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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Weather report: it's going to be a little hotter today, with temperatures reaching the 90s this weekend. And if you're planning your weekend, why not take a look at EverOut's awesome roster of events? I'm personally psyched for the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, happening Friday-Sunday up in St. Johns. (But if you're not into jazz festivals for some reason, we may not be able to be friends, but fear not: there are lots of other things to do this weekend.)

Now, time for some NEWS: 

IN LOCAL NEWS: 

• Word got out yesterday morning that Portland Commissioners Rene Gonzalez and Dan Ryan are hatching a plan to throw the ongoing charter reform effort into disarray, which proponents of the voter-approved charter reform measure are not too keen on. Candace Avalos, one of the people who worked on the measure that almost 60% of Portlanders voted to pass last November, called this behavior "anti-democratic" and "power grab." YUP!

• Thanks to $80 million in federal funds, the plan to make big infrastructure changes on 82nd Avenue is underway, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was in town last week to take a look at what his office is funding out here. The Mercury has the scoop on what went down during Buttigieg's visit and what's next for 82nd Avenue.

• Well, folks, Portland is back on top, and it's all because of drag.

• Though some people feared for the poor little rich housing developers when a Portland policy was passed requiring new apartments to include affordable units for low-income tenants, a new study shows the policy shows promise. 

• In other Portland development news:

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Kudos to the New York Times for going for the headline "She Steals Surfboards by the Seashore" on a story about a sticky-fingered sea otter who has made a habit of stealing surfer's boards in Santa Cruz. Wildlife officials are planning to capture her for her misdeeds, which I find very rude. CAN'T THEY SEE SHE LONGS FOR THE WAVES???  

• Summer ain't what it used to be, folks. Heat waves are currently terrorizing swaths of the planet, from the entire continent of Europe to the U.S. Southwest, with no end in sight. (I can't think about it too much without plunging into a spiral of deep doom and sorrow.) Will this finally make world leaders get it TF together and do something? Probably not, but here's hoping.

• Hollywood actors are set to join their screenwriting peers on strike after failed negotiations with studios and streaming services. Turns out many actors are losing out big-time because of the new world streaming has wrought, and they want to change that. 

• Finally, here's a video of some jumping lambs. Happy Thursday!!!