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A scene from Septembers youth climate strike in Portland.
A scene from September's youth climate strike in Portland. Isabella Garcia

Good morning, Portland!

- I’m going to start by tootin’ my horn a little: I won a couple awards for my reporting in 2021 from the Oregon Society of Professional Journalists! Toot toot! Here’s a link to the story that snagged second place.

- Today marks Portland’s citywide climate strike organized by some seriously badass teens. Check in on the Mercury’s Twitter page around 11 am to follow reporter Isabella Garcia’s on-the-ground coverage of the rally and march. (And see which Portland politicians support the movement.)

- Workers at two Portland Starbucks stores went on strike Wednesday morning over what alleged corporate retaliation to unionizing efforts. Workers at two Portland Starbucks went on strike Wednesday morning over what they said was corporate retaliation against unionization efforts. For more on this saga, read our coverage by freelance reporter Abe Asher.

- Onetime gubernatorial candidate and former New York Times columnist Nick Kristof endorsed Democratic nominee for governor Tina Kotek Thursday, two days after the primary race that left Kotek as the victor. Weird flex, but okay!

- Oklahoma lawmakers approved a bill Thursday prohibiting all abortions except to save the life of a pregnant person or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement. It’s the closest state law to being an all-out band on abortion—and signals that Oklahoma is ready to test the terms of the Supreme Court’s newfound distaste for abortion rights.

- Today in tragically unsurprising news: SpaceX paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against SpaceX’s dad Elon Musk in 2018. The attendant, who was working on Musk's private jet, accused Musk of exposing his erect penis to her and… offering to buy her a horse in exchange for an erotic massage? I’m sorry I had to type those things.

- In an unexpected twist, the US is quietly nudging Taiwan to gather inspiration from Ukraine’s success in fending off Russian forces as a model for fending off a future Chinese attack. (And yet, it appears China is also learning from Russia's missteps.)

- Calling all anti-racist bird-watchers: