theNewsWorthy: Friday, November 9th, 2018
ALL THE NEWS YOU NEED - IN ONE PLACE.
(in less than 10 minutes!)
Today's sponsor is Babbel, the #1 selling language learning app in the world. Go to Babbel.com and use promo code 'NEWS' to get 50% off your first three months.
Want more? I got you.
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 perusing the latest happenings...
Shooting Update: Let me start by saying a crowd of people spent hours in line to donate blood to injured victims yesterday, and thousands lined a freeway during the procession for Sgt. Ron Helus, who died when he responded to the scene. At least 12 people died, plus the shooter. Police say the gunman was a 28 year old war veteran, who killed himself. It was college night at the country music bar in a Los Angeles suburb when the shooting happened late Wednesday night. At least some of the survivors, and one victim, were also at the country music festival in Las Vegas where a shooting happened last year. President Trump called on flags to fly at half staff to honor the victims.
Read more: LA Times, AP, NYT, Twitter, CNN, Time
CA Wildfires: Wildfires around the same Southern California neighborhood where that shooting happened forced more than 1,000 people to evacuate their homes yesterday. Also, a bigger, out-of-control wildfire, north of Sacramento, caused tens of thousands of people to evacuate a community called Paradise. The fire has already destroyed hundreds of buildings.
Read more: USA Today, Sacramento Bee, ABC News
New Asylum Rules: The Trump administration is using special national security powers to change an immigration rule. The new rule says anyone who comes into the U.S. illegally is no longer eligible for asylum. He says everyone who wants asylum protections must report to official ports of entry. Immigration advocates say it violates existing laws, so expect it to become a legal fight. This is Trump's response to the group of Central American migrants who are heading to the U.S. (but they're currently in Mexico City).
Read more: NPR, FOX News, Time, Reuters, BBC
FL Recounts: Post-election drama in Florida: both the races for governor and U.S. Senate are so close, there might have to be recounts. Now, one candidate is claiming there's been fraud. The outgoing governor, Rick Scott, who ran for Senate, asked state officials to investigate two local election offices. Meanwhile, vote counts this weekend will determine if recounts are necessary. Florida law mandates recounts if the margin is than .5 percentage points. Stay tuned.
Read more: CNN, FOX News, AP
Justice RBG: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is in the hospital. She fell and has three broken ribs. At 85, she's the oldest Supreme Court Justice. Because of her age, some democrats are concerned about how much longer she'll be on the bench. President Trump has already appointed two new justices, who are more conservative.
Read more: USA Today
Girl Scouts vs Boy Scouts: The Girl Scouts are suing the Boy Scouts (no, they're not connected). The Girl Scouts are not happy about the Boy Scouts' plan to drop the 'boy' part of its name when it starts welcoming girls into one of its programs.
Read more: CNN
Fewer Americans Smoking: The number of Americans smoking cigarettes is at its lowest ever recorded. The latest survey found 14% of U.S. adults are smoking cigarettes, although health officials still say too many Americans use tobacco products.
Read more: CBS News
Cord-Cutting & Disney+: Fewer Americans are watching cable and satellite TV. A research firm found 1.1 million people cut the cord just in the third quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, Disney announced its new streaming video service will be called Disney+ and is set to launch in late 2019.
Read more:USA Today // Disney+: CNBC, The Verge, WSJ, Variety
Walmart AI : Walmart plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to run its stores more efficiently. It'll be testing its new 'Intelligent Retail Lab" inside one of its New York stores. Apparently, the AI will be used to do things like recognize when items are running low on stock.
Read more: TechCrunch