Remember when we never had heard the phrase “atmospheric river?” Were we happier then?

Oregon residents who don’t live in Portland tend to have a love-hate relationship with the City of Roses — after all, there’s no place to park in that hellhole. But Portland’s whimsical resistance to President Donald Trump’s decision to dispatch federal troops to the city has caught the nation’s eye for a reason: It’s great. It turns out to be true what they say about how authoritarians hate humor — especially when they’re the butt of the joke. The resistance also has fueled a resurgence in Portland civic pride, as The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Julia Silverman reports.

Meanwhile, here’s the latest update from the war-torn besieged city.

Samaritan Health Services in Corvallis has announced plans for an “affiliation agreement” with Tacoma-based MultiCare, a nonprofit health system with 13 hospitals in Washington state and more than 300 primary, urgent, pediatric and specialty care locations. The boards of both organizations have agreed to the deal, which apparently includes plans to invest in Samaritan’s facilities, but it must be approved by the state. There’s no doubt that Samaritan — like many Oregon health care providers — faces financial challenges — but let’s hope the state review is thorough, especially in the wake of recent events involving Optum’s takeover of The Corvallis Clinic. The Lund Report, a website that covers health care in Oregon, broke the story. Hans Boyle at the Gazette-Times followed up. A small peeve: What is it about these health care companies that they insist on smushing two words together and adding a capital letter midway through — like, for example, MultiCare? Are times so hard for these companies that they can no longer afford spaces between words?

It was a busy week for the G-T’s Boyle (although, since the G-T/D-H newsroom is down to six people, it’s probably fair to say that every week is busy): He had an update on plans to close Corvallis schools to deal with a budget shortfall and a steep decline in the number of students in the district. In a bit of a surprise, Letitia Carson Elementary has joined Cheldelin Middle School on the list of potential closures. There is talk, however, that the building could stay open (and could maintain the name of Letitia Carson, a Black pioneer in Oregon) as an early-childhood development center. Assuming that the finances and other details can be worked out, that seems like a good idea to continue to honor Carson’s legacy, and finding new uses for closed schools is not at all without precedent: Earlier this year, the Bethel School District in Eugene closed an elementary school — but had it back in business just a few weeks later as the Clear Lake Community Center. Lilly St. Angelo, one of my colleagues at Lookout Eugene-Springfield, had the story.

I am a proud nonaffiliated voter, part of the largest bloc of voters in Oregon. But that means my ballots for primary elections only feature nonpartisan races. That could change: Former Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is among the champions of a ballot-initiative campaign that could open the state’s primaries to all voters. Expect big opposition from Republican and Democratic officials, but it might be time to take a serious look at the idea. Mia Maldonado had the story for the Oregon Capital Chronicle.

Where was I before the power went out?

Confused about those federal gambling indictments that have resulted in charges against Trail Blazer coach Chauncey Billups and other NBA figures? I’m going to bet that this New York Times story will get you up to speed in a hurry.

Here’s the Times’ take on U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley’s 22-hour, 37-minute speech on the Senate floor this week, in which he said he was “ringing the alarm bells” about the Trump administration’s embrace of authoritarianism. And after Merkley finished his speech and surrendered the Senate floor Wednesday evening, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson saw the error of his ways and reconvened the House and Congress got down to the tough work of reclaiming all the power it’s ceded to Trump — no, of course not! Just kidding! But Merkley did set the record for the longest speech given on the Senate floor by an Oregon senator, besting the previous mark of 22 hours and 26 minutes, set by Wayne Morse in 1953. So that’s something. Right? Hello?

By the way, if you’re wondering what Johnson is thinking by keeping the House out of session for weeks now, the answer is … he’s thinking whatever Trump is thinking. Here’s a Times analysis of how Johnson appears to be deliberately making the House irrelevant.

You may think that the partial government shutdown is a fight entirely over tax credits that subsidize Affordable Care Act health-insurance premiums. David Frum at The Atlantic says you’re missing the bigger story.

Speaking of crumbling democracy, The Atlantic’s Nancy Walecki tried to track down where all the rubble from the demolished East Wing of the White House was being deposited. She did not entirely succeed, but at least some of it seems to be destined for a golf course. Of course it is.

If you need a bit of good news to cheer up, let me advise you to steer clear of Medill’s annual “State of Local News” report. The 2025 edition was released this week, and the news — so to speak — continues to be troubling. Among the findings: In the decade since Medill started compiling the report, the number of U.S. counties that are “news deserts” — locations without any source of local news — has grown from 150 to more than 210. And the pace at which newspapers are shutting down has not closed. Digital news sites (like Lookout Eugene-Springfield, where I now work) are growing, but not quickly enough to offset the losses. If you don’t have the stomach to read the whole report, Nieman Lab offers this summary.

At this point, you may well be thinking, “Well, I’m just going to go back to bed.” And who could blame you? The Atlantic can blame you, that’s who: Walecki also reports on the perils of “sleepmaxxing” — which we’ll define here as overly relying on technological gizmos to help you grab seven or eight hours of solid snoozing each night.

But wait! What’s this? The Associated Press has video of Tula-Tu, the baby elephant at the Portland Zoo, playing with a pumpkin? No wonder Portland is ablaze with newfound civic pride. (I’m sorry to admit that I chose the word “ablaze” deliberately.)

That’s it for this week. Stay dry and keep your hat on and we’ll gather here next weekend.