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

Nearly eight years after he was last on the ballot, Barack Obama is emerging as a central figure in the 2020 presidential election.

Democrats are eagerly embracing Obama as a political wingman for Joe Biden, who spent two terms by his side as vice president. Obama remains the party’s most popular figure, particularly with black voters and younger Democrats, and Biden’s presidential campaign is planning for him to have a highly visible role in the months to come.

As Biden looks to Obama for personal validation, he’s also running to restore some of the former president’s legacy, which has been systematically dismantled by Trump.

In the newly renovated Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of St. Thomas’ St. Paul campus, Carrie Thysse and her fiance Pat O’Neill, who met during their first week of law school, were ready to say their vows on June 13.

COVID-19 had different plans for Thysse and O’Neill, as well as the 50-some couples who celebrate the sacrament of matrimony every year in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Chapel of St. Thomas More.

Although the number of guests for each wedding ceremony could be limited for a long time, marriage preparation carries on through St.Thomas’ Campus Ministry. Couples must answer questions with their presider over Zoom, complete a virtual retreat and take natural family planning classes over Zoom or phone call.

College students across the nation are likely to take an economic hit amid COVID-19.

According to CNBC, many college students are claimed as dependents on their parents’ taxes, which would prevent them from qualifying for the one-time federal stimulus relief check.

St. Thomas junior Emilia Fredrickson worked at a restaurant and as a marketing intern during the beginning of the school year. Though she has transitioned to doing her marketing work online, the restaurant that she works at has closed until further notice.

Fredrickson doesn’t qualify for emergency funding through her internship because she is not a benefits-eligible employee. Because of this, Fredrickson has increased her hours driving for Uber Eats.

The Pew Research Center has found that young workers are more likely to be laid off during this time period. This is because young workers generally work in service-sector jobs.

Althea Larson can be reached at lars2360@stthomas.edu