Welcome to May, Weekend Reader readers! It might get a little hot Sunday. Consider it a dress rehearsal for our long 2026 summer. More on that later.

Meanwhile, The Atlantic has a couple of animal-related stories posted this weekend that are worth reading:

First, you might recall that sad story from Yachats last November about the juvenile humpback whale that tumbled ashore and could not be returned to the sea, despite desperate efforts from an unlikely community of humans. Robin Romm’s retelling of the story focuses on that community, adding a poignant (and somewhat hopeful) touch.

Happier news comes from Ross Andersen, who has a profile about a scientist who’s helped to create a drug that could add at least a year to the life of your dog. The drug could be available sometime next year, and is estimated to cost about $100 a month.  

As another long and hot wildfire season looms, states across the West are trying to figure out how to pay for the increasing costs of firefighting. Kylie Mohr, writing in High Country News, reports that states have set aside additional money for the inevitable rash of fast-burning fires expected this year – but funding for fire prevention still is getting shortchanged.

With Oregon voters widely expected to reject increases in gas taxes and other fees to help pay for transportation projects, Gov. Tina Kotek has convened a team of experts to search for solutions. The problem, of course, is that any solutions are going to hinge on finding more money to fix the state’s roads, bridges and other infrastructure. And, as we will see again early in the evening of May 19, no one wants to pay any more money – especially with gas in Oregon hovering near the $5 mark. 

If you’re looking for more information about that Benton County Democratic primary race for county commissioner between incumbent Pat Malone and challenger John Wilson, you’re in luck: Brad Fuqua at the Philomath News asked the candidates the same five questions, and printed their answers. 

Alert readers may recall a story from last week about social media posts alleging that Earth’s gravity was going to switch off for seven devastating seconds later this year. (Spoiler alert: It is not.) This week, here’s another science-related story: The internet is abuzz with theories about the alleged conspiracy in which notable scientists recently have gone missing. Are they being kidnapped by aliens? Murdered by hostile foreign governments? The problem with the theory, as Daniel Engber points out in The Atlantic, is that it falls apart upon even the lightest investigation. The disappearances aren’t recent. They don’t always involve actual scientists. And … well, you can take it from here. None of that stopped Fox News from asking the White House about it. Maybe Fox News ought to be asking how administration policies to cut funding for research are prompting real scientists to disappear … from the United States.

As you probably know, President Trump has long had plans to create a “Garden of Heroes,” a park on the Potomac with lifesize statues of 250 notable Americans. As you can imagine, the project’s estimated costs are rapidly ballooning past the $40 million Congress has allocated for the project. The Times also has a list of the people under consideration for inclusion in the garden, and it’s better than you might think, even though it depicts a sanitized version of American history and has a number of curiosities. (Under the journalist category, two names are listed: Edward R. Murrow and Alex Trebek.) You also can be sure that one spot is being reserved for Trump himself. 

Meanwhile, this was the week when Brendan Carr, who does Trump’s bidding as head of the Federal Communications Commission, ordered the FCC to review the broadcast licenses for the 14 TV stations owned by ABC. The FCC said the review was tied to an investigation into the network’s diversity and inclusion practices, but everyone knows it’s tied to the feud between Trump and the network over Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. In other media news, FBI Director Kash Patel is suing The Atlantic for $250 million over this story, which quotes numerous sources expressing concern over reports of Patel’s frequent drunkenness and unexplained absences.

On a related topic, The Associated Press reports that the Trump administration is flouting orders from lower courts at an unprecedented rate, but even if you didn’t know that, you probably knew that, if you follow my meaning. 

So, you might need something like this to help you put an adorable bow on yet another, um, interesting week. This is an Oregonian story about a couple who caught video of goslings falling from the sky near a bridge over the Willamette River. Perhaps you’ve guessed the rest: These goslings were leaving the nest for the first time as their parents waited and watched from the river below. Spoiler alert: All the babies, including one who appeared to harbor completely reasonable doubts about the free fall, survived the four- to six-story drop. 

The New York Times Magazine has compiled a list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. (The key words there likely are “living” and “American.”) The list seems reasonable enough to me, but let the debate begin.

Speaking of songs: In last week’s Reader, I mentioned the James Taylor song “First of May,” and then noted that this edition of the Reader would be dated May 2 – and if anyone had written a song about May 2, I was unaware of it. I should have known better. Alert readers quickly hit the search engines and unearthed a number of songs that name-checked May 2, including songs titled “May 2” by The Black Angels, The Mamas and the Papas, The Bouncing Souls and The Shins and another song titled “May 2, 1990” by The New Amsterdams. I feel like I should have known about the tracks from The Shins and The Mamas and the Papas, but I still stand by my reporting from last week: At the time when I wrote last week’s Reader, I was unaware of any of these songs.

But it made me wonder: Has every single date on the calendar been claimed by a song? I’ll start working on that project right after I get my garage cleaned out.

That’s it for this week. Let’s gather here next weekend to compare notes on American songwriters and heroes. Who would you like to see in the Garden of Heroes? Melania? Kash Patel? Those two parent geese? (Technically, they’re Canadian, but still.) The possibilities are endless!