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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Prepare for another warm, mostly sunny day today with a high of 81—and if you think you're overdressed, then perhaps consider getting one of our swanky "SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT PORTLAND" T-shirts or tank tops! While they can't drop your internal temperature, they will certainly make you look cooler! But first let's gauge your temperature after reading today's NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• In case you missed it, the Mercury has been liveblogging the ENTIRE world record-breaking, 48-hour-long Drag-A-Thon event at Darcelle's, and it has been a goddamn inspiring hoot! Read it all here, and check out our Twitter for some amazing pics and video... such as...

• Welp, the schemes to water down and corrupt the voter-approved city charter reforms continue with a new proposal from charter reform haters/Commissioners Rene Gonzalez and Dan Ryan, who want a ballot measure that would reduce the number of commissioners from 12 to eight, give the mayor veto power, and rework the ranked voting method that, ONCE AGAIN, we voted in favor of. WOW! The desperation of these people—and the wealthy developers who inform their every move—is truly jaw-dropping. This is not the first time I've uttered these words, but VOTE THEM ALL OUT AND WITH GUSTO.

• Following a "restorative justice" mediation process, Portland Police officer Corey Budworth recorded and released a video apology directed to photojournalist Teri Jacobs, who he shoved down and hit in the face with his baton during an August 2020 protest. In the video Budworth said he recognized "the physical and emotional harm my actions caused" to Jacobs and would work toward not causing "this kind of harm moving forward.” As a result of this mediation process, criminal charges against Budworth have been dropped. Our Courtney Vaughn has more.

• In a related story, the estate of deceased Michael Reinoehl—an anti-fascist who was killed by a U.S. Marshals task force after he shot and killed a right wing protester in downtown Portland in the summer of 2020—is suing those they think are responsible for his death, saying that officers had no intention of arresting Reinoehl when he was gunned down in a hail of bullets.

• Food lovers, don't miss Andrea Damewood's excellent review of St. Johns' Pastificio d'Oro restaurant that will make your farm-to-table pasta dreams come true.

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• After peaking last summer, the nation's inflation rate continues to simmer down from 9.1 percent to a much more reasonable 3 percent—and while we're not out of the woods yet, experts see this as a very good sign. 

• As I write this, FBI Director Christopher Wray is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, where hypocritical Republicans are screaming at him about "abuse of power in federal agencies” (AKA holding Trump accountable for his criminal actions). 

• NASA is celebrating the one-year anniversary of all those gorgeous deep space photos from the Webb Space Telescope with... wait for it... the most gorgeous deep space photo yet! The picture shows dozens of stars at the moment of their birth in a cloud complex that's a whopping 390 light-years away. DAMN, DEEP SPACE! YOU GOOD LOOKIN'!

• A jury has declared that a hand-written will reportedly penned by soul singer Aretha Franklin, and found in her couch months after her death, has been deemed valid ending a long battle between the singers' children.

• And finally... I hope all the bad things I see coming my way turn out to be like this: