🌱 Is Burnside Bridge Earthquake-Ready? + Snowy Owl In Troutdale

What's up, Portland? How's your week going? We're already at the halfway point, but the holidays have many people acting like they're already on vacation. And that's just the way it should be. Now let me tell you about today.

First, today's weather:

We've got a gray, drizzly day for our Wednesday and a high of 41. And it's still not technically winter yet.

Here are the top stories in Portland today:

1. The city of Portland has been evaluating its infrastructure in preparation for a potential earthquake that could damage its buildings, bridges and roads. One concern is for the Burnside Bridge and how an earthquake may affect the 95-year-old structure. Plans have been made to rebuild the bridge to be earthquake ready, but now inflation has driven the price of those plans to an unpalatable high of $1 billion. (OPB News)
2. It's finally here. Omicron has come to Oregon. Three cases have been detected. Two were in Washington residents and one in a Multnomah County resident. All three had been considered fully vaccinated, according to the state, which added that two had traveled internationally. Oregon's epidemiologist, Dr. Dean Sidelinger said that "it can't be emphasized enough that vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19 infection and transmission, including most circulating variants." (Portland Patch)
3. City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the city’s police union, its former president Brian Hunzeker, and a Portland Police Bureau officer named Kerri Ottoman, alleging they leaked information that falsely implicated Hardesty in a hit-and-run crash last spring. The lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, provides insight into a complex, murky saga that began more than nine months ago. (Willamette Week)
4. Oregon lawmakers passed four bills during a special session Monday aimed at bringing relief to renters, those affected by drought and last summer’s “heat dome,” and Afghan refugees, as well more money for cracking down on illegal marijuana grows. The bills will allocate $215 million to prevent winter evictions and transition to long-term, locally delivered eviction prevention services. Out of the proposed funds, $100 million would be for additional emergency rental assistance -- for both tenants and landlords. (KATU)
5. Some Portland residents got a surprise on Tuesday morning, snow! Overnight into Tuesday, de-icing trucks were on Burnside and PBOT turned on its “carry chains/traction tires” signs on both West Burnside and Southwest Sam Jackson Road. Agencies across the metro area reported crashes Tuesday morning. Weather forecasts show that there may be more snow in Portland this morning, so be careful out there. (KPTV)

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Today in Portland:

• The tree may be lit, but there are still performances going on in Pioneer Courthouse Square. If you're downtown and want to hear some lunchtime holiday music, Rae Gordon will be performing. The multi-award-winning Rae Gordon Band serves up a potent stew of gritty blues and heartfelt soul – soaring vocals with searing guitar counterpoint, high-energy horns and a hard-driving rhythm section with the power of a freight train. Noon - 1:00 PM.
• Grooving for the Give Guide! will be happening at Holocene in SE Portland tonight. Featuring Brown Calculus, Lo Steele & Charlie 3rown, Veana Baby and DJ Timothy Bee, it's a fundraiser with 100% of proceeds benefitting the Give Guide campaigns for Friends of Noise, My Voice Music and Portland Radio Project. Tickets available online. Doors open at 8:00 PM.
• If you're in the mood for a movie tonight, consider checking out the Hollywood Theater in NE Portland for their Oregon Made Film Series. Tonight's feature is the comedy heist movie Bandits. BANDITS takes a Grand Tour of Oregon from Portland’s Broadway Bridge, through a room with a view over Lake Oswego, over to Oregon City for a quick bank job and then south to Silverton (doubling as Klamath Falls) and Salem before heading into California and finishing this not one, not two, but three different time period narrative of a three-way love triangle in Century City. Showtime is 8:00 PM.
• Think you're pretty good at ping pong? Test your mettle at Saturday Acedemy's Battle of the Paddles happening at Pips & Bounce in SE Portland. Battle of the Paddles is an all-ages event and is free to attend! For entry into the tournament, we ask that you donate a minimum of $5 to Saturday Academy at the door, either in cash, via text donation, or on our website. Free registration online. 6:00 - 9:00 PM.
• Come see the "best party band in Los Angeles" The Red Elvises at The Jack London Revue in downtown Portland. The surf music band that created the soundtrack for cult classic Six String Samurai is in town, so get your tickets online and get ready to have some fun. Doors open at 8:00 PM.

From my notebook:

• Portland Trail Blazers: "Season-high 26 points off the bench for Ant 🪣🐜🪣" (Instagram)
• Travel Portland: "After a hiatus last year, @TheGrottoPDX's Christmas Festival of Lights is back and more beautiful than ever. It features more than two million lights and is the largest Christmas choral festival in the world. Check out the link in our bi..." (Instagram)
• Portland Audubon: "Just starting the week off right with a smiley Snowy Owl photo to brighten up your day! Believe it or not, a Snowy Owl has been spotted recently in Troutdale and then again a couple days later in Eugene! That is unexpected and made it ..." (Instagram)
• If you have someone who loves to cook on your Christmas list, or even if they just like food, you may wish to explore Wellspent Market in NE Portland. Kohr Harlan of KOIN 6 News ventures into this delicious food market to see its array of rare and exotic ingredients. (KOIN)
• Along with the Holiday Season comes a plethora of sappy and saccharine sweet holiday movies. Whether you're a fan or not, Blair Stenvick of the Portland Mercury pitches some interesting ideas for such movies ... if they were set in Portland. Not going to lie, I'd watch these. (Portland Mercury)
• The Santa Clones are back in Portland this year! Portland designer Chris Willis has been setting up installations of hundreds of lit up Santa figures at unexpected places around the city. He leaves clues on his Instagram account of where you can find them. Okay, now that's a Portland-brand of holiday fun! (YouTube)

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There's your Wednesday, peoples. Enjoy it. I hope you are filled with the holiday spirit and are telling your loved ones how you feel, but, if you are, the next step is to make that a year-round thing. Have an awesome day and meet me back here tomorrow, where I'll talk more about Portland.

— 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.