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Good morning, Portland! We’ve got another toasty week ahead of us. A tip to survival: Indulge in one of Portland’s $5 alcoholic slushies from the Mercury‘s Summer of Slushies guide.
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WEEKEND TRAGEDY A 19-year-old white man dressed in a military-style uniform fired an assault rifle into the crowd at a California food festival Sunday. After killing three (including a 6-year-old boy) and injuring more than a dozen others, the gunman was shot by police. Donald Trump’s response? “Be careful!”
WEEKEND BULLSHIT Trump took to Twitter this weekend to insult U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and call his Baltimore district a “rodent infested mess” where “no human being would want to live”—phrases that sounded painfully familiar to Americans of color.
Drop everything you’re doing and watch this….
cc: @VictorBlackwell pic.twitter.com/N9ZWttHSzd
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) July 27, 2019
THE RESPONSE The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board responded to Trump’s smear with a reminder: “Better to have some vermin living in your neighborhood than to be one.” Meanwhile, Rev. Al Sharpton held a press conference in Baltimore this morning, where he rejected Trump’s attacks on Charm City. Of course, Trump previewed the event by tweeting insults at Sharpton, declaring that the longtime African American rights advocate hates “whites & cops.”
WELP The Trump Administration’s losing another critic, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats, known for angering Trump with his practical assessments of Russia and North Korea. Coats is being replaced by one of Trump’s loudest defenders, US Rep. John Ratcliffe.
THIS IS A THING THAT HAPPENS Earth just missed being hit by a “city-killer” asteroid—one that would have had an impact similar to a “very large nuclear weapon.” According to astronomers, it “just snuck up” on them. Prepare for the end days, friends.
Striking @jaketapper– @BernieSanders exchange
TAPPER: You appeared to compare pharma executives, who are artificially jacking up prices, to murderers
SANDERS: Jake, if I have a [cheap] product…and I jack up that price, and you can’t afford it, and you die, what do you call me? pic.twitter.com/mukfesCXc9
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) July 29, 2019
WASHINGTON V WASHINGTON Following last week’s testimony by former special counsel Robert Mueller before Congress, a wave of Washington state Democratic lawmakers are calling for Trump’s impeachment.
EARL! Our bud Rep. Earl Blumenaur has introduced a bill to help municipal governments finance bike sharing programs like Portland’s Biketown.
ALPHA SIGMA PBOT: The City of Portland has finalized an $80,000 settlement with a former Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) employee who alleged “extreme hazing” by city transportation staff. Per the Oregonian: “Among other things, city employees used an air compressor to shoot metal screws, wooden strips, popcorn kernels and hard candy at [Adam] Rawlins, according to his lawsuit. Rawlins also was required to sit in the back of a city truck while a coworker ‘punched and contorted the nipples’ on Rawlins’ chest, the suit claims.”
PSA The Proud Boys are planning to hold a rally in Portland on August 17. It’s going to be big, and likely violent. Make your vacation plans now.
