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! Today is going to be brisk and drizzly, but sunshine is on the way this weekend. Don't you just love spring in Oregon? (It is wonderful and gorgeous, but my body evidently hates beauty and the beginning of new life and rejects those things in the form of severe seasonal allergies.) ANYWAY, that's enough from me. About that, anyway. There's a lot of news to discuss this morning, so let's get to it. IN LOCAL NEWS: • Yesterday, Metro Council voted 5-1-0 (meaning someone abstained) to support the Oregon Department of Transportation's $873 million plan to expand I-5 through Portland's Rose Quarter. ODOT's full plan is actually about twice that price and includes freeway caps to reconnect the Albina neighborhood, but the agency can't really afford all that yet. Anyway, most Metro councilors agreed that even if they think the plan has some flaws,  they still needed to support it moving forward. Not all of them, though! Councilor Duncan Hwang, who sat out the vote, said he was concerned about the fiscal responsibility of moving forward on such an expensive project. And Councilor Mary Nolan, who voted no, gave somewhat of a withering speech against ODOT's plan. Read more about it here.  • Last Saturday was one of the largest days of anti-Tesla protests yet, with thousands of people showing their disdain for Elon Musk at Tesla dealerships all over the world. Here in Portland, hundreds of people gathered at the local dealership for another round of "Tesla Takedown" protests, and Kevin Foster was there to cover it for the Mercury. Since the last time we covered Portland's Tesla protests, Musk and his associates (Accomplices? Henchmen? Pawns?) in DC have come out swinging for the electric car company, threatening domestic terrorism charges on people who vandalize Cybertrucks. While those attending the rally in Portland (and in other cities around the world) were hardly setting fire to Teslas, I'm sure Musk would be happy to make it illegal to merely express the (objectively factual) statement that Cybertrucks are ugly AF. Well, lock me up and throw away the key.  • In this week's Mercury music picks: Soovin Kim plays Bach at the Old Church, Prism Bitch, Dog Daughter, and Melanie Radford at Swan Dive, Kraftwerk at Keller Auditorium, and more. Check it out here!  Ben Coleman attends Speed Rack: the femme-forward speed bartending competition that shows off the skills of the nation's best women cocktail-slingers.[image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) April 1, 2025 at 3:13 PM • They're making it illegal to swim in Crater Lake! JK, but those icy waters will be off-limits to swimmers for a few years, with a major trail and lake access renovation project starting in 2026. (And, apparently, this project is still happening despite the hacking the Trump administration has done to our country's National Park Service.) So, if you want to swim in the country's deepest lake, you'd better get down there this summer. If I were you, though, I'd stay out. It's way too deep and way too cold. (But it sure is beautiful to look at, and like all our National Parks, deserves all the support it can get right now.)  wrote about da hobby for @portlandmercury.com: www.portlandmercury.com/Feature/2025...[image or embed] — Corbin Smith (@corbinsmith.bsky.social) March 31, 2025 at 4:23 PM   IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:  • "Dire" doesn't even begin to cut it when it comes to US politics right now. Every day since January 20, it's seemed like things couldn't possibly get worse, and yet they continue to. However, we got a slight reprieve last night in the election for the vacant Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, in which Democrat-backed Susan Crawford defeated her Elon Musk-backed opponent. This seemingly random (and ostensibly nonpartisan!) local election was such a nail biter for people across the country because Musk, working on behalf of MAGA Republicans, threw millions of dollars into the race in an attempt to elect their guy, Brad Schimel. And Musk wasn't just buying TV ads for Schimel—he was literally paying voters cash in an attempt to secure victory. If Schimel had won, it would've been because the election was bought and paid for. But guess what!? The election WAS bought and paid for, and he still lost! It wasn't a particularly close race, either. During a time when everything is literally soooo bleak, this is a win, and a sign that people (including in places Trump won in November) aren't on board with Musk's hostile government takeover. Does that mean it'll stop, though? That remains to be seen. • Unfortunately for Democrats, last night's special elections in Florida didn't go as well. Two Republican-held congressional seats in the state were up for grabs, and Republicans managed to hold onto the spots. On the other hand, these districts are pretty dark red, so Democrats weren't expecting that much there. The Republicans also won by smaller margins than Trump did in 2024, which might say something.  In response to the news, Trump "Truth Socialed" the following message: “THE TRUMP ENDORSEMENT, AS ALWAYS, PROVED FAR GREATER THAN THE DEMOCRATS FORCES OF EVIL. CONGRATULATIONS TO AMERICA!" The post, which is pretty standard for our POTUS, got me thinking about how meaningless everything is for these Republican politicians. I mean, not that they deserve better, but it would kinda suck if some evil guy (who you signed your life and backbone away to) was always swooping in to take credit for your career wins. There's no speaking your mind or attempting to do any sort of good in the world, or you're done for. It's all cartoonishly evil and sad.  • New Jersey Senator Cory Booker finally finished his marathon speech on the Senate floor yesterday afternoon—but only after beating the record for making the longest-ever continuous speech in the history of the Senate. That title was previously held by Strom Thurmond, a racist joke who pathetically filibustered against racial integration and civil rights for a little over 24 hours in 1957. Booker's speech lasted 25 hours and five minutes. • The US Department of Justice wants Luigi Mangione to get the death penalty. This is probably one of the harshest reactions we've ever seen to a white guy (allegedly) killing someone with a gun. 👍[image or embed] — Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM • Oh yeah, and the Trump/Musk/RFK Jr. regime began laying off thousands of people from agencies under the Department of Health and Human Services, with more to come. God help us all. Please believe me when I say these people do not care if we live or die. (Actually, they'd probably prefer the latter. Stay alive in resistance!!!) The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is being decimated right now. Mass layoffs happening across agencies (NIH, FDA, CDC etc).  Some employees found out by security badge being denied. Others got email. Line outside Health Resources and Services Administration this AM shared with me:[image or embed] — Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 6:48 AM • I won't leave you on that note, though. Look at this seal!!! Oh, to be napping on the beach with a sunbathing elephant seal.            View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by KGW News (@kgwnews)     ...read more read less