Monday, November 15, 2021

Wake-Up Call: Astroworld Death Toll Rises To 10


A nine-year-old boy who'd been in a medically-induced coma after being severely injured during the Astroworld festival tragedy died yesterday, becoming the 10th and youngest victim. 

Ezra Blount of Dallas was attending rapper Travis Scott's Houston festival with his father on November 5th when he was injured in a crowd surge. Blount's father, Treston Blount, had said in a GoFundMe page set up to help pay for his son's medical expenses that Ezra had been sitting on his shoulders when a crowd surge crushed them. 

He lost consciousness, and when he came to, his son was missing. His family is seeking at least $1 million in damages.



➤VIRTUAL SUMMIT BETWEEN BIDEN AND CHINA'S XI SET FOR TODAY: President Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping will hold a virtual summit this evening, however the White House is setting low expectations for the virtual call, saying no major announcements are expected to come from it. Both countries are looking to reduce tensions between them, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying they will discuss how to manage the countries’ competition and cooperate in areas where their interests align.


➤CLOSING ARGUMENTS TODAY IN RITTENHOUSE TRIAL: Closing arguments from the prosecution and defense are set for today in Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial in Wisconsin for fatally shooting two men and injuring a third during protests in August 2020 in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The 18-year-old Rittenhouse's defense has argued he fired in self-defense. Prosecutors on Friday asked the judge to let the jury consider several lesser charges if they acquit Rittenhouse on the original counts, and he indicated he would allow some of what they'd requested when he gives the jury their instructions.

➤EX-NEW ORLEANS MAYOR LANDRIEU TO SUPERVISE INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN: The White House said Sunday that President Biden has chosen former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as supervisor of his $1 trillion infrastructure plan, who'll coordinate across federal agencies to work on roads, ports, bridges and airports. Landrieu led New Orleans as it recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Katarina, and the White House said he turned it into "one of America’s great comeback stories." Biden will sign the infrastructure legislation today.

➤DRINKING COFFEE HELPS TO IMPROVE MOOD AS DAYLIGHT HOURS DECREASE:  Coffee is beloved by many, and now researchers have found drinking it can improve mood as the daylight hours decrease. A pan-European study funded by the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee found that more than a quarter of adults experience depression and increased feelings of sadness as it gets closer to winter. Twenty-one percent say they become more anxious as the days grow darker, while 24 percent say they find it harder to concentrate, and 25 percent say the shorter days make them lose their motivation to exercise. Twenty percent of respondents say they drank coffee to improve their mood, with 29 percent saying they drink more coffee as the days get shorter to feel more energized, and 21 percent saying drinking the coffee helped with concentration. An analysis of existing data also found that 75 mg of caffeine every four hours can result in a pattern of sustained improvement of mood over the day, and that the scent of coffee may enhance working memory and stimulate alertness. Still, drinking too much caffeine can cause sleep issues, and in high quantities it can cause severe disturbances to the heart and nervous system.

👑QUEEN ELIZABETH MISSES REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY WITH SPRAINED BACK: Queen Elizabeth missed the Remembrance Sunday service yesterday, one of the most important events on her calender that pays tribute to Britain's war dead, because she sprained her back. The news from Buckingham Palace came ahead of the event that was supposed to be the 95-year-old queen's first public appearance after following doctor's orders to take a few weeks off to rest. That came after she spent the night in the hospital last month after being admitted for medical tests.

🏩LEASE SOLD FOR TRUMP INTERNATIONAL HOTEL IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump Organization had reached a deal with CGI Merchant Group for the investment fund to buy the lease for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for $375 million. CGI Merchant Group is expected to remove Trump's name from the hotel and is partnering with Hilton Worldwide Holdings to brand it a Waldorf Astoria, according to CNN. The General Servcies Administration must approve the deal, since the property, which is the Old Post Office building, is owned by the federal government. The GSA awarded the lease for the building to the Trump Organization in 2012 and the hotel opened in 2016, while Donald Trump was running for president.

➤AP: 'SESAME STREET' TO DEBUT ITS FIRST ASIAN AMERICAN MUPPET: Sesame Street will be introducing its first Asian American muppet, a Korean American girl name Ji-Young, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Ji-Young is seven years old and loves playing the electric guitar and skateboarding. She'll make her debut in See Us Coming Together: A Sesame Street Special, which will air on Thanksgiving Day on HBO Max, local PBS stations, and Sesame Street social media platforms. Celebrities appearing in the special include Simu Liu, Padma Lakshmi and Naomi Osaka.

🎄STUDY..PEOPLE WHO DECORATE EARLIER FOR CHRISTMAS ARE HAPPIER:  If you love the holidays so much that you're already started putting up your Christmas decorations, even though Thanksgiving is still a week and a half away, it could actually reflect positive things about your personality. A new study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that people who put up their Christmas decorations early tend to be happier and friendlier. Psychologists say decorations spark nostalgia and good feelings about simpler, happier times, and also help boost dopamine. Psychologist Deborah Serani told the Today show, "It does create that neurological shift that can produce happiness. I think anything that takes us out of . . . the normal day in, day out . . . signals our senses, and then our senses measure if it’s pleasing or not."

💒WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER CLAIMS SHE CAN TELL WHEN A MARRIAGE IS DOOMED FROM DAY ONE:  Wedding photographers can tell a lot about a couple. Recently, a young wedding photographer took to TikTok (username @shaylamherrington) to say she was photographing a wedding with a seasoned professional, someone who’d been in the business 10 to 15 years, and they told her there were three signs a couple wouldn’t make it for the long haul. She goes on to explain the first sign is if one of the spouses takes more than three photos without their partner, the second is if the bridesmaids or groomsmen will avoid talking about the spouse in any context, and the third is when the couple spend more time with family and friends than with each other during the day. Some people on TikTok agreed, while others noted there could be exceptions to these rules.

🏫STUDY...STUDENTS WHO REPEAT A GRADE EXPERIENCE MORE BULLYING:  Kids who have repeated a grade in school have higher risks of being victims of bullying in countries across the world. Researchers from China found that worldwide, about 12 percent of students had repeated a grade, and 30.32 percent of these students reported having experienced bullying at least a few times a month during the previous year. Girls who had repeated a grade had higher risks of being made fun of compared to boys who had repeated a grade, and also had higher risks of being threatened, having possessions taken away, and being pushed around. Study authors note, “These results are of great concern for parents, teachers, principals, and policymakers at different levels, especially in countries where grade repetition is particularly prevalent.”

🏈NFL SCORES -- WEEK 10:
  • Dallas Cowboys 43, Atlanta Falcons 3
  • Tennessee Titans 23, New Orleans Saints 21
  • Indianapolis Colts 23, Jacksonville Jaguars 17
  • New England Patriots 45, Cleveland Browns 7
  • Buffalo Bills 45, New York Jets 17
  • Detriot Lions 16, Pittsburgh Steelers 16 (OT)
  • Washington Football Team 29, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19
  • Carolina Panthers 34, Arizona Cardinals 10
  • Minnesota Vikings 27, Los Angeles Chargers 20
  • Philadelphia Eagles 30, Denver Broncos 13
  • Green Bay Packers 17, Seattle Seahawks 0
  • Kansas City Chiefs 41, Las Vegas Raiders 14
Monday Night Football game on ESPN: L-A Rams at San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET)


🏈STEELERS VS. LIONS ENDS IN NFL'S FIRST TIE SINCE WEEK 3 OF 2020 SEASON: The good news for the Detroit Lions yesterday was that they didn't lose again, but the bad news was they didn't win either, as their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers ended at 16-16 after overtime in the NFL's first tie since Week 3 of the 2020 season. According to ESPN, at least one player, Steelers rookie running back Najee Harris, didn't even know there were ties in the NFL. The Steelers were playing without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday.

🏈PACKERS SHUT OUT SEAHAWKS AS RODGERS, WILSON RETURN: The Green Bay Packers shut out the Seattle Seahawks 17-0 yesterday in the return of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers after missing last week when he tested positive for Covid-19. Seattle was shut out for the first time in a decade in a return for quarterback Russell Wilson that didn't have the same positive result. Wilson was back after missing three games, during which he had surgery for an injury to the middle finger on his throwing hand.

🏈NEWTON GETS TOUCHDOWNS ON FIRST TWO PLAYS BACK WITH PANTHERS: Quarterback Cam Newton had a happy homecoming to the Carolina Panthers yesterday, getting touchdowns on his first two plays as Carolina beat the Arizona Cardinals 34-10. Newton backed up P.J. Walker, who'd replaced the injured Sam Darnold, and produced on the first two of his eight plays. He scored on a two-yard run less than four minutes into the game, and then had a two-yard touchdown pass on his second play. Newton signed a one-year deal with the Panthers Thursday, the franchise that drafted him Number 1 overall in 2011, and for whom he won MVP honors in 2015. He was cut by them before the 2020 season and went to the New England Patriots, who released him in August after one season.

🏈WASHINGTON'S YOUNG INJURED, MAY BE TORN ACL: Washington Football Team defensive end Chase Young injured his knee yesterday in the second quarter of Washington's 29-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and head coach Ron Rivera said the team fears he tore his ACL. Rivera said Young will have further tests today. Young, the Number 2 pick in the 2020 draft, was named NFL Defense Rookie of the Year last season.

🏀SUNS GET EIGHTH STRAIGHT WIN AS ROCKETS LOSE 11TH STRAIGHT: Both the Phoenix Suns and the Houston Rockets continued their streaks but in opposite directions last night as the Suns trounced the Rockets 115-89. It was the eighth straight win for Phoenix and the 11th straight loss for Houston, which is an NBA worst 1-12. Devin Booker led the Suns with 26 points and JaVale McGee had 19.


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