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Good Afternoon Portland! Monday with a little sun? Not so terrible! Now… THE NEWS.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• The Oregon Department of Justice and a group of law firms in the state announced Monday they are launching a hotline that will provide free counseling for people trying to access abortion care, a potentially critical step to strengthen the state’s reproductive care infrastructure nearby states criminalize abortion. The hotline number is 503-431-6460.
Today we announced the launch of the Oregon Reproductive Rights Hotline, an initiative led by the Oregon DOJ and made up of local law firms.
Callers will be connected to an attorney from one of the participating Oregon law firms.
The telephone number for the hotline is (503) 431-6460
— Ellen Rosenblum (@ORDOJ) January 23, 2023
• You won’t believe it, but… are Portland area home prices going down? At least that’s what happened in December, with the average home price down 0.7% from December last year. Lest you think it’s good news and that you’ll finally be able to buy your own lush West Hills estate, Oregon economist quotes Jerry Johnson as saying “Affordability is so much worse” and “You can’t afford that much houses, or maybe you can’t afford a house.”
• It’s been a terribly sad day for Trail Blazers broadcasting. Legendary team play-by-play player Bill Schonley died Saturday at 93; John Curry, one of the club’s longtime television cameramen, also died two days earlier.
In addition to Bill Schonley, Damian Lillard also opened up about his relationship with John Curry, the longtime Blazers cameraman who passed away unexpectedly on Thursday pic.twitter.com/JItnMaLjn1
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) January 21, 2023
• The Goonies house in Astoria is off the market. The new owner is Behman Zakeri, a resident of Overland Park, Kansas who loves the film and tells OPB that he is committed to preserving the house and making other fans feel welcome. Mazel tov to Mr. Zakeri.
IN NATIONAL NEWS:
• Another person injured in the mass shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park, California, died, bringing the total number of people killed in Saturday night’s shooting to 11. Law enforcement officials have yet to announce a suspected reason for the attack, which was perpetrated just hours after the city concluded its Lunar New Year festival.
Brazilian authorities say they have identified the mastermind behind the June murders of journalist Dom Phillips and activist Bruno Pereira: an illegal fishing trafficker appalled by Bruno’s work that was hurting his business.
with @FlaMilhorance:
— Jack Nicas (@jacknicas) January 23, 2023
• Investigators in Brazil have identified Rubens Villar Coelho, nicknamed Colômbia, as the man who allegedly ordered the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and prominent indigenous activist Bruno Pereira in the Amazon last June. The killings were seen as emblematic of both the dangers facing indigenous environmental activists and the Jair Bolsonaro-era destructiveness for the Amazon.
• Speaking about the dangers facing environmental activists, police say they shot and killed 26-year-old activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán outside Atlanta, Georgia, in self-defense, but have produced no evidence to support it. Terán, known as Tortuguita, was protesting the construction of a massive police training facility in a wooded area near the city.
Darryl Richardson, a worker fighting for a union with @BAmazonUnion in Alabama, where Amazon illegally interfered in union voting, he was fired last night. He says they didn’t give any reasons for the firing, but he believes it was because of his union activity.
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) January 23, 2023
Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s path to re-election as one of the most obnoxious members of the US Senate just got significantly more difficult with the announcement that Congressman Rueben Gallego is running for Sinema’s seat as a Democrat, leaving Sinema, who just quit the Democratic Party to become an Independent, facing the prospect of a three-way race without the support of a major party or more time to devote to her Facebook Marketplace habit.
• Finally… welcome back to the work week.
me after replying to one (1) email pic.twitter.com/cPBMQ0nuRJ
— derek boy (@dieworkwear) January 23, 2023
