The Daily Moth 1-24-2020
Hello, welcome to the Daily Moth! It is Friday, January 24. We’re doing today’s news LIVE. Ready for the first story?
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Second U.S. person infected with Wuhan coronavirus
The CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that there is a second person with Wuhan coronavirus — a woman from Chicago who is in her 60’s. She was in Wuhan, China and returned to Chicago on January 13. She did not have symptoms when she was traveling, but was recently hospitalized and is in isolation. The first U.S. case was a man in Washington state.
There is now about 900 people confirmed infected in China and the death toll is now at least 26 people.
The WHO World Health Organization decided in a meeting yesterday that it is too early to declare this outbreak an “international health emergency.” WHO said it is an emergency in China, but is not a global emergency.
In Wuhan, construction workers are working on building a 1,000 bed hospital in only 10 days using prefabricated material.
https://www.axios.com/china-coronavirus-outbreak-deaths-6035c396-8b96-4b27-8111-843e95febb1e.html
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Houston explosion kills two, rocks neighborhood
Here is the next news story.
About 4:00 this morning, there was a large explosion at a factory-like site in Houston that killed at least two people. It blew out windows of homes in the area and woke up residents, who said they felt their homes shake.
The New York Times published an image of the blast site, which showed a charred site filled with debris and severe damage to buildings surrounding it. One homeowner posted a video from a camera mounted on his window that showed a huge blast and fireball.
Police are now investigating if it was arson. It is not known if the two people who died worked at the site.
There is a shelter set up at a church for people who had their homes damaged.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/us/houston-explosion.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
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34 US troops diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from Iranian missile strike
Here is the next news story.
The Pentagon said today that 34 U.S. service members were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries after the Iranian missile attack that targeted two bases in Iraq where U.S. soldiers were staying at. This happened on January 8.
President Trump previously said that there were no U.S. troops injured. He said a couple days ago that he heard some had headaches and a couple of other things, but it is not very serious compared to other injuries he’s seen.
It is unclear how serious the 34 people’s injuries are.
Mayo Clinic explained in an article that “explosive blasts are a common cause of traumatic brain injury in active-duty military personnel” and that “many researchers believe that the pressure wave passing through the brain significantly disrupts brain function.”
In separate but related news, in Baghdad, there were thousands and thousands of protesters who demanded American soldiers to leave Iraq.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/24/politics/34-injuries-iran-missile-strike/index.html
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557
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97,000 gallons of California red wine spills into river
Here is the next news story.
In Sonoma County, California, a 97,000 gallon tank of cabernet sauvignon wine leaked and some of it spilled into Russian River. This happened at Rodney Strong Vineyards. A spokesperson said there was a leak inside a building on the property so workers pumped the wine into another tank, but it spilled into drains and vineyard ponds, and the ponds overflowed, which sent wine into a creek that flowed into Russian River.
A nonprofit organization that monitors the Russia River said it’s lucky that it is winter because the river is high and there is a fair amount of dilution, but this could have been a lot worse.
Some of the wine was pumped out of the creek.
Bottles of this type of wine cost $27 each, so millions of dollars of wine was lost.
California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife are investigating and it is possible that the winemaker will get charges and penalties.
https://abc7news.com/5874466/
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Black Texas high school student suspended for having long locks
Here is the next news story.
A senior at a high school student in Mont Belvieu, Texas who is black and has long locks was told by his school that he can’t come back to school or attend the school’s graduation ceremony if he doesn’t cut off his locks.
The student’s name is Deandre Arnold and the school is Barbers Hill High School. Deandre’s family is from Trinidad and it is his family’s custom to grow their hair down to their waists.
The school said it is not about race or the type of hair, but it is about hair length and said the school policy has been in place for 30 years.
Deandre’s family said he always followed school policy of keeping his hair off his shoulders, above his earlobes, and out of his eyes. He typically kept his hair up, but was told during the winter break that he had to cut it. His family is refusing and attended a school board meeting on Monday to protest. Deandre is currently suspended.
NFL player Deandre Hopkins of the Houston Texans, who also has locks, tweeted, “Never cut your locks Deandre Arnold.”
Local activists say the rules show that the school lacks cultural understanding.
Deandre told KHOU-11 news that he is going to take a stand and will not cut his hair.
https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/deandre-hopkins-never-cut-your-locks-deandre-arnold/285-5bfea8f5-da77-4467-bdde-559f30c26175
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President Trump first sitting president to speak at March for Life
Here is the last news story.
President Trump became the first sitting president to give a speech at the anti-abortion March for Life rally in Washington, D.C.
Fox News explained that Trump has for years been pro-choice (supported abortion rights), but in recent years shifted to a pro-life (anti-abortion) position. Trump said he will continue to be anti-abortion during his re-election campaign.
Trump said, “Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House” and said Democrats were taking the most radical and extreme positions on abortion in centuries.
Trump brought up that his administration has confirmed two Supreme Court justices, which could mean he is hoping Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, will be overturned in some way at some point in the future.
Planned Parenthood’s CEO said Trump’s appearance confirms that he is “determined to end the American people’s ability to access abortion.”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-becomes-first-president-to-speak-at-march-for-life
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That is all for this week. Thank you for watching “The Daily Moth.” Have a wonderful weekend and stay with the light!