A firefighter observers damage caused by Oregon's Bootleg Fire in July. Credit: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty Images

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A firefighter observers damage caused by Oregons Bootleg Fire in July.
A firefighter observers damage caused by Oregon’s Bootleg Fire in July. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland / Getty Images

Good Morning, Portland! What’s that? A feeling of cool in the air? A memory of non-blazing temperatures? Coastal clouds have nudged over the coastal range to save us from the latest heatwave. Expect highs in the low 80s today. And now, for the weekend’s headlines:

– It’s BURGER WEEK, Portland! Find out which $6 burgers you want to try this hallowed week and get chompin’.

– Good news: After 39 days, Southern Oregon’s Bootleg Fire—once the largest wildfire in the country—is 100 percent contained. Bad news: A few hours’ north, the Middle Fork Complex fire has spread in Lane County’s Willamette National Forest is only 7 percent contained.

– Hey, municipal waste nerds: Get ready for an improved recycling system in Oregon! Thanks to a new state bill, companies will start paying to recycle products they sell—with some being required to provide recycling services for hard-to-recycle materials. Also, prepare for better labeling and information about recycling on products themselves.

– ICYMI:

– As Portland drops to lower temperatures, the cooling centers maintained by city and county funds have shuttered. We took a look at how these centers operate during the height of their demand on Friday.

– A reminder that breakthrough COVID-19 cases in vaccinated people are quite rare.

– According to the Texas Supreme Court, the governor of Texas’ ban on mask mandates is constitutional. But, as school starts today for many Texas public schools, many students are still being asked to wear face masks.

– Several schools are closed in Florida, however, as Tropical Storm Fred makes its way to the state’s panhandle. The storm is expected to “bring dangerous storm surge, river flooding and possible tornadoes when it reaches the US coast,” according to CNN.

– The Taliban has again overtaken Afghanistan, marching into the capital city of Kabul and occupying the presidential palace. The US-backed president has fled the country, and thousands of Afghans have attempted to follow suit, fearing a return to a regime-ruled country (see below tweet). Here’s a refresher from the Washington Post on what Afghanistan looked like under Taliban rule last time.

– More than 1,200 are dead after a 7.2 earthquake rocked Haiti Saturday, razing several small towns. The nation is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, and is in the midst of political upheaval following the assassination of its President Jovenel Moïse last month.

Alex Zielinski is a former News Editor for the Portland Mercury. She's here to tell stories about economic inequities, cops, civil rights, and weird city politics that you should probably be paying attention...