Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today.
Good morning, Portland! Are you stressed out? You seem stressed out. Here, go have some fun.
Here are the headlines.
Mayoral: A climate-focused debate of Portland mayoral candidates held Sunday evening was high on tension, but fairly light on new policy proposals. I tried my best to wade through the drama to bring you the most important parts here.
Stay Home: With the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state ticking up, Oregon health officials are now recommending that elderly and immunocompromised people ought to avoid travel and crowds. Read more on the latest COVID-19 news in the Oregonian.
I'll Believe It When I See It!
Trump says he will seek payroll tax cut, relief for hourly workers as part of coronavirus economic package https://t.co/WWN28VOpqY
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 10, 2020
Super Twos-day: We've got another Tuesday full of primary elections today—the most important one being Michigan, which holds 125 delegates. Bernie Sanders narrowly won that state against Hillary Clinton in 2016, and winning it again would guarantee he'll live to fight another day against Joe Biden. As Oregonians who vote in May, all we get to do is sit back and watch!
South by Northwest: Last Friday, organizers of the massive Austin, Texas music/tech/comedy/film festival SXSW announced they were cancelling this year's event to avoid spreading the coronavirus. The cancellation, which is not covered by insurance, is impacting creatives all over the country—including in Portland. Read more about how local artists are dealing with it.
Putin Gonna Putin: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today that he plans to endorse legislation that will suspend term limits and allow him to run for president again in 2024.
Thread:
For several years, I have been researching, mostly on my own time, why exactly the US sucks so much at building public transit, and what this says about our society in general. Here is, like, three percent of what I've learned: https://t.co/34JZfU7K1b
— Aaron W. Gordon (@A_W_Gordon) March 9, 2020
Basic Social Welfare, But Make It Prison Slave Labor: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced yesterday that his state will begin producing its own hand sanitizer, a move meant to combat shortages and price gouging in the marketplace during the COVID-19 outbreak. Cuomo touted the move as being commonsense and inexpensive—but it's being produced by incarcerated people who make as little as 65 cents an hour.
Sentence of the Day: "Typically set to one of the many unofficial Covid-19 theme songs (yes, really), people are filming themselves stocking up on hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and canned goods at their local big-box stores with the same joviality as they would a Sephora haul."