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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! We could be in for thunderstorms today, as we get pelted with rain and chilly temps. Today’s high is a chilly 53 degrees. 

We’re still reeling from yesterday’s Steel Bridge train derailment and bridge closure, but life moves on.

In LOCAL NEWS:

• Police called a late night press conference Monday at Central Precinct, to announce that Portland State University leadership has asked them to break up an occupation-style encampment that’s been posted up in front of the university’s main library since last Friday. PSU President Ann Cudd joined the Portland police chief, Multnomah County DA, and the mayor to condemn a library break-in and property damage at the site that took place Monday night after a peaceful rally at the South Park Blocks earlier that day.
  

  Hours after a Palestinian solidarity rally at Portland State University Monday afternoon, students & protesters forced entry into a school library, where an encampment has been since Friday. Police, DA & university president now say the encampment will be broken up soon. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/71FnUr5lBQ

  — Courtney Vaughn (@C__Vaughn) April 30, 2024

• A story that is sure to hit you in the feels: Oregon’s $1.3 billion Powerball jackpot winner says he will use the winnings to pay for a new home and ongoing cancer treatment, citing an 8-year battle with cancer. The 46-year-old and his wife will split the winnings with a family friend.
• Four zebras escaped from a trailer while they were being transported from North Bend, Washington over the weekend. Apparently, the driver was en route to Montana and stopped to secure the trailer Sunday afternoon along I-90, when four of the zebras ran off. Three have since been located, but one was spotted Monday, but is still on the loose. File this under: “what the hell are you doing with these and why do you have FOUR?”
• Comedian, vocalist and drag artist Kevin Bertin, AKA Monét X. Change, will still bring the dynamic, autobiographical live theater performance of Life Be Lifin’ to Portland’s Aladdin Theater, but not until January. The artist announced a much-needed (and physician-ordered) break from singing and performing, but promises fans will still get to revel in their stories during a nationwide tour that stops in Portland. Andrew Jankowski gives us a peek inside Bertin’s beautiful, complicated world.
  

  Life Be Lifin’—starring Monét X. Change—condenses over twenty years of their life into a comedic, dramatic autobiography of song, standup, and the art of drag. This tour of the show may be the last time you can see Monét live for a minute.https://t.co/fiSV56u03s

  — Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) April 29, 2024

In NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• An appeals court in Virginia ruled Monday that insurance companies must pay for gender-affirming care. The court, ruling on lawsuits filed in North Carolina and West Virginia, says denying care would be blatant discrimination. The plaintiffs say they’ll appeal to the Supreme Court, because that seems to be the modus operandi for folks who don’t get their way in court these days. 

• As administrators call on riot police to thwart pro-Palestinian protests, cops are showing their bias toward brutality (via @7im)https://t.co/cjBk6wEO0b

  — Rolling Stone Politics (@RSPolitics) April 30, 2024

• Four police officers were killed in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday, and four others injured during a standoff and shooting after a US Marshal Fugitive Task Force tried to serve a warrant. Media there reports law enforcement officers were serving a warrant on 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes, Jr, when he fired on police and they fired back, killing him. Two others were found inside the house, but were not charged or arrested.
• A 16-year-old who disappeared and was later found dead after a protest in Iran in 2022 was likely abused and killed by Iranian security forces, leaked government documents show. The BBC reports Nika Shakarami’s death was initially called a homicide by authorities, but documents marked “highly confidential” detail how Shakarami was molested and beaten while detained in the back of a security van. 
• And finally… I’m hiring these guys to make my next music video.

• When you have a budget of $50 to make a movie! 😂 pic.twitter.com/eOUOApFnzN

  — Figen (@TheFigen_) April 29, 2024