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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND. Or is it? Personally, I'm a bit stressed out by, uh, everything, and you probably are too. The good news—there's a chance of rain today. The chances will increase over the weekend, which may be bad for your summer solstice party plans but it's good for the plants and our future air quality. Move the party inside, and keep on trucking.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Hundreds of millions of acres of public lands across the US west—including more than 20 million acres in Oregon—will be available for sale if Republican lawmakers get their way. In their version of the "Big Beautiful Bill," the disastrous reconciliation bill currently working its way through Congress, Senate Republicans included a provision calling for the sale of a large swath of the country's public lands. (Utah Senator Mike Lee can take a large amount of the blame for crafting the policy.) Advocates say these are "some of the most significant intact landscapes in the United States...vital not only to the human communities in and around them but also to vulnerable wildlife struggling to survive in an increasingly developed world." In Oregon, the areas that would be up for sale are primarily in the Cascades and the eastern part of the state, with tracts of land in the Coast Range at risk, too. Make no mistake, this would be disastrous for Oregonians who enjoy our state's beautiful public lands in any capacity. It's also bad for homebodies who are okay just knowing the wild world is out there.
Here's Senator Ron Wyden's statement on the issue. Let's hope a few Republicans come to their senses as well and ensure this nightmarish provision isn't included in an already nightmarish bill. (Better yet, let's hope the entire bill sputters out and dies.)
Public lands are just that: public, and owned by the taxpayer. Republicans want to auction them off to the highest bidder to pay for their billionaire tax cuts. Hell no.
— Senator Ron Wyden (@wyden.senate.gov) June 16, 2025 at 11:37 AM
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• Speaking of Oregon's public land, a big chunk of it is currently on fire. There are three major wildfires burning in Oregon right now, two in the Cascades and one a bit east, in Sherman County. The Rowena and Ferry fires (which are burning near Hood River and in Sherman County, respectively) are both nearing containment, while the Alder Springs Fire burning near Sisters is at 0% containment. Hopefully some of the rain makes it out there this weekend.
A local ER nurse was shot and nearly blinded at a Portland ICE protest by a projectile that federal officers fired into the crowd. He still demands to be heard.
— Suzette Smith (@suzettesmith.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 11:04 PM
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• Washington County, which is the most diverse county in Oregon, is apparently considering rescinding its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies out of fear that the Trump administration will take away the county's federal funding if it does not. County commissioners said there's more than $64 million in federal housing assistance and grants at risk if it doesn't overturn a resolution to support DEI in county policies and practices. As one commissioner put it, “We do not have the current resources to ‘fight’ the way some in our community are asking us to." Racial justice advocates, however, are strongly against the move, and have made their voices known. It's unclear what the county's next steps are, but it is worth keeping in mind that throughout the last few months, organizations that have capitulated to the Trump administration have not always been rewarded for their efforts. IMO, it's worth the fight.
• In this week's Mercury Music Picks: Panchiko at Crystal Ballroom and Neal Morgan at Turn! Turn! Turn!(Friday, June 20), Nonbinary Girlfriend at Lollipop Shoppe (Sunday, June 22), and more. Read all about it from our amazing Nolan Parker, right here!
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• Much to the fear and chagrin of normal, peace-enjoying people around the world, there appears to be a growing risk that the US will join Israel's war on Iran. President Trump, who has been given some credit in the past for his apparent aversion to US military intervention, is making increasingly concerning statements about the war in Iran, now entering its seventh day. Yesterday, the president called for Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!" (capitalization his own, of course)—one of several confusing and alarming comments Trump has made about the situation on social media over the past few days. Meanwhile, explosions have rocked Tehran and Tel Aviv, and people in Iran—including many civilians—have been hit particularly hard. As Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu swears, with little supportive evidence, that Iran is on the verge of building a nuclear weapon, many are having flashbacks to the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Dear god, let us not make such a tragic—and deeply unpopular—mistake again.
New poll result: “Do you think the US military should get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran?”
— Prem Thakker ツ (@premthakker.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Yes — 16%
No — 60%
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• Brad Lander, New York City's comptroller and a leading candidate in the city's mayoral primary, was arrested yesterday morning by federal officers at an immigration court in Manhattan. Lander was at the courthouse observing immigration hearings, attempting to accompany people at risk of being detained by ICE. When a federal agent moved to detain an immigrant man he was with, Lander asked for a judicial warrant, and was subsequently handcuffed and taken into custody. According to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, Lander was arrested for "assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.” If you watch footage of the incident, it is abundantly clear no assault against law enforcement took place. (McLaughlin, for what it's worth, is the same person who told Fox News that Portland protesters had "violently targeted federal law enforcement" at an anti-ICE protest on Saturday, so make of that what you will.)
Lander is only the latest elected official to be detained by federal agents in recent weeks—a very troubling trend, indeed. Of course, as he and other electeds who have been targeted have pointed out, the immigrants facing unjust detainment are at much greater risk. But the fact that ICE and DHS officers feel free to act with such flagrant disregard for human dignity and the traditional rule of law is very, very concerning.
So many public officials have now been detained, it merits a Listicle.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/u...
— Eric Umansky (@ericumansky.bsky.social) June 17, 2025 at 8:29 PM
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• On Monday night, a woman in Washington, D.C. was hit and killed by a truck driver hauling an Army tank that had participated in Saturday's major failure of a military parade. The tank was being moved from a staging area near the Lincoln Memorial to a rail yard in Maryland. It's unclear how the crash occurred, but it's a huge tragedy and another reminder that military tanks don't belong on our streets, or anyone's streets, for that matter. (Call me a pacifist hippie all you want. I'm right.)
• Obsessed, much?
this report from media matters is fucking wild. fox news has aired 424 segments about trans athletes since feb 5.
the week democrats vetoed the GOP trans sports ban bill, they aired 59 segments.
www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox...
— Katelyn Burns (@katelynburns.com) June 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
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• Happy hump day, everybody.
