Portland Drizzle

The weather gods are feeling charitable today — partly cloudy skies, highs near 58°F, and only a 10% chance of rain. Savor it. By Wednesday, we're back to our regularly scheduled programming with a 75% chance of getting soaked. Enjoy your dry Sunday, Portland.

As for the news: the city and county are having a very public argument about homelessness numbers, which is basically Portland's version of arguing about who ate the last of the leftovers. Over at the Oregon Legislature, a gun control law that voters passed four years ago is still somehow not a law, but legislators are trying again. And the world got considerably more chaotic this weekend — the U.S. and Israel struck Iran, killing its Supreme Leader, and Portland was quick to take to the streets. That last one isn't exactly a local story, except that in Portland, everything eventually becomes a local story.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson apparently walked past a sidewalk recently, didn't see what he expected, and decided the entire county's data infrastructure might be wrong. Wilson has been publicly challenging Multnomah County's homelessness figures, arguing that their numbers show unsheltered homelessness going up while his eyes — and the city's sweeps — suggest otherwise. County officials pushed back, explaining that yes, the city's shelter guests are in fact included in the data, and no, the methodology is not a typo. The two sides will meet again on March 11 to work it out, which is either a hopeful sign of collaboration or what a calendar looks like when two governments would rather schedule a meeting than solve a problem. What's not in dispute: the city spent roughly $25 million to open new shelter beds last year, fewer people moved from shelters into housing than the year before, and the number of people experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County has risen by more than a thousand since Wilson took office. He came in promising to end unsheltered homelessness by December 2025. December came and went.

Oregon voters passed Measure 114 in 2022 — barely, at 50.1% — requiring a permit to purchase a firearm and banning magazines with more than 10 rounds. Then the courts stepped in. Then more courts. Then the legislature delayed implementation. Then the Oregon Supreme Court took up the case. Now the legislature has passed House Bill 4145, which tries to map out how Measure 114 would actually work if the courts ever let it. The bill pushes implementation to 2028, raises permit fees from $65 to $150, and includes fingerprinting tied to an FBI database — a provision that managed to unite gun rights advocates and at least one Democrat in opposition. The House passed it 33-19 in a week that featured a Republican walkout, a dismissed ethics complaint, and enough procedural drama to fill a prestige cable series. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Oregon's longest-running legal thriller prepares to add another chapter.

On Saturday, the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after nearly four decades at the helm of the Islamic Republic. By Saturday afternoon, dozens of protesters had gathered at Pioneer Courthouse Square to condemn the military action, organized by Portland for Palestine. Oregon's Democratic congressional delegation went rapid-fire with statements — Sen. Ron Wyden called it "another costly and deadly war" and accused the administration of "making themselves feel powerful while military families pay the real price." Meanwhile, a separate rally of Iranian-Americans who have been protesting weekly for months was already scheduled for Sunday at Pioneer Courthouse Square — this one in support of regime change in Iran. So Portland will host two very different reactions to the same event, in the same plaza, on consecutive days. Only here.

On March 1, 1904, McCants Stewart became the first Black attorney admitted to the Oregon State Bar — a breakthrough in a state whose own constitution had once explicitly barred Black residents from living there.

That's your Sunday briefing, Portland. Three days of dry-ish weather, then bring the umbrella back out on Wednesday when the sky remembers where it lives. In the meantime, go eat a $35 prix-fixe somewhere nice — Portland Dining Month just started, and whatever else is happening in the world, someone out there is making a very good tuna crudo. Stay curious, stay warm, and maybe wear layers.