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Good morning, Portland! We’re in for another hot day today, with a high of 91, but by tomorrow, we should see things cool down quite a bit. The weekend will bring chilly temperatures and the possibility of rain.
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Portland City Council adopted an $8.5 billion budget last week, but councilors are still trying to maneuver to save jobs before dozens of city employees are slated to be laid off in August. A group of progressive councilors introduced an ordinance last week that could move interest from a climate fund to help pay for city jobs in Portland Parks & Recreation, as well as public safety and unarmed emergency response. But a competing proposal from the Council’s moderate block, expected this week, could move money from a fledgling police accountability office to the Portland Police Bureau. If the failed budget amendment it’s based on is any indication, it would go toward those same unarmed officers, more training, and administrative roles. But this time around, Mayor Keith Wilson could break a tie vote on either proposal, something Council President Jamie Dunphy wants to avoid. He’s getting a work session together to see if councilors might find common ground. Jeremiah Hayden has more on the Council’s money moves.
• Here at the Mercury, we love to tell you what’s going on in the city, but we also love our FOOD WEEKS! You’re in luck, because this week is Nacho Week, which means you can score a delicious plate of nachos (or as I like to think of them, a buffet over chips, or garbage snacks) for just $10. Check out the list of locations offering their twist on the crunchy crusade now until Sunday.
• Sadly, the city lost one of its best journalists last weekend. Zane Sparling, an Oregonian reporter whose work was frequently linked and highlighted in Good Morning, News, died Sunday after a battle with a rare form of cancer. Sparling, or “Sparkling without the ‘k'” as he used to tell people over the phone when introducing himself to sources, was tenacious and witty, yet humble. He lit up a newsroom with endearing sarcasm and employed a writing style that was recognizable to readers for its nuance, attention to oft-overlooked details, and his sometimes unconventional diction. Sparling, 33, who previously worked at the Gresham Outlook and Portland Tribune before he got to the Oregonian in 2021, catapulted himself into the thick of Portland’s racial justice and police accountability protests in 2020 and 2021, documenting some of the most poignant, albeit intense moments during that point in the city’s history. Sparling captured footage the night Aaron Danielson was killed in Portland in 2020 during a political clash and continued to cover high-profile incidents, as well as tragedies like the 2022 Normandale Park shooting, and its aftermath. More recently, Sparling’s courthouse coverage, including the fallout between the Multnomah County DA and a local judge, became essential reporting leading up to the May primary election.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s political influence was on full display Tuesday during New York’s Congressional primaries. Two incumbent House reps, both Democrats, lost their seats to progressives who were endorsed by Mamdani. Brad Lander, a former New York City comptroller backed by the Working Families Party, ousted U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman. In a more surprising result, Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist, ousted Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who is serving his fifth term in Congress. The results are being billed as a wake-up call to establishment Dems, as the party swings further left.
• A pregnant, endangered fin whale died last week after being struck by the bow of a nearly 5,000-passenger capacity Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Alaska. A necropsy performed on the 61-foot whale showed the mammal was in good health when it was struck, but likely died by blunt force trauma. An official cause of death is still under investigation. NOAA researchers conducted a necropsy of the whale carcass, which was found on the bow of the ship as it docked in Seward, Alaska, in collaboration with the Alaska SeaLife Center and Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services, the Anchorage Daily News reports. The World Cetacean Alliance estimates that up to 30,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises are killed each year by cruise ships–primarily by ship strikes (blunt force trauma) to the mammals.
• If you’re currently using any kind of alternative banking app, you need to watch this segment. Online banks, many of which offer high-yield savings accounts, are often not banks at all. In at least one case, a banking app’s claims of offering FDIC-backed accounts turned out to be a sham, and customers say they now can’t access their money and don’t know if they’ll ever get it back. Turns out, financial tech companies have found loopholes in laws meant to protect consumers, leading to a rise in online and app-based neobanks that hold no bank charters. The results have cost some their entire savings.
• The Trump administration’s practice of allowing ICE to make arrests during immigration court hearings has been struck down by a federal judge. On Tuesday, a judge in California deemed the practice “arbitrary and capricious,” noting the arrests of non-citizens at immigration courthouses was based on “a complete lack of decisionmaking” on behalf of federal officials. Arrests at immigration courthouses are often occurring when non-citizens show up for court hearings, even when they are seeking the legal right to remain in the US. It’s unclear whether the US Department of Justice will appeal the federal court’s decision. The ruling is the second time a federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s policies of courthouse immigration-related arrests.
Living for the botched attempts at hawking 250th anniversary ‘Merica merch.
