🌱 Explosive Device At Food Cart + PDX Gets New Look

Hey, Portland, we're into a whole new week. I've been scouring the news to find the most interesting stories and activities happening in town and here's what I've come up with.

First, today's weather:

It's going to be another sunny, summer day. And warm, too, with a high of 89.

Here are the top five stories in Portland today:

1. I guess someone is NOT a fan of food carts. A food cart owner in the Lents neighborhood saw a group of suspicious individuals near his cart Saturday night. He watched one of them light a device and throw it at his business, then run off with more objects he said were pipe bombs. Worried that the object was an explosive device, Tim Turcotte, owner of Esan Thai Eastport in the Eastport Food Cart Pod, called 911. Cell phone video shows officers carefully removing the device from the food cart pod. An officer on the scene told Turcotte it was in fact a pipe bomb, but PPB has not confirmed that with FOX 12 at this time. (Fox 12 Oregon)
2. Portland police and firefighters responded to a derailed train car near Union Station and the Steel Bridge early Saturday afternoon, with the response temporarily snarling traffic in the area. The train car that derailed was a grain car on a freight train, PF&R said, and there were no reports of any injuries. A spokesperson said that the only hazards immediately identified were a broken hydraulic line and damaged rail. (KGW)
3. An Oregon state law that was passed in 2021 has district attorneys revisiting past convictions. The Justice Integrity Unit is a team that reviews past convictions and considers them for expungement, clemency or resentencing. Revisiting claims of innocence and speeding up the expungement process was a cornerstone of Schmidt’s election platform in 2020. But after a first attempt in 2021 to get the program up and running sputtered, Schmidt’s vision might finally be coming into focus. (OPB)
4. PDX's new look is nearly complete! Involving 3 million board feet of lumber, the PDX Next remodel project is giving the main terminal a new 392,000-square-foot, curved roof. That roof is almost complete and ready to be moved from the roof fabrication yard, three-quarters of a mile down the tarmac to the main terminal. Building off the airport’s local theme, 95% of the steel used in the new roof comes from within 25 miles, and all the wood comes from within 300 miles of the airport, primarily from small family farms, tribal farms and sustainably managed forests. (Seattle Times)
5. Here's a little good news for Portland drivers. For the first time since the week of May 9, average gas prices in Portland have fallen below $5 per gallon. According to GasBuddy, a tech company that monitors real-time fuel prices, the average price of gas in Portland Monday was $4.95 per gallon. That’s 7 cents lower than a week ago, but still $1.22 more than it was at this time in 2021. It’s also significantly more than the national average price of gasoline, which was $3.92 per gallon Monday. (KOIN)

Today in Portland:

• Experience a night of music and poetry at the Lightship Press Poetry Showcase going on at the Coho Theater. Come on down to CoHo for one night only to hear poems from Sam Rose Preminger, Morgan Paige, Ken Yoshikawa, Red O’Hare, Christopher Luna & Igor Brezhnev. Featuring music by Ari Asteri & Nick Skaredoff. 7 - 9 p.m.
• It's time for OMSI's Science Pub and tonight's topic is Into The Abyss: The Upgraded Human-Occupied Submersible Alvin is Diving Deeper! In this talk, microbiologist Anna-Louise Reysenbach, geologist Adam Soule, and ocean engineer Anna Michel will explore the major milestones of the submersible’s history and scientific discoveries, and offer insights into questions that can now be addressed about the connectivity between the deep ocean and the surface of the planet. Doors open at 6 p.m.
• Take a ride with Heavy Metal at the Hollywood Theater! Repressed Cinema presents a new restoration of the animated cult classic! Heavy Metal features an amazing array of talent. From artists (Richard Corben, Bernie Wrightson), musicians (Black Sabbath, Devo) and actors (John Candy, Eugene Levy) only to name a few. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.
• Come to Annie Bloom's Books for an In-Person Reading from Liz Prato and Yuvi Zalkow. Portland authors Liz Prato and Yuvi Zalkow to read from their new books, Prato's essay collection Kids in America: A Gen X Reckoning and Zalkow's novel I Only Cry with Emoticons. They will be in conversation with Jackie Shannon Hollis, author of the memoir This Particular Happiness: A Childless Love Story. The reading starts at 7 p.m.
• The Unbookables Open Mic night will be happening at the Alberta Street Pub. Spoken or sung, instrument or not; all are welcome. Sets are 10-15 minutes each. Sign up is at 6 p.m.

From my notebook:

• Portland Art Museum: "During the summer of 2020, journalists from around the world came to Portland to document the Black Lives Matter protests. They rarely mentioned the effects of the pandemic on BIPOC Portlanders, many of whom were protesting by night and ..." (Portland Art Museum via Instagram)
• WeShine is one of a small but growing number of nongovernmental organizations, often affiliated with churches, that are getting managed villages populated by tiny sleeping pods—complete with locking doors, heat, and electricity, plus rudimentary bathroom and cooking facilities—up and running. While the city of Portland is still struggling to get the 6 Safe Rest Villages they promised off the ground, WeShine has gotten the first of its microvillages operational in about 15 months. (Portland Monthly)
• Hey, music lovers, the Oregon Symphony has announced the return of the largest free community concert in Oregon, the Waterfront Concert and Festival. This family-friendly event is an all-day celebration full of music and singing. The concert features a variety of music from outstanding local artists and a robust musical program performed by the Oregon Symphony. It's going to be on Saturday, September 3rd, so mark your calendars! (The Skanner)
• The Providence Bridge Pedal and Stride took place Sunday morning, allowing bike riders access to the top decks of the Marquam and Fremont Bridges. It’s the yearly chance to ride your bike across some of Portland’s iconic bridges, and not have to worry about cars. Colin Fracasso-Boone took drone footage of the event if you're curious. (KATU)
• Peaches, one of summer's finest blessings. They're in season right now and that season has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it type of lifespan. While Georgia has been tooting its own little horn for years over its peaches, Oregon and Washington have been slowly killing it when it comes to stone fruit. This piece has a few ideas on how to maximize your peach pleasure. (Eater PDX)
• Speaking of eating, it's Burger Week here in Portland. What does that mean? It means that 48 local restaurants are offering their own, unique burger creations for $8 each. It's only going on until Aug. 21st, so get yourself a special version of God's favorite sandwich. (Portland Mercury)

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So that's Portland on a Tuesday. We've got music and poetry and delicious peaches; what more could we ask on a summer's day? I hope your day is a fine one and I hope you come on back tomorrow so I can talk to you again about what's going on in our city.

— Dominic Anaya

About me: Doctor, educator and now a writer/artist, I'm just chillin' in Portland, OR with my wife, our ferrets, our chickens and our goats.

Have a news tip or suggestion for an upcoming Portland Daily? Contact me at portland@patch.com