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Good morning, Portland! Happy summer solsticeâand happy oh-my-god-how-is-it-already-this-hot first day of summer. If youâre wondering if thereâs a name for this heatwave weâve been stricken with, let me introduce you to the âheat dome.â
-Oregon members of Congress are urging the Oregon Department of Transportation to expand I-5 in the Rose Quarter, but only if the project includes freeway overpasses that connect the neighborhood it cuts through. ODOT, unsurprisingly, says itâs not that simple.
-PPB Chief Chuck Lovell talked to the Oregonian about his first year at the helm of the police bureau: âItâs tough to move forward when youâre really dealing with a lot of setbacks.â
-Travel Portland bought a full-page ad in the Sunday New York Times (and other national publications) to publish what could be described as âdamage control fridge poetryâ :
Travel Portland, making its pitch in The New York Times this morning, probably wishes its ad didnât coincide with the new mess in the police bureau. pic.twitter.com/op6F92xJA0
â Jeff Mapes (@Jeffmapes) June 20, 2021
-Itâs been five months since Oregonâs new law decriminalizing small amounts of hard drugs went into effect, and its implementation continues to polarize the recovery community, raising concerns about the proposalâs sweeping promises. Get caught up on the divisive law here.
-Ryan Crouser (hometown: âunincorporated Boringâ) made history during the US Olympic Track & Field Trials Friday night in Eugene by throwing a shot put over 75 feet.
A massive irrigation project ignored treaty obligations to tribes who ceded this land. By the time the govt got around to (sometimes) honoring treaties, it had already handed water rights to farmers and ranchers. Then add climate change. My latest: https://t.co/sL3paHDMYF
â Karina Brown (@karinapdx) June 19, 2021
-State-level efforts across the US to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates through lotteries and other financial awards havenât been as successful as previously hoped. The vaccine pace in states that used cash prizes to incentivize vaccinationsâincluding Oregonâhasnât taken off as expected, data finds.
-As vaccination rates slow across the US, researchers are raising alarms about the spread of the Delta variant of COVID, which is more transmissible than the common virus. The new variant, which was first detected in India, leaves unvaccinated pockets of the country at high risk.
NEW: In a victory for college athletes, SCOTUS unanimously invalidates a portion of the NCAA's "amateurism" rules. The court says the NCAA can no longer bar colleges from providing athletes with education-related benefits such as free laptops or paid post-graduate internships.
â SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 21, 2021
-A true rollercoaster of a headline, brought to you by CNN: âA tiny dinosaur trapped in amber turned out to be a 'really weird animal' insteadâ
-A police officer in Flint, Michigan fatally shot a 19-year-old woman during a Juneteenth parade. The officer alleged they were shot at first.
-RIP Champ.
Our family lost our loving companion Champ today. I will miss him. pic.twitter.com/sePqXBIAsE
â President Biden (@POTUS) June 19, 2021