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When kids at Warner Arts Magnet Elementary School act up, they aren't sent straight to the principal's office. Instead, many students at the high-poverty school in Nashville, Tenn., go to the "BeWell" room.

The serene space is awash in sunlight and brimming with plants. There are yoga mats, toys, a lounging nook and soothing music drifting out of a desk speaker. In this room, teacher Riki Rattner, who is also trained as a yoga instructor, helps students practice deep breathing and check in with their emotions.

When President Trump announced Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence would oversee the government effort to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, he said the former Indiana governor "has a certain talent for this."

But not everyone agrees.

Pence's public health record, especially while he was governor, is now coming under harsh scrutiny.

In a decade, Harry Styles has gone from teenage heartthrob to a global pop star in his own right. As he's distanced himself from his adolescent years as a member of One Direction, he's become his own person, starring in the 2017 blockbuster Dunkirk, hosting Saturday Night Live and creating music that pulls from a variety of influences.

Scotland is now a big step closer to becoming the first country in the world to make tampons and pads free to anyone who needs them.

The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill passed through the first of three stages in the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday by a vote of 112-0, with one abstention.

The first suspected U.S. case of a patient getting the new coronavirus through "community spread" — with no history of travel to affected areas or exposure to someone known to have the COVID-19 illness — was left undiagnosed for days because a request for testing wasn't initially granted, according to officials at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Calif.

Updated at 3:45 p.m. ET

Italy's number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases spiked by more than 50% in just 24 hours and now stands at 650, the Italian Ministry of Health says, adding that 17 people have died from the respiratory virus. More than 400 of the cases are in the hard-hit Lombardy region, where some towns are under a lockdown.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Wednesday the Oregon Department of Justice has withdrawn its request to the U.S. Supreme Court to hold open two Oregon cases.

The cases involve twin brothers, Lydell and Laycell White, who murdered an elderly Salem couple in 1993 when they were 15 years old. They were sentenced to 67 years in prison.  

The U.K. Court of Appeal dealt has dealt climate activists a big legal win, blocking plans for the addition of a third runway at London's Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest international hubs in the world. In its judgment Thursday, the three-justice panel concluded that the plans failed to satisfy the government's stated commitments on combating climate change.

State Sen. Shemia Fagan, D-Portland, is entering the Democratic primary for Oregon secretary of state, after her friend and former House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson dropped out of the race.

Fagan joins other high-profile Democrats who hope to take back the only statewide position currently held by a Republican. Dennis Richardson served in the position until he died of brain cancer in 2019. His replacement, Bev Clarno, is not running for the spot.

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On a recent Saturday afternoon, Alan Evans strolled through the hallways of Northeast Portland’s Wapato Jail singing Freddy Fender’s 1974 hit “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.” 

Around him, 300 or so curious Portlanders roamed freely through the never-used jail, pressing their faces against the glass panes of the facility's visitation rooms and meandering through the industrial freezer. All had come to hear Evans’ plan to convert the facility into a massive homeless shelter.

Congressional leaders on Thursday said lawmakers are nearing a bipartisan plan to issue significant emergency funding to address rising fears sparked by the spread of coronavirus.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she had spoken with Vice President Mike Pence, who was tasked to lead the administration's response to the outbreak. She added that lawmakers were nearing a plan to fund the U.S. response.

Updated at 5 :45 p.m.

The White House sought to show it was shoring up its efforts to corral the spread of coronavirus on Thursday, naming an internationally recognized HIV/AIDS expert as its new coronavirus response coordinator.

Debbie Birx is a State Department ambassador-at-large who works on global health diplomacy issues. Vice President Pence said Birx would be detailed to his office.

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As a legislative stalemate brought the Capitol to a standstill this week in Oregon, Republicans have been adamant: They’ll return to work if Democrats agree to put their landmark climate change proposal before voters. In the meantime, only three bills have passed so far this legislative session. And many more are left on the table. OPB political reporter Lauren Dake tells us about all the other legislative efforts aside from cap and trade that are now at a standstill this session.

Denver resident KSue Anderson is a lifelong Democrat who has usually chosen candidates based on economic or social justice issues. But as Super Tuesday approaches this presidential election year, the 80-year-old undecided voter can't stop thinking about climate change.

"The winters are warmer than they used to be," she says. "We don't get as much snow as we used to. And when we get it, it comes in huge things."

Updated at 2:30 p.m. ET

Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh was sentenced to three years in federal prison Thursday.

It was just months ago that she pleaded guilty to federal fraud, tax and conspiracy charges over a scheme involving sales of her self-published Healthy Holly children's books.

Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET

Stocks continued their free-fall on Thursday, with major indexes falling into correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 1,200 points as worries mounted about the economic toll of a widening coronavirus epidemic.

The Dow ended the day down 4.4%, and nearly 13% below its recent peak on Feb. 12. A drop of 10% from a recent high is the technical definition of a "correction."

UPDATE (9:33 a.m. PT) — The Oregon Department of Transportation said all lanes of Interstate 5 near Southwest Brier Place in Southwest Portland have reopened after a semitruck rolled over Thursday morning.

The semitruck had rolled onto its side, spilling pallets of dog food onto the roadway and closing the right two northbound lanes of the highway at Southwest Brier Place, according to an ODOT release.

The crash caused lengthy delays during the morning commute, as traffic backed up on the interstate and side streets.