April 19th, 2022

What A Week   (4/12)

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/news/2022/04/group-sets-dumpster-on-fire-at-police-precinct-damages-several-buildings-in-north-and-ne-portland-police-say.html
• https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/group-protesting-police-killing-in-michigan-damages-portland-oregon-businesses-patrick-lyoya-protestors-police-bureaus-north-precinct-mlk-jr-boulevard
  • This past Saturday, a group of protesters marched through the streets of northeast Portland, damaging buildings and lighting a dumpster on fire at the Portland Police Bureau’s north precinct. Police reported that some members of the group vandalized a Starbucks coffee shop, two banks, and three bus shelters on Northeast MLK Jr. Boulevard.  According to posts on social media, the Peninsula Park gathering and march were intended as a demonstration calling for justice for Patrick Lyoya, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Grand Rapids, Michigan during a traffic stop on April 4th. Lyoya, who moved to the United States with his family from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014, was shot in the back of the head by a police officer as he laid face down on the ground, a video released last week shows.
    
    

In-state news:

• https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/elliott-state-forest-deal-bill-research-logging-public/283-20d6709a-c369-4e07-b6d8-11d226f0beb4
  • Last week, a compromise deal was reached to keep Elliot State Forest, Oregon’s oldest state forest, in public ownership, preserving it for future generations.  With Senate Bill 1546, ceremonially signed by Governor Kate Brown last week, the state will pay more than $200 million to the common school fund — and in exchange, the forest will no longer be counted on to financially support public schools. The passing of the state senate bill will transition the Elliott into a research forest, but will also allow some logging. 
    
    

The Elliott State Forest is full of old-growth trees and is a habitat for several endangered species. Since 1930, timber sales from the forest were part of funding K-12 education in Oregon. The 91,000-acre forest is located east of Coos Bay in southwest Oregon.

• https://www.kgw.com/article/news/politics/president-biden-coming-to-portland-seattle/283-edbebf2c-452b-480d-b3f1-ba4bd03954e6
  • President Joe Biden will visit Portland on Thursday, April 21, to speak about investments being made from the recent infrastructure bill, according to the White House. There are currently no formal details as to where in the city and what time his visit will take place. Back in November, Congress passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and it was announced that both Oregon and Washington were going to receive billions of dollars in federal funding. Oregon estimated it would receive about $1.2 billion over the next five years. The Oregon government said in November it was considering the I-5 Bridge and the Rose Quarter highway redesign project as candidates for a big portion of the funds.
    
    

In National News:

• https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-04-13/cdc-extends-federal-mask-mandate-for-transportation-into-may
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last Wednesday that they will be extending the federal mask mandate for transportation, including on planes, trains, and in airports, through the beginning of May. The order was set to expire on April 18, but the agency wants more time to monitor for potential increases in severe cases of COVID-19 as infections rise. The order will now extend to May 3rd. The transportation mask mandate is one of the few federal coronavirus measures left in place. The order has faced legal challenges and pushback after the CDC updated its guidance to reflect that virtually all Americans live in areas where they no longer need to wear masks indoors.
    
    

 

In International News: 

• https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2022-04-13/biden-approves-800-million-for-ukraine-white-house-defends-genocide-remark
  • President Joe Biden announced last Wednesday that he’s authorizing an additional $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine as the U.S. continues to step up its response to Russia’s invasion. After recently accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes, Biden took it a step further last Tuesday during a speech in Iowa by referring to the invasion as a quote “genocide,” later adding that the determination is up to the international courts. 
    
    

Russia is still currently striking Ukraine and troops are expected to advance toward the east. Earlier last week, the Pentagon expressed alarm about reports of chemical weapons used against Ukrainian troops in Mariupol and is monitoring the situation. 

Lastly here is the wildcard news for the week:

• 
  https://www.theverge.com/23026874/elon-musk-twitter-buyout-news-updates
• https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/richardnieva/elon-musk-twitter-acquisition-offer-ted
  • Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a formal offer in his SEC filing to buy Twitter for 43 billion dollars. Hours after this disclosure, Elon Musk said in a TED live conference in Vancouver that his offer to buy Twitter is about his desire to quote “increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform” — not about the money. Musk also stated that he believed in the company as a free speech platform, adding that it needs to be quote,  “transformed as a private company.” The week before, Musk revealed he had acquired a 9.2% stake in the company, making him its largest individual shareholder. He was also offered a seat on Twitter’s board, but declined the position, according to the CEO of Twitter.
    
    

Closing:  Well that wraps up What a Week! Stay safe and see you guys next week. 

What is What A Week?

Vanguard's What A Week is the news you need to know this week, provided in under five minutes. Each week, we'll be taking a look at Portland, national and international news, and boiling it down to the key things you need to know. New episodes every Tuesday with host Nick Gatlin.