As Weekend Reader readers undoubtedly already know, the Willamette Valley is under an extreme heat warning for this weekend that just keeps getting extended (as of 1 p.m. Saturday, the warning is expected to last through Tuesday night). High temperatures in Corvallis are expected to peak at 98 Saturday and to cool down to a chilly 93 by Tuesday. Worse, the area is under an air-quality alert through Monday evening. So let’s summarize: It’s too hot to go outside and you can’t breathe if you do. Sounds like a good weekend to stay inside and, you know, properly hydrate.

It could be worse, though: You could be running in this weekend’s Hood-to-Coast relay race. Friday temperatures in Portland hit 101, The Oregonian/OregonLive reports.

When those of us in the mid-valley want to beat the heat, we just head for the coast. (Highs this weekend in Newport will be in the low 70s.) Internationally, the Nordic countries increasingly are preferred destinations for travelers seeking what’s called a “coolcation.” (Yes, the term is unfortunate.) Not all the residents of the Nordic region are thrilled about this, The New York Times reports.

Wondering which U.S. cities are next on President Donald Trump’s list of U.S. cities that he’s considering for military invasion — er, sorry, cities where he’s considering a federal takeover of law enforcement? Well, The Associated Press says the next city to follow in the wake of Washington, D.C. is probably Chicago. But there’s little doubt that Portland and Seattle are on the list, at least judging by comments that Donald Trump Jr. made to Newsmax. Trump Jr., echoing a savory soundbite from the first Trump administration, called Portland and Seattle “craphole” cities. Of course, federal law essentially allows Trump’s takeover in the District of Columbia; the president might have a tougher case to make in cities like Portland, but it’s not as if niceties such as the law ever have given Trump much pause. Neither have actual crime rates — violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low and homicide rates in Portland have dropped.

As you may recall, the 2025 regular session of the Legislature adjourned without wrapping up a big piece of its work: finding a way to pay for Oregon’s transportation infrastructure. Lawmakers will take another swing at that when they convene Friday for a special session. On Monday, the Legislature’s Joint Interim Committee on Transportation Funding will hold a public hearing on the proposal lawmakers will consider Friday. Most special sessions wrap up their work in just a day — but I wouldn’t bet on that occurring here. Mia Maldonado, a new hand at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, has the details.

Randy Stapilus, writing for the Capital Chronicle, thinks the special session could be a pivotal point in the 2026 gubernatorial campaign in Oregon. Gov. Tina Kotek hasn’t officially announced her plans, but the widespread assumption is that she’ll seek a second term. At this point, it appears as if her likely GOP opponent will be Christine Drazan, who came within 3.4 percentage points of beating Kotek in the 2022 election — and that was with a well-known third candidate, Betsy Johnson, on the ballot. Stapilus wonders if the special session might prove to be a launching point for a serious (and presumably well-funded) race against Kotek.

The federal government is set to own about a 10% stake in Intel, among Oregon’s largest private employers. It’s a good deal for the struggling chipmaker, says President Trump — and why would he lie about anything? The New York Times has a piece this weekend that explores the struggles at Intel, once such a dominant player.

What are we to make of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pitch-perfect parodies of President Trump’s social media posts? As Tom Nichols of The Atlantic notes, Newsom appears to be getting under the skins of Trump fans — and that, he thinks, may not be a bad thing.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department Friday raided the home and office of John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser. As you know, Bolton and Trump had a falling-out, with Bolton becoming a harsh critic of the president and Trump vowing retribution. So, really, no one could have been surprised by news of the FBI raid, the latest instance of Trump weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his perceived enemies. And, really, no one is feeling sorry for Bolton. But you wouldn’t be wrong to consider the raid a warning, Shane Harris writes in The Atlantic, and it could have far-reaching impacts on the nation’s ability to gather apolitical intelligence.

In Linn County news that seems to have a pretty good shot at going viral, a woman about to be arrested on a misdemeanor livestock charge allegedly tried to flee from a deputy. The getaway vehicle: Her tractor. Spoiler alert: The long arm of the law caught up, but not without a tussle. Cody Mann, a hardworking reporter for the Gazette-Times, had the story.

Tyler James is an Oregon writer (based in Eugene, I’d guess) who maintains a website called That Oregon Life. It’s a mixture of news stories and satirical columns — and, as is so often the case, the satire is based on something that’s fundamentally true. In that spirit, enjoy this recent James piece, headlined: “Oregon Named Worst State to Move To, Mostly Because Everyone Here Already Hates You.”

James’ piece is meant in part as a parody of those frequent emails that show up in your inbox touting the results of some alleged survey on arcane topics such as “Best State to Suffer from a Hangnail” or “Safest Communities from Raccoon Rampages.” But sometimes no satirical exaggeration is necessary, as in this item about a survey from the New Jersey Real Estate Association, which recently sought to determine the U.S. “coastal communities with the most stunning views.” Coming in at No. 81: Joseph, Oregon. Now, I know Joseph a little bit (when in town, grab a pizza at Embers), and I can testify that Joseph — for all its considerable charms — is roughly 409 miles away from the Oregon coast. “Stunning views,” for sure. “Coastal,” not so much. David Jasper of the Bend Bulletin had some fun with this story.

That’s it for this weekend. Maybe I’ll see you in Newport over the weekend — responsibly hydrating, of course. See you next weekend.