A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2021
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DOW
30,960.00 -36.98
BRIEFING
Janet Yellen OK’d as
treasury secretary
The Senate on Mon-
day approved President
Joe Biden’s nomination of
Janet Yellen to be the na-
tion’s 78th treasury secre-
tary, making her the first
woman to hold the job
in the department’s 232-
year history.
Yellen, a former chair
of the Federal Reserve,
was approved by the Sen-
ate on a 84-15 vote, be-
coming the third member
of Biden’s Cabinet to win
confirmation.
She is expected to
play a key role in gaining
congressional approval
of Biden’s $1.9 trillion
coronavirus relief pack-
age, which is running
into stiff opposition from
Republicans who believe
the price tag is too high.
Democratic Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer
noted the former Federal
Reserve chairwoman had
bipartisan support.
Schumer said Yellen
has a “breathtaking range
of experience” and sup-
port for her nomination
reflected “just how well
suited she is to manage
the economic challenges
of our time … particu-
larly during this moment
of economic crisis.”
Radio stations
file bankruptcy
The Portland-based
parent company of local
radio stations KXL-FM,
KINK and KUPL, as well as
200 other stations around
the country, has filed
bankruptcy.
Alpha Media Holdings
said none of its stations
will go off the air. The
company said it will use
the protection afforded
by the Chapter 11 bank-
ruptcy statutes to reduce
its debt and find addi-
tional capital.
In bankruptcy docu-
ments filed in the Eastern
District of Virginia, Alpha
told the court that it has
already reached prelimi-
nary agreement to accom-
plish that restructuring.
Alpha owns properties
in 44 markets across the
country. Endeavour Cap-
ital, a Portland-based pri-
vate equity firm, invested
in Alpha, is helping fund
its growth.
California lifts
curfew, restrictions
Gov. Gavin Newsom
lifted stay-at-home orders
across the state Monday
in response to improving
coronavirus conditions, a
surprising move hailed by
beleaguered businesses.
But some local health
officials worried it could
undo the recent sharp
drop in cases and hospi-
talizations.
“We’re seeing a flatten-
ing of the curve — every-
thing that should be up is
up; everything that should
be down is down — case
rates, positivity rates, hos-
pitalizations, ICUs,” New-
som told reporters.
The turnaround came
about a month after hos-
pitals crafted emergency
plans for rationing care
and as intensive care
unit capacity in the vast
Southern California re-
gion currently stands at
0%. State data models
forecast that the region’s
ICU capacity will rise to
33% by Feb. 21.
The lifting of the stay-
at-home order allows
restaurants and churches
to resume outdoor op-
erations and hair and
nail salons to reopen in
many areas, though lo-
cal officials could choose
to impose stricter rules.
The state is also lifting a
10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.
— Bulletin wire reports
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Biden more bullish on vaccines,
open to 1.5M daily shot goal
BY JOSH BOAK
AND ZEKE MILLER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Pres-
ident Joe Biden on Monday
appeared to boost his goal
for coronavirus vaccinations
in his first 100 days in office,
suggesting the nation could
soon be injecting 1.5 million
shots on an average per day.
Biden signaled his increas-
ing bullishness on the pace of
vaccinations after signing an
executive order to boost gov-
ernment purchases from U.S.
manufacturers. It was among
a flurry of moves by Biden
during his first full week to
show he’s taking swift action
to heal an ailing economy as
talks with Congress over a
$1.9 trillion stimulus package
showed few signs of progress.
Biden reiterated that he be-
lieves the country is in a pre-
carious spot and that relief
is urgently needed, even as
he dismissed the possibility
of embracing a scaled-down
bill to secure passage faster.
Among the features of the
stimulus plan are a national
vaccination program, aid to
reopen schools, direct pay-
ments of $1,400 to individuals
and financial relief for state
and local governments.
“Time is of the essence,”
Biden said. “I am reluctant to
cherry-pick and take out one
or two items here.”
Biden’s new vaccination tar-
get comes after he and his aides
faced criticism for the 100 mil-
lion goal in his first 100 days in
office. The U.S. has exceeded a
pace of 1 million doses per day
over the last week.
“I think we may be able to
get that to … 1.5 million a day,
rather than 1 million a day,”
Biden said, “but we have to
meet that goal of a million a
day.”
Biden added that he expects
widespread availability of the
vaccines for Americans by
spring, with the U.S. “well on
our way to herd immunity”
necessary to end the pan-
demic by summer. Even so, he
warned the nation was going
to be “in this for a while, and
could see between “600,000
and 660,000 deaths before we
begin to turn the corner in a
major way.”
CHERRY SALES POINT TO A
‘PANDEMIC
POWERHOUSE’
BY DAN WHEAT
For the Capital Press
YAKIMA, Wash. — The coronavirus
pandemic factored into the Pacific Northwest
cherry industry grossing more than $1 billion
for the first time last year, but the little cherry
disease and China tariffs remain key concerns.
As the coronavirus shut
down restaurants, grocery
store shopping increased
20% and online promo-
tions championing health
benefits of cherries reso-
nated with consumers re-
sulting in “the strongest
demand in the past de-
cade,” B.J. Thurlby, presi-
dent of Northwest Cherry
Growers, in Yakima, told
the association’s 78th an-
nual Cherry Institute last
week. “When we talk to re-
tailers this spring, we will
say cherries were amaz-
ing last year. They were a
pandemic powerhouse.
They had the single most
dollar growth, 86.5%, be-
tween March and Septem-
ber of any produce item,”
Thurlby said. “We have
great data as a powerful
kick-starter coming into
the 2021 season.”
Washington typically
is 80% to 85% of the Pa-
cific Northwest crop that
includes Oregon, Idaho,
Montana and Utah. Wash-
ington makes up about
60% of the national crop.
The late May to early
September Northwest
crop totaled 19.8 million
20-pound boxes, down
15% from 23.3 million the
year prior and well below
the record of 26.4 million
in 2017.
Cherries decrease in-
flammation and boost the
immune system. Texas
A&M University research
is ongoing relative to ef-
fects on the body from the
gut to the brain and on
breast cancer.
“We have established
ourselves as a super fruit
and will continue down
that road with stronger
messages,” Thurlby said.
The industry’s No. 1 is-
sue, he said, is little cherry
disease that cost 2 million
to 2.5 million boxes of lost
production due to orchard
removal to fight the dis-
ease.
It has no cure, robs trees
of energy, reduces produc-
tion and results in small
bitter-tasting fruit that is
unmarketable. It spreads
tree-to-tree in roots and
via apple and grape mealy-
bugs and leafhoppers.
“If we’re going to be here
20 years from now, we re-
ally have to start focusing
on this issue,” Thurlby said.
Research has been un-
derway for several years.
Western X Phytoplasma,
a bacterial-like strain of
the disease, has increased
dramatically in the last
couple of years from The
Dalles to Omak, Washing-
ton, said Tianna DuPont, a
Washington State Univer-
sity tree fruit specialist in
Wenatchee.
Based on a 23% re-
sponse to a grower survey,
she said more than 145,000
trees and 685 acres have
been removed. She esti-
mates lost revenue and
orchard re establishment
costs at $81 million over
seven years. She urged
growers to keep removing
infected trees.
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Budweiser
joins big
brands in
sitting out
Super Bowl
BY MAE ANDERSON AND
DEE-ANN DURBIN
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — For the first
time since 1983, when An-
heuser-Busch used all of its ad
time to introduce a beer called
Bud Light, the beer giant isn’t
advertising its iconic Bud-
weiser brand during the Super
Bowl. Instead, it’s donating the
money it would have spent on
the ad to coronavirus vaccina-
tion awareness efforts.
Anheuser-Busch still has
four minutes of advertising
during the game for its other
brands including Bud Light,
Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade,
Michelob Ultra and Michelob
Ultra Organic Seltzer.
But the decision to not do an
anthemic Budweiser ad show-
cases the caution with which
some advertisers are approach-
ing the first COVID-19-era Su-
per Bowl.
“We have a pandemic that
is casting a pall over just about
everything,” said Paul Argenti,
Dartmouth College professor
of corporate communication.
“It’s hard to feel the exuberance
and excitement people nor-
mally would.”
The Anheuser-Busch move
follows a similar announce-
ment from PepsiCo., which
won’t be advertising its biggest
brand, Pepsi, in order to fo-
cus on its sponsorship of the
halftime show. It will be ad-
vertising Mountain Dew and
Frito-Lay products. Other vet-
eran Super Bowl advertisers
like Coke, Audi and Avocados
from Mexico are sitting out the
game altogether.
The pandemic has cut
sharply into sales for many
Super Bowl advertisers. With
pricey ads costing an estimated
$5.5 million for 30 seconds
during the Feb. 7 broadcast on
CBS, some may have decided
it’s not worth it this year. Coca-
Cola, for example, has been
hard hit since half of its sales
come from stadiums, movie
theaters and other usually
crowded places that have been
closed during the pandemic. It
announced layoffs in Decem-
ber and said it said it wouldn’t
advertise this year to ensure
it’s “investing in the right re-
sources during these unprece-
dented times.”
To fill the void, newcomers
like the TikTok rival Triller,
online freelance marketplace
Fiverr and online car seller
Vroom are rushing in to take
their place. Returning brands
include M&M’s, Pringles, Toy-
ota and others.
Effort to put Tubman on $20 bill restarted under Biden
BY MARTIN CRUTSINGER
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — With a
change of administrations, it
looks like Harriet Tubman is
once again headed to the front
of the $20 bill.
Biden press secretary Jen
Psaki said Monday that the
Treasury Department is taking
steps to resume efforts to put
the 19th century abolitionist
leader on the $20 bill.
Obama administration Trea-
sury Secretary Jack Lew had
selected Tubman to replace
Andrew Jackson, the nation’s
seventh president, on the $20
bill.
But Tubman’s fate had been
in doubt since the 2016 pres-
idential campaign based on
critical comments by then-
candidate Donald Trump, who
branded the move “pure politi-
cal correctness.”
Trump administration Trea-
sury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
did not move forward with the
decision by the Obama admin-
istration. Instead, Mnuchin in
2019 announced a delay in re-
designing the $20 bill in order
to redesign the $10 and $50
bills first to improve security
features to thwart counterfeit-
ers.
The unveiling of the rede-
signed $20 bill featuring Tub-
man, famous for her efforts
spiriting slaves to freedom on
the Underground Railroad,
had been timed by the Obama
administration to coincide
with the 100th anniversary of
passage of the 19th Amend-
ment giving women the right
to vote.
Under the schedule
Mnuchin announced in May
2019, the redesigned $20 bill
would not have come out until
2028 with final designs for the
bill not announced until 2026.
But Psaki told reporters
during a briefing Monday that
she and other officials were
surprised to hear of the delays
in putting Tubman on the $20
bill. With a change in adminis-
trations, she said the Treasury
Department was taking steps
to resume efforts to put Tub-
man on the $20 bill.
“It is important that our …
money reflect the history and
diversity of our country and
Harriet Tubman’s image grac-
ing the new $20 note would
certainly reflect that,” Psaki
said. “We are exploring ways to
speed up that effort.”
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP file
A wax likeness of the renowned abolitionist and conductor of the Un-
derground Railroad Harriet Ross Tubman is on display at the Presi-
dents Gallery by Madame Tussauds in Washington. With a change of
administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to
the front of the $20 bill.