What A Week

Intro: (Cue intro music) 

Hey everyone, welcome back to What a week!, I’m your host, Olivia Lee, here to deliver your weekly dose of the news. Let’s get started!

In Local News:
https://www.kgw.com/article/weather/severe-weather/oregon-power-outages-national-guard-deployed-clackamas-county-winter-storm/283-de885420-204d-48d9-b2d0-449d353285e6
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/02/national-guard-deploys-as-52000-still-without-power-in-northwest-oregon.html

• Portland General Electric continues to work to restore power after severe weather last week knocked out power across the region. Last friday, Governor Kate Brown called on the Oregon National Guard to go door-to-door in areas hardest hit by the recent ice storm as utility company crews work around the clock to restore power to thousands of residents who have been without electricity for over a week. As of this past Saturday afternoon, a reported 40,000 homes and businesses are still without power in Northwest Oregon. 

In-state news:
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/usgs-51-magnitude-earthquake-recorded-off-southern-oregon-coast/283-a204b675-e0cd-4b2a-b020-14321f260ee2

• Last saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recorded a 5.1 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Southern Oregon. According to USGS, the quake occurred about 175 miles (281 kilometers) west of Bandon at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) at 1:15 p.m Saturday. A 4.9 magnitude quake was recorded in the same area minutes later. Shortly after, the National Weather Service in Portland tweeted, quote, "There is NO tsunami danger for the Oregon and Washington coasts." 
• Speaking about earthquakes, on March 11th, an earthquake warning system called ShakeAlert will be launching in Oregon. The system will be a potentially life-saving tool for people who live on the West Coast when a major earthquake is bound to strike. ShakeAlert is currently active in California.

In National News:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/21/weather/texas-winter-storm-timeline/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/02/19/climate/texas-storm-power-generation-charts.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/20/biden-declares-major-disaster-in-texas-as-state-struggles-with-fallout-from-power-outages.html

• Last week was a tough one for residents of Texas. The state of Texas experienced an unprecedented winter storm that left millions of people without power and put nearly half of all Texans under a boil-water advisory. Some grocery stores were reportedly wiped out of all goods as Texans rushed to buy whatever they could in wake of the storm, and the aftermaths of it. A major part of the problem that is still being criticized on the news is that the state’s deregulated electrical grid was not prepared for the frigid temperatures that accompanied the storm. Natural gas, coal and nuclear plants — which provide the bulk of Texas’ power in the winter — were knocked offline, and wind turbines froze, too. 
• This past Saturday, President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Texas. The declaration unlocks aid for individuals, grants for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/21/politics/ted-cruz-cancun-texas-michael-mccaul-cnntv/index.html

• Texas senator, Ted Cruz,  sparked outrage last week when he reportedly took a trip to  Cancún, Mexico while millions in Texas were experiencing blackouts, freezing temperatures and disrupted water services from the storm. Cruz reportedly flew back to Texas just 24 hours after photos of him surfaced on social media of him leaving the state. Cruz said to reporters quote "I started having second thoughts almost the moment I sat down on the plane, because on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family. That's something Texans have been doing across the state," Cruz said in an earlier statement that he flew to Mexico because his daughters had asked to take a trip and he was trying to be a quote "good dad."

In International News: 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvxaw5/facebook-australia-news-ban-what-does-it-mean

• Last week, Facebook imposed a so-called “newsban” on the country of Australia in response to a proposed Media Bargaining law that would force tech companies to pay for news content. According to Vice news, the code is designed to ensure that Australian media companies are fairly compensated for the use of their content on social media platforms. Facebook struck back by wiping those media companies from their platform altogether. Anyone logging on to Facebook in Australia last Thursday was met by a message at the top of their news feed stating quote, “The way you share news is changing.”“In response to Australian government legislation, Facebook restricts the posting of news links and all posts from news Pages in Australia. Globally, the posting and sharing of news links from Australian publications is restricted,” the update reads. 
• So who is affected by this ban? The most prominent issue from this ban so far is that a number of government and emergency services accounts  have had their content removed from facebook. Facebook accounts from state health, fire and emergency departments, domestic violence hotlines and more have been caught in the net of news blacked out by Facebook. Local Australian publishers are also now unable to promote their own content on Facebook. The newly-enforced restrictions extend to international publications such as the banning of certain news posts from global mastheads like but not limited to BBC, CNN and the New York Times. International users are also now barred from viewing or sharing Australian news content on Facebook. Further developments on this ban are still surfacing but as of now, the ban re...

Intro: (Cue intro music) 

Hey everyone, welcome back to What a week!, I’m your host, Olivia Lee, here to deliver your weekly dose of the news. Let’s get started!

In Local News: 

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/02/winter-storm-closes-portland-area-roads-limits-trimet-max-bus-service.html

• Last week, Portland’s massive snow storm compelled officials to urge residents to stay home while the snow and ice were creating dangerous driving conditions throughout much of the Portland metro area. Public transit options have been limited for the past week.  As of last Sunday night, the TriMet restored limited MAX Blue Line and bus services after suspending all transit lines last saturday morning due to dangerous weather conditions. Portland General Electric called the ice and wind storm, which began last Thursday, the worst in the last 40 years. The utility said more than 4,400 power lines had come down in the storm, knocking out power to 376,000 customers. The storm is not over yet but hopefully by the time this podcast comes out, the conditions have dialed down.

In-state news:

https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2021/02/gov-kate-brown-declares-extreme-weather-state-of-emergency-in-9-counties.html

• Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency this past saturday over severe weather that left parts of the state covered in ice and snow and led to power failures, transportation shutdowns and communication problems. Brown said in a statement quote “The weather that set in yesterday and continued overnight has left extensive damage with hundreds of thousands of Oregonians without power,” The emergency declaration allows the Oregon Office of Emergency Management to begin using people, equipment, and facilities from other agencies to deal with the emergency.
• The National Weather Service Portland reported that as of this past saturday at 4 a.m, its office had recorded 7.9 inches of snowfall since 12:01 a.m. last Friday. 

In National News:

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/13/967665748/winter-storms-across-the-country-bring-snow-and-ice-to-millions-of-americans

• It looks like we have a common theme throughout the news this week: Weather. Multiple winter storms brought snow, ice and dangerously cold temperatures to many parts of the country over the long holiday weekend. According to the national weather service, more than 100 million Americans were under some sort of winter weather advisory this past Saturday. In its forecast, the weather service warned of a "myriad of winter weather hazards across the continental U.S." over the coming days, including heavy snowfall throughout the Pacific Northwest and icy weather and slick travel conditions in the mid-Atlantic.

https://www.npr.org/sections/trump-impeachment-trial-live-updates/2021/02/13/967539051/trump-impeachment-trial-verdict-how-senators-voted

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/feb/14/donald-trump-impeachment-acquitted-senate-trial-joe-biden-live-updates

• Now let’s talk about the impeachment trials. Former President Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial ended Saturday with his acquittal by senators, who were acting as jurors in the proceeding. Trump faced a single impeachment charge, incitement of an insurrection, for his role in provoking the U.S. capitol riots on  Jan. 6th.  The trial ended in just five days, with both sides choosing not to use the full time allotted by trial rules. Every democrat and seven republicans voted to convict Former President Donald Trump.  The remaining 43 Republicans voted to acquit. The 57-43 vote fell short of the two thirds needed for impeachment. According to Buzzfeed news, the vote was the most bipartisan in the history of US impeachment trials.  Just moments after Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell voted to acquit Trump of inciting the riots, he made a speech on the Senate floor  blaming Trump for being responsible for the violent Capitol hill riots. This speech contradicted his position in the impeachment trials. McConnell stated “Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our fellow police. They stormed the Senate floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president. They did this because they’d been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on earth because he was angry he’d lost an election… Former president’s Trump’s actions preceding the riots were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty.”

In International News:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/13/ebola-kills-four-in-guinea-in-first-resurgence-of-disease-in-five-years

• COVID-19 is no longer the only deadly virus making front page coverage. Guinea, a country in West Africa, has entered an Ebola QUOTE “epidemic situation” with seven cases confirmed, including three deaths. These new cases mark the first known resurgence of Ebola in west Africa since the 2013-16 epidemic that began in Guinea and killed more than 11,300 people across the region. The virus was first identified in 1976 in (Ziiiear)Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/unexplained-covid-19-cases-prompt-first-lockdown-new-zealand-august-n1257912

• Speaking about viruses: New Zealand, the country known for keeping COVID-19 contained better than almost any country will be going back into lockdown due to recent unexplained COVID-19 cases emerging in the country.  The lockdown is the first in New Zealand in six months and represents a significant setback in the nation’s largely successful efforts to control the virus. New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started

Lastly here is the wildcard news for t...

Intro: (Cue intro music) 

Hey everyone, welcome back to What a week!, I’m your host, Olivia Lee, here to deliver your weekly dose of the news. Let’s get started!

In Local News: 

• https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/02/mayor-ted-wheeler-supports-creating-7-member-portland-police-team-to-respond-to-shootings-around-the-clock.html
  • Last Friday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said that he supports creating a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week Portland police team to respond to shootings, pursue immediate investigations and help process crime scene evidence. He stated in a press release quote “I am committed to doing everything I can to provide the necessary resources for this work,”
  •  Wheeler’s remarks come more than a month after Police Chief Chuck Lovell proposed such a team in response to an alarming spike in shootings in Portland. The seven-member team would be led by a sergeant with four officers and two detectives and would be on call to respond around-the-clock to shooting scenes. 

The city of Portland recorded 55 homicides in the year of 2020 alone, the highest number in 26 years. Forty-one of those resulted from gun violence, according to the Police Bureau. As of last Friday, police have recorded 108 shootings, with 28 people hit and six gun-related killings so far this year. 

In-state news:

• https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/01/us/oregon-decriminalize-drugs-is-law-trnd/index.html
  
  

https://apnews.com/article/oregon-decriminalize-drug-possession-6843f93c3d55212e0ffbdd8b93be9196

https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5bkey/possession-of-all-drugs-is-decriminalized-in-oregon-starting-today

• Oregon has become the first state in the nation to officially decriminalize the possession and personal use of all drugs. Measure 110 passed in november of 2020, with 55.8% of the vote, but officially went into effect last Monday. The initiative also expands access to addiction assistance and other health services, offering aid to those who need it instead of arresting and jailing people for drugs.  Anyone found in the possession of small quantities of drugs will face a $100 fine or a health assessment that could lead to addiction counseling. The possession of larger amounts could result in a misdemeanor charge. The measure however does not make it legal to produce and sell drugs in Oregon.  The Oregon Criminal Justice Association estimates decriminalization will result in a 95 percent decrease in the racial disparity in low-level drug arrests in the state. In a statement made last Monday, Drug Policy Alliance executive director Kassandra Frederique said quote "Today, the first domino of our cruel and inhumane war on drugs has fallen, setting off what we expect to be a cascade of other efforts centering health over criminalization,"

In National News:

• https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolinehaskins1/jeff-bezos-stepping-down-amazon-ceo-jassy
  • Last week, Amazon founder, Jeff bezos, stepped down from his position as Amazon CEO. Bezos, who founded the multinational technology company 27 years ago, announced that he will now become the executive chairman of the Amazon board and will focus on “new” products and early Amazon initiatives. Bezos states quote, “As Exec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives but also have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions,”

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55940542

https://www.vice.com/en/topic/marjorie-taylor-greene

• Last week, the US House of Representatives voted to expel Republican congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Green, from two committees over provocative remarks she made before being elected last November. Eleven Republicans joined the Democrats to pass the motion by 230-199. Greene has promoted baseless QAnon conspiracy theories, mocked Parkland shooting survivors, and endorsed violence against Democrats. Before the vote, she said she regretted her views, which included claims that the Stoneman Douglas high school shooting and 9/11 were staged. 
• So what does this vote mean for the Georgia rep? According to BBC news, it means Greene won't be able to take up her place on the education and budget committees. This would limit her ability to shape policy as most legislation goes through a committee before reaching the House floor. Committee positions can determine the influence of individual lawmakers in their party.

• https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/07/uk-coronavirus-strain-doubling-in-the-us-every-10-days-study-finds.html

In Covid related news, the mutated coronavirus strain first identified in the United Kingdom remains at low levels in the United states, but according to a study published by researchers last week, the mutation is doubling its reach approximately every 10 days, posing a great future threat and wave of uncertainty.

In International News: 

• https://www.npr.org/2021/02/07/965097259/tens-of-thousands-rally-in-myanmar-protesting-military-coup
  • Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Myanmar this past Sunday demanding an end to the military coup  and release of their de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained alongside other elected officials in last week's military takeover. Protesters carried banners reading "Respect our vote," the BBC reports, which is a  reference to a landslide victory by Suu Kyi's party in the Nov. 8 election. Military leaders justified their coup (koo), claiming that the vote was fraudulent. One demonstrator, quoted by the BBC, called Suu Kyi  "our true leader."

Lastly here is the wildcard news for the week:

• https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2021-super-bowl-score-tom-brady-wins-seventh-ring-as-buccaneers-dominate-chiefs-and-patrick-mahomes/live/

On Sunday night, the  2021 superbowl champions were revealed as being none other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The team’s vi...

Note: It should be "former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell."