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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Saaaay... if you're a fan of our "Say Nice Things About Portland" guide (or just Portland in general), then you're gonna want one or both of the Mercury's new "SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT PORTLAND" T-shirts! They're a great answer to the conservative politicians, wealthy people, and special interest groups who talk shit about our city, AND since we also have a tank top available, they are very weather appropriate. Now let's read some only partially appropriate NEWS!
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Thanks to those crybaby runaway Republicans, the Oregon legislature was forced to vote on a bewildering number of bills in the last eight days before the session ended yesterday. But guys... they passed SO MANY freaking bills... probably more than if those simpleton Republicans had just stayed and performed the jobs we pay them for. But anyway, some of the big, splashy legislation included a $200 million housing package, parental rights in abortion cases, a "ghost gun" ban, taking on the public defense crisis, cracking down on extremist paramilitary shenanigans, and (gasp) so much more. Here's a good rundown from OPB about what the now-exhausted Dems got accomplished (and again... it was A LOT).
• Very good news for Portland skaters: After years of dragging their feet, City Council now finally seems ready to support the building of the Steel Bridge Skatepark (something they've been promising since 2008). Of course it took the skaters telling the council how good it would be for downtown revitalization to grab the attention of these Portland Business Alliance minions... but, hey! Let's take our victories where we can get 'em! Our Taylor Griggs has the story.
On the skatepark beat again: https://t.co/aAJCuNPuOT
— Taylor Griggs (@taylorjgriggs) June 23, 2023
• The nurses strike—a walkout that included more than 1,800 Providence healthcare workers—ended on Friday... at least for now. A deal has yet to be struck, and nurses and the administration are scheduled to continue their negotiations for better pay and working hours on Thursday.
• In case you missed it on Friday, check out these gorgeous pics from the 8 Seconds Juneteenth rodeo!
Photographer Sean Bascom (@baaascom) attended the Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo, took some truly gorgeous pics, and talked to participants about the importance of showing up for Black cowboy culture.https://t.co/meQnAcPw2K
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) June 23, 2023
• Despite empty threats from the usual gang of hate-filled, scared shitless homophobes, Oregon City went ahead and successfully held their first Pride event, raising a lot of money for LGBTQ+ youth. Rather than succumb to ridiculous right wing threats, the delightfully named event coordinator Ecstasy Inferno offered this reminder about Sunday's get together: "We're here, we're queer, and not going anywhere, booboo."
Hackers! Robots! And assholes that act like robots! Those topics and more are all covered in this week's hilarious trivia game, POP QUIZ PDX! See how smart YOU are. 🧠🤖https://t.co/T5NM4IPp5I
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) June 25, 2023
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Sadly, the armed mutiny against top leaders in Putin's military staged by mercenary-for-hire Yevgeny Prigozhin and his troops is already over—but, OH! It was soooo delicious while it lasted. The march on the Russian capitol threw Putin and his government into chaos, damaged the leader's political reputation, and buoyed the spirits of Ukrainians—and while there's currently no sign of Prigozhin (okay, kinda suspicious), the subsequent attempts by Russia's leaders to convince their people they're calm and in control are not exactly being taken seriously. (Ya gotta love it! ❤️)
• In one of those rare cases where the Trump-heavy Supreme Court ruled correctly, they said "Oh hell nah" to Louisiana's attempt to redraw that state's congressional districts in order to disenfranchise Black voters, sending the case back down to the lower courts.
All eyes are on the Supreme Court for its final week, as the justices will release cases on issues such as affirmative action, student loan payments, election law and LGBTQ rights. https://t.co/Olxe3a4Ygo
— CNN (@CNN) June 26, 2023
• Meanwhile GOP senators are reportedly leaning hard on Supreme Court Justice John Roberts to get his right-wing buddies and their mounting ethical lapses under control. And by "under control" they mean for the Justice to write a new, toothless "code of conduct" for the court so the Democrats don't turn ethics reform into federal law.
The ball on this guy https://t.co/tuo6yWtQFd
— Arif "Felonious Munk" Shahid (@Felonious_munk) June 25, 2023
• Taylor Swift is asking her army of fans to "stand back and stand by" when her new re-recording of Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is released next month, saying she doesn't want a lot of bloodthirsty internet attacks on her ex-boyfriends (in particular creep John Mayer) who were heavily featured in the album. Okay... but what if I hate John Mayer for my own private reasons, Taylor?!?
• And finally... I guess it's gonna be that kind of a week.
— NO CONTEXT HUMANS 👤 (@HumansNoContext) June 22, 2023