🌱 Protesting Gun Violence + Baby Born On Downtown Sidewalk

It's Friday, my friends! The end of the week and the start of the weekend. But before we get the party started, let me tell you about today.

First, today's weather:

It's a cloudy day, but no rain and a high of 58. It's starting to feel a lot like spring.

Here are the top five stories today in Portland:

1. The No Hate Zone, a Portland-based organization that advocates for racial justice, held a news conference Wednesday at Dawson Park in North Portland to call for changes to address the rising gun violence in the city, which is disproportionately impacting people of color. It comes just over a week after a fatal shooting in broad daylight at Dawson Park on March 1. (KGW)
2. Emergency personnel responded to a two-car crash in the Old Town neighborhood early Thursday morning involving a taxi. The two-car crash occurred just before 3 a.m. in the 100 block of NW Everett Street and NW 2nd Avenue. A release from the Portland police described one driver, an adult male, with serious injuries unconscious inside a taxi when responders arrived. The same driver was the sole occupant and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to Portland police. (KPTV)
3. The Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, a climate-and-equity program funded by a tax on large retailers, is awash in money but has not adopted methods to track, measure and report its performance, as required by the 2018 ballot measure that created it. That’s the opinion of City Auditor Mary Hull Caballero, who released a report on PCEF Thursday. The fund has begun developing accountability systems, but they are incomplete, the report said. (Willamette Week)
4. In the midst of a racially divided time in America, two local youth basketball teams think they’ve found a way to help bridge that gap — through sports. Nate Palamos coaches PDX Ballers, a youth basketball team from Portland. John Barhoum is the head coach of Clackamas Rogue, a team from Happy Valley. The men met five years ago through basketball and decided their two teams — from very different backgrounds — could benefit from each other. (KOIN)
5. A mother gave birth on a downtown Portland sidewalk Wednesday morning and walked off, leaving the newborn girl behind, police officials said. First responders with AMR and Portland Fire were called out at about 10:45 a.m. on reports of a baby being born near Southwest 13th Avenue and Market Street. The baby girl was also taken to a local children's hospital where she appears to be in good condition. (KATU)

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Today in Portland:

• The Funhouse Lounge is bringing a new type of stand-up comedy showcase to Portland. Leave Your Troubles at The Door is a new kind of stand-up comedy show where the audience's problems are the topics of the jokes on stage. Audience members write their problems / troubles down on a piece of paper, put it in a box before the show and then many of Portland's best & up-and-coming comedians take the issues on with jokes. Tickets available online. Showtime is 9:30 PM.
• Join Ctrl+Alt+Del-Hate: PDX at the Portland building as Ryan Lo’Ree and Daryl Davis talk about their different lived experiences and their positive impact in pulling individuals out of groups that espouse the use of violence. Daryl Davis, an award-winning Black musician, race reconciliator and renowned lecturer, has used the power of human connection to convince hundreds of people to leave white supremacist groups. Ryan Lo’Ree, a former white supremacist, is now working at Parallel Networks as an interventionist to deradicalize people who have been lured into extremism and white supremacy. Register online for this free event. The talk starts at 3:00 PM.
• Join Melissa Meszaros at Books with Pictures in SE Portland for a reading and discussion of her new book, "HEAVY METAL HEADBANG," a defiant memoir like no other, confronting our celebrity-obsessed culture as well as the social challenges that come with recovering from a life-changing injury. Register online for this free event.5:00 - 7:00 PM.
• Luke Broadbent will be performing at Produce Row in SE Portland. He is an up and coming guitarist in the Portland music scene. A graduate of the University of Oregon School of Music with a degree in Jazz Studies, he seamlessly blends jazz, blues, funk, soul, and rock. 6:00 - 8:00 PM.
• It's a comedy night as Secret Aardvark returns at Honey Latte Café in SE Portland. Secret Aardvark is a Portland cult comedy institution - a who's who of PDX comedy with guaranteed laughs hosted by a secret guest so hot and spicy they named themselves after our favorite local hot sauce! Tickets are available online. This is a 2 show doubleheader, with an early show at 7:00 PM and a late show at 8:30 PM.

From my notebook:

• Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo has launched an ad for Mutantis Brewery & Bottle Shop, Oregon's newest dedicated gluten-free brewery which opened back in November of 2020. It was fully funded and under construction when the pandemic hit, which forced it to pivot to the exact opposite business model, relying mainly on selling packaged beer to go. It's struggled through the last year and a half using expensive and inefficient 750 milliliter twist-top crowlers to package its beer, and now owners are trying to crowdfund some real canning equipment to move into cheaper and more efficient 16-ounce cans. Listen to the pitch. (Indiegogo)
• Do you like snacks? Of course you do. That's why you're going to want to know about Snack Fest, a food focused market featuring all your favorite treats from chefs, restaurants, food trucks, popup experiences and all things surrounding food and beverages. Snack Fest is free to all ages, but there is a Fast Pass ticket to cut the line. Children under 12 don't need a ticket, they can use the Fast Pass lane with their parents. (Eventbrite)
• Have you ever wanted to become a pilot? Alaska Airlines is prepared to spend millions of dollars to help students attend an Oregon flight school, get their commercial pilot licenses and then get them flying planes for Horizon Air, its regional sister carrier. The Seattle-based air group is partnering with the Hillsboro Aero Academy to launch the flight school program, which will offer training in either Hillsboro or Redmond. (The Oregonian)
• As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, 2 million refugees are fleeing the country. It’s the biggest European conflict since World War II. The Portland-based international aid agency Mercy Corps is in Ukraine and along some of the borders in neighboring countries. We hear from Cassandra Nelson, a Ukraine response advisor for Mercy Corps, about what she’s seeing along the busiest border crossing in Romania. (OPB)
• Returning to its home at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the 2022 Waterfront Blues Fest will bring the blues, soul, funk and R&B back to downtown Portland for four days beginning July 1. The 35th Waterfront Blues Fest will feature Taj Mahal & The Phantom Blues Band, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band and Curtis Salgado among dozens of other performers. (KOIN)
• For a while, the Oregon Zoo was doing a series of videos where it took baby goats to visit other animals in the zoo. This is Ruth and Sonia meeting penguins. Squee! (YouTube)

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So, is this Friday appropriately weird for you, Portland? If not, the weekend is just starting. Come on back tomorrow and let me tell you all about it.

— 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.