February 16, 2021

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...