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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Hopefully you enjoyed the holiday weekend. If you didnā€™t, just remember, itā€™s officially corn season!

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In LOCAL NEWS:

  • Bill Walton, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1970s and led the team to a championship win in 1977, died Monday. He was 71. Waltonā€™s basketball career was marked by stints with the Blazers, the Clippers and the Boston Celtics. Walton was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in the ā€˜90s. After retiring from basketball, he became a sports broadcaster, winning two Emmys. He also published a memoir.
  • A dead humpback whale washed ashore at Nehalem Bay State Park near Manzanita. We know what you're all thinking, but we're not doing the dynamite again. Gross. State officials cautioned visitors to stay clear of the area. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries plans to investigate the whaleā€™s cause of death. Just over a week ago, beachgoers at Canon Beach stumbled on a rarely seen deep sea fish that had washed ashore. The fish, called a Pacific football fish, has a lightbulb type appendage attached to its head, allowing it to hunt in deep, pitch black waters. The wildlife deaths come as a tar-like petroleum substance has been found on Oregon beaches in recent weeks.Ā 
  • ICYMI: We reported last week that a circuit court judge OKā€™d the Portland Police Association to start collecting signatures fort a ballot initiative that would claw back Portlandā€™s voter-approved police oversight board and replace it with an oversight measure crafted by the PPA. The police union filed two initiative petitions with the cityā€™s elections office back in February, for measures the union hoped to get on the November ballot. Both of the unionā€™s proposed measures were challenged in court. One of the proposed measures sought to increase the number of cops in Portland, while also funding detox centers and alternative, ā€œstreet responseā€ programs. It was struck down as unconstitutional. The judge also ruled the second oneā€“the unionā€™s police oversight initiativeā€“used misleading language and wasnā€™t clear to voters that the measure would repeal and replace Portlandā€™s police oversight system approved by voters in 2020, which has yet to be implemented. The measure was given a new title and description by the judge. The union is now free to start collecting the more than 40k signatures needed to get it on the ballot, but the deadline for the November ballot is July 5.
  • Keeping on the subject of police, Portland City Council is set to vote on an emergency authorization for more shields and crowd control munitions (like pepper spray) for the Portland Police Bureau. Tomorrowā€™s agenda includes a request for purchases, noting $1.1 million in "ongoing funding" for training and equipment replacement. As reported by Street Roots, PPB still maintains a hefty stockpile of munitions leftover from 2020. Note: This entry has been updated since it first published, to correct the cost of police munitions purchases.
  • If all this news about the crumbling environment and attempts to squash police accountability has you down, you can cry into an $8 cocktail next week. Next Monday, June 3, marks Portland Mercuryā€™s Highball Week. This fine publication loves to celebrate the foodie lovers in our city multiple times a year, while giving YOU, lovely readers, week-long specials at multiple restaurants and bars.

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In NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS:

  • The Putin wannabe, washed up con artist who used to be our president may have the GOP wrapped around his finger, but Donald Trump couldnā€™t win over Libertarians. Trump was booed and jeered during a speech he gave at the Libertarian National Convention last Saturday. Trump then reminded the crowd that Libertarian candidates only draw a small fraction of the presidential vote each cycle, and insisted the Libertarian Party and the GOP need to unite.

  • The world is a messed up place, made worse by Israelā€™s attacks on Palestinian civilians. An airstrike killed 45 people at an encampment in Rafah over the weekend. Rafah was previously designated as an evacuation zone for Gaza residents to flee to, before Israeli military forces warned everyone to flee that area, too, shortly before bombing the Gazan city. Now, Another airstrike on an encampment that killed at least 20 more people is drawing global condemnation. The unrelenting bombing of civilians comes as countries like Spain, Ireland, and Norway are officially recognizing Palestine as a state, calling for a two-state path toward peace between Palestine and Israel.

  • It's truly absurd that a 10-lane freeway exists instead of efficient mass transit, but here's a little improvement: A Southern California city will soon see a wildlife crossing bridge constructed over the 101 freeway near Los Angeles, after constant reports of animals being hit and killed by motorists. Among those wild animals trying to survive amid expanding development are cougars, one of which was spotted in Griffith Park about 10 years ago and has been tracked by researchers.Ā 

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