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GOOD AFTERNOON, PORTLAND! "Do you remember? The 21st night of September? Love was changin' the minds of pretenders, while chasin' the clouds away." I remember, too. Now let's get into some Earth, Wind, and NEWS!
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• The Portland business community's sweetheart council candidate Rene Gonzalez has been slapped with a huge $77,000 fine for accepting and failing to report an enormous rent discount he was receiving from local money-bags Jordan Schnitzer. Normally the space would've gone for nearly $7,000 per month, while Rene was only paying... [checks notes] $250 a month?? Plus getting two free parking spaces?? WOW! I suppose Schnitzer actually does believe in affordable rent (at least for his puppet pals). Our Isabella Garcia has more!
City council candidate Rene Gonzalez may have to pay $77,140 in fines for violating Portland’s small donor election laws. https://t.co/BfOmIs1MyQ
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) September 21, 2022
• Question: How did a tenant who was enrolled in the city's affordable housing program suddenly get served with a 50 percent rent increase from her landlord? And what's worse, why is this completely legal? Our Alex Zielinski takes a deep dive and provides answers.
• Climate advocates are FAH-URIOUS over Gov. Kate Brown's pick to lead the very powerful Oregon Transportation Commission, saying that outgoing Oregon Senator Lee Beyer is a) replacing a person of color, b) isn't climate conscious, and c) will simply rubber stamp ODOT projects. Find out all the deets from our Isabella Garcia.
Celebrating a decade of supporting small budget films and fledgling filmmakers, Portland Film Festival has been looking for a theater. Now, they think the best path forward is building one of their own.https://t.co/qPenGj0WHe
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) September 21, 2022
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• New York Attorney General Letitia James is fed up with Trump's criminal bullshit and is suing him and his family for a massive fraud scheme, in which he allegedly overvalued his assets by billions of dollars in order to pull a fast one on banks, insurance brokers, and the IRS.
BREAKING: Appeals Court panel *grants* DOJ request for a stay of parts of Judge Cannon’s ruling. pic.twitter.com/dx2aGZGjDU
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 21, 2022
• In a desperate attempt to cut the losses in the war he started, Russian prez Vladimir Putin is calling up a new round of troops to fight in Ukraine—and is facing protests at home and residents fleeing the country for his trouble. Oh, and did I mention he's also making nuclear threats? He's making nuclear threats.
ron paul delivered selena. don’t know what to do with this information so i’m bringing it here. pic.twitter.com/O4ZvN2Jsyh
— blaire erskine (@blaireerskine) September 21, 2022
• The House has passed a bill called the Presidential Election Reform Act, which would basically stop future wanna-be despots from pulling the same "wanna-be despot" bullshit that Trump pulled when he desperately tried to overturn the 2020 election. (Psst... only NINE Republicans voted in favor of it.)
• Besides the classic Earth, Wind & Fire song, another historical milestone happened on September 21:
On September 21, 1985, George Clooney made his debut on The Facts of Life. #80s #80stv pic.twitter.com/tjuwIfZBGy
— Retro Clips (@RetroClips80s) September 21, 2022
• Ooooooh... check out these ghostly, super cool pics of Neptune, courtesy of the James Webb Space Telescope.
• And finally... was September 21 the greatest day in history, or what?!
🎶23 YEARS AGO TODAY!🎶@MariahCarey released 'Heartbreaker,' featuring Jay-Z, as the lead single from 'Rainbow' on September 21, 1999! pic.twitter.com/UCdmNeqjzS
— BROTHER (@BrotherHQ) September 21, 2022