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Animal rights activists, dressed as Tyrannosauri reges, prepare for a protest against bullfighting
Animal rights activists, dressed as Tyrannosauri reges, prepare for a protest against bullfighting Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

Good Afternoon, Portland! IT RAINED A LIYTL BIT. No more drizzles are expected for the rest of the day, but we may get some showers tomorrow morning. Now, here's the news!

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Lawmaker walkouts have proved a continual issue for Oregon's legislature—in 2019 Republicans used the tactic to stymie voting sessions and kill carbon tax and gun control bills. Today the Oregonian reports that voters will have a chance to vote, in November, on a petition that would penalize "state lawmakers who boycott the Capitol in an effort to kill legislation they oppose."

• If you've been following the resurgence and spread of smallpox's gentler cousin monkeypox, this week's Savage Love has a digestible explainer on what to look for and be concerned / not concerned about.

• Jody Allen—owner of the Portland Trail Blazers—has no plans to sell the team, right now or at any time in the near future:

• Are you doing anything fun this week? Whenever people ask me that, I get very deer-in-headlights. Luckily for me (and you!), our calendar team put together this round-up of events to take the guesswork out of afterwork amusement:

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• After two years of pandemic distancing, the San Fermin Festival kicked off this week in Pamplona, Italy. The world famous fest is best known for its "running of the bulls" events, which take place every morning that the festival is held. This year, animal rights activists—dressed as bullfighters and / or tyrannosaurus rex—protested the practice and bullfighting in general. I know those T-Rex outfits are getting ubiquitous, but they still make me giggle.

• Russia now firmly holds Ukraine's Luhansk Province and is heavily shelling the neighboring Donetsk. The names Luhansk and Donetsk may be familiar to you because the regions were both recognized as independent states by Russia in the days leading up to the war—which was sort of an "oh shit" moment internationally. Together these two territories are often called Donbas—which is a portmanteau of "Donets Basin," itself an abbreviation of "Donets Coal Basin." You may have known all of that, but every once in a while when my head is spinning around why anyone would go to war, I remember there's a lot of coal in the part of Ukraine that Russia is freeing wants.

• A Georgia grand jury has issued subpoenas to Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and at least five others, saying the jury is interested in hearing what they know about the "Trump Campaign’s legal efforts seeking to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere."

• While we used to roll our eyes at the beef industry's commercials about carbon capture, there may be something to it! Even if we aren't one hundred percent there yet, Sierra Magazine has a new piece about the different approaches to carbon capture and what to do with that carbon once you've got it. Full disclosure: This was written by my sister, but she's great at sublimating information, and I wouldn't want to deny you.

• Finally, before you get to exit into this glorious afternoon, we just need you to verify this captcha:

@shrubbing we have all been employed by google for 10 years #captcha #recaptcha #verification #ai #fyp #fypシ #firehydrant #chimney #capitalism ♬ original sound - sohrob