good news. I love finding these stories for you.
–“In rural Colorado, the kids of coal miners learn to install solar panels”
–“They thought their dog was gone forever. Meanwhile, prison inmates were treating him like a king.”
–“‘Friendship over business’: Coffee shop owner helps competitor stay open”
–“Random act of kindness during rain, cold weather caught on video”
–“OHS Celebrates 11,000th Pet Adoption of 2019 and he’s a happy boy!”
**********
Note the absence of the I word! Plenty of time for that in the days to come. Have a fantabulous Monday!
Portland's Daily Drip 