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! It's another morning, huh? I guess it'll just keep going on and on like this for a while longer, at least. And you know what? That's beautiful.  Did you experience the hail and thunder yesterday? It lasted only about 10 minutes but it was intense! We're due for showers today, with temperatures in the late 40s. But who knows? Maybe we'll see more hail.  Onto the news.  IN LOCAL NEWS: • We said it yesterday already, but I'll say it again: The Spring Arts Guide is out, online and in print at a location near you! It's a super interesting issue, delving into a wide variety of topics—from nail art to Monet to a local politician who wants to make Portland Indie Music, USA. Check out these pieces and much more, and then go out in the world and experience the art for yourself! (That's what the guide's for, after all.)  • From da Spring Arts Guide: Writer Cameron Crowell talks to Patricia Vázquez Gómez, whose exhibit ja’ / buuts’ / t’aan (Water / Smoke / Word) at Portland Institute of Contemporary Art explores the loss of Yucatec Mayan, an indigenous language spoken on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and Guatemala that is now threatened. The exhibit includes video of people speaking the language on the Yucatan peninsula as well as audio of Mayan children in Oregon practicing it. The interview with Vázquez Gómez is very interesting, a brief dive into anthropology and how migration shapes culture and linguistics.    Artist Patricia Vázquez Gómez pairs video and audio in an installation about diaspora and the loss of language called ja’ / buuts’ / t’aan (Water / Smoke / Word) that opens tonight! Read more about the ideas behind it in our Spring Arts Guide![image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 13, 2025 at 3:36 PM   • Portland's hardcore punk scene is getting the national attention it deserves with Northwest Hardcore Fest 2025, which will take place in August at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. The event is organized by 777 Booking and Friends of Noise, and the Mercury's music editor Nolan Parker says it's going to be the "hardest hitting festival in the PNW this year." I trust them on that! The festival will feature more than 30 bands from across the country, including some PDX faves. Find out more here, if you're into that sorta thing. (Or even if you're not.)  • Portland leaders are once again in the middle of a major budget crisis, and they're once again considering dipping into the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF), which is intended to fund, well, clean energy projects that benefit the community. While it may make sense to tap into a fund from time to time during emergency budget situations, the city has systemic financial problems that can't be solved with a bandaid...especially one that is really meant to pay for programs that reduce Portland's carbon emissions and help communities most vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis.  Those who advocate for PCEF staying true to its climate origins point out that even though the fund is large—it currently has a balance of almost $1 billion—it is getting money out the door to important projects, including some big ones led by the city's own bureaus. PCEF's income is also nowhere near large enough to fund all the climate projects Portland could, and frankly must, embark on to make a dent in the city's carbon emissions. With a very unreliable federal funding situation for climate and environmental justice projects, PCEF becomes all the more important.  Regardless, the temptation of PCEF will certainly loom over the budget development process in the next few months, with many possible outcomes and some political strife along the way. Stay tuned!   👇👇"The idea of [PCEF $] to pay for core city services exposes a fundamental tension in Portland’s budgeting: While PDX is flush w/ restricted $ for new programs & initiatives, it can't maintain basic municipal operations such as roads, parks, safety." www.oregonlive.com/environment/...[image or embed] — Shane Dixon Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 9:37 AM   • DON'T FORGET to buy tickets for the Geniuses of Comedy showcase, happening next Thursday. If you miss it, your fellow Portlanders will know. And they'll laugh at you on the street. Eventually, you'll realize it's just easier to stay home rather than face the haters. But that means you'll get fired from your job. (And so on and so forth.) That's right: Here at the Mercury, we use fear tactics to get you to come to our events! But for real, you'll have a good time. So come.             View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury)     IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:  • Dear Senate Democrats: I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Oh, and furious. Honestly, I don't really don't know what to say anymore, but I'll give it a shot.  Some background on the national Democrats' latest complete failure: Republicans are trying to advance a terrible spending bill, which cuts spending for healthcare programs, veterans' benefits, and disaster relief. The bill would also require Washington, D.C. to make more than a billion dollars in budget cuts (how the federal government has jurisdiction over this, I don't know—D.C. statehood now), stripping funding from education and public safety in the district. In some ways, the exact contents of the bill may not matter as much as the fact that Republicans really like it and want to pass it, and they're, like, all evil.    i simply don’t understand how schumer could ever convince anyone passing the trump budget was a good idea.  republicans are dancing on him.  absolutely pathetic[image or embed] — onion person (@junlper.beer) March 13, 2025 at 9:17 PM   Long story short: Given the complete wrecking ball President Trump and Elon Musk have already taken to the federal government without much congressional involvement, we need our representatives to hold fast as much as possible. This bill will make it easier for the Trump train to keep rolling forward after tying 99.99 percent of the American public to the tracks.  The House already voted to support the bill, so it's now in the Senate's hands. Since it's a spending bill, the government will shut down if it doesn't pass, but Republicans need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. They only have 53. But several Democrats—including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—are apparently hellbent on supporting the bill, in hopes of avoiding a shutdown.  BRO! You want to support a bill that will give Trump and Musk more power to take their ridiculous DOGE axe to critical federal programming, shutting down key aspects of the government with permanent consequences...because you don't want the government to shut down temporarily. Got it.  • That last blurb got a little long, so I'm gonna make a new one to talk about what other people think about Schumer's support for the bill. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Schumer's stance a "huge slap in the face," adding that "there's a deep sense of outrage and betrayal" across the entire party. And it's not just lefties like AOC who are upset. Rep. Joe Morelle, who is much more politically centrist, made his case very eloquently: "Frankly, now I think this just gives license to Republicans to continue to dismantle the government. They now have the acquiescence of Senate Democrats." YUP!  Amongst the non-politicos, I like what John Darnielle from the Mountain Goats had to say:  I hate these fascist motherfuckers with every cell in my body and with nearly equal timbre I hate the cowardice of the only people in a position to oppose them who treat it like they were playing crazy 8s over cocktails and watercress sandwiches — the Mountain Goats (@themountaingoats.bsky.social) March 13, 2025 at 6:53 PM I am glad there are some people, including some elected officials, willing to speak up against this cowardly capitulation to fascism. It is just unbelievably disappointing. That's all on that, I guess.  • On a very different note, if you (like me) are an adult acne sufferer, beware! Some benzoyl peroxide treatments from brands sold at Walgreens (including Walgreens brand, Proactiv, and La-Roche Posay) have been voluntarily recalled for containing elevated levels of carcinogens. "Elevated levels," to me, implies that carcinogens are always in these treatments...just usually in lower doses. Oh! TBH, I might act worried about this, but those of us who deal with chronic skin problems are probably willing to try a lot of potentially dangerous treatments in hopes of finding the miracle cure. So, whatever.  For the record, the products are only being taken off shelves, and customers aren't being told to take action at this time. So if you do use one of these items, you'll probably be fine. It's just another reminder that pain is beauty, and also, the FDA is a helpful department who warns us about stuff like this. So let's not get rid of it. • Federal judges in San Francisco and Maryland have issued rulings ordering the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal employees who were fired in recent weeks. The judges said the firings were illegal, as agencies didn't do employee evaluations or notify states or mass layoffs, as they're required to do. The employees who are ordered reinstated come from departments including Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Homeland Security, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. The White House is appealing the decisions—and this administration isn't exactly too keen on "following the law" anyway—but this is still a good show of force against Trump and Musk's illegal and catastrophic actions.  • Earlier this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared a War on Bike Lanes, demanding a pause on federal grants meant for bike facilities and so-called "green infrastructure," which I guess he and the rest of the Trump administration think are communist or whatever. (Check out this BikePortland article for the potential local impacts of this decision.) It's not a surprise they're doing this, but it is ridiculous—and dangerous—and it's very clear there's no real sense behind it. I'd love to ask Duffy and likeminded folks to really explain what they think is so bad about bike infrastructure, and watch them flounder. These are not serious people.   NEW: U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has ordered officials to stop action on all Biden-era discretionary grants to build bike lanes and other "green infrastructure" so the agency can review the project for possible removal.[image or embed] — Streetsblog USA (@usa.streetsblog.org) March 12, 2025 at 9:05 AM   • Finally, if you're going to the coast this weekend (and you're probably not, because it's gonna be raining, but whatever), remember this could be under your bare feet on your sandy stroll. STAY VIGILANT! And have a great weekend, all.              View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by AccuWeather (@accuweather)     ...read more read less