by Suzette Smith

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Good Morning, Portland! When they told me a bat could be beautiful I didn't believe, but now I believe.

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• As October comes to a close, so too does the Bureau of Land Management’s annual Bat Beauty Contest, which asks where the "most stunning bat photographed on BLM public lands" can be found? It's Oregon, motherfuckers! For the third year running WE HAVE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BAT. YES! Despite J. K. Rowling's tarnished-as-hell legacy, we can still celebrate this feisty male hoary bat, Hoary Potter. It's also worth noting that this is the second year a bat photographed by wildlife technician Emma Busk took top beauty honors. Busk wrote, "anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been wanting to photograph a hoary bat,"—a sentiment we can all echo.

BLM's most beautiful bat is from Oregon, and I love him. pic.twitter.com/T8qQgsz5kT

— Suzette Smith (@suzettesmith) November 1, 2024

• There's also terrible news, unfortunately. Yesterday evening, a shooting at Vancouver Mall, in Vancouver, WA, killed one person and injured two in the building's food court.  A witness who spoke to KOIN described "a harrowing scene, as the shopping center was full of kids trick-or-treating." So far, police have said they do not have a suspect in custody and the person may still be armed. They told KOIN they were reviewing surveillance footage, but have not yet released a description of the shooter.

• Oh my god, Clark County are you okay? KPTV reports that Clark County Elections Office is warning voters to beware of unofficial ballot boxes. Unofficial ballot boxes are not illegal in Washington! (This also appears to be true of Oregon!) Clark County Elections encouraged voters official ballot return locations.

• The Oregonian is returning to broadsheet size, they announced yesterday in a post that did not explain what that is for readers who didn't go to graphic design school / work in at newspaper with some old dude named Phil. Somewhat surprisingly, Willamette Week's Nigel Jaquiss stepped in to clarify. Tabloid is hotdog style fold; broadsheet is burger. Both WW and the Mercury are hotdogs. The New York Times is burger fold.

• NPR's Up First weirdly tried to do a report on Vice President Kamala Harris "highlighting Trump's own language and using it against him," as if that's somehow something of which to be critical? Gave me the vapors of the new Hasaan Hates Portland sketch from this week:

• In two week's the city's beloved queer documentary festival QDoc will host the Oregon debut of The World According to Allee Willis, which explores the complicated life of a queer "song doctor" who co-wrote not only Earth, Wind and Fire's "September," but the Friends TV show theme. Check out Melissa Locker's review of the film.; she says it's not to be missed!

• Did you take this week's local news quiz? 

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IN NATIONAL NEWS:
• Atlanta rap star Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, finally walked free last night, after pleading guilty to "six counts, including possession of drugs and firearms... leading a criminal street gang and conspiracy to violate the RICO act, the state’s racketeering law," the New York Times reports. As part of the plea, the judge sentenced Williams to a total sentence of 40 years, but commuted the five years of prison time to the two and a half years that Williams has already served. Williams will remain on probation for 15 years, and will "be required to stay away from metro Atlanta for the first 10 years of his probation." He is also required to take random drug tests, make anti-gang presentations for children's organizations four times a year, perform 100 hours of community service a year, and "refrain from promoting gangs or being around known gang members." The ongoing Young Slime Life (YSL) court proceedings—which caused NYT's Joe Coscarelli to ask "is YSL was a record label, street gang, or both?"—have stretched into what is now the longest trial in Georgia history. Despite three other plea deals this week, it appears the trial will continue with the two remaining co-defendants.

• Mark Zuckerberg dressed as Fran Lebowitz for Halloween, and that's just what happened.

Mark Zuckerberg dressed as John Wick for Halloween but I thought it was Fran Lebowitz pic.twitter.com/zdXaomOMPR

— Meech (@MediumSizeMeech) November 1, 2024

• You're going to see some stuff today about "explosive new audio" recordings where Donald Trump speaks candidly to the reviled Jeffrey Epstein about his White House Staff and his disdain for the position itself. It's only really on the Daily Beast, the podcast of journalist Michael Wolff, and a few other sites. I'd rather wait til a super solid source gets it—seems like maybe they're holding off because they're checking it?—but the story is out there. Don't sound like anything particularly new, but people are saying "October surprise" because they want attention.

• Also in weird news about guys we already thought were corrupt, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is apparently pledged to some secretive religious traditionalist organization. That tracks.

• Flashback to this masterpiece, which has been floating around the zeitgeist all week.

A Chilean firefighter captured amazing yet terrifying POV footage of a highly destructive house fire on his GoPro.

Google's failed TV Ads experiment is dead and buried. Customers and TV networks quoth, "Nevermore." CheapTVSpots.com resurrects campaigns with real TV advertising.

Graham's new book is an intriguing and informative "must read" from a woman who is probably the best-informed American on the terrifying realities concerning Vladimir Putin's motivations and his control over Trump. It is a warning to all Americans.

Get ready to face your darkest fears as The Nevermore Haunt, Maryland's most terrifying haunted attraction, announces its return for the 2024 season.

Scammers are using photos of your house to encourage you to send them money, but here's why you shouldn't.

Most animals with monstrous appearances are relatively harmless to humans. Here's the truth behind creepy creatures like the werewolf cat and goblin shark.

Back around 2010, just before Halloween, a reporter friend retweeted a local police department’s warning to check your kids’ candy for drugs or razor blades or something like that. I asked, “Is there any evidence of something like that ever happening?”

The act of dive bombing during World War II was a death defying trial of skill and nerve. You aimed your plane down, four miles above the ocean and plummeted at speeds of up to 275 miles per hour

Step right up and see the spooky circus dolls—from creepy clowns to frightening fortune-tellers—in a Minnesota museum's vintage toy collection

Paraglider Ben Lewis remembers spinning around wildly as he got pulled up higher and higher into the violent storm. That was when he realized, about 6,700 metres up in the sky and still rising, that he was not likely to see his family again.

Two buildings collapsed on Hamilton’s Gore Park early Monday morning after being boarded up for over a decade. The fire department says no one was injured and the city has issued an emergency demolition order.

Police were in pursuit for half an hour down narrow country lanes

The security situation in the Central African Republic remains dire, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Thursday.

I know you would do anything to protect your own child, so let’s make sure every mama has the same opportunity and resources to protect theirs.

The 40-year-old wrote: 'Battling COVID-19 along with my 3-year-old son was the most physically and emotionally challenging experience I have gone through as a mother.'

Would a Pune-style bomb blast have happened in a Chinese city? Or a 26/11? Or any of the scores of terror attacks that India has been subjected to over the years?

A terrifying, meat-eating worm is named after John Bobbitt — you know, that terrible episode from 1993 involving Lorena Bobbit and a big knife.

By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams “The most robust study of the ice mass balance of Antarctica to date,” scientists say, “now puts Antarctica in the frame as one of the largest contributors to sea-level rise.” Scientists are expressing alarm over … Continue reading →

"They were looking for a problem."

The Kansas City Chiefs’ CB had a gun pointed in his face.

The feathery glint startles their rodent prey, making them easier to catch.

The pandemic-related social media posts are crude. They are youthful. They mock the joys of family togetherness. Yet, they are a balm just when we need it most.

KIM JONG-UN is building a massive facility outside the capital Pyongyang, satellite images have shown, suggesting he is planning to beef up his stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Boston Dynamics began began leasing their robotic dogs to the public this year. One of their first customers: The Massachusetts State Police.

Who is Patrick Mason? I just ran across a few short horror films he wrote and directed, and they're truly scary. Like edge-of-your-seat gasp-out-loud scary. Not only that, but they're beautifully made with good actors, especially Ayuda (see below). The three videos posted here are the ones I've seen so far, but there are more on his site, which I plan to watch tonight. Can't wait to see where this director takes us next.

Read the rest

Laura Chouinard's encounter with the runaway ox had her gripped by fear. But in the midst of the battle she resolved, "I am not going to die today."

Lessons from the deep past reveal that human-induced warming could create more extreme conditions than Earth has ever experienced

Former 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' contestant also branded original host Tarrant a 'liar'

Charlie Nicholas says Arsenal's inability to convince big stars to extend their contracts is "terrifying" but doubts that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang actually wants to leave Emirates Stadium.

"They were looking for a problem."

Mark Webber said that his biggest fear immediately after his Red Bull took off in the European Grand Prix was hitting something whilst airborne

A species of wasp discovered in Thailand has been named for evil spirits invented by J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter books.

A supercell thunderstorm in Argentina delivered shockingly huge hailstones to the heavily populated city of Villa Carlos Paz.

There are many hazards in this world, and appropriately there are many ominous signs that speak the language of fear. You never know it there could be some hidden mine shaft or risk of monkey attack. Whether they're warning of some totally extreme danger or their scary in their own right, it's usually best to pay attention to spooky signs.

It's been a scary week for the Strictly contestants after Jerry Hall's shock exit last Sunday.

Nail-biting footage shows a hiker balancing on a narrow peak while scrambling between mountains on the Isle of Skye. Scott MacLucas-Paton, 48, jumps between rocks on Scottish island.

When asked his 'favorite Italy memory,' the 58-year-old actor casually replied that he learned he 'cannot fly' after the accident which 'knocked him out of his shoes.'

The pensioner's silver Honda Jazz was captured on dashcam hurtling towards oncoming traffic on the A30 near Sherborne, Dorset, at 4.30pm on April 27.

SARAH VINE: I want to be among that number. To feel that, in whatever small way, I made a difference and maybe even helped save lives. After all, it's the least I can do...

The 16-foot tiger shark released its victim after it was jabbed with metal poles. The Malaysian tourist was left with a 3.4-inch long wound on his head after the attack in Beqa Lagoon, Fiji.

In the past, Ruby Rose has addressed the fact that she was bullied in her youth for being gay. 

Photographs show the carnage on Saturday night as intense weather conditions propelled a mega-blaze covering 460,000 hectares from Gospers Mountain through to the Blue Mountains.

Norseha Abdullah, 44, was driving with her three children when a 34-year-old woman lost control of her red Proton Waja on a motorway in Malaysia.

Catch-22 is an adaptation of the Joseph Heller novel, the anti-war masterpiece that everyone thinks they have read even if they haven't. (I think I've read it even if I haven't.)

Marine scientist and science communicator Ellen Prager explores hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and also climate change in her book Dangerous Earth.

The lucky escape occurred in Utah this Friday, and if that were not extraordinary enough, the entire incident was caught on camera.

Melbourne mum Kelly Bubeck was driving to work on the Western Ring Road on Friday when the truck hit her from behind.

The huge alligator was spotted on the corner of MLK Boulevard and Williams Road at the Seffner intersection in Florida as it lumbered across the road.