A gloved hand administers the vaccine into someone's arm.
A healthcare worker at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center receives COVID-19 vaccinations on December 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. Credit: Nathan Howard / Stringer
A gloved hand administers the vaccine into someones arm.
A healthcare worker at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center receives COVID-19 vaccinations on December 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. Nathan Howard / Stringer

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:

• As of this week, it’s easier to get a vaccine in Oregon! You can now self-schedule an appointment for your first dose at the Oregon Convention Center online—previously, the vaccination center only offered appointments by lottery. Plus, all 45 Walmart pharmacies in Oregon are offering walk-up COVID-19 vaccines.

• In full circle news: former Oregon House Speaker Dave Hunt was arrested during an undercover “sex trafficking sting” and charged with commercial sexual solicitation, a crime that was created by a 2011 bill Hunt voted in favor of.

• The faculty strike at Oregon Institute of Technology ended early Tuesday morning after reaching a tentative agreement. The strike, which started last week, made history as the first faculty strike in Oregon higher education history.

In national news:

• Severe storms continue to rake over the south, leaving at least three people dead in Georgia and Tennessee. High winds flipped over semi trucks and caused over 300,000 homes and businesses to lose power from Texas to Virginia.

• Protests in Colombia continue this week even after President Iván Duque announced he would withdraw the tax proposal that sparked demonstrations. The proposed tax reform aimed to lower the threshold at which salaries are taxed, prompting tens of thousands of people who are already financially struggling during the pandemic to take to the streets.

• While herd immunity may be out of the question, President Biden set a new patriotic goal of getting 70 percent of Americans at least one vaccine dose by July 4th.

• Stacey Abrams: champion of voter rights, Democratic power house, and full-fledged romantic. Before she was a state representative in Georgia, Abrams penned eight romance novels under the name Selena Montgomery. Her first three books, originally published about 20 years ago, will be reissued in hardcover in 2022.

• As a hip and trendy member of Gen Z, it’s my responsibility to let y’all know that all the cool kids are wearing journalism-related apparel this summer. Lucky for you, the Mercury just released new t-shirt designs!

• Here’s one more reason to look forward to summer: The Portland Mercury and Jim Beam proudly present the Summer of Slushies! Get boozy, frozen, custom-made slushies at your favorite bars during the month of July—and for only $5 each!

• And if you’re looking for a reason to wake up before dawn and stare at the sky for a while, here you go!

Isabella Garcia is the former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She covered City Hall, transportation, the environment, breaking news, and more.