Multnomah County, Oregon, District Attorney Mike Schmidt — who oversees the progressive bastion of Portland — lost his re-election bid on Tuesday night to a moderate candidate who promises to carry out tough-on-crime policies. Schmidt, the George Soros-backed incumbent, fell to Nathan Vasquez, who previously served as the Multnomah County deputy prosecutor under Schmidt. The leftist DA conceded on Wednesday with results showing that Vazquez had secured around 54% of the vote, Portland’s NBC affiliate KGW 8 reported. “It is looking as if I will not be serving another four years as Multnomah County District Attorney,” Schmidt said. “I have called Nathan Vasquez to congratulate him on his victory. While we do not always see eye to eye, I am committed to a smooth transition.” On Tuesday night before the race was called, Vasquez said that he was “hopeful” that the direction of the community was about to change. “This is a time where I think a lot of people in our community are looking for that belief, that hope, and I think tonight is going to be a change in that direction,” Vasquez told KGW 8. “And I really want to deliver that to our community in a way that feels positive and hopeful, so that everyone in this community feels included, everyone feels like they can have a safe community where they can go to parks, they can go down the street and can really enjoy this wonderful, amazing city and county that we live in, and I’m just so hopeful for tonight.” Schmidt was elected in 2020, winning 77% of the vote. He started his role as the district attorney in August of that year, a term that began during the summer of the George Floyd riots that saw numerous businesses looted and vandalized and a police station set on fire. One of Schmidt’s first acts as DA was to institute a new policy stating his office would not prosecute George Floyd demonstrators who were charged with certain crimes such as interfering with a police officer, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, harassment, or rioting unless they committed “deliberate property damage, theft, or threat of force against another person.” After the riots died down, Portland continued to face high rates of violent crime. Despite a decrease in violent crimes in 2023 in the city, the homicide rate in Portland remained higher than reported numbers prior to 2019, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Shoplifting arrests also skyrocketed by 88% in 2023. Schmidt’s opponent Vasquez also promised to crack down on open-air drug use in Oregon’s largest city, a problem that has persisted since Oregon voters decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs such as fentanyl and heroin in 2020. Last month, Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek signed a bill into law that again criminalized the possession of hard drugs. CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP “The voters have made it clear that they are ready to take our county in a new and safer direction,” Vasquez said on Wednesday. “I am committed to ending open air drug dealing and drug use while helping connect individuals to treatment, to rebuilding the broken relationships between the DA’s office and the community, and to ensuring that victims are the number one priority of my office.”

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A father-son pair recently surprised their grandfather by repairing his 70-year-old pickup truck to a fully functioning automobile, and the video will bring a tear to your eye. “50 dollars and a hog” is what Richard Kincheloe’s mother paid for a red, 1954 International Harvester pickup truck, which Richard, now a grandfather, drove around for […] The post Grandson Surprises Grandpa by Restoring 1954 Pickup: ‘I never thought I’d live to see that’ appeared first on Good News Network.

Movies & TV Star Trek: Discovery Star Trek: Discovery’s Blu del Barrio Shares Their Secret to Memorizing Technobabble See also: the serious difficulties in wearing those Breen suits By Vanessa Armstrong | Published on May 23, 2024 Credit: James Dimmock / Paramount+ TM & © 2023 CBS Studios Inc. Comment 0 Share New Share Credit: James Dimmock / Paramount+ TM & © 2023 CBS Studios Inc. Warning: the article below contains mild spoilers for Season Five, Episode Nine of Star Trek: Discovery. In the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “Lagrange Point,” sees Adira join a mission that requires them to not only sneak onto a Breen ship, but pretend to be a fully suited-up Breen as well. The experience was a memorable one for the character and also for actor Blu del Barrio. “With all the love and respect to our costume department, [the suit was] one of the worst things I’ve ever put on my body,” del Barrio told me in an interview a couple of days before “Lagrange Point” dropped on Paramount+. They went on to describe the Breen attire as beautifully created, but also a costume that felt “like wearing seven different wetsuits on top of each other.” I talked with del Barrio about other aspects of the penultimate episode of the series, including that meta science jargon moment, how they were able to tackle memorizing the complex science-related dialogue over the course of the show, and what they hope for Adira given the series finale is next week. Read on for our longer discussion. Credit: Michael Gibson / Paramount+ The interview below has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. How did you prepare to portray Adira when they see action on the Breen ship? It was really fun. I felt different than how I felt from the first away missions that I had. Me, myself, was like, “Oh, yeah, I’ve been ready for this for a hot minute.” And when we did actually film on the ship, fully disguised, all of a sudden hit like, “Oh, gosh, maybe I’m not ready for this. This is a lot and very scary. I’m so short and I don’t fit in.” It was like all of a sudden thinking about all of the ways that this wasn’t going to work. Technically, within the episode in the story, it was like, I could totally mess this up. But I think they had a lot more confidence than they used to have, prior to going on this mission and doing it with [co-star Patrick Kwok-Choon, who plays Gen Rhys,] was so much fun and something that I really wanted to do for a long time. And I think the mission itself had so much weight on it. It’s not something that they would have been trusted with probably in past seasons, and I think it cemented a lot for them how necessary they are and how valued and respected they are on the ship, to be trusted with something like this. Credit: Michael Gibson / Paramount+ And I know you mentioned getting suited up for the scenes. What was it like wearing those Breen suits? With all the love and respect to our costume department, they were the worst things I’ve ever put on my body. They are so meticulously crafted, and beautiful, and took so long to make. We had I think four or five fittings each over a period of months to actually finish these. So they were a complete work of art, but to wear they were absolute hell because they were so thick. It was like wearing seven different wetsuits on top of each other. And they’re really heavy, plus with a giant helmet on you had a very limited visual of what you can actually see. So wearing them was really discombobulating but they looked so cool, so it was worth it. But walking around and pretending like you feel comfortable and you know where you’re going in all this stuff was really hard to start with because there’s just so much sensory overload. But they were really cool. They’re beautiful. I didn’t think about that with the headpiece. How much could you see? Was there any running into walls or anything? I ran my hands into stuff because I think my peripheral was a little bit messed up. If you had to look at somebody, you would have to actually move your whole head, which for me I had to a lot because I was multiple feet shorter than everybody else who was playing Breen, and also shorter than Patrick. That was the first thing I thought when we were going to do that: I was like, they’re all going to know that I’m not Breen—I’m 5’2,” everyone here is very tall. But we had to skirt around that in a way that makes sense. Credit: Michael Gibson / Paramount+ One of the things I loved about this episode is that there’s almost a meta moment when you’re going on the shuttle for the away mission and Adira says they can’t transport to where they planned because of a “science reason.” I don’t know if it was intentional, but usually the science jargon is so prevalent, I feel like that moment was a nod to that. Did you have that feeling when you were filming? I think so. I wish I’d come up with that! No, that was fully what it was meant to be, and I think it speaks to their intelligence, and I also think it is a funny little clip. And it’s very Trek and a little bit campy in a way, to be like, “It’s a science problem.” I really liked that line. In that same vein, Adira says a lot of science jargon in the course of any given episode. How do you memorize those lines? Did it get easier over time? It got easier over time. I had struggled in the beginning because I learned through this show how I memorize lines. I realized that my process involves me completely 100% understanding why I’m saying what I’m saying in the context of a conversation that I’m having. So like, I’ll remember my lines if it makes sense to say it in the conversation that they’re being said in. If it just flows naturally, it makes sense. So when the science jargon came in, I didn’t know why those lines weren’t sticking because I would just sit there and do all of my stuff and go through my process of learning my lines and they would not stick. After talking to people on our set, I think it was [Anthony Rapp] specifically, but I had learned that I had to understand what the science meant and the intricacies of what every single line I was saying meant, which took so much extra time.  I would contact our writers for questions and contact our science people for questions, to understand what it was that I was describing and talking about and how the science worked. Because if not, they wouldn’t stick in my head. I love those lines, but they also took so much more time for me to get down. So when we had scenes just full of science jargon, I was like, “Oh, God. This is going to take days of trying to it figure out.” Credit: Paramount+ You mentioned Anthony giving you that tip. I know you joined the show a couple of seasons in—was there any advice or tips you got from any of your castmates that will be really helpful as you go on with your acting career? I would not be the actor or person that I am now without the amount of advice that I got from everybody on this show. I was so young. I was fresh out of drama school. I was so scared and had a very low self-worth, because I loved drama school but they always kind of kick you down a little bit. You don’t expect to get a job that soon and so suddenly I was there and all of these people around me gave me so much advice. I feel a level of confidence and security now in who I am and what I do that I don’t think I would have felt without the words that they’ve given me and told me. I really needed it at the time and still now, but they very much mentored me in every way possible without me asking or anything. So I’m really grateful to them. Is there anything specific that jumps to the top of the list? I think probably the most important thing does apply to sets but also applies to real life—if there is something that in your gut feels uncomfortable or wrong, no matter what, speak up about it and say something, even if you think it’s going to cause an argument or a fight or someone’s going to get mad at you.  And ask someone for help doing it, which I never really thought to do. I’m a very solitary person and so I always just think that I need to do things, but they were like, “No, if you want our help, just come to us and we’ll do it with you.” Credit: Marni Grossman / Paramount+ What do you hope for Adira after the show ends? It’s split in two parts. On one side, I really think that Adira following in the footsteps of Tilly would be really cool. I think that them teaching in the future as an adult would be really, really cool to see happen, because I think they’d have a lot of a lot of empathy for those students. That’s one option. The other option I don’t fully have a grasp on, but way down in their lifetime to be a captain on a different ship would be really interesting, to see the jump from them now to them then would be very cool. I hope that they get to have something in the future. I love this character so much. They’re such a part of me, and I hope they get to live in the future the way that so many of the Trek characters have come back. But you never know. [end-mark] The series finale of Star Trek: Discovery will be available on Paramount+ on May 30, 2024. The post <i>Star Trek: Discovery</i>’s Blu del Barrio Shares Their Secret to Memorizing Technobabble appeared first on Reactor.

Books SFF Mentors Five of SFF’s Wisest and Quirkiest Mentors From clever young witches to itinerant monks, there’s much to learn from each of these unconventional characters! By Cole Rush | Published on May 23, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share You know them, you love them: Quirky mentor figures are a cornerstone of the SFF genre. They impart lessons to us as they guide their misguided or misunderstood mentees toward a better path. Their teachings can help prompt a hero toward self-discovery, give them the tools to choose right over wrong, or open their minds to new perspectives. Their charming eccentricities and pithy quotes stick with us long after we close the final page. And when a mentor tragically passes away, as mentors sometimes do… there are few losses more heartbreaking, or more lasting. Today, we’re here to pay homage to five great mentors from SFF books. I invite you to celebrate your own favorites in the comments—nominate your wisest and quirkiest fictional mentors there, and if you’re in a sharing mood, feel free to add your favorite lessons or quotes! Ana Dolabra (The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett) A murderous plot. A mysterious (and lethal) plant. Shady characters. A society under constant threat. These are the driving elements of Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup. The book recently featured on my list of SFF mysteries, and it appears again today so that we can shine a spotlight on the glorious and enigmatic Ana Dolabra. Protagonist Dinios Kol works for Ana Dolabra on various investigations. Din is an engraver, able to capture memories and log them in his brain to be magically recalled in the future. This makes him an ideal investigator. Ana is also a grafted (magically altered) individual, or at least it’s strongly hinted that she is. Despite not knowing what her enhancements might be, readers are sure to be fascinated by this quixotic and brilliant eccentric with a sharp tongue and all sorts of undiscovered secrets. As the story unfolds, it’s as though we’re seeing the mystery (and their mentor/mentee relationship) through the admittedly capable eyes of Din, as the Watson figure. All the while, Holmes (Ana, in this case) is six steps ahead. When Din unravels a piece of the puzzle, we find that Ana had figured it out long before he did. Bit by bit, we get to know one of SFF’s quirkiest mentors in recent memory, one who seems to want the best for her charge but clearly has motives of her own. In other words, Ana isn’t just a vehicle for Din’s character arc. She is a dynamic character with big plans. It makes you wonder whether her mentorship and acceptance of Din are altogether benevolent. Ana Dolabra consistently undercuts and upends our expectations, and The Tainted Cup is better for it. Mika Moon (The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna) Mika Moon arguably subverts the norm for SFF mentors simply by being the protagonist of her story—stories seem to focus more on the development of the mentee figure, with their teacher serving to guide them along their journey. The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches has several characters that could find a place on this list, but Mika stands out above the rest. Thrust into an unexpected situation where she must teach three young witches to control their magic; she finds herself being absorbed into a small, secluded household, surrounded by well-meaning people with a lot to learn. Mika’s experience as a witch up to that point had been one of loneliness and isolation. Witches are stay solitary as a rule, rarely keeping friends or staying in one place for long. The risks of being discovered as a magic user have been driven home by the long history of violence and barbaric punishments spread out across the centuries—nobody wants a repeat of Salem. By cleverly planting Mika Moon into a friendly and loving environment (and providing her with more and more reasons to stay, despite her misgivings), author Sangu Mandanna gives our protagonist space to grow and share her wisdom. Mika easily makes this list because she is knowledgeable, kind, and a little bit quirky. She’s especially good with plant- and nature-based magic. Perhaps best of all, she has lots to learn about herself, even as she grows to care for her young charges. This creates a two-way mentorship environment: Mika opens up and shares her true self with the kids and the denizens of their remote country house while absorbing lessons about interdependence, trust, and love from these new friends and loved ones in turn. Arthur Parnassus (The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune) The sweet and delightfully eccentric Arthur Parnassus is among my favorite father figures in all of fantasy. He manages his band of little ones, all magical misfits, with great care and empathy. He’s also a strong mentor, deftly imparting lessons through experience instead of lecturing. Throughout The House in the Cerulean Sea, we witness Arthur teach the magical youth in his care about pursuing their passions and loving without prejudice. However, he’s not without his flaws. He is (justifiably) reticent to bring the children to a local village, fearful of the discrimination they might face in the world beyond his idyllic seaside home. Arthur also has a fiery secret of his own, and he goes to great lengths to keep it from Linus, our protagonist. What makes a good mentor? To me, it’s crucial to understand your own flaws—and working on them—while sharing what you’ve learned with others. Arthur is a perfect example—and on top of his excellent guidance and compassion, Arthur also has an incredible fashion sense. (His coffee-shop loungewear chic vibe just works for me…) Halt (The Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan) The unlikely ranger/apprentice partnership between Halt and Will still makes me smile. I was thoroughly obsessed with John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice series back in the day, and it holds a special place in my heart as a gateway to big ol’ sweeping epic fantasy narratives. Halt is essentially the father Will never had. He’s also a grizzly, gruff, and stubborn old man who has no qualms about doling out tough love. The relationship between the two grows ever more endearing as the series progresses, solidifying it as one of my favorite mentorship arcs in fantasy. I more inclined to enjoy a story where mentors aren’t perfect, cookie-cutter wise folk who feel like they were cut completely out of morally good cloth, without any nuance or weak points. Halt has problems, and he is as open to learning as he is to teaching. There are many moments in the series in which Halt finds himself in deadly trouble, and Will must apply his teacher’s lessons to save Halt. It’s a wonderful depiction of the give-and-take of a mentor/mentee relationship, and it made me want to seek out SFF books with similar pairings. Dex (A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers) Sibling Dex leaves their corporate desk job for a wandering life in a tea cart. They use their itinerant lifestyle to meet and offer a sympathetic ear to people while sharing tea—a skill few people have mastered (except for Uncle Iroh, of course). Dex’s approach to mentorship is mirror-like, allowing their patrons to freely express their worries and conundrums, think things through and formulate their own solutions. Dex, as a mentor, creates a safe space and simply listens…and that’s arguably the best thing a mentor can do for their pupils. Dex’s own journey, however, isn’t so cut-and-dry. They become disenchanted with the nomadic lifestyle and pine for adventure. A wise mentor takes time to do what they need for themselves, and Dex is a prime example of listening to their own needs, and extending the same compassion they have for others to their own existence. Sometimes, the best mentor is the one in our heads. Or a friendly robot (read the book, and it will all make sense—I promise). [end-mark] The post Five of SFF’s Wisest and Quirkiest Mentors appeared first on Reactor.