As we trudge toward our painful fate as liquids, I wanted to say it's been a pleasure, dear readers. Liquids don't write or read news digests, so it looks like this is our last time together. The latest forecast: Too hot. And since your power's probably going to go out because everyone's got their ACs and fans on full blast, we will melt into puddles as one.
Mayor Ted Wheeler might choose a new police chief as soon as this week, and he's being squeezed from all sides. The Portland Police Association has signaled it wants to keep current Chief Mike Marshman, who's one of four finalists for the gig. But activists on the left are saying Marshman's a non-starter, and threatening to try to recall Wheeler if he elects to go with the status quo.
Portland City Council is taking up an important decision today: Whether to move forward with a really expensive water treatment plant, a really super expensive water treatment plant, or both. The state had assigned the city a deadline of August 11 to reach a conclusion, but lots of folks thought that was rushed, and yesterday Commissioner Nick Fish and Mayor Ted Wheeler asked for more time. The Oregon Health Authority promptly extended the deadline by two months, the Tribune reported, but that doesn't mean commissioners won't decide today anyway. Depending on that decision, costs could be well above $500 million for a system that rids the water of the (very rare) parasite cryptosporidium.
Was the failure of the Obamacare repeal a watershed moment in terms of Congressional Republicans being willing to buck Donald Trump? This NYT piece strongly suggests as much. "After subsisting around the edges of criticism throughout Mr. Trump’s tenure so far... Republican senators have emerged from the health care defeat with fewer apparent qualms about flouting the White House."
Meanwhile, it appears the justice department is primed to go after affirmative action policies in colleges and universities, because of course. "Supporters and critics of the project said it was clearly targeting admissions programs that can give members of generally disadvantaged groups, like black and Latino students, an edge over other applicants with comparable or higher test scores."
The Oregonian has an interesting piece about a Portland aluminum extruder—part of a Norway-based company—that's admitted to falsifying strength tests on its products. That's a problem, considering some of them wound up on NASA vehicles that mysteriously failed after launch.
And by the way, if you haven't read the first two installments of the O's series on a transgender Vancouver teen trying to navigate his way through transition, absolutely make some time. It is eye-opening and important work.
Look, I don't have time to read the batshit crazy transcript of Trump's recent meeting with the Wall Street Journal. Politico's got the goods if you need confirmation of...whatever you're looking for. CNN has the "45 oddest quotes," too.
The FBI has a new director, but Oregon's senators had nothing to do with it.
And finally, North Korea's incessant missile tests are now flying scarily near the flight paths of commercial airliners, which could turn bad very quickly. "The chance of an unaimed missile striking a plane are 'billions to one,' according to CNN aviation safety analyst David Soucie, but the ramifications are potentially huge and create a difficult decision for airlines operating in the area."
About that heat:
