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Good morning, Portland! It's hard to predict what early spring weather will bring, so when the weather apps tell you to expect early morning clouds, but you look out your window and see clear blue skies, take it as a reminder that weather forecasting isn't a perfect science. Today, our imperfect meteorological predictions call for a high of 53 degrees and a chance of afternoon rain showers, capped off by a sunny early evening. I guess we'll see. 😎
Let's turn our focus toward the events that actually did and are happening.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• March Madness is built for upsets and the High Point Panthers delivered in the first round of the tournament last week at Moda Center. Students flown in on private jets chanting "USA! USA! USA!" is a sure sign of the times—thank god, family, and country Mercury writer Cameron Crowell was on hand to witness the NCAA March chaos.
Wrote about my weekend with the High Point University Men’s Basketball student section and how March Madness allows America’s most wealthy elites play Cinderella. @portlandmercury.com www.portlandmercury.com/Sports/2026/...
— Cam Crowell (@caminaction.bsky.social)March 24, 2026 at 4:51 PM
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• A local attorney has been slapped with a $10,000 fine for submitting a court brief that contained erroneous information about prior case law, generated by Google’s AI-based search engine. As The Oregonian reports, a court found Bill Ghiorso, an attorney based in Salem, “signed his name to a legal brief containing 15 bogus citations and nine quotes ‘that had been contrived from thin air.’” Ghiorso blamed his paralegal, and a short window to file, though, The O reviewed easily retrievable court documents showing he requested multiple extensions to file his briefing. The case in question involved a client he represented, whose marijuana cultivation license had been revoked by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Ghiorso isn’t the first Oregon attorney to be fined for submitting court briefings with erroneous AI-generated content.
• A local Montessori school closed abruptly, after a mass exodus of its teachers. KGW reports Busy Hands Montessori closed unexpectedly on March 14 after opening a decade prior, in 2016. The school taught about 80 children. Teachers quite en masse after suspecting financial issues that affected their retirement contributions. "According to parents who spoke with staff, employees believed retirement contributions had been withheld over an extended period," the reporting indicates.
@todditiesap I will neva save a dollahh 💅 Big Ang was so real, our queen 👏💚 #mobwife #mobwives #bigang #diva #baddie ♬ original sound - KIRK
• Do you like free stuff? Of course you do. Do you like to laugh? You better. Good news! You can win free tickets to this Friday’s Geniuses of Comedy showcase at Revolution Hall, presented by your pals at the Mercury. Enter at the link above to WIN TWO FREE TICKETS to see the comedy event of the season, featuring 10 of the funniest Portland stand-ups with hosts Adam Pasi and Nariko Ott, plus our super special headliner Matt Braunger. This show is a must-see and typically sells out each year.
Enter to WIN TWO FREE TICKETS to see the comedy event of the season! It's the Mercury's Geniuses of Comedy showcase, featuring 10 of the funniest Portland stand-ups with hosts Adam Pasi and Nariko Ott... plus headliner MATT BRAUNGER! Don't miss all the laughs this Friday March 27 at Revolution Hall!
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 24, 2026 at 12:40 PM
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IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• The Pentagon has ordered thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to the Middle East, as our aimless, feckless leader escalates his illegal war in Iran. It's unclear exactly what their mission will be, but some of the soldiers are trained in things like seizing critical infrastructure like airfields, according to the latest reporting. The new deployments bring the total number of US military members deployed to the region to about 7,000 since the US and Israel began the conflict with Iran.
• Trump is demonizing vote-by-mail, while, well, voting by mail. Apparently, he mailed in his ballot for a Florida election, but...waitaminute. If he technically lives in Florida then why the hell is he destroying the White House to put in a tacky ballroom? And will that thing actually be built before he leaves office? Anyway, back to voting. Trump is behind the SAVE Act, which would make it infinitely harder for people to register to vote, like married women who’ve changed their last name, and would nearly do away with mail-in voting in many states, including Oregon.
• Speaking of that stinky, bumbling goon, a candidate he endorsed for a Florida House seat just lost to a Democrat in a district that includes his Mar-a-Lago estate. Emily Gregory is projected to win a special election for a seat in Florida’s House of Representatives in District 87, flipping the seat from red to blue, the BBC reports. She beat Republican Jon Maples, who garnered Trump’s “total support” earlier this year. Both candidates were running to replace Mike Caruso, a Republican who vacated the seat to take a position as the Palm Beach County clerk and comptroller. This is Gregory’s first political run. The small business owner and military spouse ran on a campaign of vowing to put constituents first, and address the rising cost of living. CNN reports Since the start of this year, Democrats have flipped seats in Arkansas, New Hampshire and Texas, where they won a state Senate district that had voted for Trump by 17 points in 2024.
#BREAKING: Democrats are projected to deliver a blow to Florida Republicans and flip a state House seat in President Trump’s backyard, according to Decision Desk HQ.
— The Hill (@thehill.com) March 24, 2026 at 5:13 PM
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• A barbaric Texas law that allows police to arrest journalists for obtaining previously unreleased information from public officials will not be taken up by the Supreme Court. The Texas law was tested in 2017 when a citizen journalist reported on the public suicide of a border agent, NPR reported. The reporter fact-checked information about the incident with a local police officer, and was later arrested for publishing what she’d learned. She sued the police department and prosecutors, and an appeals court ruled in her favor, arguing "If the First Amendment means anything, it surely means that a citizen journalist has the right to ask a public official a question, without fear of being imprisoned.” But a full panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling, essentially arguing officers can’t be sued for enforcing a law on the books. In a dissent of the high court’s decision not to hear the case, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the case “implicates one of the most basic journalistic practices of them all: asking sources within the government for information.” Justice Sotomayor called the Texas law a “blatant First Amendment violation.”
• As ICE agents are sent to select airports around the US, long wait times at security checkpoints haven't improved. In many cases, it's resulted in paid agents standing around watching unpaid TSA agents wrangle massive lines. An attempt for Democrats and Republicans to reach a funding deal that would reopen the Department of Homeland Security and start providing paychecks to TSA agents doesn't appear to be going over well. Dems say the proposal would do nothing to fix the out-of-control ICE and Border Patrol agents who are terrorizing communities while hiding their identities, and recklessly using deadly force on people.
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