The Mercury provides news and fun every single day—but your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
Good afternoon, Portland! Lovely that our little heatwave is continuing through Saturday, no? What a nice, robust preview of the rest of our lives. Here are the headlines!
IN LOCAL NEWS
- People of color workers at the Burgerville at the Oregon Convention Center are calling on their manager to resign for allegedly racist behavior. Earlier this month, the majority of workers of color filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the manager has created a hostile work environment. Alex Zielinski has the story.
- An audit released Wednesday from the Multnomah County Auditor’s Office found that the county has consistently struggled to handle its contact tracing responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The audit found that, during major surges, the country was only able to contact around ten percent of the people who tested positive for the virus. Isabella Garcia has more.
Like an insistent, annoying customer trying to cut in line at the coffee shop, here comes monkeypox to butt into our lives. Here's what you need to know to stay safe: https://t.co/6EFETmNEuv
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) July 27, 2022
- It appeared at one point that Portland's heatwave was going to peak on Tuesday, but it now appears that the city could be in for two more triple digit days on Friday and Saturday. Cooling centers in the city will remain open through at least Friday morning and possibly longer than that.
- While few people are enjoying the heatwave, farmers are among the workers most significantly impacted. New Oregon OSHA protections enacted earlier this year are designed to help keep workers safe.
Smiling at this one 😁🇨🇴
— Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) July 27, 2022
Welcome to the Rose City, Juan David Mosquera!
- In the aftermath of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood is working to open a clinic in Ontario, Oregon, just across the Idaho border—and plenty of the local residents are not thrilled.
IN NATIONAL NEWS
- Joe Manchin has, at long last, reached a deal on a significant climate and healthcare bill. The West Virginia senator, among the final Democratic holdouts in the evenly split Senate, has agreed to a framework in which the US would attempt to cut its carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and allow Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices.
Details on Manchin-Schumer —>
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 27, 2022
TAX POLICIES:
— $313B 15% corporate minimum tax
— $288B prescription drug reform
— $124B IRS tax enforcement
— $14B carried interest loophole
Spending
— $369B Energy & climate change
— $64B ACA extensionhttps://t.co/LsnRBloDTB
- The Biden administration has reportedly offered to exchange convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout for the release of Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. Griner has been held in Russia since February, while Whelan has been held there since 2018.
- A judge in North Dakota intervened on Wednesday to temporarily block the state's abortion trigger ban just a day before it was set to take effect. The ruling is a win for the Red River Women’s Clinic, the state's only abortion provider.
NEW: Vox Media is laying off 39 people, citing an effort to "get ahead" of economic uncertainty. The cuts mainly target recruiting, sales and some editorial roles.
— Axios (@axios) July 27, 2022
https://t.co/hsJLfARaUg
- Former Minneapolis police officers J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were both handed their prison sentences for violating George Floyd's civil rights, though both men got lighter sentences than recommended in sentencing guidelines. Kueng was sentenced to three years in prison, while Thao was sentenced to three-and-a-half.
- Finally... eat more avocado toast.
Well, well, well. Look who's come crawling back. https://t.co/G1fYri5E6E
— Elliot Baggott (@ElliotBaggott) July 26, 2022