Portland WNBA team gets a name; smoke from distant fires fills the skies.

And another of my family ballplayers is a lights-out hitter. Tuesday update here.

Welcome to a sunny Tuesday, July 15, 2025! Though the "Extreme Heat Watch" has been demoted to a less dramatic Heat Advisory, Portland's weather today is hot and dry with highs of 94, and a not-very-sleepworthy low tonight around 67—unlike last night's comfy low 50s. Tomorrow we'll hit 98. Sunrise 5:36 AM, sunset 8:56 PM, twilight lingering beautifully until 9:32.

The forecast now includes widespread haze and areas of smoke, as an easterly breeze carries in hints of wildfires burning east of the Cascades. Most of the smoke will be at upper altitudes, though we'll sniff it occasionally at ground level. And it could have the effect of holding down high temperatures. Air quality is good for now; we'll see if it stays that way.

Wildfires, caused by lightning strikes on the Fourth of July, continue raging on the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

Nice to see something in this world is settling down... the weeklong earthquake swarm at Mt. Rainier has calmed to the point where daily updates from the Cascades Volcano Observatory are no longer needed.

Well, this is big—Portland's new WNBA team announced its name today—and the speculation turned out to be true, based on trademark filings, that the name "Portland Fire" will be revived from the misty past of 2000–2002. The logo was unveiled as well. It's a rose, on fire. I'll quote from this morning's online story on OregonLive: “That rose icon represents the fire that burns in the passion of this city,” Portland Fire interim president Clare Hamill told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It is a clear nod to the Rose City, and all the beauty and strength that comes with that. The petals begin as flames and reach high.”

Let's lob a happy 35th birthday balloon from 3-point distance to beloved Blazer (he'll always be a Blazer) Damian Lillard, along with things-will-get-better wishes; he tore his Achilles chasing a rebound during the postseason run by the Milwaukee Bucks—who then waived him. He'll take time at home in West Linn, rehabbing fully from surgery, and could join any one of several legitimate title contenders, probably a year from now.

Tonight's the All-Star Game—and Major League Baseball enters the brave new era as automated ball-strike (ABS) technology, often called the "robot umpire," will be helping out behind the plate. An actual human ump calls the balls and strikes, but the pitcher, catcher, or batter can challenge, and the ABS system instantly confirms or overturns the call with technology similar to what’s used in tennis. I asked retired MLB umpire and longtime Portlander (and friend of the Drip) Dale Scott to post what he thinks: "For me, it’s just sad," said he. "It’s the end of something that will never come back, something that I did exactly 1,000 times, work behind the plate...I'm happy with replay, and think the pitch clock and, for the most part, the other new rules in the last five years have made the game better. Not yet ready to declare that about ABS."

It was cool watching Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh win the Home Run Derby last night, doing what he's been doing in the regular season: smacking more dingers than anyone else alive.

Happy 79th birthday to Linda Ronstadt! Portlanders have so many memories of her... that January 1974 concert at the Civic Auditorium with Jackson Browne on a rainy and cold night... the October 2001 gala, right after 9/11, with the Oregon Symphony... and her visit in October 2018 to Revolution Hall in Portland for a "live conversation event," since Parkinson’s had put an end to her singing. "I really love Portland," she said in a pre-concert interview from her home in San Francisco. "You're really lucky up there. You have much better food than we have here... the rents are so high now the good chefs have left. They've all moved to Portland."

Swimming and family time... that's the plan here... I'll skip the All-Star Game because my son's adult softball team has a game; last week he hit a fly ball that shattered a light at Westlake Park in Lake Oswego. Did he circle the bases in slow motion while sparks rained down and the theme from The Natural played? No. It was a foul ball.

Your turn (over on Facebook). What's up?