Absolutely cursed image.
Absolutely cursed image. Eugene Gologursky / Getty images

Good morning, Portland! The weather's great—here are some patios where you can enjoy the sunshine this weekend.

Here are the headlines.

• The Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup—which includes both Oregon and Washington—officially approved the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for 12-15 year-olds yesterday, shortly after the CDC recommended the shots for that age group. That means that if you're a parent of a 12-15 year-old, you can get your kid vaccinated against COVID now.

• Meanwhile, Oregon hit another big vaccine milestone yesterday: Over two million state residents 16 and older have received at least one COVID vaccine dose. Daily case counts have been declining after the fourth wave surge hit its peak last month.

• In Israel and Palestine, reprehensible violence continues:

• You've probably heard about fun little vaccination freebies you can get, like a donut or a beer. But as vaccinations slow in Ohio, the state is offering the chance to win $1 million in a lottery to all Ohioans who have received at least one vaccine shot. In a strange coincidence, that's the same amount you'd have to offer me to move to Ohio.

• McDonald's announced that in order to attract more job-seekers and retain workers, it will raise it wages for US employees by 10 percent at some locations. The changes will only affect the 650 locations McDonald's owns—a tiny fraction compared to the thousands of franchised storefronts—but it's a sign that businesses are having to compete to bring in workers. Labor advocates say the marginal raises aren't enough, and the minimum wage needs to be raised to at least $15 an hour.

• As a wild pandemic school year draws to a close, education and child development experts are saying that what kids need most this summer—more than summer school or other efforts to cram their brains full of material they may have missed while remote learning—is to have fun out in the world. I'm no expert, but I'd say adults need that, too.

• The Oregon Legislature has advanced a bill that would lessen the expected impact of the looming June 30 termination of the statewide COVID-19 eviction moratorium. Once this bill is signed into law, renters who missed payments because of the pandemic will have until February 28, 2022 to pay that rent back to their landlords before risking eviction. But renter advocates say the bill is "just scratching the surface" of the help tenants will need coming out of the pandemic.

• There's a new Oregon Trail! No, not the actual trail—I'm talking about the "educational" computer game that every single millennial played in computers class growing up. The new version, which is available on Apple Arcade, gets rid of harmful Native American stereotypes, and incorporates them more into the game as actual characters.

• And finally, here's a helpful little work-from-home tip for ya: