If you’re reading this, you probably know the value of the Mercury’s news reporting, arts and culture coverage, event calendar, and the bevy of events we host throughout the year. The work we do helps our city shine, but we can’t do it without your support. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!

Good morning, Portland! As much as we love our vitamin D around here, we also must warn you that we’re in the midst of a heat wave, with temperatures expected to hit 94 degrees today and 97 tomorrow. Hydrate, then hydrate some more, and for the love of god stop walking your dogs on hot pavement. 

The news has been a lot to digest lately, so let’s take it one bite at a time. 

In Local News: 

• The I-5 Rose Quarter freeway expansion is among the most embattled infrastructure projects in recent memory. ODOT has faced hurdles from the onset, and now, state and federal leaders might have just sucked out what little oxygen the Rose Quarter project had left. The Oregon Legislature adjourned the 2025 session without passing a transportation funding package. The budget blow won’t just cripple the I-5 project, but as we mentioned last week, it’s also leading to mass layoffs at the state transportation agency. On top of that, Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill Lie gutted Biden-era transportation funding programs that ODOT was relying on. So what happens now? Taylor Griggs has the full rundown of what happened, what it means, and what might come next. 

Despite major funding challenges, state transportation leaders say they plan to move ahead with the $2.1 billion I-5 Rose Quarter project. But with such a tough path forward, it's unclear how the I-5 expansion—and the plan to reconnect Portland's Albina neighborhood—will proceed.

[image or embed]

— Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) July 14, 2025 at 4:05 PM

• Early last month, a woman who was leaving a courtroom after a hearing in her asylum case was immediately arrested by federal immigration agents and taken to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington. She’s been held there ever since. The woman, who’s been identified by her attorneys as OJM, is transgender, and told authorities she immigrated to the US from Mexico in 2023 to escape violence and sexual assault. She’s been held in solitary confinement for more than 40 days since her arrest. OJM is one of at least half a dozen people who’ve been arrested at or near the courthouse. Yesterday, a federal judge ordered the release of OJM, saying the government failed to follow its own legal process.

• Speaking of ICE, Senator Ron Wyden has introduced legislation aimed at forcing immigration agents to identify themselves while on duty. The Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act of 2025 would require agents working for ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal immigration agencies to display clearly legible ID and would also prohibit them from wearing non-medical face coverings. Since Trump took office, ICE and other federal immigration workers have conducted arrests wearing plain clothes, often with little to no official ID, and sometimes sporting gaiters over their faces to further disguise themselves. US Attorney General Pam Bondi previously played dumb when asked about it by members of Congress, but said some officers were trying to avoid being doxxed. Wyden said letting unidentified agents abduct people is “straight out of an authoritarian playbook.” 

• They've made it official. Please do not confuse with Portland Fire & Rescue. 

Welcome the Portland Fire Tip-off in 2026.

[image or embed]

— WNBA (@wnba.com) July 15, 2025 at 6:00 AM

• Looking for cool, culture-oriented events to check out this week? We’ve got you covered with the latest installment of Do This; Do That. From a shark dissection tonight at the Crystal Ballroom, to Ari Aster’s latest flick featuring Pedro Pascal and Joaquin Phoenix, to a drag extravaganza with Pattie Gonia and others at Rev Hall, we’ve compiled a condensed list to make your life easier (and more fun)! 

  We’re all hurtling through the cosmos as per usual, but it's whatever, because queer nights out and Ghanian highlife music should make life feel a touch more survivable this week!
  
  [image or embed]

  — Portland Mercury (@portlandmercury.com) July 14, 2025 at 1:36 PM

In National/World News:

• In case you're wondering what Elon Musk has been up to since he and President Trump ripped off their friendship bracelets, he's been hard at work creating AI “companions” for users of his shitty, racist AI tool, Grok. Rolling Stone reports Grok 4 now has a Companions feature, which is just "two different animated characters available to converse with: Bad Rudy, a mean red panda with a vulgar streak who will roast the clothes you're wearing and call you a 'whiny twat'... and Ani, a blonde anime woman who, after enough positive engagement, will shed her dress to reveal a lacy lingerie set." This gives so much more context for what goes on in Elon's creepy, (allegedly) drug-addled brain. Elon may no longer be hanging around the White House to let one of his 14 kids wipe boogers on the president's desk, but he's still landing multi-million dollar Department of Defense contracts. 

Bad: There's now a new version of the AI chatbot that only days ago was spewing antisemitic content while identifying itself as “MechaHitler.” www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

[image or embed]

— Rolling Stone (@rollingstone.com) July 15, 2025 at 5:23 AM

• A tourist visiting the US from Ireland says he was detained by ICE and even briefly held in a prison for overstaying his planned visit by three days. The Irish father of three flew to West Virginia last year to visit his girlfriend, but got injured and couldn't travel on his planned return date. The Guardian reports the 35-year-old tech worker "obtained paperwork from his physician and contacted the Irish and US embassies and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to seek an extension, but it was short notice and he did not hear back, he said." After a spat with his girlfriend in a hotel room, police arrested the man, which set off the chain of events that led to him being shackled and placed in a prison when the ICE facility got overcrowded, despite the Irish resident signing paperwork agreeing to return to his country immediately. The man is now banned from entering the US for 10 years.

• Trump's threat to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on Russia in an attempt to get a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine was a nice thought, but hasn't helped Ukrainians much. BBC reports Kyiv's mayor is irritated about Trump's lenient 50-day deadline for Russia, which gives plenty of time for Russia to kill more Ukrainians. Recently, Trump offered to send weapons to Ukraine via NATO, which Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky appreciated, but Ukraine's leaders aren't convinced Russia has any intent of ending the war.

Pro tip: feed the birds, not the trolls. 

@nursewerley33 How bout dat #birdsoftiktok #birdtok #birdfy #birds ♬ original sound - Lisa Werley