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Good morning, Portland! We’ve entered that phase of late summer where the grass might be dead, but the weather is blissful. Today, we can expect a partly sunny day with a high of 76 degrees.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Library and violence aren’t typically words you expect to see in the same sentence, but in the wake of recent attacks near Multnomah County’s Central Library, County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson is pushing back on speculation about the circumstances.
What happened: The Portland Police Bureau said a man was stabbed multiple times on August 25 shortly after leaving the Central Library downtown. Court documents from police reports indicate the man and his partner tried to intervene and break up a “disturbance” among a small group, when one was stabbed by one person in the group, and beaten with skateboards by two others. Three suspects were arrested at a park after fleeing the scene, PPB said. Video of that arrest captured by a bystander and posted by Don’t Shoot PDX shows multiple officers at a MAX station near the park with weapons drawn, pointed at what appears to be a group of young people on the ground with their hands over their heads. Then yesterday, Vega Pederson released a statement suggesting the facts surrounding the incident may have been misreported or not yet fully pieced together.
“I recently saw security footage from the Central Library capturing one angle of the incident and had a similar reaction to the one shared previously by my colleague Commissioner Shannon Singleton: There seems to be a serious discrepancy between the video I saw, reports from library and security staff, and how this incident was reported by PPB and subsequently some of the media. To date, what has been shared publicly appears to rush to judgment around a serious incident involving young Black people despite the existence of video footage and statements that are more complicated.” Vega Pederson called on the Multnomah County DA’s Office to release the security footage. The DA’s Office essentially told the commissioner she could just release it herself, with some other choice words about the chair’s public callout of the DA. Here’s the latest reporting from KGW, including video footage of the incident in question.
The public deserves transparency. I’m calling on District Attorney Nathan Vasquez to release security footage from the Central Library regarding the August 25 incident so everyone can have a better understanding of this incident.
— Jessica Vega Pederson (@jvegapederson.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 11:29 AM
• An Oregon City couple will serve 30 days in jail for refusing to seek medical treatment for their newborn baby who died in 2023. Blair and Taylor Edwards, who both belong to a religious sect called the Followers of Christ Church, sought prayer and anointment of their newborn baby with olive oil, rather than medical care, when he stopped eating and displayed labored breathing two days after he was born in June 2023. The baby died hours later. The Clackamas County Medical Examiner determined the infant died of hyperbilirubinemia, better known as newborn jaundice. The light sentence was likely due to the medical examiner’s note that it’s unclear whether immediate medical treatment would’ve saved the baby’s life. An excessive buildup of bilirubin in the blood can cause tissue damage, seizures, and even brain damage.
• Portland police are investigating what they believe is a grisly murder-suicide in Southeast Portland’s Brentwood-Darlingtoon neighborhood last weekend. According to PPB, officers responded to the 7000 block of SE 64th Avenue, where they found a woman, a man, and a 10-year-old girl dead from gunshot wounds. Investigators said Monday that they believe a 22-year-old man killed his 46-year-old mother and 10-year-old sister before taking his own life. The victims’ names haven’t been released yet.
• On a brighter note, the latest edition of Do This; Do That is up, with deets on events including a free art exhibit tonight at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, a symphony performance with drag sensation and Broadway start Jinkx Monsoon, and a free(!) installment of this year’s PDX Pop Now showcase. Consider it your weekly reminder of why you choose to live in hell.
OH, MARY star Jinkx Monsoon heads to town this week, HUMP! Film Festival unveils the second half of its sexy program, and you can swap duds at Crystal Ballroom to walk away with a whole new wardrobe. Read on.
— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) September 8, 2025 at 12:46 PM
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
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A House committee released several documents in the Epstein sex trafficking case yesterday, including a birthday book for Jeffrey Epstein signed by Donald Trump, with a rudimentary drawing of a naked woman. Trump denies any involvement in that birthday card/book/message/whatever we’re calling it.
what a humiliating way for don jr. to find out his dad sends birthday cards.
— Molly Knight (@mollyknight.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
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ICYMI: A US Department of Justice employee was surreptitiously filmed while discussing details of the Epstein files, including plans to remove the names of all republicans from the Epstein client list, and also claimed the US government moved Ghislaine Maxwell to a lower-security prison to get her to “shut up” about the teen sex trafficking case. The DOJ employee, Joseph Schnitt, is a deputy chief of staff at the Office of Enforcement Operations. Schnitt thought he was on a date with a woman he met on Hinge, but the woman made up a fake identity so she could record him for a media company run by James O’Keefe, the founder of right-wing Project Veritas. The DOJ–which seemingly has worse security than your local Target store– has responded by saying Schnitt doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about and isn’t clued in on DOJ operations surrounding the Epstein files.
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France’s prime minister was ousted yesterday, apparently leaving the country’s government in shambles. Prime Minister François Bayrou received a vote of no confidence by an overwhelming majority Monday, after just nine months in office. Bayrou is considered a centrist who’s long presided over the European Democratic Party. President Emmanuel Macron will now have to appoint a new prime minister, but as CNN reports, the country is currently in a bitter political divide between far-right and far-left members of parliament, meaning any nominee Macron appoints that the opposing party dislikes will likely be rejected.
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And lastly, the all-too-influential podcaster Joe Rogan is known for peddling pseudo science and half truths that often go unchallenged, but recently, the author of a scientific study of climate change spoke out about how badly Rogan misinterpreted the study and its data. In January, Rogan had Mel Gibson as a guest on his show and the two dug in on their disbelief of climate change. Side note: Gibson says his Malibu home burned down in the Los Angeles wildfires earlier this year, but also insists climate change isn’t real. Rogan cited an article in the Washington Post, which referenced a study of historic climate models that showed Earth has experienced periods of warming in the past. Rogan took that as proof that climate change is a hoax. One of the authors of the climate modeling study recently told The Guardian she finds it laughable, but also disheartening that Rogan misinterpreted the data. She’s encouraged Rogan to have her on his show, so she can set the record straight.
BRB, gonna sail into the sunset and forget the world exists…
@indianaborn4
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Courtney Vaughn
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