Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Jenn Chávez

the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 11h

In 2004, Parisian police were conducting a training exercise in the french catacombs and found, after moving past a desk and a tape playing audio of snarling dogs, a fully functional movie theater and bar. When they returned 3 days later, the equipment was gone, with a note: “Do not try to find us.”

Members of the force's sports squad, responsible
- among other tasks - for policing the 170 miles of tunnels, caves, galleries and catacombs that underlie large parts of Paris, stumbled on the complex while on a training exercise beneath the Palais de Chaillot, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
After entering the network through a drain next to the Trocadero, the officers came across a tarpaulin marked: Building site, No access.
Behind that, a tunnel held a desk and a closed-circuit TV camera set to automatically record images of anyone passing. The mechanism also triggered a tape of dogs barking, "clearly designed to frighten people off," the spokesman said.
Further along, the tunnel opened into a vast 400 sq metre cave some 18m underground, "like an underground amphitheatre, with terraces cut into the rock and chairs".

There the police found a full-sized cinema screen, projection equipment, and tapes of a wide variety of films, including 1950s film noir classics and more recent thrillers. None of the films were banned or even offensive, the spokesman said.
A smaller cave next door had been turned into an informal restaurant and bar. "There were bottles of whisky and other spirits behind a bar, tables and chairs, a pressure-cooker for making couscous," the spokesman said.
"The whole thing ran off a professionally installed electricity system and there were at least three phone lines down there."
Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us."

46 920 3.4K

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 1d

"In response to requests to tour the ICE building, DHS officials have asked OPB – a 100yr-old media org that's covered newsworthy events at the protests since their earliest days - to share links to OPB coverage of the protests before considering access."

Great stuff from @erikneumann.bsky.social

2 5

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 1d

Bauer said RW influencers don’t follow journalistic norms of balance, independence & not participating in stories... they start out w/ an ideological vision of the world & then narrate what they see in a way that fits that vision. “The consequences are that we have two competing visions of reality”

OPB @opb.org · 1d

Right-wing media influencers are now being welcomed into the federal government to promote its messages. This kind of media access shows a deepening alliance between the Trump administration and an online world willing to misrepresent facts if it means furthering political goals.

Right-wing influencers shape nation and Trump’s understanding of Portland protests

Social media personalities, conservative media outlets and the Trump administration itself are blending online content to serve the administration’s policies.

www.opb.org

2 7 11

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

Another interesting detail: "The new policy will also deduct $2.11 from hourly wages for housing. In Oregon, that would put some workers under the state’s minimum wage, in which case, they would make it the highest applicable wage under state law."

3

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

It's due to a reduction of the US gov's "adverse effect wage rate," which is based on regional wage data & meant to prevent farmers from undercutting domestic workers by bringing in H-2A workers at lower rates.

1 3

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

The U.S. Department of Labor, under Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer (former US Rep from OR), has cut the wages of agricultural H-2A workers. Hourly pay in OR will go from $19.82 to as low as $15.25 - 23% less - while other more skilled positions will pay slightly more, $17.62.
Via Alejandro Figueroa:

Pacific Northwest seasonal farmworkers to earn less following Trump administration policy change

Foreign seasonal workers at Pacific Northwest farms will soon earn less in hourly wages following changes at the U.S. Department of Labor.

www.opb.org

2 5 7

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

Portland icon 🥰

Outdoor wooden sign for the Portland business Mr. Plywood. It's a jovial smiling guy wearing blue overalls and a red cap with a pencil behind his ear. His eyes are hollowed out like holes in wood, and he's got his hands in his pockets with his elbows our in such a way that he's in the shape of a diamond.

2 12

Reposted by Jenn Chávez

OPB @opb.org · 2d

It’s been three years since Oregon legislators passed a law requiring employers pay overtime to agricultural workers. But some farmworkers say they’re making less money, not more. And growers say they can’t afford to pay the overtime.

These farmworkers say Oregon’s overtime law isn’t working. Farmers say they can’t afford it

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, agricultural workers and domestic workers were excluded from receiving time-and-a-half pay after having worked 40 hours a week. It was a Jim Crow-era compromise to keep cheap farm labor in the South.

www.opb.org

1 9 18

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

Get even MORE stoked about frogs from Portland by watching Oregon Field Guide's video about them by writer/producer Jule Gilfillan & cinematographer Brooke Herbert!

Portland’s ‘frog taxi’ offers a life-saving lift to a struggling species

Red-legged frogs cross a busy Portland highway with help from the “Frog Taxi.”

www.opb.org

1 5

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

With beloved Portland frogs currently winning the hearts & minds of the American public, perhaps you'd care to learn from @opb.org about their siblings & the help they get avoiding the fate of Frogger from Portland's volunteer-run frog taxi, which helps Northern red-legged frogs cross the road 🐸🚕

‘The Evergreen’: Portland’s ‘frog taxi’ helps amphibians cross the road

Teams of dedicated volunteers are on-call from late winter to early spring to help Northern red-legged frogs safely cross Highway 30 to get from Forest Park to the Harborton wetland, where they breed.

www.opb.org

1 9 31

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 2d

Congrats!! We love to see it!!!

1

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 3d

"[Miranda's attorney Michael] Fuller said the officers high-fived as they threw Miranda in the car."

1 3

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 3d

Miranda says he told officers he was a citizen multiple times, as they insisted he'd overstayed a visa. Video captures an officer threatening him w/ a dog attack twice. Suit claims officers struck him from behind, took him to the ICE facility, held him for hours, then released him w/ no explanation.

US citizen to file suit after targeted ICE arrest in Portland

Milwaukie resident Francisco Miranda, who was born in California, was arrested outside of his workplace on Oct. 2.

www.opb.org

1 3 9

Reposted by Jenn Chávez

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Kristi Noem: "I was in Portland and met with the governor and mayor and chief of police and superintendent of the highway patrol. They are all lying and disingenuous and dishonest people. Because as soon as you leave the room, then they make the exact opposite response."

310 220 930

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 3d

To think that a couple short weeks ago I congratulated myself for making progress on doomscrolling less. I posted about it! Told my therapist for Pete’s sake! Then the “war-ravaged” thing happened while I was on vacation (yet tragically within cell service). Ahhh, we were all so much younger then

12

Reposted by Jenn Chávez

Ryan Haas @ryanjhaas.bsky.social · 4d

The new season of Hush begins! It's a really interesting investigation that takes on true crime tropes, the pitfalls of citizen sleuthing, politicizing literally everything and the collapse of local journalism.

Oh, and all told in that enthralling @leahsottile.bsky.social style!

Subscribe pls

‘Hush’ Episode 1: The last to see her alive

In March 2019, in the wooded hills above the rural river town of Rainier, Oregon, 18-year-old Sarah Zuber was found dead 400 feet from her front door. Six years later, her family still has no clue wha...

www.opb.org

1 6 18

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 3d

You loved Bundyville & you loved Hush Season 1 & you are gonna love this new season of Hush too. It’s just science.

1 1 3

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 3d

🚨 NEW LEAH & RYAN PODCAST JUST DROPPED 🚨

Leah Sottile @leahsottile.bsky.social · 4d

Why was 18-year-old Sarah Zuber found dead 400 feet from her front door? And how is it possible, six years later, that no one knows what happened to her?

Hush, Season 2, "Love Thy Neighbor" — my investigation with @ryanjhaas.bsky.social — starts today.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

1 2 10

Reposted by Jenn Chávez

Alex Zielinski @alexzee.bsky.social · 5d

Apropos of nothing, Sec. Kristi Noem is currently praying over Burgerville with Portland ICE officials.

A screenshot of a video of Noem praying at a conference table with other people wearing suits. Fast food bags and water bottles sit on the table.

230 180 1K

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 5d

"... Even under the most unimaginable circumstances, our ancestors sang, they danced, they built community, they celebrated and they had gratitude - they gave offerings.
Even when life is difficult, even when we live in difficult times, we must be grateful for the simple fact that we exist."

2

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 5d

"... We have so many more things in common than we realize. The way I see it is that art, in all its forms, whether it’s music, panting, dance, poetry, is a form of revolution without violence. That is a form of resistance, of saying, here we are & we are connected to our roots, to our past..."

1 1 1

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 5d

"... It changed our existence in a drastic way.
And it’s incredible that so many people still believe that the solution to our problems is to dehumanize each other because of the color of someone’s skin or because of their customs, language, their accent or their physical attributes..."

1 1

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 5d

Eduardo Cruz Torres Amictlan of Huehca Omeyocan (pictured):
"It’s important to emphasize that while we're living in difficult times, for us, on this continent, we've already spent 500 years in resistance, & it has not been easy. Colonization was something that radically changed the world for us..."

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 6d

Today on @opb.org’s The Evergreen:
Woodburn’s Fiesta Mexicana was started by farmworkers in the ‘60s as a harvest festival. Today, the celebration of Latinidad has taken on an additional meaning: cultural pride as an act of resistance to oppression & fear.
From Alicia Avila, Mia Estrada & me:

‘The Evergreen’: Fiesta y Resistencia: a short history of Oregon’s Fiesta Mexicana

On this week’s episode of "The Evegreen" podcast, we share the story of Fiesta Mexicana — its history, how it represents cultura, resilencia y resistencia today, and what it means to Mexicans around O...

www.opb.org

1 3 2

Jenn Chávez @jennchavez.bsky.social · 5d

“When a Guardian reporter pointed out on social media that the image was not a genuine photograph of the generally small & tame protests outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Portland, the Oregon Republican Party’s X account replied: ‘We’re not reporters, just bad memers.‘”

Robert Mackey @robertmackey.bsky.social · 5d

The Oregon Republican Party tried to help Donald Trump make the case for military intervention in Portland with an image of a fiery protest — but since Portland is calm, they had to fabricate one by merging old photos of police in Ecuador and protesters in Brazil www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Republicans post fake image of Oregon protest – using photos of South America

A federal judge had blocked Trump’s request to deploy California national guard to Portland

www.theguardian.com

4 26 65

Reposted by Jenn Chávez

Heather Cherone @heathercherone.bsky.social · 6d

Pritzker is also furious: “Should National Governors Association leadership choose to remain silent, Illinois will have no choice but to withdraw from the organization.”

Gov. JB Pritzker’s letter to the National Governors Association

270 4.4K 15K