{"id":759828,"date":"2026-06-25T17:51:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759828\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T17:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T17:51:13","slug":"good-morning-news-moda-center-drama-lloyd-mall-drama-and-taylor-swift-drama-so-much-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759828\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Morning, News: Moda Center Drama, Lloyd Mall Drama, and Taylor Swift Drama\u2026 So Much Drama!"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution<\/a> to the Mercury, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!<\/p>\n

GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! And hey: in case you haven\u2019t noticed, the Mercury is now offering audio versions of many of the stories you love\u2014including Good Morning, News, which is especially entertaining when narrated by the Mercury\u2019s resident robot, Debbie. (In an effort to reward you for listening to Debbie\u2014click play on the audio article above\u2014I\u2019m asking her to tell you a joke or two. Oh, boy! This could be super awesome or incredibly bad\u2026 just the way I love it.) Check it out, and then let\u2019s check out today\u2019s NEWS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

IN LOCAL NEWS:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Yesterday, billionaire Blazers owner Tom Dundon graced Portland with his presence<\/a> at a $350-per-ticket pep rally designed to get the city to fork over $120 million to renovate the Moda Center. The event was hosted by the Portland Metro Chamber (formerly the Portland Business Alliance), and Dundon was interviewed by Chamber president Alex Hoan. Like most Chamber events it was, by most accounts, dry as dirt and lacked surprises of any sort. Dundon reiterated his opinion that taxpayers should pay for the entirety of the Moda remodel, and no one dared asked if he would follow through with the implied threat of moving the Blazers if he doesn\u2019t get his way. Sooooo\u2026 hope you didn\u2019t spend your hard-earned $350 on this snooze-fest instead of Taylor Swift tickets!<\/p>\n

Billionaire investor and Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon made no concessions Wednesday on his call for Moda Center renovations. He told a crowd of business and political leaders he’s already done a lot to help the city by purchasing the team, and paying what he sees as high taxes and fees.<\/p>\n

\u2014 OPB (@opb.org)<\/a> 2026-06-25T14:30:17.523Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Meanwhile in a work session across town, Portland City Council was coincidentally (not at all) also discussing the lopsided Moda deal<\/a>. The progressive councilors were having a tough time squaring why a billionaire was asking a cash-strapped city suffering from a lack of city services for help renovating the Moda Center, when he hasn\u2019t offered to contribute a single penny. City Councilor Candace Avalos noted, \u201cI am going to have a hard time agreeing to give public money if I\u2019m not seeing a private investment,\u201d with Councilor Angelita Morillo adding that the deal seemed \u201cshaky at best and fiscally irresponsible at worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Whoopee, even MORE Moda drama! The day before Portland city councilors were slated to hold a work session to review results of public surveys and listening sessions regarding the Moda Center, Mayor Keith Wilson sent out a fiery newsletter, where he took jabs at a city councilor and ridiculed one of the most influential voices <\/a>steering public opinion on the deal. The mayor used his city newsletter to refer to the founder of \u201cRip City Not Rip Off \u201d not by name, but as a \u201cBrooklyn-based techbro\u201d trying to coax the mayor into using specific lease terms in exchange for Council votes. The mayor calling a Blazers fan and stakeholder a \u201ctechbro\u201d who doesn\u2019t live here is OH-SO-RICH for many reasons\u2014one of which is that Wilson can\u2019t seem to stop kissing the ass of Tom Dundon, the Trail Blazers owner who lives in Texas. And while Dundon is pushing for a deal that would keep him from paying anything toward the arena renovation that will eventually line his pockets, the \u201ctechbros\u201d Wilson chides are often employees of companies like Intel and Nike, whose high incomes Wilson needs to fill the city\u2019s tax coffers and help pay for things like Preschool For All and Supportive Housing Services. As it turns out, Wilson heavily mischaracterized an email exchange with said \u201ctechbro\u201d\u2014but don\u2019t worry, as she so often does, our Courtney Vaughn has the receipts. <\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 And the political drama continued this week, when \u201cSave Lloyd\u201d advocates spoke up<\/a> in front of Portland City Council in a bid to stop the redevelopment of the long-running mall and its ice rink. In the first of what could be days of public testimony, 90 people were signed up to ask council to overturn the Portland Design Commission\u2019s unanimous vote to turn the mall into a mixed-use development that would include housing, retail, parks, and a plaza. Conversely, about 50 people who signed up to speak at the meeting were in favor of the development. While testimony will continue over the coming days, Tom Kilbane, the managing director of Urban Renaissance Group, said that no matter what the council ultimately decides, the mall will be closing as scheduled on August 8.<\/p>\n

\u2022 A couple of ding-dong congressional Republicans\u2014Reps. Jim Jordan and Tom McClintock\u2014did their best to channel their dark lord and master Trump by sending an impotently stern letter to three local government leaders<\/a> on Tuesday, challenging our morally correct sanctuary policies. The letter was sent to Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez, Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O\u2019Donnell, and Department of Corrections Director Mike Reese, accusing them of endangering \u201cAmerican communities through their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials and their prioritization of illegal and criminal aliens over American citizens.\u201d Wait\u2026 are they threatening us with a good time? Let\u2019s keep reading their racist screed. \u201cUnder your office\u2019s pro-crime, pro-illegal immigration policies, illegal alien criminals are allowed to freely operate, terrorize local communities, and reoffend without consequences.\u201d Okay, enough with the blatant lies, drama queenz! The letter goes on and on, but frankly, it\u2019s far too boring and disgusting to bore you with here. The long and the short of it is that the GOP boot-lickers are demanding that all three offices produce records of local immigration practices, and the officials had better give them up by July 7\u2026 OR ELSE! Or else they\u2019ll continue boring us to death? Thank you and NEXT!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ooh, and here\u2019s your daily reminder that the Mercury\u2019s NACHO WEEK<\/a> is filling up bellies all over town RIGHT NOW, and continues through Sunday, June 28. Picture it: delicious, cheesy helpings of creatively constructed nachos, built by the cleverest chefs in town\u2026 and each plate is only $10 each. So what are you waiting for? Plant your face into a heaping plate of \u2018chos, babies!<\/p>\n

IN NATIONAL AND WORLD NEWS:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Back-to-back earthquakes hit Venezuela<\/a> Wednesday night, killing at least 164 people and injuring 971 more. The 7.2-magnitude quake followed by another 7.5 shaker were reportedly the strongest in decades, and toppled buildings while also knocking out communications in the city of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. But the hardest hit area was the coastal state of La Guaira, where the country\u2019s major airport is located, and where dozens of buildings collapsed. The fatality rate is expected to rise as search and rescue operations continue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another day, another extreme heat endurance test for Europe as multiple countries are braced for triple digit temperatures Thursday, potentially breaking national records for the second straight day. https:\/\/cnn.it\/4gzGsAs<\/p>\n

\u2014 CNN (@cnn.com)<\/a> 2026-06-25T14:00:33.397925842Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Because they are feckless cowards, Senate Republicans who previously supported a resolution to force the president to stop the war in Iran have now rejected the idea, after Trump got all red in the face and screamed at them<\/a> during a meeting yesterday on Capitol Hill. The declining octogenarian reportedly spewed a little extra vitriol at Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who vocally joined Democrats in pushing for the resolution. The power move shows that lame duck Trump still has the power to intimidate the GOP into doing his evil deeds\u2014but to be honest, Republicans never had much of a spine in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Supreme Court went on a Trump-appeasing spree today, releasing multiple rulings that the president will love. Not only did the Supremes slap down a Hawaii law<\/a> that would\u2019ve stopped people from carrying guns on private property without permission, they also restricted folks who have been harmed by deadly pesticides<\/a>\u2014such as RoundUp\u2014from suing the companies who make them. But the disgusting icing on this cake is the Court ruling that the government can turn back people seeking asylum<\/a>\u2014before they even enter the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court’s conservative super majority on Thursday sided with the Trump administration in a 6-3 ruling, and in a sharp dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor described the consequences of turning away asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Raw Story (@rawstory.com)<\/a> 2026-06-25T15:05:28Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 Could Taylor Swift be marrying her beefy beau, Travis Kelce, at Madison Square Garden on July 3? The rumor has been swirling for months, but the evidence keeps piling up, as the New York Times reported<\/a> that permits have been pulled to close the streets outside the Garden on the third, and a New York official confirmed that wedding celebrations will be held there that day. HOWEVER! Wouldn\u2019t that be just like the sneaky Swift to host a huge afterparty in the arena, while holding a small ceremony elsewhere? (Ooooh, maybe SHE can pay for the Moda Center renovations and hold the wedding there! And then she can buy the Blazers while she\u2019s at it! I CAN DREAM CAN\u2019T I?)<\/p>\n

\u2022 And finally\u2026 look, I\u2019ll admit it. This video makes me feel funny in my swimsuit area. STOP JUDGING MEEEEEEEE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[64,63,447,134],"class_list":["post-759828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}