eEdition SUNNY 67 • 44 | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2020 | theworldlink.com
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Governor extends state of emergency SALEM (AP) — Gov. Kate Brown on Tuesday extended Oregon’s declaration of a state of emergency until Jan. 2 as COVID-19 cases in the state continue to rise. The Oregon Health Authority reported 391 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the state total to 42,808. There were nine additional deaths, increasing the death toll to 664. “Extending the COVID-19 state of emergency is not something I do lightly, but we know all too well that not taking action would mean an even greater loss of life,” Brown said. “The second wave of COVID-19 has arrived in the United States, and this time it is
hitting all of our communities.” The declaration is the legal underpinning for the executive orders the governor has issued, including her orders surrounding reopening Oregon, childcare, schools and higher education operations. Extending the state of emergency declaration allows those orders to stay in effect. The governor reviews and reevaluates each of her emergency orders every 60 days, to determine whether those orders should be continued, modified, or rescinded. “My goal is to keep Oregon on track to open more schools for in-person instruction for our students — and to continue to reopen, and keep open, our
businesses, communities, and economies,” Brown said. “Oregon is not an island. Without safety precautions in place, we could quickly see our case counts spike as well.” During October, Oregon has reached grim COVID-19 milestones including surpassing 600 deaths and reaching 40,000 confirmed cases. On Friday, the health authority reported 550 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, the state’s largest daily total since the the start of the pandemic. Health officials called the number of cases “troubling” and said based on current COVID-19 modeling, if Oregon remains on the path it is now, the state could reach
capacity in its hospitals by mid-December. As of Friday, out of Oregon’s 723 listed intensive care unit beds, 22% are still available, based on data on the Oregon Health Authority’s website. Out of the non-ICU adult hospital beds in the state, 14% are still available. Officials have attributed the rise in cases to Labor Day gatherings, the return of college students to campus, the interruption of testing during recent wildfires in Oregon and “small clusters” of outbreaks across the state. State and health officials are already urging people to to avoid Halloween celebrations and rethink their plans for
Hurricane Zeta speeds toward Louisianas
South Jetty in Bandon
John Gunther, The World
Visitors enjoy the beach near the South Jetty in Bandon in a variety of ways on a recent day, including fishing, biking, walking their dogs and strolling near the water. The days are getting shorter (daylight savings time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday morning), but glorious sunny weather continues on the South Coast as October winds down this week.
Joe Biden vows to unify country WARM SPRINGS, Ga. (AP) — Joe Biden traveled Tuesday to the hot springs town where Franklin Delano Roosevelt coped with polio to declare the U.S. is not too politically diseased to overcome its health and economic crises, pledging to be the unifying force who can “restore our soul and save this country.” The Democratic presidential nominee offered his closing argument with Election Day just one week away while attempting to go on the political offensive in Georgia, which hasn’t backed a Democrat for the White House since 1992. He promised to be a president for all Americans regardless of party, even as he said that “anger and suspicion is growing and our wounds are getting deeper.” “Has the heart of this nation turned to stone? I don’t think so,” Biden said. “I refuse to believe it.” While Biden worked to expand the electoral map in the South, President Donald Trump focused on the Democrats’ “blue wall” states that he flipped in 2016 — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — and maintained a far busier travel schedule taking him to much more of the country. At a cold, rain-soaked rally in the Michigan capital of Lansing, Trump said Biden supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, both of which he said hurt the auto industry and other manufacturing in the state.
“This election is a matter of economic survival for Michigan,” the president said, arguing that the state’s economy was strong before the coronavirus pandemic hit. “Look what I’ve done.” Trump also cheered Senate candidate John James — who may ultimately have a better chance of winning the state than the president — while attacking Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for moving aggressively to shut down much of the state’s economy to slow the virus’ spread. He even seemed to cast doubt on federal authorities breaking up what they said was a plot to kidnap her, which Whitmer has argued Trump’s “violent rhetoric” helped spark. “It was our people that helped her out with her problem. And we’ll have to see if it’s a problem. Right?” Trump said. “People are entitled to say ‘maybe it was a problem. Maybe it wasn’t.’” Biden, even as he predicted the country could rise above politics, went after his election rival, accusing Trump anew of bungling the federal response to the pandemic that has seen new cases surging in many areas, and failing to manage the economic fallout or combat institutional racism and police brutality that have sparked widespread demonstrations. “The tragic truth of our time is that COVID has left a deep and lasting wound in this country,” Biden said, scoffing at Trump’s pronouncements that the nation
is turning a corner on the virus. He charged that the president has “shrugged. He’s swaggered. And he’s surrendered.” Venturing into Georgia was a sign of confidence by the Biden team, which is trying to stretch the electoral map and open up more paths to the needed 270 Electoral College votes. The former vice president plans to travel to Iowa, which Trump took by 10 points in 2016, later in the week. And his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, is hitting Arizona and deep red Texas. Besides Lansing, Trump traveled to West Salem, Wisconsin. First lady Melania Trump was on the road, too, making her first solo campaign trip of the year in Pennsylvania. And Vice President Mike Pence was in South Carolina, maintaining his campaign schedule despite several close aides testing positive for the coronavirus last weekend. There, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is in a potentially tight reelection race. Hillary Clinton flirted with GOP territory in 2016, only to lose traditional Democratic Midwestern strongholds. But a top Biden adviser rejected the notion that the campaign is spreading itself too thin, noting that the former vice president’s visit follows weeks of paid advertising in Georgia and visits by Harris and the candidate’s wife, Jill Biden. In the coming days, Biden will also visit Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida, where former President Barack Obama gave a speech in Orlando on Tuesday,
Thanksgiving. As cases continued to climb this month the health authority again expanded face covering requirements to include all private and public workplaces, including classrooms, offices, meeting rooms, work spaces, outdoor markets, street fairs, private career schools and public and private colleges and universities. “We must continue to work together and follow the simple steps that have kept us safe throughout this pandemic,” Brown said. “Washing our hands, wearing face coverings, watching our physical distance, staying home when sick, and avoiding social get-togethers, especially indoors.”
blistering Trump with the theory that he was only worrying about the virus because it was dominating news coverage. “He’s jealous of COVID’s media coverage,” Obama said. “If he had been focused on COVID from the beginning, cases wouldn’t be reaching new record highs across the country this week.” Trump expressed his displeasure that Fox News carried his Democratic predecessor’s speech live, complaining to reporters about it and tweeting the network was “playing Obama’s no crowd, fake speech for Biden.” In Atglen, Pennsylvania, Melania Trump said she was feeling “so much better now,” just weeks after being diagnosed with the virus. She slammed Biden’s “socialist agenda,” praised her husband as “a fighter” and commented on his use of social media. “I don’t always agree the way he says things,” she said, drawing laughter from the crowd, “but it is important to him that he speaks directly to the people he serves.” The Trumps left for their campaign trips at the same time, and the president gave the first lady a quick peck on the cheek before they boarded separate planes. The president also visited Omaha, Nebraska, after a Sunday stop in Maine. That anticipates a razor-thin Electoral College margin since both areas offer one electoral vote by congressional district.
Please see Biden, Page 2
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Hurricane Zeta was speeding toward storm-weary Louisiana and intensifying, with landfall expected as a Category 2 hurricane Wednesday afternoon. New Orleans, where a pump system failure has raised flood risks, was squarely in its way. Life-threatening storm surge and strong winds were expected beginning around midday along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where residents were bracing for the 27th named storm of a historically busy Atlantic hurricane season. Louisiana has had the worst of it, hit by two tropical storms and two hurricanes. New Orleans has been in the warning area for potential tropical cyclones seven times this year, each one veering to the east or west. “I don’t think we’re going to be as lucky with this one,” city emergency director Colin Arnold said. Zeta is projected to be a Category 2 hurricane sustaining winds of nearly 100 mph (160 kph) at landfall, the National Hurricane Center said. “The confidence is becoming very high that the southeastern part of Louisiana and coastal Mississippi are going to see some significant impacts from this storm,” said meteorologist Shawn O’Neil of the National Weather Service in New Orleans. Winds were picking up and water was rising above the docks in Lafitte, a small community south of New Orleans that takes its name from a French pirate. Truckloads of sandbags were being brought in to low-lying areas of the town, where thousands of sandbags already line bayous and roadways after previous storms this season. New Orleans officials announced that a turbine that generates power to the city’s aging drainage pump system broke down on Sunday, with no quick repair in sight. There was enough power to keep the pumps operating if needed, but little excess power to tap if other turbines fail, officials said at a news conference with Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Officials said they were running through contingencies to provide power and make repairs where needed should there be other equipment problems. Forecasts called for anywhere from 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 centimeters) of rain to fall in the New Orleans area, but Zeta is expected to be a relatively fast-moving storm, possibly mitigating the flood threat. Zeta raked across Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Tuesday, toppling trees and briefly cutting power to more than 300,000 people but causing no deaths, before strengthening again along a path Please see Hurricane, Page 2