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Its nice that this stock photo anti-vaxxer still at least wears a mask.
It's nice that this stock photo anti-vaxxer still at least wears a mask. Anna Rozhkova / getty images

Good afternoon, Portland! Here's the latest on local news, national news, and a little bit of fun.

In local news:

• One hundred and twenty-three City of Portland and Multnomah County employees were fired yesterday for choosing not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit an exemption by October 18, the deadline for the vaccine mandate for government employees. Both the city and county announced vaccine mandates for employees in late August. If you're looking for a job in municipal government, now's the time to apply!

• Our new Food & Drink Guide continues with this piece about how local restaurants, food carts, and food service workers are impacted by climate change. “As running businesses gets harder, as customers stop showing up because of worries about disease or air quality or the plethora of things that happen, businesses are going to try to take that lost income from their workers,” one worker told the Mercury. “Workers need to be able to survive.”

• In case you missed it yesterday: Mayor Ted Wheeler's office has been discussing a strategy to ban homeless camping from areas of downtown Portland—and to move those campers into a "high-population outdoor camping zone." The plan, which has been largely discussed in closed-door conversations with city staff, has drawn alarm from homeless advocates and politicians alike.

• Go Blazers:

In national news:

• The trial against Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan—Ahmaud Arbery's killers—is off to a slow start, as jury selection is proving difficult. It's hard for the court to find jurors who haven't heard of the case, or don't already believe that the trio committed murder.

• Nikolas Cruz, the Parkland school shooter who killed 17 people in 2018, pleaded guilty to the murders today. Now, 12 jurors will be tasked with deciding whether Cruz receives a sentence of life in prison, or the death penalty.

• Here's some on-the-ground coverage from a trans journalist about the employee walkout at Netflix today:

• The FDA today authorized booster COVID vaccines from both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and also said people could mix-and-match their original vaccinations and subsequent booster shots. Looks like I still have a shot at getting the 'Dern!

And just for fun:

• If you're looking for something to stream tonight, check out these Indigenous-directed films from the Portland Film Festival.

• Finally, here are some very smart words interspersed with some mouth-watering photos. What more could you ask for?