Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell writes New York Times op-ed that discourages violence... from protesters, that is.
Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell writes New York Times op-ed that discourages violence... from protesters, that is. City of Portland

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'!)

• According to the Oregon Health Authority, there were 881 new presumptive COVID-19 cases in the state over the weekend, and six additional deaths. Nationally we're still acquiring 50,000-60,000 new cases per day, and unless we get that number down to 10,000 by September, Dr. Anthony Fauci says "we're going to have a really bad situation in the fall."

• For the 67th straight night of protests in Portland, things remained relatively calm downtown with around 400 demonstrators gathering to call for an end to police brutality particularly against Black people. However it was a different story on Saturday night when protesters and Portland Police along with Sheriff's Deputies faced off at an east side precinct where bottles were thrown, lasers were flashed, and demonstrators were dangerously bull rushed by the cops.

• And the Portland Police Bureau merry-go-round continues: Former Portland Police Chief Jami Resch has been appointed to the bureau's executive team by Chief Chuck Lovell—two months after Lovell replaced Resch as the bureau's leader.

• Speaking of Chuck Lovell, Portland's Police Chief penned a misleading "copaganda" op-ed for the New York Times in which he once again puts the blame of city unrest on the heads of protesters rather than the brutal, unyielding, and clearly tone deaf police department that he runs. I'd suggest you read it, but your eyes might roll out of your head.

• Employees of the East Burnside Whole Foods are protesting the store after being reprimanded for wearing "Racism has no place here" pins—a phrase from the company's very own mission statement.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

• A New York City prosecutor defended his demand for Trump's tax returns because he believes they will reveal “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.”

• After correctly stating that the coronavirus is "extraordinarily widespread" in the US, Dr. Deborah Birx is now finding herself on the receiving end of Trump's ignorant Twitter insults.

• Trump is backpedaling on his asinine claim that he could ban TikTok, but now he's insisting that the app must be purchased by an American company with a chunk of the proceeds going to the US Treasury?? (Can you imagine Trump going along with this kind of ass-backward deal when Obama was president?)

• Trump's all-out attack on voting by mail is backfiring in a big way in Republican states where people are now so afraid of the perfectly safe practice that they are saying they might not vote at all.

• Get ready to lose your goddamned mind: Beyoncé‘s newest project Black Is King has arrived on Disney+, and... why exactly are you still reading this?!?

• Want to support the Mercury AND look like a million bucks? Buy our newest "RESIST" T-shirt created by local artist Sloane Leong that comes in black, white, yellow, and teal and is perfect for anyone who wants to protest in style!

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Illustration: Sloane Leong

• THE WEATHER REPORT: Expect another pleasantly warm sunny day tomorrow with a high of 85.

• And finally, I could totally see a human do this... and that's not a compliment.