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Crunching the numbers
- At least 8.5 million jobs haven’t returned since February of last year. That’s one data point often cited by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell, who has advocated for homelessness to be taken into account when evaluating how well the economy is recovering.
- In more than 30 states, lawmakers have introduced bills that would restrict transgender girls and women from participating in athletics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association plans to stop holding championships in states that discriminate against the LGBTQ community, prompting concerns in places like Oklahoma that states could lose millions in tourism dollars.
- Six years ago, the credit card processing company Gravity Payments raised its minimum annual salary to $70,000. CEO Dan Price said last week that since then, the company’s revenue has tripled, and its customer base has doubled.
In local news
- On Tuesday, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, marking the first time in Minnesota history that a white officer has been convicted of killing a Black civilian while on the job. Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced it is investigating the Minneapolis Police Department to determine if officers have shown a pattern of using excessive force. The civil rights investigation will also examine how the department holds its officers accountable for misconduct.
- On 4/20, the unofficial “high holiday” for cannabis enthusiasts, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin announced that the Alabama city would pardon about 15,000 people who had been convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession charges from 1990 to 2020. Although many states have moved toward some form of legalization in recent years, Alabama is one of 14 states where medical and recreational use of cannabis remain illegal.
- Oklahoma City journalist Porsha Riley cited discrimination against journalists of color at KOCO 5 News while resigning from the network last week. The journalism industry is overwhelmingly white, and since last year, journalists of color across the country have called attention to the failure of news outlets to diversify and address racism – both in their newsrooms and their coverage.
Upcoming from Big If True
Next week, we’re publishing a story on the state of evictions in the United States after a year of uncertainty for renters, landlords and advocates working to prevent homelessness.
All of our monthly, in-depth stories like this one are completely funded by our readers, and we need your help to support our reporting costs for this story. Give a one-time donation or become a monthly donor here.
Thank you for reading Hard Reset! Send feedback to me at bryant@bigiftrue.org or 405-990-0988.
– Mollie Bryant
Founder and editor, Big If True