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In local news:
• One year ago, catastrophic fires swept through Oregon, killing nine people and destroying thousands of homes. Now, Oregon has a $220 million plan to prevent a repeat of the 2020 wildfire season by modernizing the state’s firefighting capacity. OPB has an explainer on what preventative steps the state is taking on the ground.
• The Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) pulled its sponsorship of the Portland Marathon last week, citing the public health risk the marathon may pose to hospitals that are already strained with COVID-19 patients. “Our hospitals are at their fullest capacity, our members are exhausted, and we are doing everything we can to avoid adding to their burden,” OHSU wrote in a statement. The marathon is proceeding as planned on October 3.
As the fall term approaches for Oregon’s public universities and colleges, schools are pulling out all the stops to encourage students, employees and community members to get vaccinated. From @meerahpowell https://t.co/S2o9XtmlSq
— OPB (@OPB) September 7, 2021
• King County in Washington is working on a vaccine verification system that could go into effect as early as October. The system, which would most likely be a smartphone app, is intended to streamline vaccine checks at sports stadiums, bars, and venues that require proof of vaccination. Showing a paper vaccination card as proof of vaccination will still be acceptable for people who don’t want to, or don’t have access to, use the system.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been described as a “perfect storm” for veterinary medicine. There’s a backlog of demand for veterinary services when restrictions started to lift. https://t.co/NiHbZVTuTc
— OPB (@OPB) September 6, 2021
In national and international news:
• Mexico’s supreme court ruled Tuesday that criminal penalties for terminating pregnancies are unconstitutional, striking down a state law. Pro-choice advocates say the decision provides a path towards decriminalizing abortion throughout the country,
• In “Yeah, that makes sense” news: News publishers known for publishing misinformation received six times the amount of likes, shares, and interactions on Facebook in 2020 as trustworthy news sources, according to a recent New York University study.
President Joe Biden said climate change is “everybody’s crisis” after he toured New York and New Jersey neighborhoods severely damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ida. The storm claimed at least 50 people in six Eastern states. https://t.co/Qudhrwqybx
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 7, 2021
• Are you a fully vaccinated person confused on how the Delta variant impacts your risk of catching COVID-19? Me too! This explainer from the New York Times reports that the average fully-vaccinated person in the United States has a one in 5,000 chance of contracting COVID per day. The risk shrinks even more when that person lives in a highly vaccinated community. Using data from Washington’s King County where 67 percent of the total population is vaccinated (the same as Multnomah County), the Times reports vaccinated people have a one in 10,000 chance of contracting COVID per day. In context: It would take more than three months for the combined risk to reach 1 percent.
• Hey Savage Love fans! Get your tix now to see Dan Savage live and in-person on October 2 for a reading of his newest book, Savage Love from A to Z, an illustrated collection of 26 never-before-published essays! (Plus, paid attendees get their own copy of the book!)
• Alert! We’ve combined three of our world-famous film festivals into one, big, sexy, stoney, scary, movie showcase called the Mercury Movie Mashup! It’s the best of the best from SPLIFF (our stoner film fest), SLAY (our horror film fest), and HUMP! (the little porn festival that started it all!), featuring all the blood, sex, and weed you can handle in a ONE NIGHT ONLY show at the Clinton Street Theater—go get those tix now!
• And we’ll end today with a powerful sketch from Michael K. Williams, who died in his home Monday. He was 54.
