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GOOD AFTERNOON, PORTLAND! Say "welcome back" to the 90s, because it's gonna be sunny and hot tomorrow through Saturday, when it's predicted to shoot up to 95 degrees. Now let's shoot up some NEWS! (Ugh... I have to admit I've done better segues.)

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• Unlike their counterparts on SE Division, workers at the Sellwood location of New Seasons have voted NOT to unionize. Our Alex Zielinski has the latest.

• ICYMI, our Alex Zielinski has a banger of a report this week which shines a light on the Portland politicos (and their lobbyist pals) who are desperately trying to scuttle the upcoming charter reform vote, because... you guessed it... they're afraid their power will be yanked away. AND IT PROBABLY SHOULD BE.

• Very important to note:

• State auditors have discovered that the state of Oregon most likely spent more than $10 million of federal COVID-19 funds on things they shouldn't have, and then failed to adequately monitor many of the recipients.

• A possible peek into Oregon's future?

• If you're looking for a new fave podcast, can we point you in the direction of You're Wrong About hosted by Portland journalist Sarah Marshall? She's dropping truth bombs about stuff you thought you knew... but in a fun, entertaining way! McKinzie Smith has the profile.

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• In case you've been under a rock all day, Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96. She wore the crown for seven decades, which was the longest reign in British history, and her son Prince Charles—henceforth known as King Charles II—will assume the throne. As usual, Twitter was a bastion of sensitivity:

• Okay, this one's good:

• The Justice Department has appealed the highly suspicious ruling of a Trump-appointed judge who happily went along with the former president's request for a "special master" to examine the Mar-a-Lago documents that have already been examined by the FBI. The DOJ said if the ruling held it would seriously damage their current investigation... which is exactly Trump's point.

• Related: Turnip-faced Trump crony Steve Bannon appeared in court today to plead "not guilty" to duping the criminal president's followers into forking over money to "Build the Wall" on the southern US border, and then distributing the dough to his (alleged, I guess) co-conspirators.

• Thanks to a judge's ruling, the people of Michigan will be allowed to vote in November on whether they should put abortion protections into the state's constitution, with a "yes" vote guaranteeing abortion rights for everyone in the state.

• In gossip news:

• And finally... sometimes things you expect to be really bad aren't so bad as you thought.