Summer is just heating up

69 days left in summer and we must keep up the heat when they don’t think we will

I am back with another newsletter after being off for a bit because of family matters. A lot has happened in the last month, I’m going to try to hit what I think are the three biggest items.

Oregon Republicans brew chaos in Capitol

The Oregon Legislature ended the 2019 Legislative Session on June 30, a day after the Oregon Republican nine-day walkout ended. Oregon Senate Republicans left the capitol in an effort to stop the Climate Energy Jobs Bill, which all things considered was actually a pretty good deal for Republicans and businesses.

The Republican walkout began with threats and sparked far-right militias. Senator Brian Boquist told the Oregon State Police, “Send bachelors and come heavily armed.” Jason Wilson wrote a good article for The Guardian on how it showed the mainstreaming of Oregon’s patriot movement.

UO tuition up, LERC budget down

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission approved the University of Oregon’s tuition schedule and the Oregon Legislature approved $836.9 million for the state’s seven public universities, placing an increase of the University of Oregon’s tuition and fees for in-state undergraduates at 6.91%. Two years ago University of Oregon resident undergraduates faced a 7.5% spike in tuition and fees.

In addition to the tuition raise, University of Oregon went ahead with the 68% budget cut to the Labor Education and Research Center. The cuts will be phased in over the next three years.

Alt-right cries over spilled (vegan) milk(shake)

On June 29, right-wing hate group Proud Boys held another rally in Portland, looking to attack. Community groups, including, PopMob, Portland Democratic Socialists of America, and Rose City Antifa showed up to defend the community. During the counter protest, PopMob handed out vegan coconut milkshakes, which later Portland Police Bureau dubiously reported as cement milkshakes. Proud Boys and crew picked up on the claim and repeated it. There was no evidence to back the claim up, and Willamette Weekly even ran their own experiment, showing while it was possible to mix cement with a vegan milkshake, it would look totally different than what was seen in Portland in June.

The Week Ahead