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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!👋
If you successfully navigated Thanksgiving only to suddenly discover that even more overwhelming holidays are looming, and you're like, "Oh, shit... I can't EVEN," then here's a surefire way to calm your sweet ass down: It's the Mercury's HOLIDAY DRINK WEEK! It's starting today and running through December 7! Picture this: The most festive, holly-jolly holiday-themed cocktails stirred up by Portland's best barkeeps, and they're only $10 each! Trust me, these drinks will both warm and calm your cockles. And now? Let's warm the cockles of some NEWS.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• It's December 1—which for those of you with a good memory for campaign promises will remember is the day that Mayor Keith Wilson promised that unsheltered homelessness would come to an end in Portland. Shockingly [he said sarcastically], that has not happened, and in fact, there are a thousand more unsheltered Portlanders on the street since Wilson took office, bringing the total to roughly 7,500. Wilson did fulfill his promise of finding funding for 1,500 additional shelter beds (890 are in operation), and because of his efforts many are willing to grant him grace to continue his audacious plan. Unfortunately, he has also returned to the failed policy of sweeping homeless Portlanders, which has been proven time and again to simply move houseless people from neighborhood to neighborhood, while actually decreasing their chances of getting into permanent housing. And since Portland still needs at least 20,000 affordable housing units for low-income residents—and that doesn't appear to be the focus of Wilson's plan—don't expect things to get much better, and stay tuned for the next big campaign promise.
Oregon and New York are part of a 22-state lawsuit challenging new USDA guidance that strips SNAP benefits from refugees, asylum seekers, and other lawful residents.
AG Dan Rayfield says thousands in Oregon could lose food assistance unless the court intervenes. 👇
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) November 26, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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• As of last week, unionized Starbucks workers in Portland and across the nation remained on strike and are refusing to return to work until management resolves labor complaints and return to the bargaining table. There are 95 union shops across the nation, with seven of those in the Portland area and two in Eugene. According to Maggie Bolden, a shift supervisor at the Starbucks location at SE 126th and Division, striking workers will remain on the picket line until their demands are met—though they insist they're getting close, with only "wages and safe and secure staffing" left to be finalized in the contract. Wanna know more? Our Abe Asher has the details.
You know it's the holiday season in Portland when the nose is lit on the White Stag sign.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) November 27, 2025 at 7:01 PM
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• Following the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, and Trump's racist, knee-jerk reaction to stop issuing visas to people from Afghanistan, legitimate concerns are growing within Oregon's Afghan population. It's estimated that at least 8,000 Afghan refugees live in the state, and those who were very close to receiving permanent residency status are now in limbo—or worse, unable to feed their families and possibly being deported.
• The first wave of TriMet service cuts went into effect yesterday, and besides laying off 68 employees last month, several bus lines are seeing their hours of operation diminished. These include shorter running hours for the FX2-Division, 35-Macadam/Greeley, 77-Broadway/Halsey, and others, with even more cuts expected in March. TriMet is saying these cuts must be made in order to avoid even more devastating cuts in the future.
• Have you read Donovan Scribes' latest edition of his column, The Black Byline? It is an absolute banger, which weaves together elements of the Netflix documentary The Perfect Neighbor—which uses cop body cam footage to document a white woman's murder of her Black neighbor—with Oregon and Portland's own racist past. Do not miss!
It’s time once again to put your brainy-brain to the test with this week’s edition of POP QUIZ PDX 💡
And this week we’ll be testing your knowledge on recent, local big events, including the always embarrassing clowns of ICE, and YOUR vote for the best Thanksgiving side dish ever!
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) November 27, 2025 at 11:48 AM
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IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Add this one to the ever-growing list of Trump corrupt fuck-ups: An appeals court has ruled that the president unlawfully appointed his former personal attorney, Alina Habba, as top prosecutor in New Jersey. The panel of judges unanimously agreed that Trump and his cronies went to extraordinary means to bypass Senate confirmation in order to place Habba in her high-ranking position, and the embarrassing loss in court could spell trouble for more of the president's sketchy appointees, hee-hee-hee!
Breaking News: A federal court said that Alina Habba, a Trump-appointed lawyer, had been serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey. She was neither confirmed by the Senate nor appointed by district trial court judges — the two traditional pathways.
— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) December 1, 2025 at 6:58 AM
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• Even Republicans are squeamish about the Secretary of Defense Pete Heseth's order to "kill 'em all" when American forces carried out a strike on a suspected drug boat operating in the Caribbean. The military struck the same boat again after noticing there were survivors in the water clinging to the wreckage, killing them as well—an action many consider to be at the very least a war crime. The Republican-led Senate and House armed services committees are swearing up and down to conduct “vigorous oversight," while Dems are calling Hegseth's actions "murder," and that they should be treated as such. And because he is a sub-intelligent ghoul, Hegseth responded by making a joke about it.
• Trump is inviting the families of the two West Virginia National Guard members who were shot last week in Washington, DC, to the White House. The suspected shooter was an Afghan national (and former CIA employee) who was reportedly experiencing severe mental distress before allegedly ambushing and shooting the two Guard members, one of whom died days later. In response, the president has (illegally) deployed another 500 troops to the area, and as mentioned earlier, has stopped issuing visas to people from Afghanistan.
The president declined to answer a reporter's question—only to instantly forget and then confirm exactly what he'd been asked.
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast.bsky.social) December 1, 2025 at 7:57 AM
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• Luigi Mangione, the sorry-but-he's-attractive suspected murderer of a UnitedHealth CEO, is back in court this week for a pre-trial hearing, in which he's pleading not guilty to nine state counts and two federal counts. Mangione's lawyers hoping to get some evidence thrown out, claiming they was obtained illegally. The hearings are expected to last all week.
• Today in "insert eye-rolling emoji here": "Trump willing to release MRI results, but says he has ‘no idea’ which part of body it examined." 🙄
• And finally... it's the busiest season of the year, and your co-workers are STILL asking you to do their work for them? Here are some (hilarious) things to say when they try to scrape their shit onto your plate.
@consider.this.mediaUse these tip ❤️
♬ growth - Gede Yudis
