Trump says the concept of chokeholds
Trump says the concept of chokeholds "sound so perfect and so innocent." Chip Somodevilla / Staff / Getty

Here's your daily roundup of all the latest local and national news. (Like our coverage? Please consider donating to the Mercury to keep it comin'!)

• According to the Oregon Health Authority, it was another big day for new, positive COVID infections in the state, with 142 more cases since yesterday (as compared with the 178 additional cases the day before that). Which leads us to this....

• Sooooo... remember how Multnomah County was suppose to enter into Phase 1 of reopening today? Well, hold your horses! According to Gov. Kate Brown's office, several counties (including Multnomah) who have applied for various phases of reopening are being put on hold for one week due to the recent spike in coronavirus cases in the state. Get more details from our Wm. Steven Humphrey. AND WASH YA DAMN HANDS AND WEAR YA DAMN MASK.

• A Portland City Council vote to approve the annual budget failed yesterday after Commissioner Chloe Eudaly refused to vote in favor of it, citing that the cuts to the police budget—$27 million—did not go deep enough. Portlanders have been clamoring for a $50 million cut out of the $256 million the cops were planning on getting. Our Alex Zielinksi has more.

• In a special legislative session, Oregon lawmakers are planning to pass police reforms of their own, including a bill that would not allow the punishment of bad cops to be reversed by outside arbitrators.

• And remember that Baker County judge who weirdly ruled that Gov. Kate Brown's emergency COVID-19 rules were "null and void" after a bunch of churches took it to court? WELL! The state Supreme Court slapped that shit down but good, ruling that the governor's emergency orders can go on as planned. WHO'S "NULL AND VOID" NOW?

IN NATIONAL NEWS:

• If you're one of the many who are relaxing your attitude about COVID-19, please read this story: "The C.D.C. projects 124,000 to 140,000 deaths in the U.S. by the Fourth of July."

• RELATED: Just in time for PRIDE month, the cruel and inhumane Trump administration is revoking sex discrimination protections in health care for transgender people.

• Joe Biden, who has pledged to select a woman as his VP, still hasn't selected his running mate, and time is only increasing the pressure on him to select a Black woman. The frontrunners include Sen. Kamala Harris, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and Georgia gubernatorial candidate and activist Stacey Abrams.

• Speaking of former national security advisers, John Bolton's forthcoming White House tell-all book is set to be released soon, whether or not the White House approves. Publisher Simon & Schuster started their promotional efforts today with a release that promises to reveal "Ukraine-like transgressions" by our idiot president, as well as accusing House Democrats of "impeachment malpractice" by choosing to focus solely on Ukraine—as if Bolton couldn't have helped them by testifying instead of withholding the juicy details for a tell-all book.

• NOPE, NOPE, NOPE: "The ‘concept of chokehold sounds so innocent, so perfect,’ Trump says."

• I don't know why you went to eBay to find "coronavirus-fighting products" in the first place, but just in case that is the outlet you're choosing, the EPA has your back: eBay and Amazon have been ordered to stop selling pesticides being marketed as "epidemic prevention" products.

• Corporations continue to re-evaluate the ways they practice racial discrimination in their business dealings, such as how Walgreens, Walmart, and CVS have been locking Black beauty and hair care products behind glass. Today they announced they're going to stop, and Walgreens and CVS will be expanding their Black beauty products by 35 percent over last year.

• Today the CDC published guidelines for everyday prevention of COVID-19 spread, and they're putting a premium on basics like washing your damn hands and wearing a mask in public (especially at protests against white supremacy and police brutality).

• Are you a racist supporter of our idiot president who can't WAIT to crowd into his ill-advised trainwreck of a rally this Juneteenth in Tulsa? Better make sure you agree to the waiver absolving him and his campaign of all responsibility for your catching COVID-19 while you're lustfully bellowing and hooting along with your fellow nihilistic death-cult members Republicans.

• WHAT IN THE F—

• You look hot... in a good way! Now you can look even hotter by purchasing the new Mercury Tiger Tank Top (sizing available for all genders and body types) for only $25! Thank you, you'll be supporting our continuing journalism... while looking like a million bucks!

• And finally, look what our neighbors in Seattle did! BEAUTIFUL.