by Taylor Griggs If you're reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s news reporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!  Good Morning, Portland! There's quintessential PNW fall weather on the menu today—expect temperatures in the early 60s with some rain. And after a few weeks of back and forth in the weather systems, we finally have a longer forecast that indicates it's finally time to put your shorts in storage and make space for your rain jackets and fleece-lined jeans. 🌧 Now, let's get to the news, because I can hardly wait to talk about it today.  IN LOCAL NEWS: • THE RUMORS ARE TRUE: The Mercury's 2024 election endorsements are OUT NOW for you to read, with a print election guide on its way ASAP. I'm super excited and you should be too, because we really went hardcore with it this year. So please go read our thoughtful, nuanced takes about who should be Portland's next mayor and city councilors in District 1, District 2, District 3, and District 4, linked here for your convenience. I'm not going to spoil things here because I want you to go read our full endorsements. But for a hint, I'll tell you the jaw-dropping news that we do NOT think Rene Gonzalez should be Portland's next mayor, and we have a lot of reasons why. We DO, however, think everyone we endorsed for city office is smart, qualified, and will be excellent advocates for their constituents, helping move Portland forward—not back.  We also have thoughts on local ballot initiatives and a cheat sheet for county, state, and federal races. So if you're a little overwhelmed when you receive your ballot (understandable, considering how much voting Portlanders have to do this year), fear not. You are safe in our hands.  • If you're still hungry for more information and political commentary after reading our City Council endorsements, you might want to check out a free online card game one Portlander made to help break down the very crowded field of contestants in this year's election. The game is called Rose City Hall, and it's nerdy and fun and has a lot of references to current Portland events and recent history. My big takeaway from looking at this game is how cool it is that so many people are getting hyped about the upcoming election, and expressing it in such creative ways! Local politics wonks FTW. LFG.  • LOL. During a Portland mayoral candidate debate on KGW last night, it was revealed that Rene Gonzalez threatened the Oregonian's Shane Kavanaugh (who was also one of the debate moderators) with a libel lawsuit after he reported on Gonzalez using taxpayer funds to spruce up his Wikipedia page. To be clear, my LOL here is directed at Gonzalez, who was accurately seared for the Wiki scandal and is now attempting to use intimidation tactics to change the public narrative. But it won't work! (And, in general, it's a bad look for elected officials and candidates for public office to get into public spats with reporters.) If you didn't catch the debate, skip to around 1:49:00 on this video, and stay for Kavanaugh's expression and disappointed head shake that certainly sums up how I feel about Gonzalez right now.  rene is so petty, and this snarl under questioning is so gross. apparently he threatened the oregonian with a libel lawsuit after they reported on his using taxpayer money to spruce up his personal wikipedia page? @DontRankRene https://t.co/gah9QbF5v4https://t.co/n5TLPU9ul1 — amb 🚌 (@ambrown) October 16, 2024 • Washington and Clackamas counties, two of Oregon's largest counties which border Multnomah County to the west and southeast respectively, are suing the Oregon Health Authority. The counties say the OHA doesn't give them their fair share of tax money to address drug addiction, and are asking the state to reformulate how it doles out funds under Ballot Measure 110. County officials say they're being asked to set up deflection programs to help direct drug users toward treatment, but don't have the funds to do it. With a different formulation for distributing the money, counties with larger populations—like Washington and Clackamas, which are the second and third largest counties in the state—would receive a bigger share of funds than they currently do. But this may pose trouble for smaller, poorer counties in the state that are also working to help treat drug addiction. The results of this lawsuit may be informative for the future of addiction treatment in Oregon.  • An arctic fox was seen roaming around Portland last week, a bit hungry and dehydrated, and while she is still somewhat shrouded in mystery, she is at least safe for now. After the (very cute) fox was captured in Willamette Park on Saturday, she was brought to the Bird Alliance of Oregon's wildlife care center, where she'll remain for the time being. Wildlife experts were a bit confused when they first found her—arctic foxes are native to Alaska and northern Canada—but after an examination, they confirmed her species. The fox may have been living in captivity as someone's pet (which is illegal and unethical), which will make it more difficult for her to return to the wild. So she will likely live out her years in a zoo or animal sanctuary. I want a life of happiness for this fox, so whatever can be done to make that happen, I'm on board with.  Look at this fox! bird alliance of oregon   IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:  • As Israel has blocked almost all food aid from entering northern Gaza for two weeks, it has left nearly half a million Palestinians to starve or flee for the south, where they risk even more danger. According to one U.N. official working on distributing humanitarian aid to Gazans, the situation in the north is a "catastrophe within a series of catastrophes," leaving people with no safe option in the Gaza Strip.  • Meanwhile, the Biden administration has threatened to cut off U.S. weapons funding to Israel unless it increases the amount of humanitarian aid it allows into Gaza. But the idea that more "humanitarian aid" alone will significantly help the people of Gaza is a bit ridiculous during a time when Israel is still launching deadly airstrikes into the Gaza Strip nearly every day. Just two days ago, Israeli airstrikes on a hospital tent camp burned four people alive as they lay in their hospital beds. Still, it's obviously critical to make sure people in Gaza don't starve, and a previous, similar warning from the Biden administration to Israeli officials did lead to more humanitarian aid—but it clearly didn't last. These kinds of negotiations are only successful if the U.S. government wouldn't acquiesce to everything Israel wants, regardless of whether or not it keeps up its side of the bargain. Alas, Israeli leaders know from experience their government will not face consequences from the U.S., and they act accordingly. And more than 42,000 Palestinians are dead, with no end in sight for the siege.  • Donald Trump held a town hall event in Pennsylvania on Monday night, and it was weird. After the Q&A session was over, Trump stood in front of the audience for a strangely long amount of time, listening to various versions of Ave Maria and just vibing out. Trump called it a "musical-fest." Okay, dude.  • In extremely unimportant news in the scheme of things, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show returned last night after a five-year hiatus. Victoria's Secret has seen declining sales in recent years (remote work and feminism killed the push-up bra industry!), and the company hopes the fashion show will help the brand make a comeback. I think people might be done with uncomfortable, tight bras forever, but apparently the fashion show was a success, featuring a musical line-up that included Cher and many famous supermodels. I'm realizing as I write this just how little I care about this whole thing, so I'll be done now. • Even on endorsement day, y'all deserve to see some cute camels. Happy Wednesday/ballot mailing day/hump day. XOXO.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by The Kangaroo Sanctuary 🦘 (@thekangaroosanctuary)