Thursday, December 31st, 2020
New Virus Strain Spreads, Electoral College Challenge & NYE in 2020
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by BlueNile.com and NativeDeo.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 to peruse the latest happenings...
New COVID-19 Strain in CA
The U.S. now has two confirmed cases of the new COVID-19 strain that’s apparently more contagious. The latest one was reported in San Diego, California, more than 1,000 miles away from the first one near Denver, Colorado. The California case is a man in his 30s. The Colorado case is a man in his 20s. Officials say neither man has been traveling recently, so top experts say it’s likely this new strain of the virus is already spreading all over the country. The good news is it still seems like it’s no more deadly than the first strain.
Read More: LA Times, NY Times, AP
Hospitalizations Hit New Records
More than 125,000 COVID-19 patients are in American hospitals right now. That’s a pandemic record. The situation now seems to be the worst in California. At one Los Angeles hospital, five overflow tents outside the building have already been filled. Now, staffers are having to set up gurneys in the hospital’s gift shop, chapel, and conference room. If it gets much worse, health care workers are going to have to start seriously considering rationing care. The ongoing vaccinations should hopefully help eventually, but it will take at least a few months.
Read More: COVID Tracking, CBS News, CNN
Nashville Bomber Warnings
Nashville police are facing some new criticism tied to the Christmas morning bombing. The bomber’s girlfriend warned police he was making bombs in the RV about 16 months ago. However, officers never made direct contact with him or looked inside his RV. According to the police report, officers went to Anthony Warner’s home, but they didn’t have a warrant and couldn’t see any evidence of a crime from outside, so they left. Nashville police also alerted the FBI and their agents said they found no suspicious activity.
Read More: Nashville Tennessean, ABC News, FOX News, AP
Republicans Challenge Electoral College Results
Some Republicans say they’ll be challenging the presidential election results at the meeting next week when Congress is set to certify Electoral College results. Sen. Josh Hawley became the first senator to say he will object. He says he’s worried about the allegations that “some states, particularly Pennsylvania, failed to follow their own state election laws.” His challenge is unlikely to have a bearing on the outcome of the election, but it will delay the certification of Biden’s victory. It will force a debate, then a vote.
Read More: Politico, WaPo, USA Today, Sen. Hawley
New Congress Starts Sunday
A new Congress will be in place soon. Coming up on Sunday, January 3rd, all the newly-elected members of the House and Senate will be sworn into office. Also, the House will elect its speaker. However, Nancy Pelosi is running unopposed again this year, so there’s not a lot of mystery there. All these events will be held with less pomp and circumstance than usual because of the pandemic.
Read More: Roll Call, Politico, CBS News
College FB Bowl Games
It’s a big weekend for college football. Both the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl are set for tomorrow, New Year’s Day. They decide which two teams will play for the national championship title. At the Rose Bowl, Alabama will take on Notre Dame. Usually, the game happens in Pasadena, California, but this year, it will be at the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Texas because of COVID-19 restrictions in California. The Sugar Bowl will be held in New Orleans, as usual. There, Clemson will take on Ohio State. People can watch both games on ESPN.
Rose Bowl: CBS Sports, AP, ESPN
Sugar Bowl: CBS Sports, The Hill, AP
Ticketmaster Fined for Hacking Rival
Ticketmaster is being punished for essentially hacking into a rival’s network. The company agreed to pay a $10 million fine to avoid prosecution. The issue started when Ticketmaster hired someone from its competitor Crowdsurge. Then, it used that person’s old credentials, like usernames and passwords, to access the inner workings of Crowdsurge. In 2017, Crowdsurge sued for antitrust violations. Ticketmaster says the people who were involved in the scheme have since been fired and it’s happy to have the issue resolved now.
Read More: The Verge, Reuters, ABC News, DOJ
Amazon Buy Wondery
Amazon is buying the podcast company Wondery. That’s the studio behind popular titles like “Dirty John,” “Dr. Death,” and “The Shrink Next Door.” It was started in 2016 and four years later, it’s now going to Amazon in a $300 million deal. Amazon already has a music subscription business and an audiobook business, so analysts say this big buy in the podcasting space is a natural next step. As for Wondery, it doesn’t sound like too much for change for listeners after Amazon takes over. No word yet on when the deal will officially close.
Read More: CNBC, Variety, Axios, Amazon
Apple Pulls Secret Parties App
Apple pulled the plug on an app that promoted secret parties during the pandemic. Vybe Together has been removed from the app store. It was reportedly a hub for people to organize and attend underground parties that were largely kept secret. Vybe Together has also been banned on Tiktok. The company defends itself though, saying it was designed for small get-togethers, not large parties, and all this has been a misunderstanding that’s been blown out of proportion.
Read More: The Verge, Ars Technica
Weekend Meteor Shower
The first meteor shower of 2021 is set to light up the night sky this weekend. It’s called the Quadrantid meteor shower and NASA calls it one of the best every year. It will be happening from Saturday to Sunday. If the sky is clear, you might be able to spot between 60-200 meteors per hour. Quadrantids are known for bright fireball meteors too. They have larger explosions of light and color. In North America, the best time to view the show is the predawn hours of Sunday morning.
Read More: CBS News, Business Insider, NASA
Thing to Know Thursday: Virtual NYE Celebrations
People all around the world are scaling back New Year’s Eve celebrations. For example, New York’s iconic show will go on without an audience. The event will be held virtually for people to watch performances and the ball drop on streaming or TV. Also, the Netherlands moved the national countdown from an Amsterdam park, where anyone could show up, to a soccer stadium, where no spectators are allowed. Rome also scrapped public concerts in favor of live-streamed performances.
Read More: NY Times, The Guardian, AP, Variety