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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND!👋

And the sunny hotness continues with the warmest temps of this week happening today, topping out at 94 degrees. And as you know, such sultry weather goes smashingly with a cool, frosty cocktail, which—lucky you—will be in abundance all month long starting tomorrow (Tuesday, July 1) with the Mercury's SUMMER OF SLUSHIES! Enjoy a fun variety of boozy, frozen cocktails for the entirety of July at 22 of your fave Portland bars, and they're only $10 a pop! And now, allow me to pop off... with some NEWS.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

• The Oregon legislature ended their session Friday night with some big wins, and one—as the Oregonian screechingly put it—"towering failure." The big winners were labor unions who will begin receiving unemployment pay while on strike, tougher gun laws, more reasonable approaches to mental health, and increased affordable housing—but the Dems failed to pass a major transportation bill before the session ended. The plan would've paid for sorely needed improvements to roads across the state, while also avoiding layoffs in the transportation department, but bickering Dems and obstinate Republicans were unable to come to agreement in time. Governor Tina Kotek was so infuriated that she threatened to call a special session to make legislators return to work in order to get a transportation plan passed—and we'll see if she follows up on that threat.

🚨 ALERT 🚨
Multnomah County DA Nathan Vasquez bypassed the grand jury and cleared a deputy in a fatal police shooting—with no public testimony, no transcript, and no accountability. Just a memo, a video, and a statement. That’s not justice. That's not transparency. And we won't be silent about it! 🧵

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— Candace Avalos (@candaceavalos.bsky.social) June 28, 2025 at 7:30 PM

• A scary story out of Idaho: A suspected gunman in Kootenai County, Idaho, is dead after allegedly starting a fire and then staging an ambush for firefighters, killing two and injuring a third. Authorities believe the act was intentional and that the firefighters "never had a chance" after responding to the blaze. It remains unclear whether the suspect—who was found dead at the scene with a weapon nearby—committed suicide following the attack. 

• Congratulations to the Portland International Airport, which RANKED #1, BAY-BEEEE in the Washington Post's list of the "50 Best Airports in America, Ranked." WaPo compared PDX to walking into a "nature bath," while calling it "an airport with so much to enjoy that you may wish for a delay." High praise, indeed! 👏

 

Trash Report's special edition for our Queer Guide—Be Gay, Ready Gossip —will have you 😠, 😂, and 😍. You need to know about all this Pride traffic revenge, local Gossip(s). Plus, derailing a Shakira concert is homophobic; we know this and discuss.

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) June 28, 2025 at 4:11 PM

 

• Oregon's minimum wage is bumping up by 35 cents starting tomorrow, with Portland's hourly pay rising to $16.30... but before you plan on buying that gold-plated jet ski, you should note that due to cooling inflation, this is the smallest minimum wage hike since 2015.

• And once again here is your annual pre-July 4th reminder (that will absolutely not be heeded) that the purchase and use of fireworks in Portland is ILLEGAL, and besides the obvious danger of wildfires and personal mutilation, those explosives are wildly annoying, a useless pursuit, terrorize pets and veterans suffering from PTSD, and... nobody's listening are they? Didn't think so. 😒

 

How much do you know about Portland? ("Lots!") How much do you know about Oregon? ("Mmmm... still a lots!) Okay, how much do you know about Ferris Bueller? ("Wait... what?") Let's find out with this week's super fun POP QUIZ PDX! 🤓

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— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) June 26, 2025 at 10:09 AM

 

IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

• King Fool's "Big, Beautiful Bill"—which threatens to leave an additional 12 million Americans uninsured and add $3.3 trillion to the national debt—is clunking along in the Senate, where Republicans are desperately trying to get it passed before their Trump-imposed July 4 deadline. Senators on both sides of the aisle have been arguing and adding amendments all weekend, but the Republicans are losing their minds over two defectors—Senators Rand Paul and Thom Tillis—both of whom said they will not support the bill because of the proposed cuts to Medicaid. Currently, the GOP can only afford to lose one more "yes" vote.

 

Americans disapprove of the strikes on Iran 56% to 44%, according to a CNN/SSRS poll conducted after the strikes. An even greater number distrust Trump’s decision-making on the use of force in Iran... only 27% believing the attacks will lessen the threat
 theintercept.com/2025/06/27/h...

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— Nick Turse (@nickturse.bsky.social) June 29, 2025 at 5:53 PM

 

• Meanwhile the Trump-controlled Supreme Court is set to take up a Republican-backed case to end limits on how much political parties (particularly them) can spend on their chosen candidates in federal elections. The Supremes have already heard the case once before in 2001, in which they allowed the law to stand—but of course that means nothing to the Court's corrupt Trump lackeys.

• Good news for women's sports: The WNBA is adding three new expansion teams to their growing roster, in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Cleveland over the next five years. Assuming they get approval from the NBA, Cleveland will start balling in 2028, Philadelphia in 2029, and Detroit in 2030. On a slightly related note, when I was visiting Phoenix this weekend (don't ask), I was initially delighted that the town was such big fans of the Mercury—until I remembered that's also the name of their WNBA team. 😭

• To the surprise of no one, a national Gallup poll has revealed that national pride has taken a significant dip since Trump has retaken office, falling to 58 percent—that's nine points below 2024, and five points below the previous all-time low in 2020. So much for "making America great again."

• And finally, me going into the work week like....

@vcrofdeath Mac and Me goes so hard.  #orionhomevideo #macandme ♬ original sound - VCR of Death