The Mercury provides news and fun every single dayâbut your help is essential. If you believe Portland benefits from smart, local journalism and arts coverage, please consider making a small monthly contribution, because without you, there is no us. Thanks for your support!
Ooof, what a week! Letâs get into the headlines so you can start your three-day weekend off right.
In local news:
â˘Â Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt dismissed 12 cases of reported police misconduct from last yearâs racial justice protests, citing a lack of criminal evidence, inability to identify officers, and a lack of response from attorneys and victims. Schmidt, who ran a campaign on police accountability, is still reviewing eight cases of reported police misconduct.
â˘Â Portland City Council will vote to ban future business with, and city business travel to, the state of Texas, Mayor Ted Wheeler announced today. The ban will be in effect until Texas "withdraws its unconstitutional ban on abortion."
â˘Â Three public schools in Vancouver went under lockdown today due to anti-mask protesters on campus. A video shared online shows a group of adults disrupting the school day by chanting âUSA! USA!â outside Skyview High School. After hunkering down in their classrooms for an hour during the lockdown, students passed out masks on the high school campus as a counterdemonstration.
There is an ongoing anti-mask right-wing protest going on in North Vancouver at Skyview High School, which started small and has now attracted open white supremacists who are encroaching school property.
Video taken by a friend on scene, not my own. pic.twitter.com/rxXL4TrvgI
â Triss Winters (@TrissWinters) September 3, 2021
In national news:
â˘Â At least 49 people died due to severe flooding in the Northeast following Hurricane Ida. The downpour of rain overwhelmed urban drainage systems in five states, resulting in submerged cars, flooded houses, and dozens of drownings.
â˘Â A small beacon of hope: New Orleans utility officials hope to have power restored by the middle of next week after Hurricane Ida knocked out the energy grid for more than 1 million people.
TikTok users are spamming a site set up to receive reports of potential violations to Texas' new abortion law.
One user created an iOS shortcut that automatically fills out false reports â and even adds local zip codes.
Others have taken a simpler approach: spamming with memes. pic.twitter.com/tU1C1Se9p2
â NPR (@NPR) September 3, 2021
â˘Â The Biden administration is aiming to rollout COVID-19 vaccine booster shots starting September 20, but federal health agencies say thatâs too early. Leaders at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) argue there is not enough data to make a blanket recommendation on booster shots and the White House should wait for further FDA and CDC approval.
People fleeing a massive wildfire near the California-Nevada border this week reported $1,500 rides to the airport and hotel rooms going for nearly four times the normal rate. https://t.co/3rxWXGHjVa
â The Associated Press (@AP) September 3, 2021
Now for some fun:
â˘Â Sorry Marvel fans: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a lackluster flick that falls short of its great aspirations, according to Mercury film critic Chase Hutchinson.
⢠Hey Savage Love fans! Get your tix now to see Dan Savage live and in-person on October 2 for a reading of his newest book, Savage Love from A to Z, an illustrated collection of 26 never-before-published essays! (Plus, paid attendees get their own copy of the book!)
⢠Alert! Weâve combined three of our world-famous film festivals into one, big, sexy, stoney, scary, movie showcase called the Mercury Movie Mashup! Itâs the best of the best from SPLIFF (our stoner film fest), SLAY (our horror film fest), and HUMP! (the little porn festival that started it all!), featuring all the blood, sex, and weed you can handle in a ONE NIGHT ONLY show at the Clinton Street Theaterâgo get those tix now!
â˘Â And finally, congrats on making it through the week!
pic.twitter.com/EzfcLoPwlg
â ladies and gentlemen, the weekend đ (@CraigWeekend) September 3, 2021