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! 👋 After a skootch of light rain today and a high of 54, we're in for a significant sunny drying spell lasting throughout the week, with temps rocketing up to a balmy 60 degrees by Wednesday. And now, try to keep your blood pressure from rocketing up while reading today's NEWS. IN LOCAL NEWS: • This past weekend brought another, especially disgusting display of force from Trump's personal immigration Gestapo, as thousands marched on Saturday from Elizabeth Caruthers Park to Portland's ICE facility—where protesters were immediately met with an overwhelming, unnecessary barrage of tear gas, pepper balls, and rubber bullets. Led by local unions, and marching in protest against the border patrol agents who murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last weekend, members of the huge throng—which included CHILDREN and the ELDERLY mind you—were throwing up in the street after being exposed to the dangerous gas, which also caused protesters' eyes and skin to burn. Mayor Keith Wilson issued a furious response to the actions of Trump's agents, writing, “To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. Through your use of violence and the trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame.” To put even a finer point on it, he continued, “To those who continue to make these sickening decisions, go home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children.” WHY INDEED. Our Taylor Griggs was there and files this report along with a lot of similarly furious quotes from participants and city officials. I recorded this today, in Portland, Oregon, at a huge march to the ICE facility in SW. The crowd was full of cyclists who had ridden there in memory of Alex Pretti; members of several labor unions; and ordinary citizens of every age, including this little girl. So of course ICE deployed tear gas.[image or embed] — Dumb Runner (@dumbrunner.bsky.social) January 31, 2026 at 6:05 PM If your children got tear gassed today I want to hear from you, even if you don’t live in my district. You can contact my office at [email protected] — Mitch Green (@councilorgreen.bsky.social) January 31, 2026 at 10:06 PM Here's how to identify some crowd control munitions, canisters of which federal agents have left on the ground after deploying them against people in Minnesota. bit.ly/3YWp1jE Graphic by Mark Boswell/The Minnesota Star Tribune[image or embed] — Minnesota Star Tribune (@startribune.com) January 26, 2026 at 12:09 PM • IN OTHER ICY NEWS: The ICE gassing continued on Sunday as well, as another large crowd of protesters marched on the facility. The tear gas and rubber bullet barrage was reportedly somewhat less intense than the day before, though that's probably because the agents didn't see any children in the crowd. 😒 Meanwhile, the ACLU of Oregon is representing protesters who are now suing the federal government for their dangerous, unnecessary use of tear gas against peaceful protesters. And King Fool issued another of his bombastic, lie-filled tirades on Truth Social over the weekend—though this time, instead of pinpointing Portland, he spewed his ire over the Oregon city of Eugene, following their large protest against ICE on Friday, in which protesters entered the federal building. Falsely calling the demonstrators "highly paid Lunatics, Agitators and Insurrectionists," the blithering 79-year-old warned that any further, similar actions would be met by the "military" who would make them "suffer." (Grumpy Grampy should take a nap, and then learn when to use proper capitalizations and the Oxford comma.) • In case you haven't noticed, Portland's public transit agency, TriMet, is in big financial trouble, and it's unclear when—or if—help will arrive. In the meantime, they say they're going to have to make some major bus and MAX service cuts... even potentially eliminating several entire bus lines. 😧 So what's to be done about it? Get the full details from our hotshot transpo reporter, Taylor Griggs. • Hey readers who like to read things: Hurricane Envy, Sara Jaffe's new short story collection, channels the post-punk charge of the former Erase Errata guitarist into restless, electric fiction, according to our Lindsay Costello. So if you like stories that navigate queer parenthood and artistic anxieties, set in some very familiar Portland landmarks, then have we got the book review for you! • Today's palate cleanser from the Oregon Zoo: Happy birthday Tula-Tu! This petite party pachyderm is 1 today 💖[image or embed] — Oregon Zoo (@oregonzoo.bsky.social) February 1, 2026 at 9:44 AM IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS: • The government experienced yet another partial shutdown over the weekend, as House Weasel Mike Johnson struggles to get the House to fund a package that will prevent a full government closure. One of the big sticking points? ICE, of course, and if the funding for border patrol will be rolled into this same package. Democrats are refusing to budge, forcing the GOP—who have their own ICE detractors—to figure out a way to pass the package as-is, or separate the funding for the violent, immoral agency. NEW: A federal judge has ordered 5-year-old Liam Ramos and his father RELEASED from the Dilley detention center. www.cnn.com/2026/01/31/u...[image or embed] — Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) January 31, 2026 at 12:25 PM • Trump is pushing to close Washington’s Kennedy Center performing arts facility for two years for so-called "renovations"—though the decision comes quickly after a litany of artists have canceled their appearances following King Fool's meddling with the institution. Calling the center "tired, broken, and dilapidated," and based on almost certainly imaginary advice from "Highly Respected Experts" 🤣,  Trump has unsurprisingly refused to produce any evidence that the Kennedy Center is in shambles. (But let's face it... he wants it to look nice when Kid Rock eventually performs.) • Congratulations to recording artist Bad Bunny who made history last night after being awarded the "album of the year" at the Grammys—the first time an all-Spanish-language album has taken top honors in the category. The artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, will also be the first Spanish-language Latin solo artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show next Sunday. After thanking everyone who worked on the album, Ocasio blasted the inhuman cruelty of ICE, saying, "We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans." President Trump on Monday sharply criticized this year’s Grammys telecast and threatened to sue its host, the comedian Trevor Noah, over a joke that appeared to tie Trump to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.[image or embed] — The New York Times (@nytimes.com) February 2, 2026 at 2:27 AM • Good news out of Texas: Democrat Taylor Rehmet has flipped a historically red district in the state to win a Senate seat—and its the same district that Trump won by 17 points in 2024. Rehmet is a labor leader and veteran who whomped conservative activist (and Trump pick) Leigh Wambsganss by an impressive 14 points—marking it as yet another come-from-behind victory for Democrats which is leaving Republicans shaking in their boots over the upcoming midterms.  • And finally, as someone whose cooking skills could use... shall we say... some "work," I feel much more confident after watching these people hilariously fuck shit up in the kitchen. @funny.jio2 Cooking fail 🤣#fail#cooking #funny #funnyvideos #foryou ♬ original sound - funny jio ...read more read less