Month: October 2020

President Donald Trump announced early Friday morning that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for COVID-19 and will begin to quarantine immediately.

Trump wrote on Twitter, “Tonight @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!.”  The President had previously tweeted that he and the first lady received COVID-19 tests Thursday night, after top Trump aide Hope Hicks tested positive for the virus.  Trump wrote, “Hope Hicks, who has been working so hard without even taking a small break, has just tested positive for COVID-19. Terrible!” Hicks travels with Trump frequently, including as recently as his trip to Cleveland on Tuesday for the first presidential debate.

White House spokesman Judd Deere issued a statement on Thursday night saying Trump “takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously. White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the president is traveling.”

President Trump and first lady Melania test positive for COVID-19

Via www.cbsnews.com

The president made the announcement on Twitter, saying he and Melania would begin the quarantine…

10/02/2020 4:57 AM

 

Editorial credit: mark reinstein / Shutterstock.com

Additional evacuations were ordered on Thursday in Northern California, as residents in the area braced for a return of powerful winds that could worsen the wildfires raging in the region’s wine country. The evacuations in the Napa Valley came as forecasters issued a red flag warning, the highest alert for wildfire danger, across large swaths of Northern, Central and Southern California. The alert went into effect on Thursday afternoon and is expected to remain in place through Friday. Napa and Sonoma counties, north of San Francisco, remained threatened by the Glass Fire, which ignited overnight Sunday in the Napa Valley and burned through nearly 57,000 acres as of Thursday afternoon. About 70,000 people were under evacuation orders

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday pleaded with residents to heed evacuation orders, saying that the red flag weather conditions will likely turn the vast majority of embers whipped up by powerful winds into likely sources of ignition. Officials extended a hazardous air warning through Tuesday, pushing the number of “spare the air” alerts issued this year to a record 41.

Crews face strong winds while battling California fires

Via www.cbsnews.com

Firefighters are having to deal with extreme winds and above-average temperatures as they work…

10/01/2020 8:27 PM

 

On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to pass a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill, despite both parties in Congress and the Trump administration remaining divided on what the package should include. The House voted 214-207 mostly along party lines to pass the measure Thursday night. 

The measure is an update to the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act that passed in the House in May but never made it to the Senate floor. It includes $600 in weekly unemployment benefits through January and a second round of $1,200 payments mailed to taxpayers as well as a $500 check for dependents. It also sets aside $182 billion for grade schools, $39 billion for post-secondary institutions and $57 billion for childcare support, and would add funds to the Paycheck Protection Program.

However, the bill is not expected to move beyond the House as Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has opposed the legislation, proposing a narrower measure that was blocked by Democrats.

House passes $2.2 trillion Democratic coronavirus stimulus bill

Via www.cnbc.com

The House passed a $2.2 trillion Democratic coronavirus stimulus plan on Thursday night even as…

10/01/2020 8:17 PM

 

Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that an arrest has been made of a man accused of shooting two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies ambush-style earlier this month in Compton, California.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey said 36-year-old Deonte Lee Murray, was expected to be arraigned on two counts of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder of a peace officer and two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon. Lacey announced the arrest and charges during a news conference with other law enforcement officials.

Law enforcement officials have been searching for a gunman in the Sept. 12 shooting, which left two Los Angeles Sheriff’s office deputies critically wounded, each with a gunshot to the head. Police believe the suspect acted alone. LASD Homicide Bureau Capt. Kent Wegener declined to reveal a motive for the shootings, but said Murray “obviously hates policemen and wants them dead.”

Suspect charged in ambush-style shooting of 2 Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies

Via www.cbsnews.com

Authorities have arrested and charged 36-year-old Deonte Lee Murray in connection with an…

09/30/2020 6:59 PM

 

Editorial credit: Elliott Cowand Jr / Shutterstock.com