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Good afternoon, Portland! Hope you're enjoying the start of the week and thanks very much for joining us for some NEWS. 

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• A group of some 600 workers with Laborers' Local 483 has tentatively agreed to a contract with the City of Portland, concluding the first city strike in more than two decades. The workers are in line to receive pay raises and cost-of-living adjustments if they and Portland City Council vote to approve the deal. “After the strike [started], they were more willing to talk about things,” Local 483 bargaining unit member Ben Nelson said. Isabella Garcia has the story. 

• The Multnomah County Central Library will close once again March 11 for the second phase of its "refresh." While the library is closed, the county plans to open a "technology pop-up" at 501 SW Washington. Our Suzette Smith has more. 

• Linfield University has reached a $1 million settlement with a former professor who was fired after he publicly brought forward allegations of sexual misconduct and antisemitism against university officials in 2021. Daniel Pollack-Pelzner, now quite a bit wealthier, is currently working as a visiting professor at Portland State and is a scholar-in-resident at the Portland Shakespeare Project.

• Fred Carlo, the Portland butcher behind Salumeria di Carlo, died at the end of January at the age of 72. Carlo, who in his later years sold his sausages at the Portland Farmers Market, was one of the most notable figures in the city's specialty meat movement. 

• Damian Lillard has been on absolute tear of late, and was named Western Conference Player of the Week for a second straight week on Monday. Lillard averaged nearly 40 points-per-game last week, which is somehow considerably more than the 24 points I scored in our sixth grade season finale in what was the crowning achievement of my Portland Parks & Rec basketball career. 

IN NATIONAL NEWS: 

• A 7.8 magnitude earthquake has devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, killing more than 3,400 people and leaving thousands more injured in an area already dealing with the trauma and displacement caused by the Syrian civil war. Recovery efforts are ongoing. 

• Residents on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border near East Palestine, Ohio are being asked to evacuate by the governors of both states because of a rail car that's at risk of exploding after a derailment on Friday night. People within a one-mile radius of the rail car who do not voluntarily leave may be arrested. 

• From Atlanta to Liberia, forest defenders are putting their lives on the line to protect the sacred. This NPR piece provides a look at the work people throughout West Africa are doing to shield biodiversity hotspots like forests and lagoons from development and exploitation, complete with a number of beautiful photos.

• If you have the time for a longer read this afternoon, I highly recommend this piece. Phoenix is the fastest-growing city in the country for Black Americans outside of Texas, but many of the people who move there leave after less than a year. This article takes a look at why. 

• President Joe Biden will take to the Capitol tomorrow night to deliver the State of the Union address, and you'll never guess who embattled-serial-liar Rep. George Santos is bringing as his guest. 

• Finally... a very nice moment from Buenos Aires.