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Hennie du Plessis of South Africa tees off during the LIV Invitational.
Hennie du Plessis of South Africa tees off during the LIV Invitational. Matthew Lewis / Getty Images

Good afternoon, Portland! Betsy Johnson might hate you, but I sure don't. Let's get to the headlines.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Saudi-backed LIV Golf—a $3 billion golf tour designed to challenge the PGA and bolster Saudi Arabia's international reputation—is coming to Pumpkin Ridge Golf Course in North Plains later this week, and certain local politicians and club members are none too happy with Oregon being used as a backdrop for the sportswashing enterprise. Here's more on the story.

• An audit from the city auditor's office has a damning result: the Portland Fire Bureau has an "incoherent" accountability system that disproportionately affects the 20 percent of bureau staff who are not white men. The auditor's office has recommended a complete overhaul of the system. Alex Zielinski has the story.

• Another audit, this time from Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, has found that Oregon is still not doing enough to stop physicians from overprescribing opioids in the state. The report makes the case that the state needs to make legislative changes to bolster the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).

• Fire season is underway in Eastern Oregon. The Willowcreek Fire, which started on Tuesday near Vale, has grown to around 40,000 acres—though favorable weather conditions have put firefighters in a position to contain the fire in the coming days.

• Oregon is on the verge of sending five Vietnamese Americans to its state legislature in what would be the largest Vietnamese American legislative delegation in any state in the country. All five candidates—Khanh Pham, Hai Pham, Daniel Nguyen, Thuy Tran, and Hoa Nguyen—are Democrats.

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

• Despite a furious dissent written by conservative justice Neil Gorsuch, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to narrow tribal sovereignty by ruling that the state of Oklahoma can prosecute certain crimes on tribal lands.

• With Monkeypox cases rising at a steady rate in the US and in Europe, the Biden administration is finally preparing a vaccination campaign that will target individuals at a high risk and people in areas with high case numbers. Officials expect to make 1.6 million doses of the vaccine available by the fall.

• In states like Texas and Ohio that have moved to outlaw abortions in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision reversing Roe v. Wade last week, a number of Democratic prosecutors have announced that they will not enforce restrictions on abortions. Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, up for re-election this fall, said that he will grant clemency for any doctor who performs an illegal abortion.

• Last night's primary election in Illinois resulted in a mixed slate of results for the state's progressives, with several notable victories offset by the defeat of Rep. Marie Newman.

• Finally... America's national pastime has never looked more beautiful.