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Good Morning, Portland! The weather is nice! The weather is HOT šŸ”„šŸ˜ŽšŸ”„. We're looking at highs of 90 today and tomorrow. I don't know how to feel about this high 80s stuff. We've had a lot worse, but don't let climate crisis catch you sleepin' (we are caught).

IN LOCAL NEWS:
ā€¢ Remember that shitbird poll of 500 people that tried to convince us that 60 percent of "likely Multnomah County voters" want tougher treatment of the homeless? On Wednesday, a group formed in support of Portland Street Response delivered paperwork to Portland City Hall showing nearly 11,000 people signed an online petition to preserve the alternative, crisis response program's funding and resources. Read about it here, and keep reading because News Editor Courtney Vaughn has a lot more information about the situation.

ā€¢ We're out at Pickathonā€”by which I mean that the general, amorphous "we" that is the Mercury's culture team is out at Pickathon. Check our preview for acts you should not miss and tots you must go taste. Check on our Twitter / Threads today for updates about good shows, hot sets, and ways we're keeping cool.

ā€¢ Everyone wants to be first to the fence post, but then a law professor at Lewis & Clark says linking Jesse Lee Calhoun's early release to the deaths of four Oregon women is not founded in the facts or the research. Also, why is this dude's name even out? He has not been charged. I am SMDH at every news source who gleefully ran after that one. OPB names names.

ā€¢ Today, Gov. Tina Kotek is expected to sign the bill that will make self serve pumping legal all across Oregon (and not just sometimes!).

ā€¢ I hope you're all lighting a candle for the Girl Dinner think piece I'm too busy to write. It goes a little like this: Most women you know are on diets, and you probably did something to make them feel like they have to be. Only some foods are "safe," so they make dinner out of those foods. Then, add in our work-obsessed society, and you've got Girl Dinner. But, on a lighter note:

ā€¢ It's Friday morning, and tickets for music and comedy shows are on saleā€”or about to go on sale. Check outĀ this Everout shortlist of promising, upcoming shows! John Oliver and Taylor Tomlinson are both coming to the Schnitz! Hot dog!

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
ā€¢ Yesterday Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost. The charges are founded less in the idea that he caused or planned the Jan 6 insurrection, but more than he took full advantage of it, during and afterward..

ā€¢ A new ingredient for Chevron boat fuel was recently approved by the EPA, despite it being so toxic that "everyone exposed to the substance continually over a lifetime would be expected to develop cancer," ProPublica reports. Imagine dying because of boat fuel. Imagine deciding that people who handle your fuel should absolutely get cancer just so you can drive your boat.

ā€¢ The American Academy of Pediatrics has said some fucked up shit about overweight children this year, but at least they're reaffirming their support of transgender children, calling this year's attempts at restricting care enacted by US states ā€œunprecedented government intrusion.ā€

ā€¢ The government decided not to move US Space Command.

@washingtonpost President Biden has decided against relocating U.S. Space Command to Alabama, senior officials said Monday, upending a controversial decision by his predecessor as the Trump administration was coming to an end. Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that Bidenā€™s decision was made ā€œfollowing a deliberate evaluationā€ and after consultation with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Austin, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Army Gen. James H. Dickinson, who leads Space Command, all support the decision, Ryder said. #ColoradoSprings #HuntsvilleAlabama #SpaceCommand ā™¬ original sound - We are a newspaper.

ā€¢ This seems like a good weekend to be outside and away from the computer.