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Good morning, Portland! Keep your beanies on, we're in for another day with a cheery high of 53 degrees. P.S. We are all looking so cute with our winter clothes on these days, great job. Now, some news to start your day.
Avenatti Cuffed: Michael Avenatti, the drama-hungry attorney representing Stormy Daniels, has been arrested on domestic violence charges in Los Angeles. As always, TMZ has a juicer, less-verified story than the police report.
Trump Did a Not Awful Thing: Donald Trump announced his support of a bipartisan prison sentencing reform bill that, according to the New York Times, "would begin to unwind some of the tough-on-crime federal policies of the 1980s and 1990s that incarcerated African-American offenders at much higher rates than white offenders."
Trump Did a Word Vomit:
“many of the stories on the front page are about me. You know, all my life I told this story, had stories on the front page. A few, not a big deal. Which wasn’t bad, you know, maybe seven...
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) November 15, 2018
“THE DAILY CALLER: Sir, I do want to turn to policy.” https://t.co/6XaEFo5jUv
Hate Update: The FBI reports a 17 percent uptick in hate crimes last year. That includes a with a 37 percent increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes and a 16 percent increase in hate crimes directed toward African Americans.
Suppress, Suppress: Facebook broke up with a right-wing public affairs firm it had hired to "monitor" news Facebook online. However, a New York Times investigation found that the firm had worked to discredit Facebook critics by linking them to the liberal financier George Soros and pushing reporters to look into its competition, like Google.
Brexit—Still a Thing: Theresa May has been given the legislative thumbs up to pull Britain from the European Union.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: Mayor Ted Wheeler's proposed ordinance to further restrict violent protests did not pass a council vote. Dissenting commissioners noted the proposal's concerning constitutional flaws and dangerous comparisons between right-wing extremists and left-wing counter-protesters. Wheeler blamed the failure, in part, on bad press. Cool deflection, guy.
@tedwheeler @EileenParkTV : The ordinance as it was written by the city attorney's office and originally introduced by the mayor was broad and had clear constitutional issues. That's why the media & experts commentators characterized it that way. (1/2)
— Amelia Templeton (@ameliaOPB) November 14, 2018
Wrong Side of the Track: The TriMet Board passed an ordinance yesterday that was the equivalent of flipping off the Multnomah County courts system. While the courts have ruled TriMet's fare inspection tactics to be unconstitutional, TriMet "respectfully disagrees," and will continue to conduct their randomized ticket checks for MAX riders.
Burgerville Unionizing Grows: A third Burgerville store (the Hawthorne one) has announced its intention to unionize. Will their corporate heads decide to voluntarily recognize them? History says no.
