Remember how last week we were all complaining about the unseasonably chilly weather? We get what we ask for. Remember to hydrate. 

The Corvallis Inquirer, a relatively new local-news website, has a wonderful new story bidding farewell to the Starship robots, those cute coolers-on-wheels that delivered food (and, I guess, other stuff) to Oregon State University students and staff. (Personally, I always thought they all were packing heat and were just waiting for the signal to begin the revolution.) Starship Technologies, the company behind the robots, recently announced that it was stopping service to U.S. campuses. The robots’ last day on OSU came this week. So long, little ones! Here’s hoping you managed to safely get across Southwest 14th one last time. Maybe one or two of you are still waiting for the traffic to clear. 

The Gazette-Times’ hardworking Cody Mann has an interesting story about the final results of a ballot measure in Philomath that would have banned psilocybin services or manufacture in the city.

You might recall that Oregon voters in 2020 approved Ballot Measure 109, which legalized psilocybin – you know, magic mushrooms – under tight guidelines. You might not recall that the measure also gave cities and counties the opportunity to opt out of legalization, and many smaller governments in Oregon did so. That list included Philomath. Councilors decided to put the matter on the ballot again this May – and the ban failed, by some 16 votes out of 1,748 cast. (See, kids? Your vote does matter.)

This doesn’t mean that psilocybin storefronts will be popping up all over Philomath, though. The rules under which psilocybin is regulated make it tough to open a business and also mean that it’s a costly proposition for potential users – and one which insurance doesn’t cover, despite studies suggesting that the psychedelic has promise in treating some mental health issues. Nevertheless, I think I’d still be game – given adequate funds and a day or two off – to microdose. Who’s with me? 

Do you drive an electric vehicle? Good for you. You probably already know that, starting next year, you’ll be paying additional taxes and fees to help prop up the underfunded State Highway Fund. (State gas taxes – which you don’t pay because you drive an electric vehicle – are the main source for the fund, which pays for roads and bridges and so forth). Do you know who won’t be paying those additional taxes and fees for their electric vehicles? Amazon. FedEx. UPS. That’s because Oregon legislators working on a last-minute deal for the state’s underfunded Transportation Department said they needed more time to work out the details of how to charge owners of commercial EV fleets. They promised to get back on the case in the 2027 session. And they better, lest they face an angry convoy of Teslas converging on the Capitol. 

Hey, speaking of Tesla, congratulations to Elon Musk, the world’s first trillionaire. It all makes me consider just ripping those solar panels, now owned by Tesla, off the roof of my house. But maybe not today. (To be fair, the folks at Tesla offered first-rate service on our panels when they were broken – just as soon as I figured out how to reach the customer service department.) In the meantime, the spoilsports at Mother Jones fret that no person should be worth a billion bucks. (Mother Jones also asks you to cough up a few bucks so that they can, you know, keep the lights on.)

Despite Musk’s big week, many Americans harbor substantial doubts about the economy. The New York Times investigates this unexpected development. 

And happy 80th birthday this weekend, President Donald Trump! Jonathan Lemire at The Atlantic sends along this birthday greeting.

Speaking of presidents: The Times has a fascinating new series in which it unpacks some of the most famous sentences in American history. (If cage fights on the White House lawn aren’t your thing, this might be more appealing.) In the new installment, Peter Baker takes dives into Franklin Roosevelt’s “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” line. 

The Oregon Journalism Project has a new story reporting how Oregon is the 11th-oldest state in the nation – and why that could be a bad thing for efforts to jump-start the state’s economy. Oregon’s median age is 40.4 (oddly, the same age as my native Montana, so you can’t blame me for tipping the scales when I moved here). The youngest county in the state is Benton, with a median age of 34.5. So the logical conclusion here is that Benton County’s economy is booming – or it was until we lost those Starship robots. 

Oregon has decided not to participate in the Trump administration’s “Great American State Fair,” set to begin June 25 in Washington, D.C. Sorry if this will cause a major reshuffling of your summer travel plans. 

Fans of college football likely are tracking the Brendan Sorsby case: He’s the Texas Tech quarterback who has admitted to gambling on his own team when he played at another school. For this action – which threatens the credibility of all of college football – he earned a two-game suspension, and the Red Raiders expect Sorsby to be their quarterback this next season. A Texas judge this week upheld the two-game suspension in lieu of something that most of us might have considered more appropriate, like banning Sorsby from college football for life. While the battle rages, a writer for The Athletic says the story highlights the increasing number of young men who are grappling with gambling addiction.

Meanwhile, the University of Utah is the first individual school to ink a deal between its athletic department and a private equity firm, The Athletic reports. It won’t be the last; there’s just too much money on the table. Unless Elon gets there first.

An eaglet in Eugene made news this week when it fell out of its nest – requiring the services of a city arborist, a certified wildlife rehabilitator and a 120-foot-tall boom truck to return the young bird to its home. Then, on Friday, the bird fell out again. (My colleague at Lookout Eugene-Springfield, Bob Passaro, came up with the brilliant headline. As an aside, I thought one advantage of going to work for an online news outlet would be that headlines would be easier to write, now that you didn’t need to cram them into one column of the printed product. Turns out that headlines are just hard to write, regardless of the platform.)

A new movie that might be suitable for adults: The early reviews are good for Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day.” (It’s not really a sequel to “Close Encounters,” but it certainly shares some of its DNA.)

What I’m reading: “Stone Yard Devotional,” a closely observed novel by Charlotte Wood about a middle-aged woman who takes refuge at an isolated religious community in South New Wales. 

That’s it for this weekend. I can already tell that you’re not hydrating enough.