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Snag yourself some free tickets to see The Dandy Warhols or comedian Jon Dore by entering the Mercuryâs Free Ticket Tuesday! And now⌠the headlines!
In local news:
â˘Â Governor Kate Brown extended Oregonâs state of emergency order Tuesday due to the expected surge of COVID-19 cases due to the newly emerging Omicron variant. The state of emergency, which allows Oregon to access greater federal relief funds, will remain in place until June 2022.
⢠Forget Spotify Wrappedâthe Mercuryâs culture writers have the best year-in-music review! Take a look at what seven albums defined the year for the Mercuryâs music connoisseurs.
Since March 2020, Oregon has received $1.7B in emergency relief funding from the feds to get students back in classrooms & to get them caught up on their education after school closures.
Now, more than a year later, most of that money remains unspent.https://t.co/tRCjOCb1Bw
â Shane D. Kavanaugh (@shanedkavanaugh) December 21, 2021
â˘Â A Multnomah County Sheriffâs deputy plead guilty Tuesday to stealing COVID-19 vaccine cards from a jail he worked at. Deputy Robert James Haney, who was reported by his coworkers, stole two vaccine cards from a jail-run clinic in May, apparently planning to use the cards to forge his vaccination status. It was later announced that law enforcement employees are exempt from the Multnomah County employee vaccine mandate, so the whole thing was a big swing and a miss for Olâ Robert.
â˘Â Calling all coffee enthusiasts: Portland CĂ PhĂŞ, a Vietnamese woman-owned coffee roaster and cafĂŠ, is crushing the coffee game. In addition to serving up single origin arabica and robusta coffee, the Southeast Portland cafĂŠ offers a delicious bĂĄnh mĂŹ selection. Read Jenni Mooreâs full review here!
Parents at a Portland middle school hoped the risk of air pollution would prevent an expansion proposal of I-5. Instead, officials are now looking at relocating the school. By @llmiller12: https://t.co/1jrP7WgRNF
â OPB (@OPB) December 21, 2021
â˘Â In honor of Homeless Persons' Memorial Day, check out the Mercuryâs guide on how to help your unhoused neighbors this winter season, including information on open shelters, places to donate, and how to volunteer your time.
In national news:
â˘Â President Biden announced the federal government will offer 500 million free rapid at-home COVID tests, increase support for overburdened hospitals, and double down on vaccination efforts in response to the surge of Omicron cases beginning throughout the country. During his address on COVID Tuesday, Biden stressed that the holidays could be normal for vaccinated people and dangerous for the unvaccinated.
â˘Â In a mic-drop-esque move, Utah billionaire Jeff Greene resigned from the Mormon church and donated $600,000 to Equality Utah, an LGBTQ advocacy group. The Mormon church opposes same-sex marriage in addition to the recent Equality Act, a federal bill that would prevent LGBTQ people from housing and employment discrimination.
BREAKING: Striking Kelloggâs workers have voted to approve the latest contract offer from the breakfast giant.
1,400 @BCTGM workers went on strike for 10 weeks to fight for better wages and benefits after working 24/7 during the pandemic.
â More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) December 21, 2021
â˘Â A search warrant task force in Kentucky delivered its recommendations Tuesday for search warrant reforms in the state after Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville police using a âno-knockâ warrant last year. The recommendations include additional training for police officers, a database that allows the public to track the number of warrants executed in each zip code, and additional accountability measures for police seeking warrants.
â˘Â In the early days of the pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Agency launched a massive COVID-19 funeral assistance program. The agency hired 4,000 contractors across the country, many of whom were people in their early 20s without related job experience, and turned them into de facto grief councilors responsible for distributing life-altering aid.
â˘Â Iâll leave you with this perfect video brimming with unbridled joy:
Itâs #SantaPawsDay - the day all our dogs get to pick their Christmas gift! Sadly, we couldnât fit them all in, but we hope the pure joy of the ones we did makes you smile!
To all our supporters and everyone who sent a gift, thank you! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas! đ pic.twitter.com/lFR7LNdvZG
â Dogs Trust Ireland (@DogsTrust_IE) December 21, 2021