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Good morning, Portland! And happy Thanksgiving eve to you all. The weather is set to be cool and relatively dry today and for the rest of this weekend, so wear all your winter clothes that aren’t suitable for downpours. (If you have anything that fits that description…this is Portland, after all.)

What are my beloved Good Morning, News readers planning to make for Thanksgiving dinner? I am in charge of bringing a dessert, and I think I’m going to go with an unconventional chocolate mousse. I still haven’t gotten all my groceries yet…but when I do finish up that last-minute shopping, you know where I won’t be going?That’s right, New Seasons workers are on strike today, and I’m not crossing the picket line. The New Seasons union is also asking customers to boycott the store through the holidays and until the workers get the contract they want, so you might consider that before stopping into that particular neighborhood grocer. 

With that PSA out of the way, let’s get to some other NEWS. 

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Yesterday, Gov. Tina Kotek announced a plan to call a special legislative session in December so lawmakers can approve $218 million in aid to state agencies struggling with wildfire costs. While Portlanders were lucky not to be impacted much by wildfire smoke this summer, many parts of the state dealt with unprecedented fires that burned a record 1.9 million acres. Now, state agencies like the Oregon Department of Forestry are out of money, and need help ASAP to pay their bills. And unlike the Oregon State Treasury, which rejected a $60 million loan request from the state forestry department, legislators may be willing to step in. I must say, this is kind of a weird way for us to handle the state’s growing wildfire-fighting needs, so hopefully lawmakers can work out a long-term solution that doesn’t leave important state agencies begging for money. 

• In other, quite different news involving the state forestry department: An internal investigation revealed a top manager at the Oregon Department of Forestry violated state workplace rules when he behaved inappropriately with a subordinate. The manager, Mike Wilson, is the department’s state forests division chief. The complaint against him alleged he talked about his female subordinate’s appearance and seemingly referred to the size of his genitals during a work happy hour. This information follows a separate investigation revealing Wilson’s boss, Mike Shaw, had a sexual relationship with a subordinate for two years. Shaw was fired last month, while Wilson appears to have received a slap on the wrist. These investigations depict an environment at the Department of Forestry that is, at the very least, inconsiderate of female employees’ feelings and experiences. Without serious changes, fields like forestry will remain dominated by men, as women struggle to be heard and not constantly belittled or harassed. SMH. 

• The community around St. Helens School District in Columbia County is grappling with a growing sexual abuse scandal, which has seen two men (a high school choir director and former math teacher) charged with second degree sexual abuse. Now, St. Helens High School Principal Katy Wagner will also face charges. Wagner allegedly heard about the two men’s actions and failed to share what she knew with officials, despite her role as a mandatory reporter. In a press conference yesterday, the district’s new acting superintendent said the Northwest Regional Education Service District will conduct an independent investigation into all allegations of sexual abuse, as well as other important topics like staff ethics and mandatory reporting policies, and release the results within two months. This is a horrible situation that has left students and families traumatized, and it’s very disheartening to see administrators fail in their responsibilities to their students and the community. It will seemingly take a long time—and a lot of work—to restore trust in the school district. 

Someone got mad that I suggested you get a heat pump to save on your energy bill, so I made it my column. www.oregonlive.com/advice/2024/…

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— Lizzy Acker (@lizzyacker.bsky.social) November 26, 2024 at 4:20 PM

• A lawsuit was filed last week by a man in Clackamas County who alleges a self-driving Tesla ran a stop sign and t-boned his car, severely injuring him. While Tesla’s self-driving technology has been scrutinized and faced legal challenges in the past, this is one of the first lawsuits in Oregon to challenge the technology, albeit somewhat indirectly. The plaintiff is seeking $745,000 in damages from the person who owns the Tesla (I would normally say “driver,” but she was notably not driving in this situation), claiming she was “unreasonably relying upon autonomous vehicle technology.” The lawsuit doesn’t include Tesla as a defendant, but still casts doubt on the efficacy and safety of its technology. For its part, Tesla says drivers are still required to pay attention to the road when using the self-driving features. We’re in new territory here, folks, and it makes me pretty nervous! 

In this week’s SAVAGE LOVE: When he says “eat me,” he means it literally. (Gulp.)

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.bsky.social) November 26, 2024 at 12:23 PM

•  The Mercury‘s wonderful holiday drink week is next week, so get ready and hyped by checking out the map of places that will be serving delicious, fancy, $8 cocktails from December 2-8. Here are a couple that look interesting to me: The Alexandre Le Grand at Sad Valley, which features Benedictine liqueur and creme de cacao, the Fiesta Mule at Bicho’s, and the Winter Tangerine Sour at Clarklewis. But there are many more options, so take a look. 

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Israel has been engaged in a military campaign in Lebanon during the same period of time as it has been waging war on Gaza. The Israeli military has killed more than 3,700 people, many of them civilians, in Lebanon over this time, ostensibly in an effort to target the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The military campaign has also displaced almost a million people in Lebanon. But this morning, a ceasefire went into effect between Israel and Hezbollah, which was received well by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who called it a “key step towards establishing calm and stability in Lebanon.” President Biden said the ceasefire is designed to be a “permanent cessation of hostilities.” 

As he stepped out of the Oval Office into the Rose Garden on a sunny November day in the winter of his presidency to hail the Lebanon ceasefire, Biden clearly had grander ambitions still in mind. “It reminds us that peace is possible,” he said. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/w…

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— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt.bsky.social) November 26, 2024 at 5:01 PM

While it’s good Israel has agreed to stop bombing Lebanon—at least for now—the ceasefire doesn’t affect its war on Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians. Biden said the United States will “make a push” in the coming days to engage with regional leaders and reach a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. But considering the United States’ seemingly unending support of the terror the Israeli army has wrought in Gaza, it’s understandable this promise would be met with skepticism. 

• Earlier this week, Donald Trump threatened to impose steep tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, which would have huge impacts on the economy, likely making prices of everyday goods much higher than they have been under the supposedly disastrous Biden administration. But I’m not an economist, and you’re probably not either. So instead of mindlessly speculating, read this article about how the tariffs could impact Americans. And then you can mindlessly speculate, or maybe stress-shop. 

• Another Trump agency director pick! Yay! (NOT.) 

Breaking News: Donald Trump has picked Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, an author of a pandemic-era anti-lockdown treatise, to lead the National Institutes of Health.

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— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) November 26, 2024 at 6:47 PM

• Must read for anyone who has been intrigued/confused by the “holding space for Defying Gravity” meme that emerged out of the Wicked press tour (none of those words were in the Bible). The New York Times interviewed the interviewer who asked Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, the stars of Wicked, what they thought about people “holding space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity,” and the results were wonderful. The interviewer, Tracy E. Gilchrist, seems like a very sweet and funny person, and it’s good she has found humor in this whole situation. If any of what I just said made any sense, check it out. 

 • Finally…one rare good thing about modern life is that we can livestream bald eagle nests and see what the birdies are up to. I highly recommend checking this out. Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

A new bald eagle nest cam has begun livestreaming from Minnesota. Viewers can watch live as the wild raptor pair builds their nest and raise their young.

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— NPR (@npr.org) November 25, 2024 at 1:17 PM