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A person in front of a Disney sign holding a poster reading Trans rights are human rights
Disney employees demanded the company stop donating to Florida politicians who support the state's latest anti-LGBTQ legislation. Octavio Jones / Getty Images

Good afternoon, Portland! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the headlines are flowing—let’s jump in.

In local news:

• New data paints a complex picture of suicide rates in Oregon. Suicide rates in the state decreased in 2020, but, despite the decrease, Oregon still has the 13th highest suicide rate in the nation. While early data from 2021 indicates that suicide rates amongst youth continued to decline, health experts believe rates throughout the state overall increased in 2021.

• If you want to eat food that’s so good it’s fucked up, check out Astral PDX—a month-long Mexican-inspired pop-up at Han Oak. Check out Suzette Smith’s preview of chef John Boisse and pastry chef Lauren Breneman’s five courses of deliciousness.

• Portland Trailblazer Jusuf Nurkic has to pony up $40,000 for confronting a heckler during the team’s recent game in Indiana. Following the Blazers’ loss, Nurkic walked over to the heckler, grabbed his phone (because if you don’t record yourself heckling someone, did you even heckle?), and threw it across the court side seats.

• Speaking of the Blazers: You can now purchase a ticket to see the Trailblazers play at the Moda Center ($4) for less than a gallon of gas ($5). If you ride the MAX/bus to the game, the whole night could clock in under ten bucks!

• Public art can be so thought-provoking:

In national and international news:

• Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings continued Tuesday. Jackson was questioned for hours by senators, touching on her previous sentences as a judge, the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and critical race theory (shocker). Check out the highlights here.

• Hundreds of Disney employees walked off the job Tuesday, protesting the company’s noncommittal response to a recent bill in Florida that would restrict the discussion of gender and sexuality in schools. Employees want Disney leaders to more directly condemn the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and stop donating money to Florida politicians who support the bill, like Governor Ron DeSantis.

• No survivors have been found in the wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 that crashed in Southern China Monday afternoon. The plane was carrying 132 people. Investigators have not determined the cause of the crash.

• In Hollywood news: Amanda Bynes was released from her conservatorship, which put the actor’s life and financial decisions in her parents’ control for the past nine years, Tuesday. Bynes was placed under the conservatorship due to mental health challenges. A judge ruled Tuesday that Bynes is now competent in managing her own care and finances, eliminating the grounds for the conservatorship.

• And finally, a lesson in perseverance.