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Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in commanding fashion.
Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee and in commanding fashion. Drew Angerer / Getty Images

GOOD AFTERNOON, PORTLAND! It's Friday, Friday... gotta get down on Friday. Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend. And everybody's looking forward to the HEADLINES, HEADLINES!

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• SPORTY-SPORT NEWS: Nike founder Phil Knight and Los Angeles Dodgers minority owner Alan Smolinisky have put a $2 billion-plus offer on the table to purchase the Portland Trail Blazers, which if successful, they'll most likely keep in Portland. However according to a press release from the team, they say they're not for sale. Stand by for what's sure to be lotsa drama!

• Today in wealthy person shenanigans: A long-vacant building owned by known homeless person-hassler Jordan Schnitzer suddenly has a whopping 22 bike racks (!!) in a one block area (!!) on the sidewalk outside the building, which are most likely there to discourage homeless camping. Our Alex Zielinski has the details.

• Nurses at two more Providence hospitals—Providence Milwaukie and Providence Willamette Falls—have voted to authorize a strike, joining their fellow health workers at Providence St. Vincent.

• After a slate of delays, it appears like the money flagged from the 2020 passage of Measure 110—that decriminalizes small amounts of drugs while issuing roughly $300 million to treat drug and alcohol addiction—will finally be getting to the hands that need it. BUT! According to an audit by the Secretary of State, mistakes have been made along the way, and they're offering recommendations on how to smooth the process.

• Thinking caps ON! It's time for another funny-fun POP QUIZ PDX! This week: problematic behavior, Portland movie trivia, and a special tribute to Goose from Top Gun! (Ooh... you can also win free pizza!) 🍕📽️😍

• On your music docket for this week: rock/doom band Blackwater Holylight’s homecoming tour, Rochelle Jordan and Blossom’s Holocene takeover, a new single from The Last Artful, Dodgr, and Ice Cube is coming to Portland! It's Jenni Moore's HEAR IN PORTLAND.

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Last night President Biden called on Congress to stop fucking around (my words, obvs) and get some solid gun legislation on the books, such as stopping the sale of assault weapons and enacting "red flag" laws—but as we know deep in our hearts, unless Republicans are voted out of office, the victims (both children and adults) will continue to pile up.

• Meanwhile, THIS: "Two states aim to arm teachers despite opposition from educators and experts."

• Russia's war against Ukraine has hit the 100 day mark, and they seemingly has no intention of giving up the land they've taken. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says that Russia has occupied one-fifth of his country.

• Congrats to the brilliant, 14-year-old Harini Logan, who won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, defeating her opponent in a stunning 90 second spell-off, in which she spelled 21 difficult words correctly in a minute and a half.

• If approved by the FDA, the White House says that children under the age of five could start getting COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as June 21.

• Drooling man-baby billionaire Elon Musk is telling Tesla executives that he wants to cut ten percent of the company's workforce... because he has a "bad feeling" about the economy.

• And finally... this preschool needs to form a consulting group.