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Alma Barrett works on a painting at her Laurelhurst camp Wednesday. Alex Zielinski

I hope you’re staying hydrated, Portland! Here’s your reminder that the city and county have five cooling centers open until 9 pm tonight—please use them if you need them!

In local news:

• City contractors swept the encampment at Laurelhurst Park Thursday morning, displacing the estimated 50 unhoused people who lived there. The sweep is just another familiar step in an on-going cycle, according to several campers who plan on setting their tents back up within a day or two citing a lack of housing solutions that actually work for them.

• Did you have to fumble your way through pumping your own gas today? The Oregon Fire Marshal has suspended its enforcement of the regulations that prohibit self-service at gas stations due to the heat in an effort to protect outdoor workers. The temporary suspension lasts through Friday evening.

Due to the extreme heat, Oregonians can pump their own gas until midnight tonight. Here’s a how-to video https://t.co/LVu0S41R43 pic.twitter.com/kCVV6lUmtg
— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) July 30, 2021

• All government buildings in Oregon now require visitors and employees to wear masks indoors. Governor Kate Brown joined Multnomah County and the City of Portland in requiring face coverings inside state, county and city buildings today. These policy changes come after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended everyone wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status.

• The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking a tit for tat approach to a wolf pack’s recent attacks on livestock in Baker County, authorizing four wolves to be killed in reaction to the four cows the pack killed in the past two weeks. The lethal permit is granted when wolves pose a significant threat to livestock and nonlethal methods of deterring the pack have not worked. The permit has only been authorized six times since 2009.

On Thursday, city commissioners got an update from staff on how Portland was progressing toward the goals set out in the declaration, most notably the goal that the city cut carbon emissions by half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. https://t.co/9h8YN8bF7U
— OPB (@OPB) July 30, 2021

In national news:

• Well, it’s official: Researchers say vaccinated people can carry and transmit the delta variant just as much as unvaccinated people. While vaccines are still highly effective at preventing serious cases of COVID, scientists who studied an outbreak in Massachusetts found that fully vaccinated people who experienced breakthrough cases are just as much vectors for transmitting the virus as unvaccinated people, disproving the previous idea that vaccinated people could only carry low levels of the virus that were unlikely to be passed to others.

Dead zones, a “horseman” of climate change, could suffocate crabs in the West, scientists say https://t.co/EDaiYvhOHM
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 30, 2021

• The Biden administration resumed deportation flights today, but about half of the families scheduled to be deported were removed from the two planes at the last minute after receiving positive coronavirus tests. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) promptly filled most of those seats with single adult migrants and the planes delivered people to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

• Women athletes at this year’s Olympic Games have routinely spoken out against baseless dress codes that require them to preform in much skimpier—and often inconvenient—uniforms than their male counterparts. Some feminist scholars and professional sports stakeholders are viewing the small protests, like Germany’s women’s gymnastics team wearing long unitards instead of leotards and the Norwegian beach handball team wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms, as turning points in women’s sports.

U.S. men’s soccer team backs women in equal-pay fight, saying USWNT should have been paid more https://t.co/FCd5H7Y0pT
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 30, 2021

• From the makers of HUMP! and SPLIFF comes a new film fest that features short documentaries made by YOU! It’s called SCOOP! and you can find out more about it here.

• This weekend is your last chance to enjoy the Mercury’s SUMMER OF SLUSHIES! Snag a $5 boozy frozen concoction from your fave bar this weekend to beat the heat!

• And finally, it’s quiz time! Test how well you know this week’s headlines with the Mercury’s POP QUIZ PDX!

In this week’s POP QUIZ PDX, you’ll be answering fun, sassy Qs about ugly Portland public art, ding-dong GOP politicians, and a subjective question about the world’s most annoying pop stars. LET US DO THIS.https://t.co/LZBhpvGFGR
— Portland Mercury 🗞 (@portlandmercury) July 30, 2021

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