Monday, October 26 top news briefs
It is Monday, October 26. This is the last week before the election next Tuesday, November 3. Over 60 million people have already voted.
Here are today’s top news briefs.
Five people who work closely or near Vice President Mike Pence were infected with Covid-19 in recent days, but Pence himself and his wife Karen tested negative.
The U.S. is entering another coronavirus peak with case levels surpassing highs in July. On Friday, there were 85,000 new cases. On Saturday, there were 78,000 new cases. On Sunday, there were 59,000 new cases.
The White House told CNN that the Trump administration can’t control the pandemic and would focus on treatments and vaccines.
President Trump tweeted that the fake news media is riding the Covid-19 numbers to try and hurt his re-election bid. He said cases are up because we test, test, and test.
In sad news from the Houston area, a 3-year-old boy celebrating his birthday at a family member’s home on Saturday found a gun and accidentally shot himself in the chest. He was rushed to a fire station but died. The gun fell out of a family member’s pocket.
A Navy pilot instructor and a US Coast Guard student aviator died on Friday when their training aircraft crashed in the Mobile, Alabama area. The plane, a T-6B, was on a routine training flight but crashed into a neighborhood of homes. Nobody on the ground was injured, but both on the plane was killed. Their names were Rhiannon Ross and Morgan Garrett. It is not known what happened and there is an investigation.
There is a serious outbreak of Covid-19 cases in El Paso, Texas with over 1,400 new cases reported today. 853 people are hospitalized with 180 of them in the ICU, which is at 100% capacity. Local officials have set up additional beds at a convention center and at area hospitals to prepare for more hospitalizations. There is a curfew order from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to try and control the spread of the virus. Anyone who violates this curfew will be fined.
Tonight the Senate plans to vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as the ninth Supreme Court justice to replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Once she gets through, the Court will have a 6-3 conservative majority with three justices selected by President Trump. Democratic leaders said it was an unfair power grab because this is taking place right before the election.
The Australian state of Victoria said they recorded zero new cases of the coronavirus in a 24-hour span on Saturday. Victoria has over 6 million residents and it’s the first time since June that there were zero cases. There were strict lockdown measures such as not being able to travel more than 15 miles from home, restaurants and bars being closed, and no outdoor contact sports. These restrictions are now no longer in effect.
But in Europe, coronavirus cases are spiking. Spain and France surpassed 1 million cases last week and now both countries are imposing new restrictions again with curfews. The U.K. is also seeing a spike and imposing new rules.
A NYPD officer in Brooklyn was suspended without pay on Sunday for using a patrol car’s loudspeaker to shout, “Trump 2020” again and again.
On Saturday, a 26-year-old Florida man, James Blight, was arrested for stealing a bulldozer and using it to knock down “Biden” campaign signs in a neighborhood in Haines City. A homeowner who was impacted, Adam Burgess, said in a Facebook video that it was a racially motivated hate crime because the neighborhood has mostly Black residents. Burgess and his friends up put 30 new Biden signs around the house. Blight said he was drunk, but law enforcement said there was no excuses.
In New York City, 11 people were arrested during clashes between supporters during a “Jews For Trump” rally and counter protesters. A Trump-supporting family with children said they were pepper-sprayed through their vehicle’s open windows. The sprayer was arrested. There were street brawls. People threw eggs and rocks at the convoy.
News reports said police departments across the U.S. are preparing for violence on Election Day and after.
That is all the top news briefs for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://abc13.com/child-shot-in-montgomery-county-dies-from-shooting-himself-little-boy-on-his-birthday-3-year-old-died-after-finding-gun/7315853/
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-26/victoria-records-no-new-coronavirus-cases/12812322
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/asia-today-sri-lanka-shuts-parliament-case-detected-73828816
https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-restrictions-europe-photos-83d40078-aa87-4ca2-9d26-b57d7f499e74.html
https://twitter.com/AshontiFordBN9/status/1320426253795676160
https://www.facebook.com/adamp.burgess/videos/10104025200049081/
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/anti-protesters-attack-jews-trump-vehicle-convoy-new-york