Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Wake-UP Call: U-S Sets Record For COVID Cases


The U-S hit a record-high number of daily COVID-19 cases yesterday. The seven-day average of 254,496 cases surpassed the previous high number, recorded on January 11, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. "January is going to be a really, really hard month," Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNN.
 

The Omicron variant now makes up about 59 percent of all new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The remaining 41 percent of cases are the older Delta variant.

Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. are struggling with the largest increases in cases.

Harry Reid
➤SENATOR HARRY REID DIES: Retired U.S. Senator Harry Reid, whose 30-year Senate career was capped by eight years as Democratic majority leader of the Senate, has died. He was 82. Born in Searchlight, Nevada, Reid worked his way through George Washington University law school by working as an officer for the Capitol Police. He became the Democratic Party's Senate leader in 2004.

➤JUDGE REFUSES TO DISMISS CAPITOL CHARGES: A federal judge has declined to dismiss an indictment against four alleged leaders of the Proud Boys group for conspiring to attack the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly rejected the argument that their conduct was protected by the First Amendment right to free speech. All four men are in jail awaiting trial.

➤VIDEO GAME MAKER AGREES TO PAY $100 MILLION FOR DISCRIMINATION: Riot Games, a maker of popular video games, has agreed to pay $100 million to about 2,300 current and former female employees as compensation for gender discrimination and workplace harassment. Riot Games is owned by the Chinese company Tencent. Its flagship game is League of Legends. The settlement still needs a final approval from the Los Angeles Superior Court.

➤FLIGHT CANCELATIONS CONTINUE: Another 1,200 U.S. flights were canceled yesterday as the widespread disruption to air travel dragged into a fifth day. That makes a total of about 5,900 holiday-season flights canceled by the major American airlines. Most were due to a shortage of crew and staff, though the snowstorms out West didn't help.


➤$4 GAS COULD BE HERE BY MEMORIAL DAY, GASBUDDY PREDICTS:  It’s early winter, but gas prices could be quite high by Memorial Day. A new forecast from GasBuddy predicts the national average for a gallon of gas will rise to $3.41 a gallon in 2022, up from $3.02 a gallon this year. GasBuddy also predicts prices at the pump will peak nationally at a monthly average of $3.79 in May, before finally retreating below current levels by late 2022. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, says, “We could see a national average that flirts with, or in worst-case scenario, potentially exceeds $4 a gallon.” AAA reported Monday (December 27th) that the national average for a gallon of gas fell to $3.29, down from the peak of $3.42 on November 8th.
 
🏠HOME PRICE GROWTH SLOWS A BIT: The growth in prices of homes in the U.S. slowed a bit in October for the third straight month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index. However, prices still posted a 19.1 percent gain over the same month in the previous year. The index is a composite of prices in 20 U.S. cities, and every one of them showed price increases.

CHECK IT OUT: For the breakdown by city, click here.



➤TIME CAPSULE OPENED: A time capsule removed from the pedestal of Richmond, Virginia's Robert E. Lee statue has been opened and found to contain various odds and ends of 1865-vintage memorabilia. 
There was a Harper's Weekly magazine with an illustration of a mourner weeping over Abraham Lincoln's grave, plus a Bible, a Richmond directory, some Civil War-era bullets, and some coins, books and letters. Conservators will continue to study the items.

🏈COLTS' WENTZ OUT FOR 10 DAYS: Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Carson Wentz is paying the price for remaining unvaccinated. He was added to the COVID-19 list yesterday. Since he's not vaccinated, that means he's out for 10 days, including Sunday's big game against Las Vegas Raiders.The NFL just changed its rules to allow vaccinated players with no symptoms to return after five days in quarantine.
 
The Colts could get an AFC playoff spot if they defeat the Raiders on Sunday.


🏈JOHN MADDEN DIES AT AGE 85: John Madden, the Super Bowl-winning coach of the Raiders and long-time NFL broadcaster, died yesterday. Madden was head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 through 1978 and took the team to Super Bowl XI at the end of the 1976 season. He provided color commentary for NFL broadcasts for the next 30 years.

🏈HOLIDAY BOWL CANCELED: One more college bowl game isn't happening this year. The UCLA Bruins pulled out of their game in San Diego against the North Carolina State Wolfpack because of COVID-19 cases in the program. The cancellation came yesterday just hours before the game was to be played. Previously canceled games include the Arizona Bowl, the Hawaii Bowl, the Fenway Bowl, and the Military Bowl.

🏈TOM BRADY TOLD TO CHILL OUT: The NFL has warned Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady to stop taking out his frustrations on their tablet devices. After his team's shutout loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 15, Brady tossed a Microsoft Surface tablet used on the sideline over his shoulder, where it bounced several times before landing. On the podcast Let's Go, Brady said the NFL has warned him not to do that again or he'll be fined.

🏒RED WINGS MISS ANOTHER GAME: The Detroit Red Wings won't be playing the New York Islanders today after all. The game has been postponed due to COVID-19. The Red Wings haven't played since December 18, when they defeated the New Jersey Devils.

The NHL postponed nine games scheduled to be played in Canada due to crowd restrictions there.

⛄17 FEET OF SNOW! Nearly 17 feet of snow has fallen so far this month in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California, according to the University of California at Berkeley's Central Sierra Snow Laboratory. It was a record for the location as far back as 1970. Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist at the snow lab, told CNN that still more snow is needed to alleviate the severe drought conditions of previous months.







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