Friday, October 9th, 2020
Hurricane to Hit Gulf Coast, Kidnapping Plot Busted & Driverless Taxis Available
All the news you need in less than 10 min:
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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 the latest happenings...
LA Preparing for Hurricane Delta
People who live along the Louisiana coastline are now either evacuated or hunkered down as Hurricane Delta approaches. Delta is a Category 3 storm, packing more than 120 mile-an-hour winds and life-threatening storm surge. It’s expected to make landfall in southwestern Louisiana tonight. That area is still dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Laura. Relief workers have traveled to Louisiana from out-of-state and President Trump declared a federal emergency to free up resources.
Read More: Weather Channel, USA Today, Reuters, AP, NHC, Red Cross
Plot Against Michigan Governor
The FBI says it stopped a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor. Six men are accused of having a detailed scheme to abduct Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. They allegedly held rehearsals to snatch her from her vacation home before the November election. Separately, seven men linked to a militia group called the Wolverine Watchmen were arrested. Investigators say they were planning to storm the Michigan capitol and start a civil war. The two groups allegedly trained together. Authorities say they discussed setting off explosives in several locations to divert police away from the area near Whitmer’s home.
Read More: The Detroit News, AP, NY Times, Reuters, Trump Tweet
Next Presidential Debate Uncertain
Plans for the next presidential debate are up in the air. President Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden were supposed to face off in a town hall-style debate next week, on Thursday, October 15th. Yesterday, the nonpartisan panel in charge of these debates announced it would be held virtually. However, Trump said if it’s not in person, he won’t take part. Now it seems on Thursday, the candidates are going to hold individual campaign events instead. Trump’s campaign manager says the president will hold a rally, though it’s not clear where yet.
Read More: AP, WSJ. Politico, Commission on Presidential Debates
Trump Health Update
Expect to see President Trump back on the campaign trail as soon as tomorrow. The president’s physician, Dr. Sean Conley, wrote a memo that said Trump has “completed the course of his therapy for COVID-19” and that he’s allowed to resume “public engagements” this weekend. Dr. Conley also said Trump has been responding well to treatment since he left the hospital Monday and that his vital signs are stable. President Trump told FOX News he’d like to hold a rally in Florida tomorrow, if there’s enough time to put the event together.
Read More: AP, Reuters, WaPo, Axios, CDC
NFL Reschedules More Games
The NFL is again shuffling its schedule as more players test positive for COVID-19. The New England Patriots and Denver Broncos game is moving from Sunday to Monday. Then, the Titans game against the Buffalo Bills is going from Sunday to Tuesday. Both the Patriots and Titans have returned positive tests this week. The NFL is reportedly thinking about adding an 18th week of play to accommodate rescheduled games. That part is still up in the air.
Read More: WaPo, SI, ESPN
Driverless Taxis Open to Public
Waymo is expanding its driverless taxi service. People in the Phoenix area can now hail rides in minivans that are fully autonomous, meaning they have no driver and no attendant. People with the Waymo One service can book the robo-taxis now. In a few weeks, this is going to be available to anyone with Waymo’s smartphone app. Reuters will reportedly take them anywhere they need to go within 50 miles. The company hasn’t said when it will expand the service to other cities and states.
Read More: TechCrunch, Reuters, Ars Technica
Android’s New Sound Notifications
Google has rolled out a new feature that could be a game-changer for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. With the new operating system, Android phones can detect certain sounds, then send a push notification about them. For example, the phone can give you a heads-up if your smoke alarm is going off, or if there are sirens outside. It can also let you know if a baby is crying or a dark is barking. The new feature, called Sound Notifications, can identify 10 distinct sounds.
Read More: The Verge, Engadget, Google
Prince William, David Attenborough’s ‘Earthshot’ Award
Prince William and the famous nature scientist David Attenborough are joining forces. They’re launching something called the “Earthshot Prize.” It gives money to people, organizations, or projects working to find innovative ways to protect the environment. Over the next decade, five winners will be picked each year. They’ll be given £1 million (about $1.3 million) to continue their work. With £50m to be awarded over a decade, the "Earthshot Prize" is the biggest environmental prize ever.
Read More: AP, CNBC, BBC, Earthshot
Harry, Meghan, Malala Yousafzai Initiative
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are joining activist Malala Yousafzai in a video chat over the weekend. The trio will discuss the pandemic and how it’s making it more difficult for girls around the world to access education. The conversation will be released on the Malala Fund’s YouTube channel and website on Sunday, to mark the International Day of the Girl. In 2011 the United Nations declared Oct. 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child to promote girls’ rights and address the challenges girls face around the world.
Read More: AP, The Hill, People
H&M Recycling Old Clothes
The fashion brand H&M is taking recycling to a new level. Starting Monday, the company will let people turn in their old clothes to its store in Stockholm, Sweden. The garments will be put into a machine called Looop. That machine will shred them into fibers that are used to create one of three new items: a sweater, a scarf, or a baby blanket. The transformation will take about five hours. For now, this is only available in Sweden.
Read More: CNN, Fast Company, H&M
Feel Good Friday: 7-Year-Old Starts Nonprofit
A Maryland second-grader has managed to organize a massive fundraiser to help people in need. 7-year-old Cavanaugh Bell started by using his own birthday and Christmas money back in March. He put care packages together for seniors. Soon, other people started chipping in, so Cavanagh has since opened up a full food pantry that’s been able to help 5,000 people in Maryland so far. He also pulled together $50,000 worth of food, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Read More: WaPo, People, Cool & Dope