The Really Big News: If you're a renter in Portland, you wake up on this glacial morning with stronger protections than you've ever had. After a six-hour hearing last night, Portland City Council unanimously passed a law that forced landlords to pay relocation costs to renters whom they evict without cause, or who have to move because of a rent increase of 10 percent or more. Here's my comprehensive recap.
One outfit affected by the rule? The Normandy Apartments, which recently announced 100 percent rent increases for its tenants, spurring Multnomah County officials to pledge $48,000 to help some families stay put. If the landlords move forward with the increases, they'll be subject to paying relocation costs.
That is: If a lawsuit doesn't put things on ice (GET IT). When will the landlord lobby sue? It might be as early as today. The Multnomah County Courthouse isn't yet on the long list of closures and delays due to the weather.
Yes, it's icy out there, but, if the (chained-up) buses jamming past my house this morning are any indication, it's still relatively passable. Probably a good excuse for Portland to exercise its newfound infatuation with road salt.
It took almost a week, but Gov. Kate Brown reacted yesterday against Donald Trump's despised executive order on immigration and refugees with an order of her own. Brown has directed state employees not to assist in immigration investigations (so long as they abide the law), and the Attorney General's Office says it will announce legal next steps next week.
Meanwhile, OPB reports local school districts are developing battle plans for if/when immigration agents come asking after undocumented students or students' families.
This is despicable: A four-month old Iranian girl needs heart surgery, and her parents had hoped to take her to OHSU. With Trump's 90-day ban on travelers from Iran, that's not possible.
Well this is odd: Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2,864,974 votes, is suddenly tacking to some of President Obama's foreign policy positions. Those include discouraging more Israeli settlements in the West Bank and not lifting sanctions on Russia.
But, then, he's also planning to sign an executive order today that will undo major banking regulations established after the 2008 financial meltdown, which was caused because banks didn't have enough regulation. The top Trump official crowing about the move? A former Goldman Sachs executive. Yup.
Take whatever solace you can in the fact that people are absolutely fleeing this year's White House Correspondents Dinner, which is a social pinnacle in DC. I attended the 2006 iteration, where Stephen Colbert took it to W. It was fine. Ludacris was there. Shook hands with Terrence Howard. Got a picture with Tony Kornheiser. Free drinks. BUT NO MORE!
It's nasty. There might be more freezing rain in the offing this morning.
