Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying ArtsFest MONTANA this weekend.

Here’s this week’s reading list.

NPR: More than 550,000 primary absentee ballots rejected in 2020, far outpacing 2016

CNN: Sour beer: The chemistry behind this wondrously complex craft brew

OZY: Can the arts save rural America from the recession?

The New York Times: New York City has 2,300 parks, but poor neighborhoods lose out

Associated Press: Source: Michigan reaches $600M deal in Flint water crisis

The Virginian-Pilot: ‘We shouldn’t be treated like trash’: Left out of hazard pay plan, Virginia Beach waste management workers walked off the job

ProPublica: Meatpacking companies dismissed years of warnings but now say nobody could have prepared for COVID-19

The Washington Post: Tribune newsroom closed: They were the beating heart of a local newspaper. What’s lost when the owner shuts it down?

NPR: Why rural America is fighting the Trump Administration on the post office

The Wall Street Journal: Home Depot braced for Covid pain-then Americans remodeled

The Washington Post: From Black Friday to parking lot pop-ups: 5 ways holiday shopping will change

Associated Press: Pharmacists can give childhood shots, U.S. officials say

Eater: Landlords lost money when restaurant properties sit vacant, so why not give rent relief?

The Verge: NYPD used facial recognition to track down Black Lives Matter activist

The Atlantic: Privatizing airports is a no-brainer

The New York Times: ‘All in, all the time’: Reopening Florida schools is likened to military operation

NPR: Colleges that keep small isolated towns vibrant now pose public health threat

Associated Press: Rise in jobless claims reflects still-struggling U.S. economy

The Washington Post: As high school football seasons are canceled, players are moving to states that plan to play

Vogue Business: Four founders on why sustainable fashion must include racial equality

L.A. Times: ‘Like Armageddon’: Rotting food, dead animals and chaos at postal facilities amid cutbacks

Arizona Republic: ‘A raging crisis:’ Metro Phoenix is losing its family farms

National Geographic: Silo art lures tourists to rural Australia

The New York Times: The Coronavirus Generation

The Atlantic: How a plan to save the power system disappeared

Associated Press: Trail of bubbles leads scientists to new coronavirus clue

The Verge: Google maps will show wildfire boundaries in near real time

The Washington Post: The centers helping child abuse victims have seen 40,000 fewer kids amid the pandemic

Associated Press: Saved by suburbs: Food trucks hit by virus find new foodies

The New York Times: As amenities sit unused, airports reconsider their design

Associated Press: Trump rule on transgender health blocked at the 11th hour

The Washington Post: The U.S. forced major manufacturers to build ventilators. Now they’re piling up unused in a strategic reserve.

NPR: Rural schools struggle with road ahead in era of coronavirus