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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! It’s officially summer (as of yesterday) so go replenish that vitamin D and pretend you weren’t wearing a coat two days ago. Today’s high is 88, with a low of 58. 

@britishvogue According to #MiriamMargolyes ♬ original sound – British Vogue

IN LOCAL NEWS:

  • For some reason, Oregonians have been eager to get their hands smelly and dirty by pumping their own gas, even though you can already do so at many rural gas stations. Now, a bill that caters to the diehard DIY-ers while also appeasing the pearl-clutching prisses like me, is likely to go into effect. A bill allowing gas stations to offer self-service pumps awaits the governor’s signature.

  • Speaking of gasoline, The Guardian recently reported on Portland’s International Raceway–one of the few, if not only, race car tracks in a densely populated area. The story explores the health hazards of leaded gasoline, particularly to children. Leaded gas was banned for use in most vehicles in the United States, but it’s still used in some off-road vehicles and racing fuels. 
  • And while we’re on the subject of health, nurses at Providence hospitals in Portland and Seaside are still on strike, as reports detail seven-figure salaries of more than $1 million for roughly two dozen top executives in the company. The company has been operating at a deficit, as many Oregon hospitals have, for a few years now. Providence nurses initiated the strike over non-competitive wages and benefits, and unequal pay among nurses in different positions. 

  • A man who shot and killed two women at a Gorge Ampitheatre festival last weekend claimed he was high on mushrooms when the shootings occurred. He told police he thought the world was ending and grabbed a handgun from his truck, shooting two passersby.

     

In NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

  • Time is likely out for U.S. Coast Guard search teams to locate OceanGate’s missing Titan submersible, which descended into the ocean Sunday and lost contact with its main control ship less than an hour later. The vessel is carrying five people in tight quarters with a 96-hour oxygen supply. One man who made the same trip in 2021 detailed multiple red flags with the operation, calling it a “kamikaze” mission. Other reports have surfaced, including a 2018 lawsuit involving a former OceanGate employee who voiced concern over key safety features that were missing from the vessel, including a viewing port with glass sturdy enough to handle deep ocean dives. 
  • A tornado that tore through Matador, Texas Wednesday killed at least four people and injured 10. The small town is about 70 miles from Lubbock. Wednesday’s storm has left more than 500 homes and businesses in the area without power and a nearby highway is shut down due to extensive damage. 
  • Cat fight! Far-right MAGA Republican lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert got into a spat on the House floor Wednesday, which reportedly led to Greene calling Boebert “a little bitch” for introducing articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden that Greene had already planned to introduce and wanted Boebert’s support on. The Daily Beast broke the news. Politico notes that trying to impeach Biden has garnered little support from Republicans, but when have far-right GOP lawmakers ever read a room?
  • The rush for impeachment comes as the House voted to censure California Democratic lawmaker Adam Schiff, for his lead role in investigating former President Donald Trump’s alleged ties with Russia during Trump’s 2016 campaign for president.
  • And finally, do whatever you like with this information: lab grown meat is here. Companies have already developed plant-based burgers and meat alternatives that taste like the real thing, but researchers have taken it a step further with meat cultivated from animal cells. The move comes as companies look to curb carbon emissions generated by large-scale agricultural operations, particularly beef farms, which generate more greenhouse gas than any other source of meat or crops.

 

 

 

Courtney Vaughn is the news editor at the Portland Mercury. She appreciates your news tips and musings. Reach out at cvaughn@portlandmercury.com or find her on Bluesky @courtneyvaughn.