Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Severe Storms Coming, RIP John Madden & No-Return Refunds
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Schwab.com/plan and BetterHelp.com/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…
Southern Tornado Threat
Parts of the deep south could be in for another round of severe weather today. Large hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes are possible. Accuweather meteorologists say severe weather is most likely in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. There are some big cities in that path, like Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham, and Atlanta. The storms are expected to start this afternoon and last through the evening hours. Remember, this comes just two weeks after a devastating tornado outbreak wiped out entire towns and killed at least 92 people, mostly in Kentucky. But, today’s storms are expected to stay south of the hardest-hit areas.
Read More: Weather Channel, USA Today, Nashville Tennessean, NWS
Lake Tahoe Snow Record
A different kind of severe weather is impacting western states and the Northern Plains. The National Weather Service says temperatures today will fall below -20 degrees in parts of Montana and North Dakota, but with heavy winds, it feels more like -50 degrees. Experts say these are life-threatening conditions because when it’s that cold, frostbite can happen within minutes. Over in Lake Tahoe on the California/Nevada border, it’s not quite that cold, but this week, more than 16 feet of snow fell there in just 24 hours. With that, Tahoe broke the all-time record for December snowfall set more than 50 years ago.
Read More: Reno Gazette-Journal, SF Gate, The Hill, CNN
New Covid Cases Hit Record
Nearly two years into this pandemic, Americans are still breaking Covid-19 records. The U.S. just reported its highest daily case count ever. More than 441,000 new infections were reported yesterday alone. But to be clear, that doesn’t mean 441,000 people tested positive all on one day. There may have been some backlog in the reporting after the Christmas holiday. Still, the 7-day average of new daily cases also surpassed a record. Health officials are blaming both the delta variant and the even more contagious omicron variant of Covid-19. The CDC’s latest estimates say omicron makes up nearly 60% of new cases.
Read More: CNN, Politico, USA Today, Reuters, Axios, CDC
Kids Hospitalizations Rise
New federal data show more than 2,000 American children are now in the hospital with Covid-19. That’s a 52% jump from this time last month. Health experts say there are likely a few reasons for the surge. One is that fewer children are vaccinated in the U.S. than adults. Then, there’s the fast-spreading omicron variant, and a lot more kids are traveling and seeing more people over the holidays. But, keep in mind, even though the number of hospitalizations is going up, the American Academy of Pediatrics says it’s still “uncommon” for kids to get severe symptoms from Covid-19.
Read More: NBC News, CBS News, CNN, ABC News, CDC
Former Senate Leader Harry Reid Dies
A man who once was one of the most powerful politicians in Washington D.C. has passed away. Former U.S. Sen. Harry Reid died after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. The Democratic lawmaker was the Senate majority leader for eight years, and he served a total of 30 years in the Senate until he retired in 2016. He’s best known for steering some major bills into law during the Obama administration. They include a big economic stimulus package and the Affordable Care Act. In tribute, flags are being lowered to half staff in the U.S. Capitol.
Read More: Politico, NY Times, Fox News, NPR, White House
Football Legend John Madden Dies
Today, the country is remembering a Hall of Fame football coach turned broadcaster who passed away. John Madden was 85 years old, but the NFL says his death was unexpected. Madden first became famous when he coached the Oakland Raiders and led the team to a Super Bowl. Still, it was his work as a broadcaster that made him a household name. Over three decades, he worked for every major network, and he won an unprecedented 16 Emmy awards for outstanding sports analyst. He's also the face of Madden NFL Football, which is one of the most successful sports video games of all time.
Read More: ESPN, AP, Fox News, NFL
China’s SpaceX Complaint
The new space race seems to be causing more tension between the U.S. and China. This week, China filed a complaint to the United Nations. Because of satellites from the American company SpaceX, China said its astronauts have had to take emergency action to prevent crashes. China accused the U.S. of ignoring its obligations to act responsibly in outer space. Although, none of those claims have been verified, and so far, SpaceX hasn’t commented.
Read More: Reuters, WSJ, BBC, CBS News
CDC Investigating Dozens of Cruise Ships
It seems the pandemic is once again impacting people on cruises. The CDC says it’s investigating nearly 90 cruise ships because of Covid-19 outbreaks. Disney, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian cruise lines are all included. The agency says it’ll work with each ship to lower transmission and make sure medical resources onboard aren’t overwhelmed. The trade group Cruise Lines International Association said it’s working with the CDC to ensure public health and safety, too. And a spokesperson mentioned many cruise operators have already added more measures because of the Omicron variant spreading.
Read More: WSJ, Axios, MarketWatch, WaPo, CDC
Riot Games Gender Discrimination Settlement
A popular video game company has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit. The suit was first filed back in 2018 by two ex-employees of the esports giant, Riot Games. In it, they said they were sexually harassed and discriminated against for being women. Eventually, 2,300 former and current employees joined the suit. Riot Games will also pay to start a diversity and inclusion program and let third parties assign employee roles. The company released a statement, taking responsibility for the past and promising to do better. A judge still has to give the settlement the final okay. That is expected to happen in the next few months.
Read More: WaPo, Engadget, The Verge, Axios, DFEH
Retailers Struggle with Gift Returns
This year, a lot of stores say they aren’t equipped to handle the usual after-Christmas rush of returns. Now, many online retailers are looking for a better way to deal with them. Some, like Amazon, will sometimes tell you to keep your items. But it will still refund your money because it’s not always worth the cost and the hassle to take the items back. Meanwhile, other stores are calling in help from companies like Optoro, used by stores like Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and American Eagle. It processes returns, stores the item, and relists the product for sale again.
Read More: Axios, CBS News, WSJ, Today
Smart Glasses Arriving in 2022
The biggest thing from Apple since the iPhone may be arriving in the new year. There are rumors and leaks that the tech giant is launching AR/VR glasses, a headset that would have augmented reality and virtual reality. Augmented reality overlays computer information on images of the real world, and virtual reality places a screen so close to your eyes that your brain is tricked into thinking you are in a computer-generated world. For now, nothing is confirmed. Already, there is a lot of competition in the smart glasses market. CNET reports there should be a whole new wave of smart glasses in the new year, in addition to what’s already available.
Read More: CNET (1), CNET (2), Forbes, Fast Company, WSJ
Work Wednesday: Best Places to Work in 2021
With Americans spending the bulk of their waking hours at their job, it’s important to enjoy where you work. The HR tech and analysis company Glassdoor went through thousands of their employee reviews to make a list of the top 50 best companies to work for. The consulting company Bain & Co. came in at number one. Next on the list was the tech company Nvidia. As CBS News points out, some of America's most buzzed-about tech companies, like Netflix, Snapchat, and Twitter, didn’t even crack the top 50. But others did, like Google at number 6, Microsoft at 9, and Meta came in at number 11.
Read More: CBS News, Glassdoor