DMX at Coachella in 2015. Credit: Mark Davis / Getty images
DMX at Coachella in 2015.
DMX at Coachella in 2015. Mark Davis / Getty images

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

In local news:

• The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that the Oregon Legislature can take more time to draw up a state redistricting map, and is allowed to miss legal deadlines. The move comes after results from the 2020 US Census were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Six Oregon counties—including Multnomah and Clackamas—are moving back up to the state’s “high risk” COVID categorization today, meaning restaurants will have to decrease their indoor seating capacities.

• John Legend has once again weighed in on Oregon politics, this time to support a state bill that would allow imprisoned people to vote:

• Lawmakers in the Oregon House unanimously approved a law making June 19—also known as Juneteenth, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas were informed of their freedom in 1865—a state holiday. In now goes to the state Senate for a vote.

In national news:

• DMX has died of a drug overdose at 50 years old. Here’s how Pitchfork remembered the rapper:

No matter what one might say about DMX, he was decidedly authentic—often to a fault—at a time when such honesty was in short supply. The violence in his music was a symptom of his fear and pain, some self-inflicted, some inflicted by those closest to him. And his influence can be found in some of today’s biggest rap stars: Kendrick Lamar has admitted that It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot was a crucial part of his rap education, though his dialogue with “Lucy” on To Pimp a Butterfly made that abundantly clear. To this day, he remains the only rapper to have his first five albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

• According to a new report from Buzzfeed News, the riot at the US Capitol on January 6 caused a whopping $2.5 million in damage.

• Oh hey, this is nice:

• The House Ethics Committee is investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz for his alleged involvement in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Still no word on when the investigation into his unsettlingly large forehead begins.

And just for fun:

• If you’re lucky enough to know the pure bliss that is an It’s-It ice cream treat, then you’ll be delighted to know that there is now a new It’s-It hookup in Portland.

• Finally, time to get your audition tape ready:

Blair Stenvick is a former news reporter and culture writer for the Portland Mercury.