Patriot Prayer's Joey Gibson speaking at a rally. Credit: Doug Brown

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Patriot Prayers Joey Gibson speaking at a rally.
Patriot Prayer’s Joey Gibson speaking at a rally. Doug Brown

Good morning, Portland! It’s going to be HAWT one today—prepare for temps in the high-90s. To get you acclimated, here’s some spicy news to start the week:

– It’s somehow been three years since Joey Gibson and his Patriot Prayer right-wing goons attacked a group of anti-fascists on a bar patio on May Day. This week, Gibson and two other men head to court to see if a jury believes they deserve the riot charges they were stuck with in 2019.

– Portland journalist Sarah Jeong explains how former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf—the dude who directed federal police to crack down on the “lawless” Portland protests of 2020—held his office illegally.

– Two Portland strip club dancers are suing their previous employers, claiming that they were unfairly fired for their work advocating for employees’ rights in Portland strip clubs.

– A year after a catastrophic and deadly heat wave that could have been lessened with more tree canopy, Portland city officials ended its successful tree-planting partnership with the nonprofit Friends of Trees. Why? OPB’s April Ehrlich has the answers.

– PSA: Do you love nachos with all your heart? YES, YOU DO!! That’s why you’re gonna flip ass-over-teakettle for the Mercury’s NACHO WEEK: $6 plates of creative nachos from some of the most skillful snack makers around town—and it runs from July 11-17! DO NOT MISS THIS DELICIOUSNESS!

– Make time for this stunning John Tuturro piece on his grandmother’s botched abortion:

– After dropping a pretty milquetoast executive order regarding abortion access last week, President Biden is hinting at declaring a public health emergency to free up federal resources to promote abortion access in the face of a post-Roe America. Don’t hold your breath.

– After previously denying a subpoena to testify, former Trump bestie Steve Bannon allegedly initiated talks with the US House’s January 6 commission about offering public testimony to the panel. Bannon, one of the loudest champions of Trump’s whole “the election was rigged” bit, would certainly have some dirt to dish on the days leading up to the Capitol attack.

– A leaked trove of documents from the company Uber 124,000 acquired by the Guardian illustrates the “ethically questionable practices” that helped turn the Silicon Valley startup into a global power. The files shine a light on how France PM Emmanuel Macron secretly aided Uber lobbying in France, and how the company used a “kill switch” to block law enforcement from accessing data during police raids on their offices.

– Time to buy your dream home:

Alex Zielinski is a former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She's here to tell stories about economic inequities, cops, civil rights, and weird city politics that you should probably be paying attention...