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Good morning, Portland! Hopefully you’re beating the heat. We’re in for another hot day in the mid-90s, though hopefully not *quite* as toasty as yesterday. Still, for those without air conditioning, make a plan. Scope out a place to go for a reprieve from the heat, whether it’s a county cooling center, a library, coffee shop, a Mervyn’s or your ex’s aunt’s brother-in-law’s basement.
This brings us to the next announcement, which is a very important PSA in which I will inflict great shame on the masses. Some of you don’t understand how heat and ground surfaces work, so let me explain: When it’s hot outside, the pavement is significantly hotter than the air temperature. Things like asphalt and stone absorb and trap heat, especially if they’re not in the shade, WHICH MEANS IT’S TOO DAMN HOT TO BE WALKING YOUR DOG! Dog paws aren’t Teflon. The basic rule: Hold your hand to the ground. If you can’t keep it there comfortably for 10 seconds, your pet doesn’t want to walk on it. If you must walk your pet, find some grass or try to keep it off asphalt or concrete as much as possible. Here are some more pet safety tips for hot weather.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• PBOT is planning a major repaving project on a portion of Burnside Street, despite myriad other maintenance and improvement projects that have been planned for the main thoroughfare and are seemingly staying shelved, for now. Transportation advocacy and neighborhood groups penned a letter of concern about a plan to repave a stretch of West Burnside Street without making any other safety improvements. Critics want the city to pause the project, which was announced last month and is already underway, until residents have had a chance to weigh in. As the Mercury’s Taylor Griggs reports, project critics say PBOT shouldn’t be taking on a major road repair project without reconfiguring Burnside’s design to better accommodate people biking, walking, and taking the bus.
• The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office recorded another drowning death Tuesday. According to the Sheriff’s Office, a 15-year-old boy was swimming with family at Blue Lake Regional Park in Fairview (near Troutdale) when multiple people reported the teen went underwater shortly before 5:40 pm and never resurfaced. While family and other community members were already searching the water for the swimmer, first responders, including rescue swimmers from Gresham Fire and AMR began a search effort shortly before 6:30 pm and found the boy underwater about 75 feet from the shore, according to the Sheriff’s Office. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Tuesday’s incident marked the third drowning death in 10 days in Multnomah County. County officials say wearing a life jacket, even for splashing around at local parks and lakes, is the easiest way to prevent drownings. Metro stocks life jackets for park guests to borrow at Metro-operated parks in the region.
• A dozen candidates who ran for Portland City Council in 2024 violated the law by swapping campaign donations in order to help each other achieve the donor threshold and unlock matching funds in the city’s Small Donor Elections program. Despite the violations, which are considered breaches of state elections law, the Oregon Department of Justice says it won’t prosecute because the candidates likely didn’t realize they were violating the rules and it came during the 2024 campaign cycle in which the city was utilizing ranked choice voting for the first time, as well as a district-based voting system and several other firsts under a new city charter. Of the 12 candidates who violated the rules, Eric Zimmerman, who now represents District 4 on the City Council, was the only one to win election.
• Looking for things to do? Want to track upcoming shows that you don’t want to miss? The fine folks at Everout have you covered. Speaking of happenings, you now have just 10 days left (including today) to grab yourself a refreshing, icy, boozy concoction during what’s left of the month for our Summer of Slushies. Kick back, get turnt, and indulge responsibly!
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• President Trump is now threatening 100 percent tariffs on generic prescription drugs imported to the US by 2028. The Home Alone 2 actor and convicted felon says the tariffs are a push to get pharmaceutical companies to move their manufacturing to the US (the same scheme he tried with other tariffs that were eventually overturned by court orders, but still drove inflation up and wreaked havoc on the economy). By August 2029, he wants to double them. By then, he’ll be just a few months shy of leaving office, but who knows, maybe by then he’ll be…nevermind. This could actually blow up in his face spectacularly, considering many of his voters are geriatric and rely heavily on two things: a screamin’ deal on Hobby Lobby decor, and prescriptions.
• Yes, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani flatly called Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, and “the architect of a horrific genocide” in a two-minute video released by his office yesterday, but the mayor says city officials don’t have the authority to have him arrested. Instead, Mamdani urged federal officials to arrest the Israeli prime minister during his planned visit to the US next week, saying the feds do have authority and the International Criminal Court has an active warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest. The US isn’t part of the ICC and doesn’t recognize its jurisdiction.
• An appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that allowed a Columbia University student and activist to be released from federal custody after he was arrested in 2025 without criminal charges. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Mohsen Mahdawi, 35, shouldn’t have been released because his case should’ve been resolved in the immigration system. Mahdawi is a lawful permanent resident but was detained in April 2025 and held for two weeks without charges. He and his lawyers claim he was targeted for being an activist for Palestinian rights. The court’s latest ruling doesn’t order his re-arrest, but Mahdawi is now fighting deportation orders. A judge who previously blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to deport him was later fired by the administration in April.
It’s spicy out there, but not quite Megan Thee Stallion hot.
