Dwayne Ledford watched and wondered during his first spring practice in 2019. Louisvilles offensive line coach wasnt sure how Mekhi Becton, a 6-foot-7 behemoth of a man weighing more than 360 pounds, would move in the Cardinals newly-implemented wide-zone blocking scheme.

Is he going to be athletic enough to where he can cut off the backside [defender]? Ledford thought. Is he going to be able to climb up to the second level to block those defenders? And how well is he going to be at the point of attack?

All of his worries were squashed over the course of one practice. Ledford walked up to Cardinals head coach Scott Satterfield after watching Becton throughout the day and delivered a very succinct assessment.

We dont have anything to worry about, Ledford told Satterfield. This kid is special.

Becton had the agility to move with grace and block with great ferocity despite his massive frame. There were some things to clean up, but Ledford knew he had a gem in Becton.

That combination of size and athleticism is rare in a man as big as Becton, but it didnt manifest overnight. When Satterfields coaching staff came to Louisville in December 2018 after Bobby Petrinos firing, new strength and conditioning coach Mike Sirignano found a team reeling after losing their head coach.

It was 90-plus players pretty emotionally broken, Sirignano told JetsWire, which meant they were physically broken. So there was a lot of work to do.

The staff set out to rebuild the team from within. That meant new workouts, new diets, new recovery protocols and a new mentality. Becton, who reportedly weighed upwards of 389 pounds when the new staff came aboard, was among the first to buy into the new regime.

So we put a plan together for Mekhi, Sirignano said. You know, for a guy thats 6-foot-7, 300-and-whatever pounds, you know, thats a little different than everyone else in the room. So you got to modify some things.

First came nutrition, which team dietitian Emily Artner said Becton began working on himself in 2018 when he and Cardinals long snapper Mitch Hall reached out to Artner about improving their diets. Artner worked with Becton on a points-based system to encourage weight loss without sacrificing muscle mass. That meant a 5,000-6,000 calories-per-day plan focusing on vegetables and protein.

So my approach is not to give a standardized meal plan of, Hey, breakfast, lunch and dinner you have to eat these exact things, Artner told JetsWire. And so we kind of have a spreadsheet that I use with a lot and thats what really Mekhi got started.

Becton picked the meals, recorded everything in the spreadsheet, sent pictures to Artner and his coaches and, in the process, learned how to create a meal plan on his own without feeling restricted by an intense diet. His favorites included a breakfast of egg white omelets, vegetables, fruits and a pancake, while his dinner and lunch go-toes were salmon or steak with sauteed spinach and mushrooms.

Theres always a stigma with big-bodied linemen that theyll just as easily put weight back on after losing it. But not Becton. He never deviated from the plan, according to Artner and Sirignano, and always made sure he was on the right track, especially when he saw himself lose weight but put on lots of muscle.

Becton fully bought into the nutritional side of training by then and carried that into the rest of his work. He listened intently to Ledfords coaching on offensive line technique namely focusing on finishing blocks all the way through the whistle and all the workouts Sirignanos strength and conditioning staff put him through to improve his athleticism and explosiveness.

Louisvilles philosophy in the weight room is all about bridging the gap between the gym and the field, according to Sirignano, meaning they try to focus less on heavy lifting and more on powerful movements. They did almost all their workouts on their feet instead of sitting down, which included jumps, cleans, cuts and Olympic lifts to mimic the force players apply to the ground.

Those types of moments can complicate things for a 360-pound human such as Becton, though. Even though he proved incredibly athletic for his frame, Becton was still exerting more than 1,000 pounds of force when he ran. That puts a lot of pressure on your body and leads to lots of wear and tear and ultimately injury if not monitored. Luckily for Becton, he missed only one game during his career at Louisville with an ankle injury, and a lot of that can be attributed to the work of Matt Summers athletic training team.

We were able to be creative with him, Summers said about Bectons training. It was truly a team approach and I think for him specifically, it was about monitoring his load but still getting great output from a conditioning standpoint.

That meant reducing the force Becton exerted with different types of conditioning like underwater treadmills and the incorporation of exercises centered around strengthening the ankle and the shoulder two areas of the body Summers said are highly-susceptible to injuries in young offensive linemen.

He bought into that, Summers said. He had a great trust, I think, in what were trying to do and had no issues with that for him.

Ledford, Sirignano, Artner and Summers were all pieces of the puzzle that helped turn Becton into a 364-pound lineman with 17 percent body fat who could run a 5.11 40-yard dash. It was a lot of work, but Becton never shied away from doing anything and everything to become one of the best and strongest linemen in the 2020 draft.

I completely admired the way that he completely engulfed himself and doing whatever it was that I asked him to do this year for his game to improve to be one of the better tackles out there, Ledford said of Bectons transformation. I couldnt be more proud of the work that he went out there and put in.

Now, Becton will be tasked with a new challenge: blocking for Sam Darnold and LeVeon Bell. Hes got the athleticism and the raw ability required. All he needs to do is put it together and build on all his learnings from Louisville.

Ledford doesnt envision that being a problem for Becton, though.

Mekhi is really just now starting to scratch the surface on how good he can be, Ledford said. I think that his best days are still ahead of him.

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Building Becton: How Louisville turned Mekhi Becton into one of the country's best linemen in just one year - Jets Wire

There are two main ways to improve the state of the microbiome in your gut. You can add more bacteria into it and you can look after the bacteria that are there already.

How do you do that? By eating and drinking the right kind of stuff. We spoke to Jo Travers, a dietitian working with the campaign Love Your Gut Week, to find out what kind of stuff that is.

You need to have a balanced approach. You cant just add in something good like a probiotic and expect all your problems to go away. Your starting point should be, have I got enough energy, enough protein, enough fresh fruit and veg? The latter is where were getting the fibre, vitamins and minerals from.

I always say the first thing to do is think about your plate split into three. You have half your plate filled with veg, or a mixture of fruit and veg, a quarter of protein and a quarter of carbohydrates. If you do that the chances of getting everything you need and not too much of what you dont need are really high. From that point you can start to fine-tune it, but unless youve got those basics in place the fine-tuning isnt going to make any difference.

Its a balance. By all means having some probiotic foods is brilliant. When you introduce friendly or useful bacteria into your system, the bacteria that already live there can make use of that as well because bacteria can swap genes with each other. Thats a good thing to do.

Once youve got useful bacteria there the key is to maintain it. When we take a probiotic product were generally just taking one or a few different strains of bacteria, but there are a great deal more than that already living in there, and each bacteria thrives on a different type of fibre. The more variety in the types of fibre you eat, the more likely it is youre going to be able to sustain the bacteria that are living there.

We call these fibres prebiotics. Probiotics are the ones you add into your system, and prebiotics feed the bacteria already living there.

Probiotics are things like yogurt, which is a fermented food, and kefir and kombucha. All of those naturally fermented foods will contain some probiotics. Traditionally fermented soy sauce will contain probiotics, but generally the stuff we get from the supermarket isnt traditionally fermented and theres not a great deal of probiotic in there. Its a similar story with tofu, which is quite highly processed, but the more traditional form of soy protein tempeh has lots of probiotics in it.

With prebiotics its anything with fibre in it. So fruit, veg, nuts, seeds and wholegrains are the staple prebiotics in our diet.

Yes. There was a study done fairly recently that found people who ate 30 or more different plant foods in a week had a much more varied gut microbiota in their digestive system compared with those who only ate ten or fewer different plant foods a week.

Different colours, different types it all counts. If youre having a salad, you could just have your lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad, but actually what I do is add things like jars of roasted vegetables, olives, pine nuts and seeds to my salad. Not only do you get something that tastes really nice without really doing any extra work because youre just adding it from a packet, you also get all those other different kinds of fibres, as well as the vitamins and minerals that come with those foods.

Exactly. Just think what can I add to this to make it even better? So if youre making pasta with tomato sauce, for example, adding in a couple of handfuls of frozen spinach adds nutrition, and youre also adding a different type of fibre as well without much extra work. Remember, all plant foods count: dried, canned, frozen, fresh and wholegrains.

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Improve Your Diet With These Foods That Are Good For Your Gut - Coach

On Wednesday, the field director for Mel Gagarins congressional campaign sat shirtless illuminated by candlelight in his bathtub reading a scary story over Instagram Live.

Bedtime Bathtime Storytimes have become regular events for Gagarins campaign even if theyre only for an audience of around a dozen people, including other members of the campaign. At the end of his 20-minute reading, field director Kyle Levenick took a sip of wine and quietly blew out his candles before ending the stream in total darkness.

We dont know if thats providing a service to people, but he was doing it anyway, Karina Sahlin, Gagarins communications director, said in an interview.

Before the pandemic hit, Gagarins team was planning to run a traditional grassroots campaign in New Yorks sixth district: knocking on doors and shaking hands at community events. Now, house calls and handshakes are a public health risk, and the team has been forced to move everything online. The campaigns designer has held virtual typography streams explaining the origins of Gagarins logo. His staff frequently holds town halls with voters online and shoots YouTube videos on issues like universal basic income and punk rock.

A lot of it is just throwing stuff at the wall to see what works, either from what people say they enjoy or just to provide a distraction, Sahlin said. They might have the money, but we literally have people who will work ten-hour days to come knock doors for us.

There is no playbook for running a completely digital political campaign, and candidates like Gagarin have had to improvise. Before the pandemic hit, Gagarin was running an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-style progressive grassroots campaign to unseat Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat who has served in the House of Representatives for the last six years, in New Yorks June 23rd primary.

Now, Zoom calls have become the new rope lines, and Instagram Live streams have become the hot platform for celebrity endorsements and policy conversations across the board. Facebook and Twitter are now rally stages for candidates to discuss policy positions and build a following a following theyre hoping will translate into voter turnout.

Succeeding on those platforms requires a very different set of skills from traditional campaigning. If their candidates arent starting with name recognition or institutional support, the only option is to build it online. And in the mad scramble for followers, campaigns are starting to behave a lot more like influencers.

Social distancing has already wreaked havoc on the 2020 campaign cycle. Simply holding an election has become difficult, with some primaries compromised and others canceled outright. In a memo last month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee urged down-ballot candidates to follow suit and hold as many activities as possible online, suggesting that they stream virtual town halls and hold online phone banks with volunteers instead of more traditional in-person events.

According to Elizabeth Spiers, a digital media veteran who now runs a political consulting shop called The Insurrection, that confusion is hurting up-and-coming candidates the most.

If you have a campaign thats already leaning heavily on media for messaging and voter contact, this might not be a terrible situation, Spiers said. But if you have a more grassroots campaign where you really are relying on field operations to get people out and to get the candidate into the community, its a lot tougher. Candidates who are adept at social media can transition some of their campaigns over the internet. But in many cases, they cant even get on the ballot because of social distancing orders.

For progressives, that disadvantage was driven home by Democratic presidential primary, which ended on a sour and anticlimactic note. When the pandemic hit, Sen. Bernie Sanders was facing an uphill battle to unseat former Vice President Joe Biden and challenge the party establishment a fight his supporters were eager to take on, however slim the odds. Sanders ended his campaign on April 8th, saying that continuing the race would interfere with the important work required of all of us in this difficult hour.

The most successful candidates have been those who already had resources to draw on. A sitting congressman and a member of a storied political dynasty, Rep. Joe Kennedy IIIs (D-MA) is running to unseat Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in Massachusetts Senate primary on September 1st. Markey has arguably stronger progressive credentials (including a much-coveted AOC endorsement), but you wouldnt know it from checking Facebook, where Kennedy has racked up over a million followers. (He has around 100,000 on Instagram and Twitter, too.) Since the start of the pandemic, Kennedy has been holding near-daily check-ins over Twitter with constituents, talking about current events, and holding town halls with famous celebrities and philanthropists like Chef Jos Andrs and the cast of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen.

Our goal was to run a very aggressive retail campaign, and that means a lot of handshakes and high fives, and you cant do that right now, Kennedy told The Verge in an interview. As our team got together to think, we decided to go heavy into the digital space and try to create something interesting, relevant, and of note for an audience while being as open and as honest as we can.

Because of his huge following, Kennedy was able to make the move to Twitter and Facebook live streams fairly easily. His team could share content through social channels, knowing there would be a ready audience eager to share it. For an undecided voter logging on, Kennedy feels like a celebrity the same halo effect you might get from a cheering crowd at a rally.

For up-and-coming candidates, its an entirely different story. Without the pull of a celebrity endorsement or a large following to amplify posts, campaigns are left trying to work the algorithm or paying to boost posts and ads.

As any would-be influencer knows, that can be a risky game. For those candidates in less closely watched races, they cant build up a Twitter following overnight, Spiers said. And you cant buy your way into it as much as people think you can.

For campaigns, the result is a scramble to take every advantage of platforms various quirks. Theres a way to hack the [Twitter] algorithm through posting time and through content, Sahlin, Gagarins communications director, said. Were trying to feed a diet of useful stuff and a diet of what I call trash tweets which is easily digestible Twitter candy that will feed the algorithm a little bit.

But with every politician, insurgents and incumbents, spending more and more time online, its harder for smaller accounts to go viral. Having to break through the noise was more difficult than it was before, Sahlin said.

Its especially hard on a shoestring budget. Kelly Dietrich, the founder of the National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC), said that the vast majority of the half a million elected offices around the country are on campaigns are run on $2,500, maybe $5,000 or less, He continued, These people dont have a national platform or following. Without millions of dollars in the bank, its hard for campaigns to even reach their constituents news feeds.

Before the pandemic, Dietrichs workshops spanned the gamut of campaign activities, but lately, hes transitioned into teaching candidates how to connect with voters over the internet. Attendance for these workshops has gone through the roof as social distancing restrictions have gone into effect, with hundreds of candidates all across the country tuning in to Zoom lessons on how to grow followings and create helpful content as they continue to campaign throughout the summer.

Most campaigns aim for something thats authentic to the candidate but packaged for the platform. Kiani Gardner, a first-time political candidate competing in the Democratic primary runoff for Alabamas first district, is taking a particularly unusual approach. A PhD cell biologist and professor, Gardner has set up her campaigns social media channels as a rare reliable source of information for her constituency during the pandemic.

There was so much misinformation and people just werent sure what to believe, Gardner said in an interview with The Verge. So I took out two whiteboards and they had precinct data on them, so I wiped them off and went into a corner of HQ and just talked about the virus and what was actually happening.

That kind of whiteboard explainer can do surprisingly well on Facebook. Gardners first video was shot in one take and brought in more than 6,000 views. After that, campaign staff resolved to do more. Gardners Facebook page has gained around 2,300 followers since she launched her campaign last summer, but her videos bring in an unusually high number of viewers compared to her small following.

Connecting constituents with accurate information and resources during the pandemic has become a common theme in campaigns over the last few weeks. Gardners father runs an upholstery business and plans to help craft and distribute masks for constituents the campaign identifies needs them during phone banking shifts.

Meanwhile, Gagarins team, short on financial resources, has been making calls to check in with voters and connect them with food delivery programs. A couple of these elderly folks just want to have a conversation, and they felt much better afterward, Sahlin said.

For now, those phone conversations and virtual town halls are all campaigns have during the pandemic. Staff can parse through analytics and watch audience and engagement numbers rise with each post, but theres no way to predict the numbers that will come in later this year at the ballot box. Its hard to know how many of your followers will stay with you off the platform in this case, from Instagram to in-person voting but Gagarins team feels confident they can make the leap.

When it comes down to it, whether turnout is low or high, were confident in our ability to get our voters out, Sahlin said.

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Candidates cant campaign, so theyre trying to go viral - The Verge

Luke Bryan proved just how country he is in a recent interview when he showed off his pet turkey. He and his fellow American Idol judges appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan this week via video chat.

Lukes choice of pet is a bit awkward, not only because of his hunting habits, but also because he actually joked about cooking the turkey in his backyard. Lets hope he doesnt get too hungry during quarantine.

During the interview, Luke went out to the back of his house, where his turkey was waiting for him. He opened the door, and the big bird waddled inside. Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and hosts Ryan Seacrest and Kelly Ripa were gobsmacked.

RELATED: LUKE BRYAN HAD DINNER WITH BLAKE SHELTON AND GWEN STEFANI HERES WHAT THEY TALKED ABOUT

Luke, is that a smoker in the background of the pet turkey? Is that a grill? Ryan wondered. Luke responded by saying, Yeah, thats where hell eventually wind up Im just playing!

Everyone got a kick out of that. Hey, Luke? Katy said. Thats what makes you country. Lionel said Luke sent him a photo of the turkey the other day, and he couldnt believe what he was seeing.

Lukes joke about cooking his pet turkey might seem harmless, but it gets awkward when you realize the singer has actually been known to hunt turkeys. In an episode of Buck Commander, Luke tries and fails to shoot one of the birds.

RELATED: WHY KATY PERRY WONT INVITE LUKE BRYAN AND LIONEL RICHIE TO HER WEDDING

Luke calls turkey hunting frustrating as hell, adding, The day you think youre gonna kill them, you cant get anything out of them. However, he still loves to hunt turkeys, explaining, Its something thats really fun to do in the spring, and its amazing, at the end of it all you can have some turkey nuggets.

Fingers crossed that Luke doesnt decide to turn his backyard turkey into turkey nuggets. Lionel and Katy might need to keep tabs on him during quarantine.

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Luke Bryan Shows Off Pet Turkey & Tells Us How He's Going To EAT It! - Talent Recap

Source: Rodin Eckenroth / Getty

Adrienne Bailon has been open about her weight loss after switching to a vegan diet while dealing with her Hashimotos condition, which is an autoimmune disease. She recently showed off her beach ready body after shedding another 20 pounds on Instagram. The daytime talk show host also offered inspiration to others who are struggling with keeping it healthy during quarantine.

During this time more than ever Staying healthy is at the top of my mind!, she captioned the sexy pic of her in a bikini. This is my first post in a bathing suit since losing 20lbs. Now Ive lost weight before but always gained it back because I was dieting & not changing my lifestyle! But not this time Its been a year since I had enough (have you ever gotten there? Where youre just tired of complaining about what you dont like & youre finally ready to take action & REALLY make changes!) Well, I made major changes like choosing to eat plant based changing my whole relationship with food & working out!

As she shared her experience with trying to stay consistent, she encouraged her followers to be disciplined and start off the new month by trying to form a new healthy habit.

Ive been consistent with my self discipline (although its been so hard at times). Im constantly reminding myself that the greatest form of self love is self discipline! They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit I just want to encourage you to take this time to develop healthy habits! Drink your water, squat, rest, read, pray, take your vitamins, eat your veggies! (Preaching to myself to keep going! Lol.) Its a new month! Lets do this!

Bailon revealed she transitioned into a full vegan diet on the sixth seasion premiere ofThe Real back in September and that it helped her with managing the symptoms of Hashimotos disease.

I said last season that I went vegan. I stuck with it all summer and stuck with a plant-based diet. It has made a world of a difference, Adrienne explained. Lots of you guys know I suffer from Hashimotos, which is an autoimmune disease. So its really been helpful for that. I feel great and happy to be back.

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Adrienne Bailon Shows Off Curves After Shedding Another 20 Pounds: Ive Been Consistent With My Self-Discipline - MadameNoire

Andr Leon Talley isnt holding anything back in his upcoming book The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir. The Daily Mail reports that after decades of working with Anna Wintour, Talley is taking aim at Wintour for her cruelty and mercilessness, making it clear that their friendship is over. Talleys memoir dives into his time with the woman who inspired Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

Known for her signature sunglasses and bob haircut, Wintour has been the editor-in-chief at Vogue since 1988. She showed interest in fashion early and had a long career in the industry and journalism before landing the top job at Vogue. Wintour started working retail in London before stints with publications like New York Magazine and House & Garden. In addition to her more than full-time position with Vogue, Wintour hosts the annual Met Gala. The event is widely regarded as the Super Bowl of fashion.

Outside of work, Wintour has been married twice. She had two children with her first husband David Shaffer, but the pair divorced in 1999. Wintour is currently married to businessman Shelby Bryan.

Wintour famously has a reputation as a cold, unforgiving person. Her icy exterior earned her the unkind nickname Nuclear Wintour. On top of that, she is rumored to be the inspiration behind Meryl Streeps character in The Devil Wears Prada. The rumors are generally believed; Miranda Priestlys meticulous appearance and taxing management style seem to be directly ripped from Wintour. The Daily Mail reports that one of her two assistants did have to go to her home every morning with a copy of the big book, a mockup of the current issue of Vogue, with flowers, gifts and all her clean clothes.

While that morning routine is unthinkable for most people, possibly the most unrelatable aspect of Wintours life is that her kitchen is always clean because she never cooks. While Wintour maintained her aloof position for decades, her image recently softened slightly thanks to The First Monday in May and appearances with Taylor Swift on Vogues Go Ask Anna segments.

Whatever friendlier image Wintour had been cultivating has been shattered by the claims made by Talley in The Chiffon Trenches. The longtime friend and colleague says that Wintour has left him scarred, both emotionally and psychologically. Talley counts himself among the many Wintour has left in a frayed and tattered heap during her powerful rule.

Talley tells readers that during his ongoing struggle with his weight, Wintour called him and told him to go to the gym. After Talley unsuccessfully tried to lose weight with a diet where he only ate cabbage, Wintour reportedly staged an intervention for him and told him his weight was out of control. Finally, Talley was sent to rehab at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. While this could all be construed as the actions of a concerned friend, Talley says that Wintour is not capable of human kindness.

In addition to Wintours focus on his weight, Talley details how their professional relationship fell apart. Allegedly, Wintour froze Talley out, unceremoniously canceling his podcast and treating him to a sphinx like silence. Talley says this happened because Wintour deemed him too old, too overweight, too uncool for her.

Though the memoir isnt due out until September, what we have seen is already making waves in the fashion industry. The Daily Mail quotes designer Betsey Johnson as saying, I think its great that Andr has called Anna out. Except for The Devil Wears Prada, nobodys had the balls to say how she really is because everyones scared of Annas power.

While this is not the first falling out between Wintour and her former right-hand man, it seems likely to be the last. However, Talley said, My hope is that she will find a way to apologize before I die.

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Anna Wintour's Former Friend and Colleague Spills About Her Comments Regarding His Weight - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

About two-thirds of Seattleites say theyre willing to keep up physical distancing for as long as required, according to a new survey. Many respondents here said theyd want one of two things to happen both based on data before distancing can be put to rest: Widespread antibody testing or a significant drop in coronavirus cases.

The survey also showed about one-third of Seattle residents have either lost their job or had their hours cut because of the COVID-19 crisis, 69% say they have cut back on food spending since the crisis began, and 23% have skipped a credit card or loan payment.

A few dates to know as you start the week: As of today, Costco customers are required to wear masks (meanwhile, Whole Foods is providing masks but not requiring them for shoppers). And tomorrow, more than 100 Washington state parks will reopen.

Throughout Monday, on this page, well be posting updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Sunday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be foundhere.

The following graphic includes the most recent numbers from the Washington State Department of Health, released Sundayafternoon.

Washington colleges and universities are getting more than $220 million in stimulus money, and half of it is supposed to go to needy students whose educations were scrambled by the coronavirus. But many of those students are excluded. Here's where the money is and isn't going.

And, around the country, some college students who are unimpressed by online schooling are demanding refunds.

There are plenty of fun ways to stretch your kids brain (and your own) at home this week, whether youre listening to sloth sounds or embracing the rain with a little science project. Here are five ideas.

Kris Higginson

Can't make your car payment? Take proactive steps to keep from ruining your credit.

Using all your credit cards now will protect your finances. Wait, what?! Strange times call for strange measures, and here's the reasoning from columnist Chuck Jaffe, who isn't advising you to spend more.

The pandemic is leaving a trail of depression and anxiety. Nutrition isn't a cure, but studies have shown strong associations between diet and mental well-being, nutritionist Carrie Dennett writes. Here are resources for mental health support, as well as emergency food, child care and more.

Kris Higginson

Washington hospitals are facing a new crisis: They're bleeding red ink as patients stay home in the wake of canceled appointments and surgeries. Community health centers are facing particularly daunting finances.

More than 100 Washington state parks' gates swing open tomorrow. Here's the list and a look at when other parts of Washington might reopen. The park access creates chances to heal your spirit through hiking; just know how to do it safely.

Many Seattleites plan to continue social distancing long after the stay-home order is lifted, FYI Guy writes. In Texas, though, they're already going back to movie theaters.

If you get sick at work, is your company liable? Congress is revving up for a fight with huge implications for how millions of Americans will re-enter workplaces. Masked senators open a new session today, but the House is staying home.

When will casinos reopen? That's up to tribes, major employers whose economic pain stretches beyond reservation borders. The first reopening is planned for next week.

The Lummi Nation's first cluster of cases in weeks has been traced to children playing together.

Read this before your next grocery run: Whole Foods will provide face masks for shoppers, and Costco's new mask requirement starts today for its customers. Are you wearing yours properly? Many people aren't.

The coronavirus is worsening the racial wealth gap. Columnist Naomi Ishisaka looks at how federal loans are discriminating against some small businesses owned by people of color and women.

Will the Supreme Court justices be in pajamas when the session opens today? That may remain a mystery, but we can all listen to live arguments this morning, for the first time ever, as the justices conduct their work by phone.

If you work in a senior or long-term care facility in Washington, we'd like to hear from you. How have you navigated the challenges of your job both before and during the pandemic? What is the situation like now?

Kris Higginson

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Coronavirus daily news updates, May 4: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the nation - Seattle Times