Thursday, September 17th, 2020
Hundreds Rescued, Vaccine Playbook & Big Ten Reversal
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by HelloFresh.com/80newsworthy
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 to peruse the latest happenings...
Sally Makes Landfall
What was once Hurricane Sally is now battering Florida and Alabama with what the National Hurricane Center calls “catastrophic and life-threatening flooding.” The storm made landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Category 2 hurricane yesterday. It’s since been downgraded to a tropical depression, but as expected, it’s still doing a lot of damage. Some areas have already gotten more than two feet of rain. In one Florida county, that includes Pensacola, nearly 400 people had to be rescued. About 200 National Guard members are headed there today to help.
Read More: Reuters, NY Times, AP, CNN, NHC
U.S. Vaccine Plan
The CDC unveiled a playbook for states and local governments that would have COVID-19 vaccines available for free. It tells state health agencies to create vaccine planning committees made up of leaders from places like hospitals, long-term care facilities, and pharmacies. As soon as a vaccine gets the green light from the FDA, the plan is to get it distributed within 24 hours. Health care workers, other essential employees, and people at high risk of severe illness are expected to take priority for who gets the vaccine first.
Read More: NBC News, FOX News, NY Times, CDC
Boeing 737 Max Report
In a new report, lawmakers said both Boeing and the FAA didn’t do enough to prevent two deadly plane crashes. Democrats on the House Transportation Committee put the findings together after an 18-month investigation. The report points to bad engineering and it says Boeing rushed through production. It also said the FAA had terrible oversight and that it, at times, dismissed experts to side with Boeing. Some lawmakers say they’ll now draft new legislation based on their findings. Meanwhile, Boeing says it's making fundamental changes within the company.
Read More: WSJ, NY Times, NPR, Full Report
Big Ten Football is Back
The Big Ten reversed course and is now going to give fall football a shot after all. Just five weeks ago, the college sports conference delayed fall sports, pushing it to the spring, hoping to keep players safe. Now, the Big Ten says it will start the football season the weekend of October 23rd instead. All 14 teams will be scheduled to play eight regular-season games in eight weeks. They’ll have the opportunity to play a ninth game in December: the conference championship.
Read More: ESPN, CBS Sports, NY Times, AP Big 10
Fed to Keep Interest Rates Near Zero
The Federal Reserve is promising to keep interest rates near zero until at least 2023. This affects borrowing costs for home buyers, credit card users, businesses, and more. The Fed hopes continued low interest rates will encourage more borrowing and spending. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pointed out that Americans aren’t spending at the rate they used to and the job market is still hurting. Powell also called on Congress to take action to provide more economic relief.
Read More: WSJ, AP, Reuters, WaPo
Twitter’s New Election Rules
Twitter is cracking down on misinformation about the election. The social network says it will start labeling or removing more types of misleading election claims. For example, it will intervene if someone says the election is rigged or the ballots are being tampered with, without evidence. It’s also promising to crack down on misleading information about the outcome of the election. In other words: no claiming victory before the numbers are in and certified.
Read More: Twitter, CNN, Vox, Politico
Facebook Partnering with Ray-Ban
Facebook is teaming up with the maker of luxury sunglasses brand Ray-Ban. They’ll be working together to design a pair of “smart glasses’ set to be released next year. There’s no word yet on what kind of features they’ll have though. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says, "I can't go into full product details yet, but they're really the next step on the road to augmented reality glasses,” and “they look pretty good too."
Read More: TechCrunch, NBC News, The Verge
2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame Candidates
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has announced its nominees for the class of 2021. The biggest name on the list is Peyton Manning. He’s a two-time Super Bowl winner and five-time MVP. Also in the running are football greats like Super Bowl champion Charles Woodson and Pro Bowlers Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, and Charles Tillman. In total, there are 130 nominees which will eventually be narrowed down to just five winners. They’ll be inducted next August.
Read More: AP, CBS Sports, NFL
Thing to Know Thursday: Emergency Use Authorization
The FDA will give a medical product Emergency Use Authorization, or EUA, during a public health emergency. The FDA does this so products can get out to the public as quickly as possible, when there’s no FDA-approved alternative, since getting actual FDA approval traditionally takes years. Still, the agency says the potential benefits of a certain product have to outweigh the potential risks. During this coronavirus pandemic, the FDA has granted EUAs for things like testing kits, ventilators, and treatments like remdesivir and convalescent plasma.
Read More: FDA, CNN, WSJ