It's nearly Christmas! Please god tell me your travels don't route you through LAX. If so, prepare for some tough sledding. Hundreds of flights have been thrown into chaos because of wind and rain. And you thought WE couldn't handle a bit of weather.
Since the day she took office, Gov. Kate Brown has been beating the drum for more open public records policies. Which is why it's quizzical to some that a new position Brown is creating—an ombudsman, who would help smooth tensions and ease the path of public records requests otherwise mired in quarrel—will be overseen by Brown herself. It's not enough independence, say critics, who believe the Secretary of State's office is a more fitting place for the job. "But with former Rep. Dennis Richardson taking over next year, the first Republican to hold the office since 1985, that option could carry political risk for Democrats."
Speaking of the Secretary of State's office: We reported yesterday that it's launched an investigation into an election day incident, in which a Multnomah County deputy drove past a ballot drop calling out support for Donald Trump.
It's a Christmas shocker! The Oregonian Editorial Board is so salty that Portland is the first city in the country to outlaw expanded fossil fuel infrastructure, saying it "amounts to firing two leadership bullets straight down: one into the left foot, called energy security; the other into the right foot, called economic development."
The central suspect in this week's deadly truck attack in Berlin is dead. Anis Amri somehow made his way by train to Italy undetected. He was undone when police conducting random inspections on a train platform asked him for his papers. He instead pulled out a pistol.
Nearly a year and a half after it happened, authorities might finally release an investigation into the October 1, 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting early next year. At least Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin is consistent. He was stingy with facts right after the shooting, as well.
Nice job, ICE! Immigration officers arrested a man in Oregon City yesterday, and left him unsupervised in the back of their car to see to someone else. He wasn't there when they returned.
Here's a nice story about how longtime Chinatown neighborhood leaders are finally opening their minds and hearts to Right 2 Dream Too, mere months before the homeless rest area is supposed to vacate the area for good.
Before we get into all the ways Donald Trump is screwing up the country on this particular day, read this Christmas poem activist Jessie Sponberg wrote for outgoing Mayor Charlie Hales. (Also read our end-of-Hales piece about his struggles to deal with homelessness.)
Anyway, re: Trump screwing up the country. He advocated re-igniting the nuclear arms race in a tweet yesterday, though his disingenuous communications staff refused to address what the president-elect had plainly stated: That the US should “expand its nuclear capability."
And damn it. The whole affair has the NYT minutely dissecting all 140 characters or less. The paper's now running lengthy explainers about individual tweets. I'm not 'bout it.
That's not remotely it! Now the Trump transition team appears to be going to war with efforts toward gender equality."The Trump transition team instructed the State Department to turn over all information Wednesday about 'gender-related staffing, programming, and funding,' setting off alarm bells among those who fear that the new administration is going to purge programs that promote women’s equality along with the people who work on them."
OH! And you know Trump's national security advisor? Michael Flynn? He recently did business with a man literally convicted of attempting to sell stolen information to Russia. For any other president, that would be an atom bomb. It's just another grim tidbit with this one.
Which is maybe why Jimmy Carter's the only former president who's said he'll attend Trump's inauguration.
And a cloudy Christmas to you!
Hey that reminds me: I haven't posted, nor even listened to, my favorite Christmas song yet this year. Let's sing it together, shall we?