We’re still waiting for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether President Donald Trump can legally send National Guard troops to the hell-hole that is Portland, but in the meantime, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports on the latest developments in the City of Roses. Among the late-breaking evidence of insurrection: Two protesters dressed as Kenny from “South Park” and a unicorn were married near the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement building — exactly the kind of behavior you’d expect in a “war-ravaged” community. The Oregonian’s photo of the blessed event also shows someone dressed in a Garfield costume. I always suspected that cat of having antifa leanings. (There’s more wedding news at the end of this week’s Reader.)

In what likely was one of its easiest fact-checking assignments of the year, the crew at PolitiFact sought to assess the truth of President Trump’s statement that “Portland is burning to the ground.” Their final decision will surprise you … no, it won’t.

Are you struck by the contrast between Trump’s efforts to forge peace deals in other countries and his divisive, combative tactics domestically? The New York Times was — at least enough to prepare this analysis, which generated this typical comment from an administration spokesperson: “Another fake angle from the failing New York Times.” Nevertheless, Trump supporters see the president’s domestic and foreign agendas as two sides of the same coin. More neutral Trump observers cite his obsession with winning the Nobel Peace Prize (good luck with that, Donald), while an academic notes that “no one overwhelms his own positive news the way he can.”

The federal government shutdown is in its second week. As you may recall, the Reader last week predicted that Democrats eventually would fold, abandoning their insistence that any deal to reopen the government include an extension of health insurance subsidies. So far, though, Democrats are hanging tough — and may even have won an unlikely ally in the form of Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Atlantic explains why Democrats are emboldened. As of right now.

In big Corvallis news, the new Chick-fil-A store finally is open near the intersection of Circle and Ninth. You might be thinking that, goodness, the Gazette-Times certainly has devoted a lot of coverage to this particular fast-food joint, but I can just about guarantee that the story about its opening was among the G-T’s most-read stories of the week. (For some reason, food-related stories always seem to do surprisingly well on the internet; there’s a reason why the Times launched its “Cooking” site.)

CBS News and MSNBC are both under new leadership — and, this week, those new leaders both issued new marching orders for their respective outlets. At the Nieman Lab, Laura Hazard Owen gave a close read to both documents and found the differences more interesting than the similarities.

Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV this week offered timely praise for journalists and their work: “With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” His Holiness said. “You can also be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth.” I like that phrase “bulwark of civility,” but it would be a bad name for a band.

And speaking of journalists: Good luck to Chris Keyes, the former editor of Outside Magazine, and his new venture: Re:Public, an online news site that will focus on stories about the millions of acres of public land in the United States. Those are lands, of course, that are particularly important to those of us in the American West. Keyes was laid off from Outside earlier this year and came up with the idea for Re:Public on a backpacking trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument — where the visitor center was closed, thanks to Department of Government Efficiency cuts. The Nieman Lab has the story about the new site.

New movies that might be suitable for adults: Assuming that I’m successful in assembling a shelter for neighborhood stray cats this weekend (it’s a long story), we might try to see “Roofman,” the crime comedy with Channing Tatum. It could be a breakout role for Tatum. You might recall his tap-dancing sequence in the uproarious “Hail Caesar!” Also in theaters this week: The filmed version of the musical theater version of “Kiss of the Spider Woman;” “Tina,” a drama about a grieving New Zealand woman who takes a job substitute teaching; and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another.”

What I’m reading: “Soldiers and Kings,” an astonishing nonfiction book by Jason De Leon about human smuggling across the U.S. border — the people making the journey and the people who guide them. It’s a riveting blend of anthropology and journalism and makes a vital companion to Jonathan Blitzer’s more sweeping “Everyone Who is Gone is Here.”

Finally, a personal note: Alert Reader readers may have noticed a certain — shall we say, coyness? — surrounding the last couple of editions: Vague hints that I might take a weekend off for mysterious reasons. Equally vague apologies for last week’s shorter-than-usual edition.

I can explain everything: Last week’s edition was written in Savannah, Georgia, where Diane and I had traveled for the wedding of our elder daughter, Shannon. (Shannon and Grant chose Savannah for their wedding destination because they had spent a night or two in the city on a road trip years ago and had liked it; this seemed random to us as well, but it worked out.) In any event, since I had a role in last Saturday’s wedding — I was the officiant — it was not clear to me whether I would have the time to write a fresh edition of the Reader. (I typically write most of it on Saturdays.) But it turns out that I had a little extra time that day, mainly because Savannah is three hours ahead of Corvallis. The ceremony went well, the wedding dinner was held at The Olde Pink House — a building that dates back to 1771 — and the happy couple seem unusually well-matched.

Here’s a photo, courtesy of Cameron Flaisch, a wedding photographer I highly recommend should you have occasion to get married in Savannah or anywhere nearby:

No need to send gifts, unless you want to send them to me. Cash (or gold) is preferred. I’ll be sure to get them to Shannon and Grant.

That’s it for this edition. Let’s meet back here next weekend.