by Wm. Steven Humphrey If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s news reporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can ’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support! GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!👋 Get ready for a weather switcheroo! After nearly drowning during last week's atmospheric river (RIP my basement floor), Portland can expect partly sunny skies today with a balmy, unseasonable high of... 65 degrees? 🤯 These balmy temps are part of an oncoming heat dome (in March?? In this economy??) that will continue through Friday with only an occasional chance of showers. (While I'd like to say I've already dry cleaned my thongs in anticipation of warmer weather... I can't. 😭 But don't worry—I remembered to dry clean a thong-full of NEWS.) IN LOCAL NEWS: • Apparently some people can't take a hint: Portland International Airport has once again declined to show a politically charged advertisement to travelers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—the second time in six months. According to ABC News, the TSA video apparently was intended to convince passengers that any experienced wait times were due to “the ongoing Democrat shutdown of TSA and the Department of Homeland Security.” For the record, the partial government shutdown is due to congressional Democrats refusing to fund DHS until they put a stop to ICE policies that led to the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis this past January. And since TSA employees are designated as essential workers, they are not getting paid during the shutdown, leading many employees to call in sick and take other jobs to feed their families. Portland International Airport officials say that federal and state laws do not allow public political messaging at their facilities—the same reason they denied the first video from DHS, which featured former director Kristi Noem appearing on airport screens and jump-scaring passengers like some kind of pop-up electronic ghoul at Spirit Halloween. • Circling back to that atmospheric river, the National Weather Service (NWS) says that the continuous dousing we got last week set multiple records, with Portland International Airport getting roughly four inches of rainfall between Tuesday and Friday. Thursday was particularly soaking, with the airport receiving 1.73 inches of rain—breaking the record for most rainfall in the city on any March 12 since they started keeping records. All told, however, while it may have felt like we were repeatedly getting our heads shoved into a toilet, this bout of rainfall was only "the 24th rainiest overall three-day period on record." (Tell that to my waterlogged basement.)   An estimated 19,000 runners and walkers gathered in downtown Portland this morning for the annual Shamrock Run Fest.[image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 15, 2026 at 12:10 PM   • Last week the FBI raided the home of an Eugene man who allegedly posted TikTok videos that the agency claims proves he was trying to incite a riot. Gabriel Charles Reed, who has not been charged with any crime, is being investigated for, as he put it, encouraging "citizens to defend themselves against a tyrannical government.” On the day that Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good was killed by a federal agent, Reed reportedly encouraged viewers on TikTok to grab their guns and defend their neighbors if necessary, saying “When the government oversteps their boundaries, we remind them what the Second Amendment is.” Reed says that FBI agents searched his home, seizing his phone, computers, hard drives, and notes, and he maintains that it was never his intention to start a riot. “I don’t own a gun, never made any plans with anyone to do anything,” Reed told the Oregonian. • Get ready to drool... our new food editor Katherine Chew Hamilton has the deets on your newest gustatory obsession: Machetes. The former pop-up has taken up long-term residence at Hey Love and specializes in Mexico City street food dishes, including its namesake machetes—giant quesadillas on handmade tortillas that are the size and shape of a machete blade, stuffed with the customer’s choice of up to four guisados, or stews. (Get back in my mouth, drool!) • OH, and BY THE WAY: Have you checked out the Mercury's absolutely excellent Spring Arts Preview guide (edited by the also absolutely excellent Arts Culture Editor Suzette Smith) that can be found at more than 500 spots citywide? It's jam-crammed with fascinating stories including... book reviews! For example, Baby in the Night is Portland author Kevin Sampsell’s second novel which is about a two-year-old wandering through the night, chatting with the people he encounters, and observing without the learned judgement of adulthood. Check out the review from our Jeremiah Hayden and snap up a copy!   Even if you live in a city as queer-friendly as Portland, being a trans person is a political act. Riot Queens, a small, trans-driven play that recently opened at the Back Door Theater in Southeast Portland serves as a dire reminder that trans rights are hard-won—and still under attack.[image or embed] — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) March 12, 2026 at 12:51 PM   • Meanwhile in music... are you an analog lover? Then don't miss the Mercury's new music column Spin Cycle! Every two weeks longtime writer Ryan Prado will share three newly released albums, and in the inaugural outing Prado tucks into new albums from Portland's #1 meatball Trigger Object, Chicago's jazz weavers Irreversible Entanglements, and The Wave Pictures rockers from London. 🎧 • Hey smarty pants!  Think you know a lot about Portland? Let's find out in the latest edition of POP QUIZ PDX! In this week's super fun, local (and icy) trivia quiz: the idiots of ICE are once again in court, the fate of Portland's only in-town ice skating rink, and an extremely funny joke about Vanilla Ice! (Individual results may vary.) See how well YOU score!   IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS: • Trump is demanding that seven countries—he won't say who—help the US in their war with Iran by sending warships to help him keep open the Strait of Hormuz (a major oil shipping passageway). It appears as if the president is growing increasingly worried that Americans (and even the MAGA faithful) are against the war, and explosively rising gas prices are not helping his cause. Meanwhile the Dubai airport was attacked by drone strikes which hit a fuel tank and caused a massive blaze, delaying flights—though luckily no one was injured in the attack. And Israel has launched a "limited and targeted" ground offensive in Lebanon, which the country claims is controlled by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. More than 2,000 people have been killed across the Middle East since the beginning of the war started by Trump and Netanyahu.    A non-profit organization is calling for an investigation into the events leading to the death of an asylum seeker who fought with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.[image or embed] — Raw Story (@rawstory.com) March 16, 2026 at 6:01 AM   • And if you thought last week's weather in Portland was bad, the middle part of the country and the East Coast are getting pummeled by a severe storm system that includes widespread destructive winds and tornadoes, blizzards, and major power outages.   Top DHS official David Harvilicz has repeatedly questioned the validity of Democratic victories at the ballot box and pushed for Republicans to overhaul electoral systems to their advantage.[image or embed] — ProPublica (@propublica.org) March 16, 2026 at 8:00 AM   • For those who remain interested in such things, at last night's rather bumpy Academy Awards, Michael B. Jordan (the very good Sinners) beat out Timothée Chalamet (the wildly overrated Marty Supreme) for Best Actor, while One Battle After Another (AKA the story of my life) won Best Motion Picture. In other Oscar news, director/screenwriter Ryan Coogler won best original screenplay for Sinners (which received 16 nominations), Jessie Buckley took home the top actress award for Hamnet, and Portland-connected Amy Madigan (who sits on the board at Reed College) won the Best Supporting Actress nod for what will be my Halloween costume this year as Gladys in the horror movie Weapons.   Favorite Line of the Night because the truth... matters. #PedoPrez[image or embed] — Mark Hamill (@markhamillofficial.bsky.social) March 15, 2026 at 7:40 PM   • And finally... it's Monday. Who the FAAAWK dare to call me when I'm so busy?!? @bbyeatitwhole who dafawkk dare to call me when i’m so bizzy #makemefamous #lovelypeachesmusic100 #popularalex #whodafawk #fyp ♬ original sound - memory lane queen ...read more read less