Mercury staffers at a past pride parade
Mercury staffers at a past pride parade Portland Mercury


Happy Tuesday, everybody! Despite all the shit that continues to rain down on us, let us all try to remember what's really important: it's Pride month! While Trump continues to fuck up our country, we can at least find comfort in the fact that, starting Friday, the rest of the month is jam-packed with rainbow-infused festivities.

Now, let's get to all the not-so-great news. There's plenty.

Trump is quickly turning on his own administration in an effort to make himself look better. He's doing the opposite. On Monday he criticized the "watered-down" version of the Muslim travel ban that his aides proposed as a way to get the horrendously racist proposal passed by SCOTUS. Also, he repeatedly referred to it as a TRAVEL BAN (capitalization not my own). Poor Spicey.


Trump also endorsed a plan Monday to privatize air traffic control. He held a big celebration, handed out pens, and pretended like he was a real president. It was adorable. But his signage was all but meaningless and left many people wondering when he will introduce actual infrastructure legislation, something he campaigned heavily on.

Oh, and the first person has been charged for the Russia thing! But it's a national security contractor who allegedly leaked a document that reveals further details about potential misdeeds. Not, you know, anyone who carried out those misdeeds.

TriMet attack hero Rick Best was laid to rest yesterday. Rest in peace.

Meanwhile, the alleged monster who police believe stole Best's wedding ring and belongings as he lay dying or dead on the MAX train appeared in court yesterday, and turned his back to the room.

Yesterday we reported that the accused Trimet killer was a fixture at Portland Saturday Market, selling comic books at an un-sanctioned booth near the market. Some people were hesitant to talk about him.

Over the weekend, rock climber Alex Honnold became the first man to ever free solo (AKA climb without a rope) El Capitan, the nearly 3,000 foot granite wall at Yosemite. The climb is considered one of the most difficult in the world, and only a handful of people have completed it with a rope. Honnold must be crazy, but in an amazing way. Check out photos of his ascent here.

CNN conducted a study analyzing a bunch of body camera footage and concluded that police speak to black drivers less respectfully than white ones. Groundbreaking.