Feds launch extraordinary amounts of gas at protesters, choking inmates at nearby jail.
Feds launch extraordinary amounts of gas at protesters, choking inmates at nearby jail. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider making a recurring contribution to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

• A crowd of at least 2,000 protested outside the Federal Courthouse last night—which might indicate that Trump's attempts to suppress demonstrations in Portland aren't working out as well as planned? Get more details about the protest and the fed's brutal, tear gas-filled response here.

• Due to the alarming amount of tear gas being fired by federal officers every night downtown (last night was the worst by far), inmates at Portland's jail have been hitting their panic buttons after choking on the gas seeping into their cells.

• Related: Yesterday a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring federal cops from targeting, threatening, or using force against journalists and legal observers. (The Mercury is one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit brought by the ACLU, btw.)

• In less positive legal news, a judge refused to grant the Oregon Attorney General's request for a restraining order against federal officers that would've required them to identify themselves and their agencies before arrests, and would have stopped any detainment without probable cause.

• Oregon US Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Suzanne Bonamici are demanding the resignation of Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Chad "CHAD!" Wolf for the wildly unethical and unconstitutional attacks on Portland protesters.

• If you ever fear for the future state of journalism, check out this Alex Zielinski interview of Eddy Binford-Ross, the editor of a Salem high school newspaper who regularly attends and does excellent reporting on the Portland protests. A really inspiring and fun read!

• And if you'd like a more artistic view of the nightly protests, watch this lyrical, smart short film by Cecily Brown which documents night 54 of Portland demonstrations, and is quite beautiful.

• Oregon broke it's own record for most COVID-related deaths in a single day, after 9 people died yesterday. Positive cases also jumped, with almost 400 new infections since Thursday.

• Reminder that TODAY is the day Gov. Kate Brown's new more restrictive mask rules kick in, wherein children over 5 are ordered to wear masks in indoor public areas (like schools and malls). Meanwhile adults have been ordered to mask up while strenuously exercising in gyms, and rules for restaurants and bars are also tightening.

• A heat advisory has been issued for Portland and the Willamette Valley as temperatures are expected to hit 100 or more this Sunday and Monday.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

• UMMMM... WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE CDC? New guidelines published by the Center for Disease Control have taken on a particularly political tone, strongly recommending the reopening of schools unless there's an uncontrolled virus surge—which is in most places?

• Meanwhile in Florida, their dimbulb governor Ron DeSantis is crowing about the great direction his state is going in regards to taming the coronavirus... except that today they've topped 400,00 cases. And across America, the nation could hit as many as 5 million infections by August according to calculations.

• The temporary $600 federal unemployment benefit is ending next week, and of course the GOP doesn't want to extend it, which is delaying the Republican's proposed $1 trillion stimulus package "possibly for weeks." Meanwhile House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not having an ounce of that nonsense, insisting that the federal benefit must be extended.

• You've been waiting for it... and here it is:

• Thanks to Trump and the GOP's constant defamation and obstruction of Dr. Anthony Fauci's efforts to get America's coronavirus crisis under control, the doctor and his family have been receiving "serious threats" against their lives.

• Trump's administration continues their war on transgender people, pushing forth a rule that allow single-sex homeless shelters to exclude transgender folk.

• You need some laughs, right? Then get your tickets now for the I, Anonymous livestream show featuring funny-as-all-get-out comedians including Arlo Weierhauser, Sean Jordan, and David Gborie coming at you Wednesday, July 29!

• THE WEATHER REPORT: Partly cloudy with a high of 76 today, but the sun comes roaring back this weekend with highs reaching nearly 100 by Monday!

• And finally, I am here for any and all Hamilton remixes.