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Street racing shut down the Burnside Bridge on Sunday June 12, 2022.
Street racing shut down the Burnside Bridge on Sunday June 12, 2022. Suzette Smith

Good Morning, Portland! Today looks like it'll be the warmest day this week, topping out at a gorgeous 72 degrees and cloudy. I, for one, plan to savor it and not complain.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• This November, Portlanders will have a shot at changing the city's governing structure. Last night its Charter Review Commission advanced a package of three amendments for the ballot, including ranked choice voting, expansion of City Council from 5 to 12 members, and changing the responsibilities of City Council so that the mayor no longer votes with the council. You'll want to read Alex Zielinski's break down of the further details.

• This past weekend was a big one for street racing at multiple inner neighborhood locations around the city, and also for Portland police crackdowns on those impromptu, traffic-creating events. Portland Police released this reel to the organization's social media, setting footage of them searching cars and suspects to the Yo Gotti refrain on "Big League."

• Starting tomorrow you can watch the documentary on abuse within the Boy Scouts of America organization, Leave No Trace, which is the nearly two year project of Willamette Week reporter Nigel Jaquiss. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2005, Jaquiss has a long history of taking it to the net of the powerful.

• Portland-area school board meetings have been experiencing disruptions from conservative parents, shouting about LGBTQ-related teaching materials, gender-inclusive sex education curriculums, and conversations about race. The trend is reflective of the recent wave of homophobic, transphobic, and racist movements, policies, and laws at schools across the nation. Isabella Garcia describes how the national trend made its way to theoretically progressive Portland enclaves.

• If you feel like the world is kind of "OOF" right now, the Mercury's 2022 Queer Guide includes this round-up of six memoir graphic novels by trans cartoonists—the critic writes with such enthusiastic glow that the piece is sure to start a little grin on your face.

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

• On the heels of a record-breaking Spotify debut, language-barrier-breaking, international sensation, South Korean music group BTS announced that they will be taking a hiatus from their work as a group so the members can focus on solo careers. They've been planning this since at least last year, but we hope that their fanbase, ARMY, will continue to do good works out there, taking it to the net of the powerful.

• A bunch of Supreme Court decisions were handed down this morning. While THAT ONE has yet to drop, there's plenty to be interested in:

• The World Health Organization has said that it plans to rename the virus "monkeypox" because pox lesions suck and people with postules shouldn't also have to deal with giggles because the name "does not adhere to WHO guidelines that discourage the use of geographic regions or animals."

• In general, I think poking fun at the dating profiles of everyday persons is poor form. However, as Jezebel points out, Richard Spencer is a braggy "white supremacist leader who has been accused of physically abusing his ex-wife" so going on Bumble was probably another in a series of poor choices for the self-described “moderate” ski-enthusiast.

• Sandwich lovers rejoice! Starting Monday, January 20 through Sunday, June 26, get deeeeelicious $8 sammies from 30 (!) local restaurants. It’s the Mercury’s SANDWICH WEEK! Eat ’em up!

• Now, here's your morning ASMR, get out there and get'm, caracal!