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Good morning, Portland! Keep your sunnies close by, because today’s high is 89 degrees with nary a cloud in sight. 😎

Now seems like a good time to remind everybody that you should never leave your dog in a car during summer and it’s always a good idea to do a quick pavement test (press your hand to the ground) before walking your canine friend on warm days. Asphalt and concrete absorb a lot of heat and are typically much hotter than the outside temperature. 

Ok, now that that public service announcement (rant) is outta the way, let’s find out what’s happening in the world.

In LOCAL NEWS:

• If you’re wondering why the city smelled like a toxic bonfire last night, it’s because firefighters responded to three commercial fires Monday, one of which was reported Monday afternoon at the Shin Shin noodle factory in North Portland. The commercial food site kept Portland Fire & Rescue crews on scene for several hours to combat what was later determined to be a grease fire. All employees were able to exit safely, according to Portland Fire & Rescue. Less than two hours later, another fire was reported at Metro’s waste transfer facility and crews were sent to yet another report of fire at an auto parts store, though that ended up being a bust with no blaze.

  Portland Fire will be here well into the night. pic.twitter.com/WgVfn776qk

  — Portland Fire & Rescue (@PDXFire) June 25, 2024

• Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians using the Burnside Bridge at noon yesterday likely noticed a horde of protesters in red. Monday marked the two-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s ruling that effectively sabotaged the right to an abortion at the federal level, leaving it up to states to determine their abortion policies. To commemorate the anniversary and call attention to the erosion of reproductive rights, a couple hundred women held a rally on the Burnside Bridge as part of a women’s strike.

  On the two-year anniversary of Roe V. Wade being overturned by the US Supreme Court, more than 200 women (and a few good men) rallied along the Burnside Bridge Monday afternoon during a women's strike for gender equality and reproductive rights. https://t.co/51jA67h7Qa

  — Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) June 25, 2024

• Mayor Ted Wheeler says the city will start enforcing its new homeless camping policies starting July 1. Wheeler told KGW that the city has an app that can tell social workers whether open shelter beds are available. Using that technology, social workers and police can order anyone camped on public property to move to a shelter space. If a person refuses available adequate shelter (meaning it meets their needs), they can face fines and/or jail time. Portland City Council passed a revised ordinance back in May, after the city faced a legal challenge last year over its initial homeless camping policies. Now, the city says it will only enforce the new ordinance if shelter is available. In previous interviews with the Mercury, homelessness researchers and outreach workers pointed out that the new ordinance won’t fix homelessness, it will only address “visible homelessness.” They also note the absurdity of fining a person with no home and little to no income (where do you send notices if a person fails to pay or show up for a hearing?), which will only reduce their chances of ever finding permanent, stable housing.
• In happier things that begin July 1: to help you beat the heat and jazz up your summer, we’re bringing you a whole dang month of frozen cocktails called the Summer of Slushies! Starting Monday, July 1, find an array of boozy, slushy drinks at multiple locations around the city for just $8. It’s the delightful shaved ice/Slurpee/Icee of your childhood coming to meet the vices of adulthood. Cheers!

  Hot enough for ya? 😎 Things will definitely cool down in July when the Mercury kicks off our SUMMER OF SLUSHIES—$8 frozen, boozy cocktails from 23 of your fave Portland bars... and you can drink 'em ALL MONTH LONG! 🍹https://t.co/BiKUlA7Otd

  — Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) June 21, 2024

  Not a single brain cell between them... pic.twitter.com/OfZI9pSCya

  — Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) June 18, 2024

In NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS: 

• In unsurprising but still crappy news, Donald Trump suggested to Dana White, the commissioner of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that migrants should fight each other, for sport, in their own separate competitive category. While we’re at it, let’s add a special match for convicted felons.
• While we're on the subject of blatantly awful, inappropriate ideas: it didn't take long for Louisiana’s new Ten Commandments rule to be challenged in court. A group of parents and organizations in Louisiana filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of a new state law that requires all public school classrooms to post the Ten Commandments. Plaintiffs note the law clearly favors one category of religion and violates the Constitution. It has also already been ruled on in past court cases. Critics were quick to note that earlier this year, Louisiana governor Jeff Landry rejected federal money for free school lunch programs during the summer.

  By design, the Louisiana 10 Commandments law passed last week will be heard by the Supreme Court. If the Court upholds that law, what next? Understand this coordinated, orchestrated strategy for the Christian nationalist plot that it is. Remain vigilant. ✊🏾🇺🇸🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/dttEttHiu1

  — Brandt Robinson (@BrandtRobinson) June 24, 2024

  pic.twitter.com/uv9qkC0kby

  — paulpro (@paulprosseda) June 22, 2024

• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will return to Australia after reportedly reaching a plea deal with the US government on a single conspiracy charge. In 2010, Assange published classified US military documents–including footage of US military forces firing on Iraqi civilians– obtained with the help of Chelsea Manning to the WikiLeaks website. Later, in 2016, WikiLeaks published private emails of US Democratic party leaders and operatives, which American prosecutors say were obtained by Russian government operatives in an attempt to swing the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. Assange was later charged by the US government and faced extradition to the US, but appealed. Until today, Assange had been held in a high-security prison in London, where he was granted asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy there. During his legal ordeal, he also faced rape charges in Sweden years ago, though the charges were later dropped.
• Finally, I regret to inform you that Seth “Shifty Shellshock” Binzer, frontman of the late ‘90s/early 2000s band Crazy Town, has died. He was 49. Variety reports the “Butterfly” singer died at his home in Los Angeles County, but the cause of death has yet to be determined. Sorry if this awful song gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day.