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Good Morning, Portland! High of 87? THAT'S NOTHING. BRING IT. There's still two weeks left in the Mercury's SUMMER OF SLUSHIES if you need a frosty, booze-filled cocktail (for only $6) to cool it with. Now, let's crack open that news.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• On Monday, Nick Kristof announced he would return to his pre-Oregon gubernatorial candidate pastures as a New York Times columnist, but extricating himself from his remaining fundraising dollars and local government planning projects seems to be proving tricky. Many publications, such as Rolling Stone, have been quick to point out the NYT's strict (inconsistently enforced?) policy prohibiting journalists from overt political activity. I have seen the questionnaire. It is vast.

• Campers pack up your Subarus, areas of Willamette National Forest that were closed for the past two years due to wildfire damage are now reopened to the public. This includes Elk Lake Campground, Humbug Campground, and Fox Creek Group Campground.

• Now that the Earl Blumenauer Bridge is open—connecting NE 7th to the Lloyd District—PBOT is working to smooth out the rest of the nearby route, such as the dastardly jog across NE Sandy that has given many good cyclist a frighten.

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

• Yesterday was primary election day for Washington, Michigan, Arizona, Kansas, and Missouri. Many of the races are still too close to call, but here are the New York Times' ongoing tallies and its five takeaways from the night. The highlight of the night was likely Kansas voters rejecting restrictions on abortion.

• President Biden will sign an executive order today wherein he will direct the Department of Health and Human Services to look into allowing people crossing state lines for abortion access to use Medicaid for their expenses. That's nowhere near as effective an abortion access protection as if Republican Senators had allowed last month's Freedom to Travel for Health Care Act of 2022 bill to pass.

• What did Dane Cook do now?

• Honestly, headlines like "Why So Many Cars Have Rats in Them Now" are what get me out of bed in the morning. The story may only really be pertinent to New Yorkers—who are driving more and taking transit less—but Portland does have a lot of well-fed rats.

• Here is your energy for the day:

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Sammy D'Agostino (@sammydreamsinflowers)