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Good Morning, Portland: There’s too much news to read this morning. It’s cold out. Grab a coffee, put your feet up, and check this out. (Tell your boss I said it’s cool for you to start late.)
IN LOCAL NEWS:
- After a group of protestors disrupted a City Council meeting on Wednesday, District 1 Councilor Loretta Smith told OPB she drafted a city ordinance to allow councilors to open carry (yeah, a gun) while they’re conducting city business. Ahem, what!? Protestors had disrupted the meeting to demand the Council revoke a permit for the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. (That whole thing gets a little complicated because it is land use law, but, there isn’t exactly a specific permit that just allows ICE to gestapo out of that building; even if there was, the Council wouldn’t be the place for that action; there is a way a trial of sorts could end up at the Council, but that would be a later part of the process; and the city is currently doing an investigation as part of that process; and the Council does in fact work on policy that is in their control, like trying to allocate millions of dollars in rent assistance for immigrants, refugees, and homeless Portlanders). All that aside, the idea that bringing a biscuit to City Hall would be helpful is quite dangerous, even as a hypothetical. Read more at OPB here.
- The Police union is also mad, and does not appear particularly good at deescalation either.
- The Waterfront Blues Festival is back in 2026! The festival will take place July 2 through July 4, and features an expansive roster of talent from local legends to international heaters. This year’s highlights include Hailu Mergia, Tank and the Bangas, Ural Thomas and the Pain, Orquestra Pacifico Tropical led by Papi Fimbres and more. Check out the lineup and more info here.
- Two Portland Community College (PCC) labor unions are prepared to strike, and last night, they told it to the board. It sounds like people are upset from all different angles, including students who are hoping to save a beloved music program that serves a very diverse student population. We’ll keep our eyes out for a strike.
ICYMI there were some fireworks at the PCC Board Meeting last night. The testimony from students and workers was so powerful. We presented a strike pledge signed by 783 of our members. A faculty member announced a recall petition for Board Chair Tiffani Penson.
— PCCFFAP (@pccffap.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 6:54 AM
- The city of Portland says the Houston-based fossil fuel company Zenith Energy did not violate city code when it constructed and used new piping without authorization beginning in 2026. In a report released Thursday, the city said its investigation concluded that Zenith was in compliance with its franchise agreement—a contract allowing the fossil fuel company to access the city’s rights-of-way—when it added new pipes and transported fossil fuels over the course of three years without authorization. The Department of Environmental Quality fined Zenith for the infraction in 2024, and a City Council resolution required the mayor to investigate potential city violations. Environmental advocates and some city councilors are still skeptical. They say the scope of investigation, coordinated with the law firm Cable Huston, may have failed to include important context and perceived conflicts of interest may have tainted the investigation. City staff responsible for Zenith’s permitting were also responsible for deciding what documents the law firm received. “…(O)ur task was not to conduct our own investigation or to independently confirm the accuracy of any materials provided to the city,” the law firm’s report noted. Read more on the report here.
- Lots of good culture and music news this week:
- Portland Art Museum’s new David Hockney exhibition is a whopper, filling two levels of the museum with 200 of the artist’s works—from queer-coded etchings to large-format iPad drawings and a video installation. The show highlights Hockney’s lifelong fascination with perspective, new technology, and the viewer’s role in seeing. (On that note, read our review to learn what Hockney means by “perspective should be reversed.”)
- January through March are lean times for everyone, and the week’s Art Snack has way too many restaurant closings. But we’ve also got some silver linings in the promise of naked bike rides, and cool building purchases. Seriously. Mother Foucault’s announced that it is buying the building where it currently stands through a new literary nonprofit L’École Buissonnière. That’s great news for anyone who loves literature, live music, and cool stairway designs.
- Portland composer Derek Hunter Wilson’s new LP on the Beacon Sound label, Sculptures, builds its six compositions from gentle grief and coastal memories. We reviewed the misty ambient-classical album ahead of its February 20 release. Read it here!
- Dang. Would anything help prevent the spread of the disease?
State health officials declared a measles outbreak Thursday following five confirmed cases in Oregon. buff.ly/Z74DCp2
— Oregon Capital Chronicle (@oregoncapitalchronicle.com) February 19, 2026 at 5:02 PM
- New DAME D.O.L.L.A just dropped, this time in the form of a sunglasses partnership with Oakley. There’s probably nothing in the world I love more than a celebrity and brand marketing partnership. It gives me an overwhelming sensation that if I buy what they’re selling, people will receive my social performances more positively, and ideally, they will subconsciously associate me and my essence with that celebrity and whatever winning qualities they possess. Starting at just $244, you too can be a beloved star of the Portland Trailblazers who goes on to win the three-point contest for the third time while recovering from a season-ending achilles injury. (They do look nice in all seriousness. And we love you, Dame.) Read here.
IN NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
- This does not have to be inevitable, but time is waning!
Concerned about ICE’s $45 billion plan to convert warehouses into immigration detention centers? This is what they’ll look like inside. From ICE’s plan for the Social Circle, GA facility. Each little dot: a person. www.socialcirclega.gov/home/showpub…
— Eunice Cho (@eunicehcho.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 4:13 PM
• The Supreme Court this morning handed President Donald J. (for Jackass) Trump a big loss this morning over his big global tariff approach. Details are still coming in, but the 6-3 decision will have an impact on how much power Trump has to run his international protection racket in the future. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented—they know who butters their bread. Read more here.
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The largest rent strike in a century? The Minnesota unions behind the massive Jan. 23 day of action are now backing a potential rent strike to demand an eviction moratorium. At least 10K could withhold rent starting March 1. Here’s what to know (1/6) inthesetimes.com/article/ice-…
— Rebecca Burns (@rebeccaburns.bsky.social) February 20, 2026 at 7:25 AM
- Sometimes a local story becomes national, whether you like it or not. In this case, former Happy Valley, Oregon Mayor, 5th Congressional district Representative and current Trump labor secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s husband Shawn DeRemer was barred from the Department of Labor (DOL) headquarters yesterday after two employees alleged he acted improperly toward them. The complaint, filed in late January, said Shawn DeRemer reported “sexual contact against her will,” at the DOL offices in December. Now that certainly sounds like a labor violation. Someone check with the labor secretary. It is bold to file a complaint against anyone near Trump in 2026, and it is inspiring to see someone committed to sharing the truth despite the threats. The New York Times first reported it, but you can read more here without paying them.
- Speaking of threats: Trump says the world will find out whether the US makes a nuclear deal with Iran or if he decides to invade yet another sovereign nation. The US is already sending military forces to the region. It doesn’t take a degree in world history to remember that the US had already entered into an agreement with Iran and the four other permanent members of the United Nations Security Council over Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump exited the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018 because it was viewed as a major success of former-President Barack Obama’s administration. Trump apparently wants his new “Board of Peace” (which is not a big real estate grift led in part by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, I swear) to broker a deal. It is worth pointing out here that the Board of Peace’s Gaza Executive Board includes zero Palestinians, and it is unlikely the region will see true peace until Palestine is free. It appears the US and its ruling class allies could be headed toward yet another war for peace. Surely it will work this time. Read more.
- Don’t forget that justice can, in fact, be served. Also, remember that what really may have done Prince Andrew in is that he allegedly sent confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein—not the… everything else.
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Jeremiah Hayden
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