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Good morning, Portland! A friendly reminder that this week is Burger Week—a glorious week during which 48 local restaurants are offering delicious burgers for just $8! If you’ve been meaning to get out of the house and try one, I suggest you get your butt in gear because the offer ends this Sunday (!!). Okay, I hear you—enough promo! On to the news.

In local news:

• Six Oregon lawmakers and more than 30 environmental organizations submitted a petition to the state attorney general Wednesday, requesting the office investigate claims that NW Natural is misleading the public about the impacts of natural gas. The petition claims that NW Natural uses deceptive marketing—like the tagline “natural gas, your invisible friend”—to greenwash the fact that they distribute a fracked-gas material primarily composed of methane.

• Thanks to a geomagnetic storm, the Northern Lights may be visible from Oregon this week! To see if you can catch a peek, go to a space with minimal light pollution on a clear night and scan the skies.

• Betsy Johnson declined to share her tax returns to Willamette Week when asked. While Johnson is under no obligation to reveal her financial documents to the media, her decision is notable because it is the norm for Oregon gubernatorial candidates (and candidates running for governor around the country) to do so. Johnson’s tax documents are of particular interest because she has investments in stocks with companies that conduct significant business in Oregon, like Boeing and oil transport company Global Partners, and her wealth could be affected by her potential decisions as Governor. 

• The Dundee Lodge Campout, a music and arts festival in Gaston, Oregon, kicks off this weekend. Check out the festival’s eclectic line up, new vendors, and more with this preview from Suzette Smith.

In national and international news:

• Two former judges in Pennsylvania who created a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for a kickback were ordered to pay $206 million to the hundreds of people victimized by the scheme. The judges involved in the scandal—dubbed kids-for-cash—closed a county juvenile detention center and instead adopted a zero tolerance policy that increased the number of children sent to for-profit jail, while receiving millions in illegal payments from the jail’s co-owner.

• A bombing at a mosque in Kabul Wednesday evening killed at least 10 people, with some government agencies placing the death toll at 21. The bomb was detonated during evening prayers and wounded an additional 33 people at least. No group or person has claimed responsibility for the attack.

• Here’s a fun little first sentence of a story for you: “The world’s two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases are sparring on Twitter over climate policy, with China questioning whether the U.S. can deliver on the landmark climate legislation signed into law by President Joe Biden this week.”

• Listen… maybe it’s this terrible humidity, but I’m in my feelings this morning. I hope you all have a nice day <3