Your contribution to the Mercury supports our editorial team. We try to ask unobtrusively, but there have been a couple surveys where an overwhelming number of readers said we should remind them more. The Mercury believes in Portland and smart, local journalism—we also like fun, sex, and staying curious about one another. Without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

Good Morning, Portland! Enjoy the weekend, folks—because the national weather service is warning that—starting Sunday afternoon—Portland is about back on it's 100-degree bullshit.

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Following the recent shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan campus in Northwest Portland, nurses working on the campus found that its safety measures were woefully insufficient. Their complaints echo the feelings of many healthcare workers across the country, as the rate of violence against healthcare workers appears to be increasing at an alarming rate. Abe Asher has the story.

• This has been quite a week of news stories where Portland Police admit they telegraphed a lack of law enforcement to try to get more funding, and Chief Chuck Lovell had to openly tell officers to stop saying DA Mike Schmidt won’t prosecute crimes. Schmidt actually had some stuff to say about that on this week's City Cast Portland.

• Then, on Thursday, investigators with Independent Monitor released a 95-page analysis, saying what we all know: Portland Police response to the summer of 2020 George Floyd protests relied overly on munitions, gas, and other forceful approaches, which were harmful to residents and public trust. “When the rules of engagement fluctuate night to night without explanation, they seem arbitrary and cause the public to doubt the logic and legitimacy of the department’s response,” the Oregonian quoted from the report.

• Speaking of bosses talking tough, County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson has announced that if American Medical Response doesn't improve their response times the county will start fining them.

• Most of what I know about Blazers basketball comes from working in the same office as our sales team—they're all legit fans—and so that's why I gather Jusuf Nurkic quietly putting his West Linn home home up for sale is a cause for ALARM?

• Even if you didn't make it out to Pickathon last weekend, the images in this photo essay are awesome and strongly convey the vibe:

• Friday morning tickets drop is upon us! FEVER RAY is playing the ROSELAND with CHRISTEENE. 

• Don't sleep on Bridge Pedal this Sunday morning! Most of the news sources currently reporting on it are whining about it, but it's the one day cyclists can check out the views from the upper decks of the Fremont and Marquam bridges. If you don't drive, you forget.

IN NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• SCOTUS has temporarily paused a settlement that that would have "shielded members of the billionaire Sackler family," capping the personal liability they could be held responsible for, regarding the part they played in the nation's opioid addiction epidemic.

• “Your client’s defense is supposed to happen in this courtroom, not on the internet,” the federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's election conspiracy case, said this week. However, she ended up rejecting a proposed protective order to prevent evidence released to Trump's defense team from being aired publicly. So get ready for some leaked screenshots.

• Well, I suppose he's got to try something.

• While it was disappointing to have the US team eliminated from this year's Women’s World Cup competition, it's pretty exciting that there are no former champions remaining in the tournament. Anything could happen!

• Nice to see former Portlander Mohanad Elshieky still demanding answers from the cat towers of the powerful.
 

 
 
 
 
 
View this post on Instagram
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Mohanad Elshieky (@mohanad.elshieky)