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Good morning, Portland! Have you gotten your ballot yet? Feeling overwhelmed with choices? Don't worryβwe're here to help with endorsements.
Here are the headlines.
β’ Thirty million people in the United States have filed for unemployment since the COVID-19 crisis began. That means that one in five people who had a job in February now don't.
β’ The Food and Drug Administration plans to issue an emergency authorization for remdesivir, a new drug that has shown promise in shortening recovery times for COVID-19. The drug is owned by pharmaceutical company Gilead, which does not have a great track record when it comes to ethically distributing potentially life-saving medicines.
β’ Spread the word:
Hey Portland renters: Not sure if you can pay May rent? Here's everything you need to know about the current renter protections in Multnomah County (which have been strengthened since April rent was due). https://t.co/HLsIJ3T1ID
β Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) April 29, 2020
β’ Last year, the Oregon Legislature passed the Student Success Act, which creates new funding for schools by taxing corporate activity. Now, businesses are saying they aren't prepared to pay the tax because of how COVID-19 has decimated the economy.
β’ To the north of us, Washington state is reopening its state parks after closing them to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But some major Washington parks might still stay closed out of fear that people will come from outside of the community (like from, ahem, Oregon) and crowd the parks, making it more likely that the virus will spread.
β’ To the south of us, Los Angeles City and County are giving free COVID-19 testing to all of their residents. The move comes after LA announced 1,541 new cases in one day, bringing the city's total up to 22,500.
On Friday, Portland will officially welcome its sixth sextant (but you can still call it a quadrant). https://t.co/ts2goVvUXn
β Portland Mercury π (@portlandmercury) April 29, 2020
β’ Our state total of confirmed cases is now 2,446. The latest data shows that Latinx people continue to be disproportionately impacted in Oregon, particularly in Marion County, which is home to a high population of farmworkers.
β’ Let's end today with a little high-brow satire:
Wow! This reads like something from the onion pic.twitter.com/5VbpOAJOSa
β Cole Escola (@ColeEscola) April 28, 2020