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GOOD MORNING, PORTLAND! Fall is just around the corner (11 days, to be exact) so relish this next week of sunny, aptly warm weather that reminds us why there is no better place to spend summer than the Pacific Northwest. Today’s high is 76, with an evening low of 58. Drink it in!

In Local News: 

  • A recent study from the University of Washington found traces of methamphetamine and fentanyl in air and surface samples taken on public transit. The study was prompted by frequent complaints from drivers of light rail trains and buses in Portland and Seattle about riders using drugs on transit vehicles. That study led Portlanders, and most notably TriMet, to lose their damn minds and call for a crackdown on public drug use, similar to the rhetoric used at Portland City Council a day prior. Here’s the thing: TriMet (and some media outlets) promoted hysteria while simultaneously acknowledging that the trace amounts found were negligible, and pose no threat to rider safety. The agency is now calling for heightened transit security. TriMet drivers certainly have room to feel disconcerted by people smoking drugs on their vehicles, as some report, but the study’s authors cautioned that the results don’t indicate widespread drug use on public transit, nor do the results represent all of public transit. What WE DO KNOW is that the best way to avoid lingering residue of any kind AND simultaneously reduce risk of airborne illnesses like COVID or the flu, is to clean the dang buses and trains more often. 
@suethebuscleaninglady How we clean a bus.      First we clean the windows, then we disinfect the rails, sides backs and the headrests of the seats then  Jimmy mops. I disinfect the drivers area while the bus is being mopped. #suethebuscleaninglady #cleaningtips #cleaninghacks #walla #happiness#vegan#bus#fypage #aussie ♬ original sound - SuzanneCoad

  • Speaking of drugs, ICYMI: The first Portland-area detox center funded by Measure 110 is set to open this month. Last month, Recovery Works NW unveiled its new Foster Road Detox center in Southeast Portland, which offers 16 beds and is expected to serve 1,200 patients a year, specifically those who need help withdrawing from fentanyl. It’s a major milestone of Measure 110, which has gotten a ton of flack for its perceived failures.
  • Listen, the next Portland City Council race is more than a year away, but as one candidate reminded me, this one will be more of a marathon than a race. For those keeping track (don’t worry, we’ll do the work for you!) 17 candidates have already filed to run for a council seat in 2024, the first time Portlanders will vote by district as part of the city’s government overhaul. None of the current councilors have publicly said whether they’ll run for reelection, except Mingus Mapps, who’s running for mayor.

  • A Portland-based property management firm was among those named in a recent antitrust lawsuit alleging illegal collusion in an apartment price fixing scheme. The lawsuit claims Dalton Management was among several companies using RENTMaximizer software, which gathers pricing data on other rental units in the same or similar markets, to inflate monthly rental prices.

  • It’s Tuesday, which means you only have until tomorrow to snag tickets to Wednesday’s “Two Evils” game show! Feeling lucky? You have until 5 p.m. today to enter for a chance to win free tix!

    In National/World News:
  • Listen up, night owls! A recent study warns that people who typically stay up late have poor lifestyle habits and are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. The study conducted published in the Annals of Internal Medicine followed 60,000 women nurses and found that those who stayed up late were less likely to get regular exercise, had poor eating habits, slept fewer hours, had higher body mass index and were more likely to smoke cigarettes than those who went to bed and got up early. Great. Just great. 

  • Illinois is the first state to do away with cash bail for pretrial release. Citing statistics that show cash bail disproportionately and unfairly impacts people of color, Illinois is set to do away with the practice on Sept. 18, under a new state law.
  • The Seattle Police union is under fire after body camera footage released Monday depicted an officer joking about the death of a 23-year-old woman who was fatally struck by another officer’s police car earlier this year while using a crosswalk. The officer in question, Officer Daniel Auderer, who serves as vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, can be heard laughing, and suggesting the city “should just write a check” for the woman’s death, noting she “had limited value” due to her young age.
  • The Biden administration is moving to carry out a prisoner swap with Iran, freeing up $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue that had previously been blocked by U.S. sanctions. Along with the release of oil money to Tehran, the U.S. will release five Iranian nationals, in exchange for the release of five Americans currently jailed in Iran on what human rights groups say are bogus espionage charges.