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Good Morning, Blood Brothers fans... and (okay) Portland! As we wrote yesterday in Mercury Music Picks, the '00s hardcore band the Blood Brothers announced this week that they're reuniting for a US tour. Therefore this morning's morning news blast will be interspersed with images of opossums—there is no correlation; I just felt like it.

IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Guess who has two thumbs and got a notification this morning that their ballot was accepted by Multnomah County Elections? This guy. CANCEL ME OUT, MOTHER FUCKERS. Or join me in the founding principle of our nation that is democratic voting. Read the Mercury's May 2024 endorsements here. 

• Also in ELECTION SPICE, Multnomah County voters will elect a district attorney next week, in what turned out to be a surprisingly spicy race during the May primary. Veteran prosecutor Nathan Vasquez is challenging his boss, current DA Mike Schmidt, for the job. Vasquez is wooing voters with claims about rising crime, a lack of prosecutions and other generalized scary things he blames Schmidt for. But in other counties and cities, data shows a change in DA had little to no impact on crime rates. Abe Asher explains more in his latest piece for the Mercury.

• Continuing the ELECTION Scoville scale coverage, the vision and methods of Society Hotel owner Jessie Burke have raised eyebrows in recent years. Now she's defending lucrative contracts awarded to her husband by a community organization they both oversee. News editor Courtney Vaughn has more.

• OPOSSUM BREAK

• Don't forget to take this week's news quiz! It's funny (and guaranteed to make the worst people furious).

 
 
 
 
 
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• The Friday morning ticket drop is upon us. Are any shows coming to Portland in the upcoming weeks and months worth their weight in biscuits? Our hardworking calendar team has compiled a list so that you and I may judge them... and be advised of shows we want to see. That too. This week: Aminé's The Best Day Ever Fest, Childish Gambino's New World tour, and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars liiiiiive.

• MORE OPPPOSSUM

IN NATIONAL /INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
• The New York Times reports that following the Jan 6 riot at the US capitol in 2021, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito appeared to put up a symbol of support in his front yard—an upside-down US flag. Images show the flag aloft on January 17, 2021. And while various judicial experts have said this is a clear violation of ethics rules, Alito defends, it was the doing of the missus. “It was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor’s use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs,” he told the Times.

• This week we've seen a number of unsettling advances by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The Times reports that, in response, Ukraine is striking back at their invaders with more force, using drones to target energy facilities, like "fuel depots, oil facilities, and a power station." Ukraine's parliament and president also changed the country's laws to allow some incarcerated convicts to serve in the military. The Times also notes: "The measure echoes a practice that Russia has widely used to bolster its forces and that Ukraine ridiculed at the beginning of the war."

• The world's "No. 1 golfer," Scottie Scheffler (I already do not care about him) was arrested this morning while trying to drive around traffic caused by a fatal car crash.

• MARRY ME TO THIS OPPOSSSUM

• I don't really give a rip about Michelin stars (watch this statement come back to haunt me—BUT I DON'T), but I do like food carts. So it is of interest that a taco stand in the San Rafael neighborhood of Mexico City—El Califa de León—was just awarded the very first Michelin star ever awarded to a Mexican taco stand. To be clear, this isn't the first food cart awarded such a distinction; that was Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle in Singapore, in 2016, who have since lost their star. Attention like this seems difficult for businesses (as anyone who has participated in Burger Week can relate with), and we wish El Califa de León fortitude in the days ahead. Also very likable in this story, Associated Press reports: "Though Michelin representatives came by Wednesday to present [chef Arturo Rivera Martínez] with one of the company’s heavy, full-sleeved, pristine white chef’s jackets, he didn’t put it on [because he was too busy searing meat for tacos]." A real one.

• In closing, I am on this graph (middle).

• IN CLOSING AGAIN OPPOSSSUMS

 

 

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