It’s the last weekend of February, and the weather basically is acting like early spring — wet, occasionally blustery, but not enough to stop the daffodils and crocuses and — what’s that? Another atmospheric river is due? A flood watch is in effect? Well, it’s just like I said — it feels like early spring in the mid-valley.

By the way, enjoy these free (well, tax-supported) updates from the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration while you still can: Once Donald Trump and Elon Musk and their cronies get hold of those government agencies, you can be sure that luxuries such as tornado warnings or winter storm watches will become the province of the rich. To paraphrase Mark Twain (who actually stole this bon mot from a friend), “Everybody talks about the weather, but only cads would try to make money off of it.”

“Cads!” That’s a good old word that you don’t see much anymore.

Speaking of cads, here’s Yair Rosenberg in The Atlantic with a piece about how some Trump supporters are getting a dose of buyer’s remorse with every new executive order or offhand remark from the president. I have a couple of reactions to this: First, I think the piece might be too optimistic. Second, people who managed to convince themselves that Trump actually stood for something other than consolidating his own power and riches and doing the same for his cronies just weren’t paying attention.

Remember the Weekend Reader’s advice: Try not to get distracted by every fresh outrage (Ukraine’s to blame for being invaded by Russia? How’s that again?) and try to stay focused on the bigger picture. To that end — and for the benefit of people still trying to figure out how all this happened in the first place — New York Times columnist and occasional Oregon resident Nicholas Kristof is forming what he calls the “Bewildered Liberals Book Club” and recommends three books. One of them you’ve probably already read, “Demon Copperhead,” Barbara Kingsolver’s urgent reworking of “David Copperfield.” The other two books both seem like they’re worth your time. But let’s not put those books on reserve at the library all at once; I might want first shot.

With that said, though, if you need a refresher course in what’s happened over the last month, The Associated Press (still enmeshed in that Gulf of Mexico/America brouhaha) has this reasonably comprehensive review.

The city of Corvallis’ webpage in which it tries to spell out the details of the “debacle” (the Gazette-Times’ word, not mine, although I agree) surrounding the effort to oust Ward 5 Councilor Charlyn Ellis finally is online. The page has opened, shall we say, to mixed reviews — and a general sense that there’s very little on the page that would be new to anybody who followed the case. As a G-T story about the page pointed out, one of the new items on the page is a memo from City Manager Mark Shepard to the council attempting to spell out some context before Ellis’ due process hearing in January 2024. That hearing eventually was canceled as Ellis took the matter to court. (Although the memo clearly was written in 2024, it’s dated Jan. 9, 2023; this is not a sign of conspiracy; rather, it’s one of those innocent mistakes that happen right after the new year begins, as those of you who still write checks will understand.)

Ellis told the Gazette-Times that she was hoping the document dump would offer insights into who on the council or in the city was pushing the case for expulsion, but I suspect that particular document doesn’t exist and never has.

I’m still troubled by the narrative that some councilors are pushing that implies that once somebody — anybody — noted the alleged violation of the city charter that prompted the controversy, there was nothing anybody could do to stop the process. Councilor Tony Cadena, for example, is quoted as saying the entire thing was “a system-level failure.” Cadena is correct, however, when he says it’s time for a comprehensive review of the city charter.

You know what you need right now? Photos of cute baby animals! The Oregonian/OregonLive is here to help. To honor the public debut of the Oregon Zoo’s new baby elephant, Tula-Tu, the news organization put together a slide show of other cute babies associated with the zoo. Tula-Tu is scheduled to make her public debut at the zoo this weekend. Hope she likes rain.

If you need still more wildlife photos, The Atlantic is featuring some of the winners in the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards. A warning, though: Not all of these photos are “cute.” That’s because nature isn’t always adorable.

That’s it for this weekend. As we Oregon residents like to say to each other, stay dry, and we’ll convene here again next weekend.

In the meantime, watch the blog next week for my annual Oscar contest, in which I predict the winners of every category and invite you to best my mark. People who do beat me — and I do OK with these predictions, but I’m certainly not unbeatable — have a shot at winning a gift certificate to the theater of their choice.

And here’s a tip to my Oscar competitors. At one time, “Emilia Perez,” with 13 nominations, was a front-runner. It’s not now. Shirley Li at The Atlantic explains why.