Editor’s Note: Due to COVID-19, TommieMedia staff members are working remotely. This is a special News in :90 report from Justin’s home in Burnsville, Minn.

Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as national and some U.S. states move toward reopening their economies from lockdowns aimed at restricting the spread of the coronavirus. The S&P 500 rose 1.4% in the first few minutes of trading today, and markets are broadly higher in Europe. Asian market closed mostly higher.

Investors are also focusing on earnings reports that big U.S. companies will be reporting this week, such as Starbucks and Google parent company Alphabet. Crude oil prices fell again on concern about oversupply and a lack of storage space.

The first major test of an almost completely vote-by-mail election during a pandemic is about to unfold in Ohio. The election could offer lessons to other states about how to conduct one of the most basic acts of democracy amid a health crisis.

The process hasn’t been smooth as state officials have navigated election laws and the need to protect citizens and poll workers from the coronavirus. Ohio’s in-person primary was delayed just hours before polls were supposed to open last month, prompting legal challenges and confusion.

Today’s election replacing it requires voters to run at least three pieces of mail through the U.S. Postal Service, including an application, a blank ballot and a completed one.

St. Thomas’ Office of Sustainability Initiatives is holding an online EcoChallenge that started April 20 and runs until May 3. The EcoChallenge encourages its St. Thomas participants to make more sustainable choices to earn points for their team, such as not using a plastic straw or larger actions such as launching a recycling program.

Justin Amaker can be reached at justin.amaker@stthomas.edu.