In Other News: Residents snitch on businesses, neighbors amid shutdowns; Q&A: How to get aid for a small business hit by virus crisis

Published 12:25 pm Thursday, April 2, 2020

Editor’s note: “In Other News” is a list of state, national and global headlines compiled by Daily Citizen-News staff from Associated Press stories. Click on the headlines below to read the full stories.

Virus outbreak creates new challenges for addiction recovery

SEATTLE — Charlie Campbell, nearly 13 years sober, is feeling tested today more than ever to stay that way. His dad is recovering from COVID-19 in a suburban Seattle hospital. His mom, who has dementia, lives in a facility that now bars visitors because of the virus. A good friend recently killed himself. Last week, Campbell, 61, tried his first online Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. His internet was shaky and he didn’t get to speak. The meeting did not give him the peace and serenity he craved. “I’m a face-to-face kind of person,” Campbell said. Still, he hasn’t relapsed.

Q&A: How to get aid for a small business hit by virus crisis

NEW YORK — Millions of small business owners will be turning to the government, seeking help for an individual and nationwide cataclysm, the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The government says it will begin disbursing loan money to company owners and freelancers today under the Paycheck Protection Program, part of the $2 trillion relief package signed into law last week. For many companies, it may be the quickest way to rebuild the lifeblood of any business: the cash flow that enables a company to pay its bills.

Residents snitch on businesses, neighbors amid shutdowns

OAK PARK, Illinois — One Tulsa, Oklahoma, bar owner said more than a dozen motorcyclists showed up unannounced, but he served them a round of shots anyway to celebrate a birthday. Another live-streamed a drag queen show on Facebook while up to 20 people drank inside the locked bar, ignoring police when they knocked on the door. Both were busted — and received misdemeanor citations and court dates — after police responded to tips that the bars were violating the mayor’s order shuttering all nonessential businesses to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. “There has to be some consequence for violating an executive order,” said Tulsa Police Lt. Richard Meulenberg. It turns out plenty of people agree.

Apply here: How to spend $2.2 trillion — and rescue the economy

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump aims to shovel $2.2 trillion into the U.S. economy over the next few weeks to try to cushion its free fall. But that means putting his fate in the hands of banks, profit-minded businesses and government bureaucrats he has frequently derided, along with a man who has emerged as arguably the biggest power broker to business in Washington: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The massive bailout package, which includes direct cash payments, $349 billion in loans for small businesses and a $500 billion corporate rescue fund, is the biggest ever in U.S. history. It’s an attempt to keep the economy afloat as Trump warns Americans to brace for a “hell of a bad two weeks,” with 100,000 to 240,000 coronavirus deaths now projected in the U.S. even if current social distancing guidelines are followed. At the same time, the country is hemorrhaging more than 3 million jobs a week, with economic forecasters warning of a deep recession that could compromise the president’s reelection chances.