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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! 'Cause you're the object of my desire. Baby, ignite my fire, object of my desire. Hey, you really turn me on. LET'S GO TO PRESS.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• You may have heard that the Portland Winterhawks hockey team recently changed their logo, from a racist caricature of an American Indian to a hawk, which... good for them. The bad news is that after years of lobbying, the Native American community were completely locked out of discussions and the reasons that Winterhawks management have for doing so are... not good. Our Alex Zielinski has more.
Winterhawks' majority owner, Michael Kramer: "We developed our logo based on our history as a hockey team. It wasn’t about certain people’s feelings."
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) July 20, 2021
• A Portland police officer shot and wounded a man in a Northwest convenience store last night, for the crime of... *checks notes*... "eating food, not paying, and lying down on the floor." It's unclear at this time whether the victim was armed, and this marks the fourth time an officer has shot a citizen this year.
• A new plan, currently under the direction of City Commissioner Dan Ryan's office, will set up six Safe Rest Villages in Portland by the end of the year, and on city-owned property. Where are those possible locations, you ask? Well, our Alex Zielinski and Isabella Garcia have made a handy map for you!
Here's a peek at where City Council might decide to locate six sanctioned villages for houseless Portlanders in coming months: https://t.co/iUjSOEdxvp
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) July 20, 2021
• The gigantic Bootleg fire has now joined with the smaller Log fire, which means the blaze has grown to a whopping 388,359 acres—the largest wildfire in the nation.
• As the state gears up for what could very well be a historic wildfire season, Governor Brown and fire officials are telling residents to get prepared, and familiarize themselves with evacuation levels, make an emergency kit, and sign up for emergency alerts. Our Isabella Garcia also has a handy, necessary guide on how to prepare.
Former state Rep. Mike Nearman appears set to plead guilty to charges that he abused his duties as an elected official by opening the Oregon Capitol to far-right demonstrators last year. From @dirquez https://t.co/gyN7KQaoGn
— OPB (@OPB) July 20, 2021
• It's been a helluva year for local, independent movie theaters, and our Blair Stenvick has a very sweet, interesting story on how two such venues survived and then thrived post-pandemic.
IN NATIONAL NEWS:
• According to public health officials, thanks to COVID-19, American life expectancy dropped by a year-and-a-half during 2020—the biggest decline since World War II. But wait... it gets worse. The life expectancies of Black and Hispanic Americans dropped by three years.
On family members:
“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick […] And they wish they could go back. But they can’t.” https://t.co/UXmdukaihz
— Melissa Lewis (@iff_or) July 21, 2021
• Because they hate America, the Senate GOP are promising to shoot down a proposal from Sen. Chuck Schumer to begin debate on a bipartisan infrastructure bill—but Schumer has no intention of backing down.
• Speaking of Republican b-holes, Sen. Rand Paul got embarrassed yet again by Dr. Anthony Fauci after the Senator trotted out a number of ignorant COVID-related lies, and the doctor correctly informed him, "You don't know what you're talking about."
• GOOD NEWS: A federal judge has temporarily blocked an Arkansas law that bans nearly all abortions in the state, calling it an "imminent threat" to women.
• The US Women's soccer team had their butts handed to them by Sweden in a 3-0 stunner in the first game of the Olympics.
In an empty stadium in its Olympic opener, the United States women's national team lost for the first time since January 2019 https://t.co/M4ZIjTIhvT
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 21, 2021
• In more sporting news: The Milwaukee Bucks have won their first NBA championship since 1971, thanks to a 50 point shooting spree from the great Giannis Antetokounmpo.
• Billionaire Jeff Bezos took his joy ride to the edge of space yesterday, and landed safely only to give an incredibly tone deaf statement about his customers and workers. Remind me again about why we haven't eaten the rich?
All other heavy-handed metaphors bow before your king. pic.twitter.com/5TBCl0dKxf
— Jesse Mechanic (@JMechanic) July 20, 2021
• Today in UNNNNGGGGGHHHH: "Couple charged in deadly California wildfire sparked during gender reveal."
• Too hot for ya? Get ready for a cool July because the Mercury's SUMMER OF SLUSHIES is serving up $5 delicious, boozy frozen concoctions from your fave bars all damn month long!
• And now... THE WEATHER REPORT: Mostly sunny today with a comfy high of 78.
• And finally... I've decided I need a random hype person in my life, too.
Just watch my man in the back pic.twitter.com/QRe4W3Wpwl
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) July 19, 2021