🌱 Portland Garbage Backed Up + Suspicious COVID Testing

Happy Thursday, people of Portland! What was that bright, glowing orb in the sky yesterday? I think I've heard legends about it in the before time. Until I research the lore a bit, let me tell you about today.

First, today's weather:

And just like that, the sun is gone. Rainy and gray today, with a high of 49, as normal Portland weather reasserts itself.

Here are the top five stories today in Portland:

1. Portland's garbage and recycling system has become strained due the COVID-19 pandemic and a spate of severe winter weather that caused intermittent freeway closures in the past few weeks. Frequent closures of Interstate 84 through the Columbia River Gorge have prevented trucks from carrying compacted trash loads to landfills in Eastern Oregon. A backlog of trash has built up in the meantime, and transfer stations in the Portland area are nearing capacity as haulers try to catch up and maintain room for incoming garbage. (KGW.com)
2. A COVID-19 testing company operating three sites in the Portland metro area, as well as 300 across the country, is now under investigation in Oregon. The company, Center for Covid Control, is already facing investigations in multiple states. The Oregon Department of Justice shared two complaints lodged against the company, and DOJ spokeswoman Ellen Klem tells WW it has opened an investigation against the company, but did not say when the investigation was opened. (Willamette Week)
3. The Oregon Supreme Court is now more likely to take up the question of whether former New York Times columnist Nick Kristof is eligible to run for governor. The Secretary of State Shemia Fagan agreed with Kristof’s lawyers that the question needs to be resolved by the top court soon in a Tuesday, Jan. 11 filing. Oregon ballots must be printed by March 17. In her filing, Fagan said the court would need to reach a final decision before that date, so that ballots can be printed and mailed on time, either with Kristof’s name on it, or not. (KOIN)
4. Portland and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement on a proposed new section to the 2014 settlement agreement guiding the city police bureau’s use of force. The proposal lays out steps to bring the city back into compliance with the settlement. Among the steps laid out in the court filing submitted Monday, if the proposed changes are adopted, the city will have just over six months to implement a police body-worn camera program. (OPB)
5. Coronavirus looms over yet another event season in the Rose City, though this year, organizers are more optimistic than the last two years that things can return a little closer to normal. That comes as Oregon and Washington continue to see thousands of new COVID-19 cases every day. There's reason for optimism. Clark County deputy health officer Dr. Steven Krager said there’s a chance we’ll be in a much better position as weeks and months pass and omicron infections possibly slow like they have in other locations that saw a surge in cases. (KATU)

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Today in Portland:

• Tonight is Opening Night for the play Duende de Lorca performing at the Milagro Theater in SE Portland. On the eve of Federico Garcia Lorca’s execution, his life story unfolds from the opening night of Mariana Pineda, followed by his travels to New York and Cuba. Audiences will share in his triumphs, failures, relationships and travels as they shape his life and his art. Tickets available online. Showtime is 7:30 PM.
• Come to the High Water Mark Lounge in NE Portland and rock out with punk band Decent Criminal. Also performing will be the Raging Nathans and the Spooky Boys. Proof of vaccination is required for entry. Doors open at 8:30 PM.
• Come ready to test your Office (the television show) knowledge with Stumptown Trivia at The Pine Street Taproom in downtown Portland! There will be a $5 per person entry, and cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Please show up early to check in! 6:00 - 8:00 PM.
• Alpha Quadrant will be performing at the Coffin Club in SE Portland tonight. Also performing will be a "cyborg from a distant dystopian future" Defender Five and US3R. Following this will be Shadowplay, a Goth-Industrial Dance Night. Get your tickets online. 8:00 - 11:00 PM.
• Feeling a little artsy? Why not tune into the Pacific Northwest College of Art's Visiting Facualty Lecture with Am Johal? Am Johal is Director of Simon Fraser University’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement and holds degrees from the University of British Columbia, Royal Roads University, Institute for Social and European Studies (MA), and the European Graduate School (PhD). He is the author of Ecological Metapolitics: Badiou and the Anthropocene (2015, Atropos Press) and co-author with Matt Hern of Global Warming and the Sweetness of Life: A Tar Sands Tale (2018, The MIT Press). This is a free online event. 6:00 - 7:30 PM.

From my notebook:

• Portland Trail Blazers: "More like “OMG Academy” 🤯" (Instagram)
• Travel Portland: "Fire up your five senses and visit Portland this winter. It feels like nowhere else. #ThisIsPortland @nacheauxpdx @1927smores @steeplejackbeer @smithteamaker @derbykenton @paadeepdx @rollinfreshnw @multnomahwhiskeylibrary @theg..." (Instagram)
• Portland Audubon: "Thank you to the more than 500 supporters who helped us exceed our Give!Guide goal, raising $42,277! And to the more than 1,000 donors who helped make our total year-end fundraising effort a great success, raising vital funds to protect ..." (Instagram)
• Portland Art Museum: "Thanks for the mention PDX Parent! Multnomah County Library cardholders can access free passes to the Museum!" (Facebook)
• In this time of COVID and the omicron variant, one big question that has been plaguing Portland is whether we should have in-class learning for students or shut the schools down and return to distance learning. And given the times, not to mention the election coming up in a few months, this has very much become a political issue. Always eager to wade into local politics, the Willamette Week has posed this question, should Portland Public Schools close or not, to the leading candidates for governor. (Willamette Week)
• I'm still walking on my treadmill, so I'm still tuning into YouTube to look for walking videos to keep me engaged. This one is a nice walk around NW 21st and 23rd Ave. This is where I lived when I first moved to Portland, but I haven't been back through this neighborhood in years. (YouTube)

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That's your day, Portland. Not quite as warm and sunny as yesterday, but we can't have that weather all the time. We'd be spoiled! Have a great day and meet me back here tomorrow for more tales of Rip 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.