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Good morning, Portland! We’re due for another warm one today (expected highs around 80 degrees), but temps are supposed to drop tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll get some rain. Here’s the news:
IN LOCAL NEWS:
• Multnomah County’s proposed budget includes cuts for the crisis hotline service YouthLine, which helps youth experiencing mental health crises. During a time when kids and teens are experiencing significant mental health challenges, this was alarming to many. The county’s proposal to cut about $240,000 in funding for it received strong pushback from other Oregon leaders, including those who represent MultCo residents in US Congress. But, while the optics of cutting funds for a teen suicide prevention hotline may not be politically favorable, the proposed cuts are unlikely to make a major dent in the program’s resources and capacity to help kids in need. Find out more in Jeremiah Hayden’s story here.
• A yellow-legged hornet—the first to be spotted on the West Coast—was found (and subsequently “dealt with”) in Vancouver, WA late last month. This invasive species comes from Southeast Asia and can be very dangerous for local honey bee populations and other important pollinator species. Also, these hornets are aggressive to humans and will sting without provocation! The hornet most likely came in on a cargo ship from South Korea. Hopefully it was a one-and-done situation, but you might wanna keep your eyes out (and if you see something that looks like the bug in question, contact state agriculture officials!)
• A Eugene police officer resigned over the weekend after leaked body camera footage showed the officer making offensive, racist comments while on the job earlier this year. The footage showed the officer monitoring anti-ICE protests outside the Eugene federal building, seemingly talking to another cop on the phone. The officer’s dehumanizing comments included derogatory references to “illegal aliens” and Black people. The city’s independent police auditor has promised to investigate the incident.
• Are you looking for stuff to do this week? As always, you’re in luck, because the Mercury‘s fabulous Do This, Do That curators have another great list of events you should check out! Among the many wonderful options: Florence + The Machine at the Moda Center tomorrow, the Mercury’s music issue launch party at Turn! Turn! Turn! on Thursday, and a cat-watching walk on Sunday. Intrigued? Click here for more.
IN NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:
• President Trump thinks he can wave a magic wand to make the American people ignore the sky-high oil prices that are 1) a direct result of his reckless war on Iran and 2) show no sign of declining anytime soon. Gas prices have gone up, on average, more than $1.50 per gallon since the war started. But Trump wants to suspend the 18.4 cent per gallon national gas tax until prices go down, meaning gas purchases would ONLY benefit transnational oil companies! With gas prices going up the way they’ve been, consumers would barely notice the tax suspension. But the US government would lose billions in transportation funding. Honestly, let them suffer. It’s not like Trump’s transportation department has been doing anything useful. (Quite the opposite.) The best, most cost-effective strategy here would be to invest in electrification and renewables, so of course our brilliant leaders will do the exact opposite of that.
• The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a nonprofit advocating for historic places, is suing the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior over a White House decision to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s basin blue. Trump revealed his grand scheme for the pool last month, posting an AI-generated image depicting himself, several members of his administration, and a random woman swimming in an apparently bluer Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. (You aren’t actually allowed to swim in this pool.) Trump has said the plan would cost $2 million, but it would probably be multiple times more than that (recent estimates from outside the White House say it could be upward of $13 million). The nonprofit’s lawsuit essentially calls the plan tacky, saying “a blue-tinted basin is more appropriate to a resort or theme park.” Well, yeah. That’s what Trump thinks the National Mall is!
• Speaking of the theme park-qualities of Washington, DC:
• New polling suggests a majority of Americans are skeptical of the recent assassination attempts against President Trump. The poll, released yesterday, found that 30 percent of Americans surveyed think at least one of the three attempts on Trump’s life over the last two years was fake. (A further 25 percent weren’t sure if they were real.) Trump said he thinks people pushing these conspiracy theories are “more sick than they are con people…but there’s a lot of con in there too.” I don’t think it’s good we are increasingly a nation of people united only by a propensity for conspiracy theories, but come on, Donald, what did you expect? This is the culture you and your talk of “alternative facts” built. (Oh, yeah, and let’s not forget about your birtherism movement.)
• Finally, a video for morale. Have a good day, everyone. Byeee! <3
