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Good morning, Portland! The countdown to the November election is officially on. We're three months out from an election that will see Portlanders pick a brand new City Council and the United States pick a (hopefully) brand new president. What's more, Vice President Kamala Harris just announced her pick for VP on the campaign ticket. Things are heating up, figuratively and literally. Today's high is 83 degrees, but be prepared because Thursday could bring a high of 96 degrees.

Let's get you up to speed on what's happening in your city, your country and across the globe.

In Local News:

• Portland voters shot down an eviction defense measure last year, primarily due to its funding mechanism, which proposed a new capital gains tax to fund defense attorneys, but now, a group of organizers and nearly a dozen Portland City Council candidates say the time is right for Portland to adopt a tenant bill of rights, which would provide extra protections for renters, including defense attorneys for those facing eviction. Read more about the efforts underway in Abe Asher’s latest piece.

• Everybody wants to rule the world, but these maniacs just wanna rule Portland. The race for Portland mayor is now at 14 candidates, only nine of which bothered to make a campaign website. Three of them are currently on City Council. Another previously worked at Portland City Hall, one is unhoused, and two other mayoral candidates are local business owners. Get up to speed before the November election. 

• GOATs from the Beaver State: Paris has plenty of Oregon athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics 💅, including gymnast Jade Carey, an Olympic gold medalist of Oregon State University, who won bronze in the women’s vault competition last weekend, and Ryan Crouser of Boring. Crouser just won his third gold medal in the men’s shot put competition, which should really just be named ball hurtling or something. 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Jade Carey (@jadecarey)

• In semi-local, PNW news: The Hanford Nuclear Site could get a substantial federal funding boost to turn the former WWII nuclear waste site into a massive solar farm. The site holds 56 million gallons of radioactive waste in storage tanks held underground.

• It’s the thick of summer. We’re going to be perpetually hot for at least the next month, but here are some cool picks for the best film, comedy, live music, and shopping events to keep you entertained.

In National/World News:

• The news we've all been waiting for dropped this morning. After officially securing the nomination as Democrats' presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is her running mate. The current VP will be joined by the prospective VP today at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Walz is expected to boost Harris's profile in Midwest states.

@mari_luna__ my cats are better drivers than me 🤷‍♀️#Meme #MemeCut #CapCut #harris2024 #coconut #kamala ♬ Shake It Off Kamala Harris - adeadredhead

• Tesla founder and insufferable douchebag Elon Musk is under investigation in Michigan, after a pro-Trump PAC he donated to was caught baiting people into giving away personal information to the Trump campaign, under the guise of helping them register to vote. Users on Musk's social media platform X (which we all still call Twitter) were fed a series of digital ads claiming to help people register to vote, but as CNBC initially reported, voters in key swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia were instead directed to a site run by America PAC, where they entered their private information but received no confirmation of voter registration. Users in other states like California were directed to proper voter registration channels.

• Parts of the UK have seen sustained protests and riots following last week's stabbing attack in Northwest England that killed three children and injured 10 other people. A 17-year-old suspect is in custody, but the incident has incited outrage and misplaced anger among far-right residents there, after online reports misidentified the suspect as Muslim. Mosques have been targeted a hotel housing asylum seekers was also attacked in the wake of the stabbing and misinformation. Roughly 50 police officers were injured recently in a riot. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to deploy "a standing army" to deal with violent protesters.