🌧️ Portland's latest sinkhole problem

Sinkhole Closes Portland Road

An expanding sinkhole and a landslide on Northwest Cornell Road led the Portland Bureau of Transportation to close down the road for several days. The location, between Thompson Road and Skyline Boulevard, wasn’t the only rain-inflicted damage. City crews were working on five different spots. [KOIN, KGW]

• We’ve had a lot of rain: Remember how dry January was? Not so much anymore. There were nearly four inches of rain in a three-day stretch last week — with the record set for the rainiest March day on record: 1.73 inches on March 12. (Fun fact: The rainiest day ever recorded was Nov. 19, 1996, with 2.69 inches.) [Oregonian]
• More rain and warmer weather coming: Light rain is on the way, but nothing like last week, and it’s nothing like the extreme heatwave expected further south. But local ski resorts are looking at 50-degree temperatures — and a lot of melting snow. [KOIN]
• Do you know about the Highway 26 bump? It’s the spot on the trip to the coast where cars have to slow to a crawl — not because of traffic, but because of road conditions. The Oregon Department of Transportation has repaired the stretch of highway in Clatsop County multiple times only to have the infamous bump reappear. [KPTV]
• An Oregon problem: Sinkholes are a troublesome feature of the Oregon landscape. Science journalist Erin Ross explains. [City Cast Portland 🎧]

Appealing Portland Tenants’ Tear Gas Ban

The Trump administration has appealed one of the recent rulings restricting the use of tear gas and other chemical munitions at Portland’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency facility in South Waterfront. They want the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately block the March 6 preliminary injunction signed by U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio. She found that federal agents’ use of tear gas had violated the bodily autonomy of tenants at nearby Gray’s Landing. [OPB]

Resignation of a Trump Appointee With Local Connections

Joe Kent, a two-time Republican candidate for Congress in Southwest Washington, has resigned his post as the Trump administration’s director of the National Counterterrorism Center. In a post to X/Twitter, he said he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran.” [KGW]

Beloved Pop-Up Finds a Home

Machetes attracted long lines when it operated as a pop-up. Now it’s found a permanent location in Hey Love, the bar and self-declared “plant paradise” that’s attached to the Jupiter NEXT Hotel. Machetes makes Mexico City-inspired street food, including the eponymous dish — giant blade-shaped quesadillas stuffed with stews. [Portland Mercury]

• Find it: Machetes | at Hey Love, 920 E. Burnside | open 3 - 9 p.m. every day

Bringing Back the Landmark Saloon

The Landmark Saloon closed earlier this year after some financial troubles. Now two of the bar’s former regulars are hoping to revive the “Landmark’s spirit — and music calendar.” The new name is Switchback Saloon, and there’s no timeline yet on a reopening. [Oregonian]

• Read the new owners’ letter.