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A protester at Saturdays pro-choice march in downtown Portland.
A protester at Saturday's pro-choice march in downtown Portland. MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND

Good morning, Portland! Expect some sunshine today and plan for a significantly less rainy week. As a reminder, it's election week, meaning you have until Tuesday to cast your ballot—either by mail or dropbox. If you need some inspiration on who to support, take a look-see at the Mercury's own endorsements. Now, the news:

- On Saturday, hundreds of pro-choice Portlanders poured into the streets to rally against the latest SCOTUS threat against abortion rights. Photographer Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was there to capture the moment.

- A George Soros-backed political action committee has dumped $20,000 into Brian Decker’s race to unseat Washington County District Attorney incumbent Kevin Barton. Oddly enough, this is the second time a progressive candidate for the Washington County DA’s race has received last-minute support from a Soros fund. (Spoiler: It didn’t help much last time.)

- In other local election news:

- Portland held a memorial service at Pioneer Courthouse Square for former Portland mayor Bud Clark Sunday, complete with goose hats and "whoop whoop!"s. Clark died February 1 at the age of 90. The New Yorker also dedicated a few pages of ink to Clark in a May 10 obituary.

- A white supremacist opened fire in a Buffalo, NY grocery store Saturday afternoon, killing 10 and injuring three others. The majority of those killed were Black. The 18-year-old suspect—who published a racist screed on 4chan detailing the attack before it took place—has been arrested on first-degree murder charges, and the feds are considering terrorism charges.

- Related: A Reuters investigation indicates that a significant number of US police instructors have ties to a “constellation of armed right-wing militias and white supremacist hate groups,” adding to the countless research that already demonstrates the pervasiveness of white nationalism in US law enforcement. Reallllllly makes you wonder if police are the right folks to be investigating and arresting far-right extremism.

- The White House unveiled a plan this morning to close the U.S. "housing supply gap" in five years. The ambitious proposal includes efforts to finance home construction and renovation, as the country sees a dearth of affordable housing. Read more about the plan here.

The moon did a thing last night:

- The United States recorded the 1 millionth death due to COVID-19 this past week, a grim milestone that is likely an undercount due to many deaths not formally reported as being COVID related. The Associated Press, along with numerous other publications, marked the occasion with memories of those lost to the pandemic.

- With few countries trusting the veracity of Israeli-led investigations into their own military, independent investigations have begun looking into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli police. Israeli government is, however, leading an investigation into the conduct of Israeli officers who attacked mourners at Abu Akleh’s funeral, causing the pallbearers to nearly drop her coffin.

- Finland, which shares a significant border with Russia, has announced plans to join NATO, despite Russian threats of possible retaliation for doing so. “Since the end of World War II, during which Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union, the country has been militarily non-aligned and nominally neutral in order to avoid provoking Russia,” CNN reports. Yet Russia’s invasion into Ukraine has changed that mindset.

- I leave you with this dispatch from civilization: