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Good morning, Portland! Weather today: High of 46 degrees and partly cloudy. In my post last week, I predicted there would be some sun, and it was completely cloudy all day. I felt bad for leading my readers astray, but I hope you know I am not actually a meteorologist and we usually just put the weather here to fill some space. (And to help ourselves figure out what we're going to wear that day.)
Okay, time for the news.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Two Portland Police officers were shot yesterday by an unidentified suspect. Late Monday evening, the Portland Police Bureau put out a notice that the Special Emergency Response Team had sealed off the perimeter around NE Broadway and NE Multnomah Street, as well as NE 15th and 21st Avenues after a suspect fired at police officers in the Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhood. Two officers were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital following the shooting. As of Monday morning, both officers’ condition is stable, according to police. Few details were released Monday evening, but KATU reported that “nearly 90 police units” responded to the area in search of the shooting suspect. The search for the suspect has ended, for now, with no arrest. A photo of the suspect has been circulated by PPB. COURTNEY VAUGHN
• Here's what's on the Portland events roster this week, courtesy of Do This, Do That: The Clinton Street Theater will be showing Tár tonight (FFO Cate Blanchett, classical music, and fucked up women, so it's a personal favorite of mine). You should also check out the Portland Fine Print Fair at the Portland Art Museum Saturday and Sunday, AND/OR eat delicious seafood and drink wine at the Portland Seafood and Wine Festival (Saturday and Sunday at the Expo Center). Plus, the Hollywood Theatre is finally playing The Testament of Ann Lee (every day through Jan 22). All this and more, brought to you by our wonderful calendar curators. Check out the full list here.
• In possibly the most Portland thing in Portland, it’s time to help name the city’s snow plows. You’re probably wondering why we need plows since it rarely snows more than once a year, but someone’s gotta clear the roads when it does. The cherry on top? The city’s transportation bureau is using a ranked choice system that gives voters up to six choices from a list of names. Among the names to choose from: Mississlippy; Sleeter-Kinney; Keep Portland Cleared; Damian Blizzard; Froze City, and a plethora of other pun-ny options. Votes must be in by Sunday, January 25. Knock yourselves out! CV
• Some Oregon lawmakers are trying to hold AI chatbot companies responsible for the increasing damage their products are doing to young minds. Democratic Senator Lisa Reynolds is leading the charge on a bill that would require chatbot makers to monitor conversations for signs of self-harm or suicidal thoughts and take action to help vulnerable users. One interesting aspect of the bill is that it would require the AI companies to repeatedly and clearly state that the chatbots users are "conversing" with are not human. The bill comes amid an alarming rise in mental health crises and suicides among prolific AI chatbot users, including the tragic death of 16-year-old Adam Raine last year. Although Reynolds' bill seems completely reasonable, it will likely result in big pushback from the tech companies. Stay tuned.
Big tech companies now operate more than 120 data centers in the state. The new committee will be tasked with developing policy recommendations on data centers. The governor's aim: to ensure economic growth while keeping power affordable and protecting water resources.
— OPB (@opb.org) January 20, 2026 at 8:30 AM
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IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Many leaders in the Catholic Church do not like the Trump administration (we all see you, Pope Leo!). Now, the three highest-ranking officials of Roman Catholic archdioceses in the United States have spoken out, rebuking the administration's foreign policy—though they didn't mention Trump by name. The three top cardinals said in a statement that "Our country's moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination," adding that "the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity's well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies." Somehow, MAGA-types will find a way to spin this—I'd prefer an even more direct approach. God would understand, considering the times we're in.
• The Minneapolis AFL-CIO (a coalition of labor unions) has called for a general strike on Friday, January 23, in response to ICE's hostile takeover of the city. This is a big step—organized general strikes have been reserved for truly dire moments. The last one in the US was in Oakland, California, in 1946. Major protests are also planned for Friday, when temperatures are expected to be below zero in Minneapolis, so you know the Minnesotans are serious. The actions come in the wake of the killing of Renee Good two weeks ago, and amid threats from the Trump administration to consider deploying actual SOLDIERS (paratroopers, no less) to the US city.
ICE today is terrorizing Twin Cities kids getting picked up by school buses and their families
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 20, 2026 at 8:12 AM
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• Harmeet Dhillon, the same lady at the DOJ who blocked investigations into the death of Renee Good in Minnesota by ICE agents, says she’ll go after anti-ICE protesters, including potentially bringing charges against former CNN journalist Don Lemon, who covered a protest inside a church in Minneapolis. Dhillon runs the DOJ’s civil rights division, which is supposed to investigate deadly shootings by federal agents. Instead, she’s playing lapdog to Trump by using the division as another arm for his retribution tour. Dhillon claims journalism isn’t a “shield” from being prosecuted for taking part in what she considers to be criminal activity (protesting), despite no evidence that Lemon or other bona fide journalists are crossing that line and participating. Her knowledge of journalism seems limited, considering she’s giving interviews to conservative online influencers like Benny Johnson. CV
• President Trump has admitted that the major impetus for his renewed push to acquire Greenland is his Nobel Peace Prize rejection. We are now just living the plot of a Disney cartoon about an evil, narcissistic king. As someone in Trump’s circle tries to explain that Greenland is controlled by Denmark, folks in Greenland and Denmark have wasted no time trolling Americans with “Make America Go Away” (MAGA) hats. “When a delegation from America went up to Greenland, we started to realise this probably wasn’t a joke – it’s not reality TV, it’s actually reality,” the shop owner who made the hats told the Guardian. CV
• Finally, take a look at this slithery seal. XOXO.
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