by Wm. Steven Humphrey 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!👋 If you're sick of all this rain—well, first of all, thank the rain for helping prevent an out-of-control wildfire season, but also celebrate because you're going to get a three-day break of partial sun and high temps... particularly on Tuesday when it's expected to reach a record breaking... 74 degrees?! (Don't worry, Portland... my booty shorts are always within grabbing distance.) And now let's grab a booty-full of NEWS. IN LOCAL NEWS: • Exciting news for Portland (and Willamette river) lovers: Metro has given Portland Parks & Recreation a $750,000 planning and development grant to redevelop the waterfront bowl—that big, riverfront area just south of the Hawthorne Bridge on the west side—into a “world-class, toes-in-the-water” park for recreation lovers across the city. This is EXACTLY the type of pro-Portland projects the city needs to attract tourism and locals into the downtown area. (Oh! And you should do affordable housing for artists and musicians next!) Our Taylor Griggs has the details. • The city is also looking to make big improvements to Portland's voter engagement, particularly for people of color and those living on the east side who didn't engage as much as other districts during last year's debut of ranked choice voting. Not only do we have a new elections education supervisor, the city is also hiring an elections and community education analyst, and the program has requested an additional $420,000 to pay for mailers, advertising, and more to help ensure its success. The rules would kick in when outdoor temperatures reach 80 degrees Fahrenheit for more. By 2036, all bedrooms in these apartments would require cooling devices.[image or embed] — OPB (@opb.org) March 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM • Gov. Tina Kotek is sending out the warning that if Republicans go through with their plans to slash Medicaid—which provides health care and more to millions of Americans—it could adversely affect more than 1.4 million Oregonians, about one-third of the population, which also includes seniors and about 57% of all children in the state. Kotek says Oregon does not have the money to pick up the tab if Trump and his cronies go through with their craven plan to further pad the pockets of the wealthy. • Speaking of Trump malfeasance, Portland's postal workers took to the streets yesterday in droves to protest the president's threats to make drastic cuts and privatize the postal service. Postal employees and supporters want to remind us that the service provides a critical lifeline to everyone, especially those in rural areas, who depend on the postal service to deliver needed mail, medication, voter ballots, and more. It's time for another super fun POP QUIZ PDX! In this week's trivia game: local designer cocaine, Portland's Nazi past, and who would you like to be buried alive with? 🤔💀 See how well YOU score![image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 20, 2025 at 9:31 AM IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS: • Today in King Fool failures: A federal judge has indefinitely blocked Elon Musk's pack of acne-riddled DOGE lackeys from accessing troves of Americans' personal data from three federal agencies, including the departments of Education, Treasury, and Office of Personnel Management. Meanwhile the Supreme Court has dismissed a case from casino mogul Steve Wynn to overturn the decades-old precedent that has protected journalists from libel lawsuits... something that media-hating Trump has wanted for years (for obvious reasons). And in other hilarious news, Trump is demanding that the state of Colorado take down a "bad" and “purposefully distorted” portrait of the president which is currently hanging in the state's capitol. (Should you tell him that's exactly what he looks like, or shall I?) • Today in "Trade in your Tesla":  "A new survey of over 100,000 German respondents by T-Online about Tesla shows that a staggering 94% of its citizens say they would never purchase a Tesla car."[image or embed] — Judd Legum (@juddlegum.bsky.social) March 22, 2025 at 5:55 AM TIL that Tesla insiders (executives, board members, etc) have sold *1.46 million* Tesla shares over the past 12 months, and bought precisely *zero*  www.nasdaq.com/market-activ...[image or embed] — ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper.com) March 21, 2025 at 10:23 AM This is the eighth time Elon Musk has had to recall the Cybertruck, which has only been on roads for just over a year.[image or embed] — HuffPost (@huffpost.com) March 20, 2025 at 11:49 AM • Today in even further Trump ineptitude: National security experts are sounding the alarm that Trump and Musk's vast firing of expert federal employees is opening the door to ESPIONAGE—particularly from America's adversaries who are constantly looking for new informants. According to cybersecurity expert Theresa Payton, “This information is highly valuable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that Russia and China and other organizations — criminal syndicates for instance — would be aggressively recruiting government employees.” • Today in "okay... just... GROSS": "Tiger Woods has confirmed his relationship with the former daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump, publishing two images to social media in a post that said, 'Love is in the air'." 🤮 • The first Black Republican elected to the US House, Rep. Mia Love of Utah, has died at the age of 49 after a long struggle with brain cancer. She was famously one of the few Republican legislators who refused to vote for Trump in 2016. • Last night, beloved comedian Conan O'Brien received the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the newly commandeered Trump/Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Despite Trump's unwanted takeover of the center, O'Brien said that he decided to attend anyway because "Twain hated bullies," and much of the laugh-filled evening was filled by comedians such as Adam Sandler, Nikki Glaser, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, and more roasting the ever-loving hell out of the orange turd-in-chief. • And finally... since it's Monday, you probably need this video of 20 dogs saying "I love you." (Since I love you too, make that 21.) @doralis.cornett Dog says I love you🥰 ❤️ #dog #love #dogsoftiktok #funny #doglover ♬ original sound - Funny dogs 226 ...read more read less