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Theres drama this week at the Oregon State Capitol.
There's drama this week at the Oregon State Capitol. aimintang / getty images


Good morning, Portland!
And happy Last Day of Summer, whatever that means these days.

Here are the headlines!

• In case you missed this enraging news yesterday: A Newberg School District staffer went to school in blackface last week (?), claiming to be dressing as Rosa Parks (??) to protest the district's vaccine mandate for school staffers (???). Everything's going great at the Newberg School District!

Here you can hear from the local reporter who's been breaking all the Newberg news lately:

• Yesterday, a Multnomah County judge ruled that the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) acted illegally when live-streaming protests last summer, because of a law prohibiting cops from surveilling people who are not suspected of a specific crime. "Standing up to injustice is important to me; having my own government deliberately put me at risk for broadcasting my location and political stance — known as ‘doxxing’ — is unbelievable," one protester suing PPB said in a press release.

• Texas' new six-week abortion ban relies on vigilante citizens to sue abortion doctors for its enforcement—and we now have our first lawsuit of this nature. Texas doctor Alan Braid publicly admitted to violating the ban, and is now being sued by an Arkansas lawyer with a history of tax evasion. In a Washington Post op-ed, Braid said the move was part of a legal strategy, writing that "I fully understood that there could be legal consequences—but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn't get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested."

• Absolutely shameful:

• Up in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau narrowly won a third term in a "snap parliamentary election" last night—but Trudeau failed to secure a parliamentary majority for his Liberal Party.

• Johnson & Johnson has been working on a two-dose version of its COVID-19 vaccine, and now says it has developed one that is 94 percent effective against symptomatic infection.

• Abolish Facebook:

• The Oregon Legislature has been trying to draw up a new Congressional map following the 2020 Census—but Democrats and Republicans have been unable to work together, with Republicans stalling the process and claiming the majority Democrats' plan would unfairly favor their party. Yesterday, House Speaker Tina Kotek went back on a deal that allowed Republican input on the redistricting, so now Democrats will have the power. Get ready for another Republican walkout!

• At Oregon State University, ticket sales and attendance for football games has fallen drastically this year, following a requirement that all attendees be vaccinated against COVID or have a recent negative test.

• And finally: I have never in my life watched a single segment of Dancing With the Stars, but that doesn't mean I'm not stoked that the show finally got gay.