Wednesday, January 5th, 2022
Traffic Nightmare, 1M Daily Cases & CES Begins
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by kiwico.com (Listen for the discount code) and Masterworks.Art/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want reading about the latest happenings…
I-95 Traffic Nightmare
This week’s winter storm in Virginia shut down a major interstate, leaving hundreds of people stranded. Many of them were stuck on the highway for more than 24 hours without food and water, all while the temperatures outside fell into the teens. This happened on I-95, which is already known as the east coast’s busiest highway. After about a foot of snow fell, things got worse. Officials say there were so many crashes, they had to close nearly 50 miles of interstate yesterday morning. Finally, the highway opened back up last night.
Read more: WaPo, NY Times, NBC News, Fox News
Va Amtrak Train Stranded
The same storm left passengers stranded on an Amtrak train in Virginia for nearly 30 hours. They were supposed to be traveling from New Orleans to New York, but as the train was passing through Virginia, it had to stop because downed trees blocked the tracks. Passengers say they went without food, electricity, or cell service, and they had to deal with overflowing toilets. A separate train from Roanoke, Virginia to Washington DC also got stuck. Now, other east coast Amtrak routes have been canceled altogether.
Read more: AP, Business Insider, NY Post, AJC
1M+ Daily Covid Cases
Just last week, we told you how the U.S. reported its highest daily Covid-19 case count ever. Now, the U.S. has done it again, this time, doubling the last record. More than 1 million new cases were reported on just one day this week. To compare, the country was averaging about 70,000 cases a day in November. We should point out that a million people didn’t actually test positive all in one day. Some states had a backlog in cases since they didn’t report new ones over the last holiday weekend. Still, the 7-day average is rising, too, and hospitalizations are going up.
Read more: NBC News, NPR, WSJ, Fox News
Arrest in Haitian President’s Assassination
Nearly six months after Haiti’s president was assassinated, there’s finally a breakthrough in the case. One of the main suspects was arrested in the U.S. Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was killed in an ambush at the presidential palace last summer. This week, U.S. federal agents arrested a former Colombian soldier in Miami. They say Mario Antonio Palacios plotted to kill Moïse. If he’s convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. Palacios is the first suspect to be formally charged with a crime in this case, but the FBI says dozens of others are also involved.
Read more: Miami Herald, CBS News, AP, Axios, DOJ
Jan. 6th Events Planned
Tomorrow marks one year since rioters, upset with the results of the presidential election, stormed the U.S. Capitol. Several events are planned for the anniversary. Officially, President Biden and Vice President Harris plan on making speeches. Also, more than 100 organizations are planning vigils around the country. Some are using the occasion to call for voting rights. One vigil in Washington D.C. is meant to support those who are facing charges because of the riot. Capitol police are keeping an eye on those kinds of events, but so far, say there doesn’t look to be a problem.
Read more: Axios, WaPo, WUSA, Politico, NY Post
5G Expansion Delayed Over FAA Request
The biggest wireless carriers in the U.S. are delaying their 5G plans, at least for now. AT&T and Verizon agreed to wait two more weeks to deploy their new superfast wireless technology. They were supposed to activate it today, but the FAA has been raising safety concerns, saying the 5G technology could interfere with planes’ automatic landing systems. This extra two weeks should give regulators some time to assess the risks. AT&T and Verizon say they’re still confident 5G and aviation safety can co-exist.
Read more: Reuters, NY Times, Axios, CNET, FAA
Toyota Becomes Best Selling U.S. Automaker
For the first time, Toyota is taking the top spot for car sales in America. Until now, General Motors was America's top-selling car company since 1931. However, Toyota outsold GM last year by 114,000 vehicles. Toyota’s U.S. sales were up 10% from 2020, while GM’s were down 13%. The Wall Street Journal reports Toyota benefited from its decision to stockpile computer chips used for car electronics because others in the industry were hit hard by the global chip shortage.
Read more: WSJ, CNN, CNBC, Reuters
CES Begins
Tech’s biggest event gets underway in Las Vegas today, but it’s more scaled back than usual. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is going to be partly in-person, part virtual. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Intel, and Meta all canceled plans to show up because of Covid-19 concerns. They’ll still make some announcements virtually. Meanwhile, other big-name companies and tech startups are still showing off their latest and greatest gadgets, like self-driving cars, upgraded TVs, smart home gadgets, and a lot more. CES starts today and runs through this Friday.
Read more: CNN, The Verge, CNET, Yahoo Finance, CES
Fanatics Acquires Topps Trading Cards
There may be a new king in the trading card industry. The sports card and memorabilia giant Fanatics bought out another iconic trading card company, Topps. It's a deal worth half a million dollars. This isn’t unexpected since Fanatics has been growing for a while. In August, the company sealed a deal with the MLB for the rights to baseball trading cards. Before this deal was official, Topps had the rights until 2026. Now, fanatics can take over the design, manufacturing, and distributing of the baseball cards right away.
Read more: ESPN, CNBC, WSJ, NY Times, Fanatics
No Audience or Media at Golden Globes
There will be no celebrities at this year’s Golden Globes. Not only that but there will also be no red carpet, no media, and no audience. The awards ceremony will still happen this Sunday in Los Angeles, but not even the nominees will attend. Instead, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association says only “select members and grantees” will be in the room as the awards are announced. It’s not clear if you’ll be able to watch the awards show from home since it won’t be on television, and there hasn’t been a mention of a way to watch it online.
Read more: Hollywood Reporter, NY Post, Variety, Deadline, Golden Globes
Work Wednesday: Record 4.5M Americans Quit Their Jobs in November
The so-called great resignation continues. New federal data shows 4.5 million Americans said “sayonara” to their jobs in November. That’s another record. The U.S. Labor Department says some industries are losing workers faster than others, though. On the top of that list are people who work in either food or health services. In those industries, the quit rate is at nearly 7%. Though, at this point, it doesn't seem like that many people are leaving the workforce entirely. Even though 4.5 million people quit, 6.7 million people were hired at new jobs during the same time.
Read more: AP, WaPo, Axios, Dept. Of Labor