Friday, December 31st 2021
Thousands Evacuated, NYE Celebrations & Harry Potter Reunion
All the news you need in around 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 the latest happenings...
CO Wildfire Evacuations
Tens of thousands of Americans were forced to leave home just before the New Year’s holiday. Fast-moving wildfires broke out in Boulder County, Colorado, about 20 miles northwest of Denver. They are being fueled by extremely strong winds. The winds knocked down power lines, causing fires all over the country. 600 homes, a hotel, and a shopping center are thought to have burned. At least seven people were hurt, including a first responder. People there could get some relief today, though. The National Weather Service says up to a foot of snow could fall in Boulder.
Read more: AP, Denver Gazette, ABC News, Fox News, CNN, NWS
CDC: Avoid Cruise Travel
A lot of winter vacation plans are being postponed or canceled due to Covid-19. The CDC raised its travel warning for cruise ships to the highest level, warning Americans to avoid them - vaccinated or not. Health experts say Covid-19 spreads easily in close quarters on ships. A trade group that represents businesses in the cruise industry says it’s disappointed by the warnings. It pointed out that cases on cruise ships still make up a very small majority of everyone on board. Either way, cruises are allowed to keep sailing, at least for now.
Read more: CBS News, WaPo, NY Times, WSJ, CDC
More Travel Woes
Additionally, airlines have canceled thousands of flights every day for the last week. Many more have been delayed. Airlines say the problem is that a lot of crew members are out sick with Covid-19 or quarantining. Bad weather across the country is also to blame. Delays and cancellations are already adding up for today, tomorrow, and Sunday, too. Train travel is also suffering. Amtrak is scaling back its schedule between today and next Friday. It’s also in response to a spike in Covid-19 cases among employees. The Amtrak routes cut only makeup about 1.5% of the trains scheduled for the week.
Flight Cancellations Continue: USA Today, NY Times, WSJ, AP, FlightAware
Amtrak Canceling Trains: WaPo, Axios, The Hill
Latest CDC Report on Kids’ Vaccines
The CDC released two new studies about getting kids vaccinated. One looked at hundreds of kids in hospitals with Covid-19 in six American cities. It found nearly all of them who got seriously sick were not vaccinated. The other study found that serious problems among 5-11-year-olds who got the kid-sized Pfizer vaccine were extremely rare. There were concerns that the vaccines could cause rare heart-related side effects, but at this point, eight million doses of the Pfizer shots have gone out to kids in younger age groups, and only .0001% ended up with the heart issue. They all recovered.
Read more: Reuters, NY Times, The Hill, CDC
Teva Found Liable in Opioid Case
Another pharmaceutical giant is being held responsible for the opioid crisis. A jury found Teva Pharmaceuticals and other small companies liable in a New York case. New York's attorney general argued that Teva and others misled Americans about the true dangers of opioids. Teva is already planning to appeal. One of the company’s lawyers says it's the state who is responsible since it did not have a good system of monitoring suspicious orders. Thousands of similar cases have been filed around the county.
Read more: NY Times, WSJ, Reuters, CNN, Axios, NY AG
Trucker’s Sentence Reduced
We have an update to a story we brought you about a truck driver who was sentenced to 110 years in prison for causing a deadly crash. Millions of people signed a petition calling for his sentence to be reduced since the driver didn't intend to crash or kill anyone. It seems the public outcry worked. This week, Colorado’s governor changed the driver’s sentence from 110 years to 10 years in prison. Now, the governor says he hopes this case spurs a discussion about sentencing laws.
Read more: KMGH, CBS News, AP, ABC News, Gov. Polis
Top NYE Celebrations Preview
It’s time to say goodbye to 2021. And many cities have big plans for tonight. Some really get creative when it comes to their countdowns and ball drops. Just to name a few: the city of Miami will drop a 2,000-pound sign of an orange wearing sunglasses to ring in the new year. In Las Cruces, New Mexico, they keep it spicy by dropping an oversized chili pepper. Boise, Idaho drops a giant potato. A lot of this year’s celebrations are in-person again, but officials encourage masks, and some are requiring proof of vaccination.
Read more: Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Guardian, WABC, NY Times
Unemployment Claims Hit Pandemic Low
There’s another good sign for the U.S. economy heading into the new year, despite coronavirus fears. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest of the pandemic. In fact, that number is trending near a half-century low. New applications dropped down to 198,000. That’s about 8,000 lower than the week before. It’s a sign that companies are not laying many people off right now. The Labor Department says there are four million more jobs available than there are workers.
Read more: Fox Business, WSJ, ABC News, DOL
Tesla Recall
Nearly half a million Tesla Model 3 and Model S cars are recalled. It's because of problems with the trunk latch. For the Model 3, Tesla says the opening and closing of the trunk could damage the cable harness, which is attached to the rearview camera. That could cause the camera to fail. Tesla says it will install a new cable harness for free. On the Model S, the issue could make the front trunk fly open on its own, which would be dangerous if the car was in motion. For this, Tesla will reposition the latch to make sure the trunk closes.
Read more: The Verge, Fox Business, Axios, Reuters, NHTSA
Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl Today
By the end of the day, we’ll know which two teams are going to face off in the National College Football Championship. The top four teams are playing in semi-final games. At the Cotton Bowl, the reigning national champion, Alabama, is taking on Cincinnati. The second game today features Michigan and Georgia at the Orange Bowl in Florida. The winners of these bowl games will face each other at the national championship on Monday, January 10th.
Read more: ESPN, CBS Sports, SI
NHL Winter Classic
For the hockey fans, the NHL is still planning to play its annual outdoor game, the NHL Winter Classic. The Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues will face off tomorrow in downtown Minneapolis, where the temperatures aren’t expected to be above zero.
Read more: Bleacher Report, WCCO, KSTP
“Harry Potter 20th Anniversary” Premiere
This holiday weekend, you can take a magic-filled trip down memory lane, back to Hogwarts. HBO Max will air the “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts” tomorrow. You can expect to see your favorite cast members of the beloved franchise, including the big three: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and many more. One person is noticeably missing, the creator of the “Harry Potter” book series, J.K. Rowling. However, it’s not clear if she was purposely left out of the reunion or if she turned down an invitation.
Read more: HBO Max, Variety, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly
Feel Good Friday: 11-Year-Old Saves 2 Lives
An 11-year-old boy from Oklahoma saved two lives on the same day. Muskogee police say Davyon Johnson saved a classmate from choking by giving the kid the Heimlich. Then, on his way home from school, Davyon and his mom saw smoke and fire coming from the back of a house. His mom called 911 while Davyon knocked on the front door to make sure the people inside got out. Most of the people got outside quickly, but one older woman with a walker was having trouble. So, Davyon guided her to safety.
Read more: ABC News, NY Times, Enid News