A close up of a healthcare worker preparing a vaccine syringe
The FDA approved a third COVID-19 vaccine shot for immunocompromised people Thursday. Credit: Mario Tama / Getty Images
A close up of a healthcare worker preparing a vaccine syringe
The FDA approved a third COVID-19 vaccine shot for immunocompromised people Thursday. Mario Tama / Getty Images

The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

Good morning, Portland! Only one more day of 100 degree heat before we slip back into the sweet, sweet upper 90s. Here is the list of cooling centers open through Sunday morning, and here are the headlines:

In local news:

• Remember last weekend when there was a man in tactical gear pointing a rifle (which we learned later was an air soft gun) at people in downtown Portland? And then he walked right into the central police precinct, where he was later released without any charges? Portland police arrested him in is home Thursday—four days after he walked into the precinct—charging him with three counts of menacing and one count of second-degree disorderly conduct.

• If you want to feel a glimmer of hope by watching young people get shit done, Chase Hutchinson recommends Homeroom—a recent documentary about a group of students in Oakland, California, as they try to remove police from their schools.

• Mercury news editor Alex Zielinski filed a simple records request to the city for some more information about the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). In her latest column, she writes about how the bureaucratic roadblocks put in her path to getting that information revealed the city’s clunky allegiance to the PPB.

• As if the wildfire smoke hanging in the air isn’t concerning enough, fire officials say wildfires may spread in the next few days due to the combination of high heat and forecast lighting. The Skyline Ridge, Devils’ Knob, and Middle Fork fires in Southern and Central Oregon started last week due to lightning strikes and could balloon this weekend due to the extreme weather conditions. Just in case things get smokey, make sure you know how you can keep the air in your home breathable.

• Check out this great thread from local journalist Sergio Olmos for an on-the-ground look at Portland’s heatwave:

In national and international news:

• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a third “booster” shot of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for some immunocompromised people Thursday. The authorization allows “solid organ transplant recipients or those who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromise” to get a third shot to increase their protection against the more contagious Delta variant. There are no details yet on how immunocompromised Oregonians should go about getting their booster shot.

• The US is sending 3,000 troops back to Afghanistan to evacuate American diplomats and other civilians as the Taliban have been forcefully taking over cities, gaining control of more than two-thirds of the country in the past few days. The US has been removing its military presence from the region with the goal of completely leaving Afghanistan by the end of August, just in time for the 20 year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

• A gunman in Britain shot and killed five people before turning the gun on himself Thursday, causing Britain’s largest mass shooting in over a decade. Police say that the gunman knew at least one of the victims.

• While the Tokyo Olympics may have wrapped, Japan is still in the height of it’s tourism season and many people are ignoring the government’s pleas to avoid travel and crowded venues as the country sees a record spike in COVID-19 cases. Japan has seen a recent uptick in vaccination rates, but only 36 percent of the country is fully vaccinated.

• Look your best (and support local journalism) by purchasing a new Mercury T-shirt! Check out this month’s hot designs here!

• REJOICE! Portland’s favorite food event is back! Sample 37 delicious, one-of-a-kind burgers from the greatest local restaurants (and only $6 each). It’s the Mercury’s PORTLAND BURGER WEEK, coming at you August 16-22!

• And finally, it’s Friday which means it’s quiz time!

Isabella Garcia is the former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She covered City Hall, transportation, the environment, breaking news, and more.

One reply on “Good Morning, News: FDA Approves a Booster Shot, Portland Police Arrest Menacing Man, and Oregon Officials are on Fire Watch”

Comments are closed.