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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! It's another perfect day for all you hotties out there, with temps reaching a scorchin' 92 degrees. And if you need advice on how to keep that insufferably warm apartment or home cool, check out my evergreen hot tip sheet right here. And now let's dip into some scorchin' NEWS!

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• In conservation news: While Oregon's old growth forests have pretty solid protections to prevent out-of-control logging of the state's ancient trees, they are still in danger. So activists, who rightly say that old growth trees are critical in the fight against climate change, are using various tactics (including legislative and old-school protests) to save those forests. Our Taylor Griggs has more!

• Yesterday Portland City Council continued to debate whether they should renew their partnership with Multnomah County and fund the shared Joint Office of Homeless Services, and one of the major sticking points is how the city's portion—$25 million—should be spent. And leave it to one of the wealthy's most supportive puppets, Commissioner Dan Ryan, to push to have one representative from the business community and "one high-income earner" to be on the steering committee to decide where that money goes... because rich people have always been so kind to those living in poverty? (A new, expanded city council cannot come soon enough.)

• The first (of possibly many) lawsuits against Oaks Amusement Park have begun following the very scary incident where a bunch of riders were stuck upside down for nearly 30 minutes on the park's AtmosFEAR ride. The mother of one the riders says that Oaks Park was negligent in regards to properly maintaining the ride, and is suing for $125,000.

• Now that Portland Pride is essentially TWO MONTHS long (Woot! Wooooot!), there are soooo many parties pumping up every weekend. We have a couple different lists in our 2024 Queer Guide (on stands now!): a biiiiiig list of events from EverOut and picks for something to do every weekend by nightlife-lover Andrew Jankowski. Let's! Get! BUSY! 🏳️‍🌈

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• Before wrapping up their session before the summer, the Supreme Court has been hearing a number of cases, including one decided today that upholds a law that forbids people with domestic violence restraining orders from owning a gun. This is one of the few times the court has landed on the correct side of the gun debate, for example that terrible 2022 decision in which the Supremes ruled that any gun restriction must be analyzed based on a historical understanding of the right to bear arms. (You know, back when there were no such things as automatic rifles that could kill masses of people within seconds.)

• In other news of the Supremes, human turnip (and Trump lackey) Steve Bannon has asked the Supreme Court to delay his four-month prison sentence for contempt of court, while he tries to appeal the conviction. Bannon had defied a subpoena from the House committee which was investigating the January 6 domestic terrorist attack on the nation's capitol. His bullshit delay was attempted once before by another squirming Trump minion, and was quickly batted down by the court... so we shall see how Bannon fares.

• And while Trump continues to catch up to Biden in fundraising, and leads the president in some polls, he's still not overly confident behind the scenes. The former president and convicted felon is already correctly thinking he could bomb in the upcoming presidential debate and is plotting his response (filled with his patented blatant lies 'n' bullshit) when and if he loses.

• For your Friday listening pleasure:

• A blistering heatwave continues to punish 90 million people in the eastern portion of the nation, as temps in some areas are hitting as high as 110 degrees. Experts are warning those affected to drink plenty of fluids, stay out of the sun, check on friends and neighbors, and stop denying that climate change is caused by humans. (Okay fine, I added that last bit.)

• And finally... waitasecond!! How did they know EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED?!?