by Courtney Vaughn 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! The daffodils may be in bloom, but it’s not quite spring yet. Today, we can expect a high of 51 degrees with possible rain showers and a low of 42 degrees.  It's Sandwich Week! Go forth and feast! IN LOCAL NEWS:  • Oregon already has quite a few data centers (more than 120 according to a data center mapping site) partly because our tax landscape is desirable. So why would companies building these large server storage farms need even more tax breaks? The centers often create initial construction jobs but not many sustained, permanent jobs. They also use up a ton of energy and water to power and cool the massive equipment. That’s the issue several legislators are grappling with, as the Oregon Legislature considers a bill from Governor Tina Kotek’s office that would extend enterprise zone tax benefits from five years to 10. The bill, as written, wouldn’t have excluded data centers from being able to take advantage of those tax breaks–until a legislative subcommittee stepped in and added a temporary carve out that exempts the facilities from being eligible until mid-2027. Read more about the bill and its status in Abe Asher’s latest reporting.                   Companies building data centers in Oregon already have a pretty good deal—and new economic development legislation pushed by Gov. Tina Kotek was poised to make that deal even better before an intervention of a legislative subcommittee this week.[image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 3, 2026 at 9:03 PM • Lil update on that proposed ballot initiative to use Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) money to hire police: A judge recently ruled largely in favor of the Portlanders backing the initiative petition seeking to divert 25 percent of PCEF funding to the Portland Police Bureau. The group made a technical error on their paperwork, but has since refiled. Still, the future of the effort to tap climate-related funds for police hiring remains unclear, because time is running out for petitioners to collect signatures for the initiative so it can be on November's ballot. Read more from Taylor Griggs here.  A judge recently ruled largely in favor of the Portlanders backing an initiative petition seeking to divert a portion of the city’s clean energy fund to police.[image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 3, 2026 at 4:25 PM • Metro Council President Lynn Peterson is slated to leave the regional government agency soon to go work for the city of Lake Oswego as its interim city manager. Peterson has been around in local politics for more than 20 years, with previous stints as a Clackamas County commissioner, Lake Oswego city councilor, and before she came to Metro, she led Washington state’s Department of Transportation.  • While we’re talking about the oft-ignored entity that is Metro, can someone check on Metro Councilor Mary Nolan? 😧           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by The Oregonian (@theoregonian) • OK foodies (is that still in the collective vernacular?) listen up, because we have exciting stuff to tell you about, like this new Korean salt bread bakery, Ponto, in North Portland’s Alberta neighborhood. What is salt bread, you ask? It’s more delectable than its name implies. Our managing editor (yeah, we have one of those now 💅and you can read about her here!) Katherine Chew Hamilton has the scoop on what makes this buttery, flaky and subtly sweet pastry worth leaving the house for.  On Wednesday, March 4, Portland will get its own salt bread bakery: Ponto, located at 1483 NE Alberta.[image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 3, 2026 at 2:50 PM IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:  • Yesterday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (the unqualified cop fangirl and former rancher now cosplaying as Lara Croft) faced the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she was grilled on her performance overseeing DHS. Noem was criticized for her agency’s handling of the shooting deaths of Reneé Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota (shortly after his death, Noem initially said Pretti was behaving like a domestic terrorist) and the unconstitutional tactics of ICE and CBP agents handling immigration cases. She stopped short of promising not to deploy federal agents to polling locations in November, only insisting that there are “no plans” to do so. Among the most notable critics was Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who said Noem has displayed a “failure of leadership” and warned he’d block nominations and legislation in the Senate committees he serves on until he gets answers from Noem and DHS. NBC reports Tillis also shamed Noem for shooting her 14-month-old puppy and family goat, which she wrote about in her memoir before getting tapped to work for Trump. “You decided to kill that dog because you had not invested the appropriate time in training. And then you have the audacity to go into a book and say it’s a leadership lesson about tough choices? “But my point is, those are bad decisions made in the heat of the moment — not unlike what happened up in Minneapolis,” Tillis told Noem.            View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by MS NOW (@msnownews) • Speaking of fuck-ups, Donald Trump and his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, have contradicted each other when pressed to explain why the US joined Israel’s war on Iran. Trump says Iran was about to strike first. Rubio said Iran was likely to retaliate after Israel’s planned bombing of its capital city. • Neither the US military nor Israel’s military can explain why a girls’ school in Iran was hit with missiles last Saturday, killing several children. Iranian officials say at least 160 people died in the strikes last weekend. The BBC reports Iran’s six-day work week runs Saturday through Thursday, meaning the school was likely occupied at the time the missiles were launched. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would not “deliberately target a school.” Since last Saturday, an estimated 800 people have died in Iran, according to the non-governmental humanitarian org, the Iranian Red Crescent. Israel continues to strike Tehran, Iran’s capital, and US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Beirut have been closed as Iran launches drone attacks, including one that hit the embassy in Saudi Arabia and another that hit a US consulate in Dubai. Meanwhile, Americans stuck in the Middle East have reported little to no assistance from the US government, even as it urges Americans to leave the area. • ICYMI: The US government has labeled US AI company Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” because the company refused to cave to the Trump administration’s demands that it be allowed to use Anthropic technology for mass surveillance and for activities Anthropic says could involve using the company’s AI for autonomous drone strikes. Anthropic tried to set itself apart as an AI company that would only allow its technology to be used responsibly. Now, after pissing off the Pentagon, the federal government has effectively tried to tank the company by making sure no government entities do business with Anthropic. OpenAI, on the other hand, doesn’t really give a shit what the government does with its tech. CEO Sam Altman apparently told employees that he doesn’t get a say in how the Pentagon uses its artificial intelligence. OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, nabbed a $200 million contract with the Pentagon last year.  And now for some levity...  @lifein3g Tell me you see it 😂😂😂 ♬ original sound - TheKentuckyKidd ...read more read less