PORTLAND DRIZZLE

🍾 Happy Saturday to all who celebrate! Partly cloudy, high of 57°F — the least offensive day of the week, so try to enjoy it before Portland remembers who it is.

Meanwhile, in the world: The House narrowly rejected a war powers resolution to halt U.S. military strikes on Iran. Oregon AG Dan Rayfield joined a 24-state coalition suing the Trump administration over new tariffs. Kristi Noem is no longer running DHS. Bye, Felicia! The economy is doing great, everyone says so.

Treatment providers say a dangerous drug combination called "goofball" — a mix of meth and fentanyl — is resurfacing on Portland streets, and they're seeing it more often. The problem isn't just that people are using two drugs at once. Meth can create the illusion of wakefulness, which leads people to use more fentanyl or benzodiazepines to come down, ratcheting up overdose risk. Nearly 40% of clients at one Portland treatment center identified either meth or fentanyl as their primary drug, and also reported using a secondary substance. The extra complication: Narcan — the overdose reversal drug widely distributed across the city — doesn't work on benzodiazepine analogs, which are increasingly part of the mix. Portland has spent years distributing Narcan like it's the solution. Turns out the drug crisis upgraded its software.

The Trader Joe's at SE Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. was abruptly shuttered Wednesday after the Oregon DEQ confirmed that black dust found on the store floor contained asbestos — specifically a vintage floor mastic adhesive disturbed during a renovation project that started February 15. The wrinkle: the contractor's initial survey never tested that adhesive, so work proceeded normally while shoppers browsed the Two-Buck Chuck aisle for three weeks. The DEQ says the concentration was only 2–3% — just barely above the 1% legal threshold — and that short-term exposure risk is low. Helpful guidance offered to recent shoppers includes washing your produce and wiping down packages. No timeline has been given for reopening. The investigation into how the material was missed is ongoing. Remember: it's technically not asbestos unless there's enough of it. This has been your city's approach to most problems.

Oregon's legislature passed Senate Bill 1570 this week, a measure requiring hospitals to designate private areas off-limits to federal immigration agents, appoint an administrator to handle law enforcement arrivals, and protect patients' immigration status as confidential health information. The bill was prompted by a cascade of incidents: ICE agents shooting two people in a Portland hospital parking lot in January, a family detained while rushing their 7-year-old to the ER for a nosebleed, and nurses testifying that patients with shackled ankles had federal agents standing guard in exam rooms. Supporters say people are skipping medication refills and chronic disease checkups rather than risk running into federal agents. The bill now heads to Governor Kotek's desk — though the state's own legislative counsel flagged it may run afoul of the constitutional bar on states interfering with federal operations. Oregon's answer: we'll sort that out in court. The federal government's answer: probably also court.

Monty's Red Sauce : Sellwood's newest Italian-American joint. Chef Adam Berger brings his pasta-making chops to a menu built for sharing. We tried the chicken marsala, spinach ricotta ravioli, and tiramisu. We friggin loved it. 6716 SE Milwaukie Ave. Reservations recommended.

On March 7, 2001, the Portland Trail Blazers retired Clyde Drexler's number 22 — a monument to the franchise's best era, and to a man who made Portland care about basketball long before it cared about much else.

🌧️ Portland Drizzle goes out daily. Forward it to someone who complains about the city but still lives here.

by Michael Simpson Contact: [email protected]