Good morning, Portland! It's expected that we'll hit the 90s again today—a diagnosis that can only be cured with one thing: boozy slushies! It's the Mercury's Summer of Slushies week, which means you can find delicious and refreshing slushies for only $6 at drinking establishments across the city. YUM. Learn more here. 

- How did the first official day of the trial against Joey Gibson and other Patriot Prayer bois go, you ask? I spent my Monday sitting on an uncomfortable wooden courtroom bench listening to legal ramblings to get a firsthand look. Dive in!

- Portland Housing Bureau Director Shannon Callahan is leaving the job five years after taking the position as the city’s chief housing director during an affordable housing crisis. It’s not clear where she’s headed next—or who will step in to take over her post. 

- When something is objectively cool but you know everyone is going to ruin it: 

- Portland’s latest effort to change its form of city government is already facing legal challenges from Portland’s most influential business group and a former mayoral candidate. The timing of the lawsuits, filed last week, have raised questions from the volunteers who crafted the proposed changes. Isabella Garcia has the breakdown. 

- In Boston, two police unions are suing the city for its council’s decision to restrict their use of less-lethal weapons like pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets. Their arguments are similar to those raised by Portland police in 2020, after the courts also limited officers’ use of these weapons. Stay tuned: The outcome of the Boston lawsuits could set an interesting precedent for other cities.

- Jury selection for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress trial drags into a second day this morning. As a reminder: Bannon is facing criminal charges for refusing to cooperate with the US House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. 

- the US House of Representatives is set to vote today to protect same-sex and interracial marriages, a direct response to the US Supreme Court, who hinted at reconsidering these rights when overturning Roe v Wade last month.  

- A trio of small but mighty conservative legal blocs—conservative and libertarian think tanks, Republican state attorneys general, and religious liberty groups—have banded together to take on public health mandates in the wake of COVID-related health orders issued across the country. The curious thing is that this fight has nothing to do with health—and everything to do with constitutional rights. 

- Could this be something?Â