by Courtney Vaughn

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Good morning, Portland! Today’s forecast: partly sunny with a chance of …cyclones? Not today it seems. Forecasters say we’re in for intermittent sunshine and a high of 53 degrees, with a chance of evening showers and gusts of up to 11 mph. 🌦️

The bomb cyclone that hit the Northwest yesterday reportedly knocked out power to roughly 600,000 people across Oregon, Washington and Northern California. At least one person died in Washington, when high winds knocked down a large tree that fell on a homeless encampment where a woman was staying.

Great excuse to stay inside and read the news.

In Local News:

Chew on this: If you’ve ever shoved a wad of soft pink shredded bubble gum in your mouth, you likely remember the joy of Big League Chew. The product was invented right here in Portland, during a Portland Mavericks minor league baseball game in 1977. But as The Oregonian reports, Big League Chew is now in a legal dispute with its manufacturer, which applied for a trademark on the shredded gum. Big League Chew’s inventor, former Mavericks pitcher Rob Nelson, says the manufacturer has licensed his product for the past 14 years, and recently tried to buy out his company, to no avail. Now, the manufacturer is applying for a trademark, which Nelson and Big League Chew allege is an intellectual property infringement and violates the licensing agreement.
In local government news, Multnomah County Board Chair Jessica Vega Pederson says she deeply values transparency, and insists her office has always adhered to public records laws. The defensive statement came last weekend, in response to media reporting on a lawsuit filed against Multnomah County by a former employee who worked in Pederson’s office. The employee alleges she faced retaliation and ultimately lost her job after she spoke up about concerns that Pederson’s staffers were violating Oregon’s public records law by using Pederson’s private email to send messages to the county chair. Pederson says she never authorized or asked staff to do that, and noted she turned over 189 emails sent to her private inbox over the past few years, most of which were copies of newsletters from other regional government entities.

Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson defends adherence to public records laws, after former staffer alleges she faced retaliation for blowing the whistle on potential violations within Vega Pederson's office.

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.bsky.social) November 19, 2024 at 11:52 AM
The Portland Clinic, which has operated downtown for more than 100 years, will close soon. The medical center has been in its current location at SW 13th and Yamhill for about 50 years. Staff at the clinic say the location has been surrounded by crime and drug use, making it untenable to continue operating there. Video footage aired by KGW shows the facility’s quiet facade during clinic hours transform into a bustling corner at night, with patients and nearby residents claiming it’s become the city’s latest fentanyl epicenter.
An Oregon judge who was appointed by President Biden for a US District Court seat more than a year ago has finally been confirmed by the US Senate. Oregon Magistrate Judge Mustafa Kasubhai was confirmed Tuesday to the U.S. District Court for Oregon, after having previously undergone a hearing in which GOP leaders heavily questioned Kasubhai’s practices and personal beliefs, focusing more on what they deemed were his woke values than his experience as a judge and past rulings. Democrats have reportedly been scrambling to get Biden’s court appointments confirmed before new conservative members of Congress are sworn in. One amusing take: Tuesday’s confirmation vote likely passed with the help of Republican absences. A few lawmakers, including Ohio Senator and VP-elect JD Vance, skipped work to accompany President-elect Donald Trump to watch Elon Musks’s SpaceX launch.
The weather can make it tempting to stay indoors all week and just embrace the cozy, but our city is abuzz with things to eat, watch, and do. Our Everout weekly event guide is here to help you pick your poison.

We've got the very best picks of fun events this week, from Tinashe to the Sun Ra Arkestra and from A Conversation with Larry David to the Portland Cheese and Meat Festival. LET'S. GET. BUSY! everout.com/portland/art...

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 12:04 PM

In National/World News:

New research suggests one in five Americans regularly relies on internet and social media influencers for their news. A study done by Pew Research Center sampled 500 influencers across multiple social media platforms who regularly discuss “news” on their feeds. The followers of those accounts were analyzed, giving researchers an idea of how popular and ubiquitous social media has become as a source of information, particularly among adults under 30. Among the influencers and podcasters with the most notoriety and followers: UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who regularly hosts comedians and celebrity guests on his show.
Speaking of the youths, guess who Trump tapped to lead the US Department of Education? None other than WWE co-founder Linda McMahon. McMahon previously oversaw the Small Business Administration under Trump’s previous presidency. Other recent cabinet picks include Dr. Oz, Robert “Brain Worm” F. Kennedy, Jr., and Brendan Carr, who would lead the FCC. Carr is cozy with Elon Musk, who is pushing hard to get government subsidies for his broadband internet service, Starlink.

Wait what.

Seriously?

Like he’s literally just watching TV and writing down names as he goes?
— Stephen Is My Name (@crazy_stephen_i) November 19, 2024
New revelations about another Trump cabinet pick, Matt Gaetz, are surfacing. Trump has nominated Gaetz to be the US Attorney General, despite the fact that Gaetz has been under investigation for drugs, alleged bribes, and having sex with underage teen girls. Now, it's being reported that several strange Venmo payments totaling more than $10,000 were made by Gaetz to two women who testified in the House Ethics Committee probe into Gaetz's alleged illegal behavior.

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