WHAT'S BREWING
NEW YORK INFECTION RATES SPIKE After months of hovering below 2%, the COVID-19 infection rate in New York City spiked to 3.25% on Monday, the highest single-day infection rate since June. The surge came on the same day the city’s elementary schools reopened to some in-person classes. New York City has largely contained the virus over the last few months. But the alarming uptick raises the already mounting concerns over a second wave. An infection spike in a few Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods has prompted a mask crackdown, with Mayor Bill de Blasio threatening fines of up to $1,000 for those who refuse to wear masks. [HuffPost]
THE BIG HEALTH CARE LIE YOU BARELY HEARD During Tuesday night’s presidential debate, Biden accused Trump of undermining health care protections for people with preexisting conditions. Trump responded by insisting “we guaranteed preexisting conditions” ― a brazen, if familiar, lie. Trump has repeatedly tried to take away the Affordable Care Act’s guarantees of coverage for people with preexisting conditions. Most recently, he ordered the Justice Department to endorse a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality ― a lawsuit whose outcome is a lot more uncertain now that Trump has nominated arch-conservative Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. [HuffPost]
DISNEY TO LAY OFF 28,000 WORKERS Disney said it plans to lay off 28,000 employees from its Parks, Experiences and Products segment ― which includes Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida ― as the coronavirus crisis continues to wreak economic havoc. About 67% of the layoffs will affect part-time employees. Those affected range from salaried employees to nonunion hourly workers within the company’s theme parks, resorts, cruise ships, vacation experiences and consumer products divisions. [HuffPost]
PROGRESS SPARKED BY ME TOO REMAINS SLOW Just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most U.S. cities and states, disgraced Hollywood producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years behind bars, a landmark moment for survivors of sexual assault. Yet, almost three years after the Me Too movement catalyzed a sea change in societal awareness of sexual misconduct and abuse, a new report from a commission chaired by Anita Hill shows how that change has been more limited when it comes to systemic reforms and accountability. [HuffPost]
CALIFORNIA FIRES BREAK 'ALMOST EVERY RECORD' Fires continue to grow in Northern California, continuing the state’s historic, devastating fire season after record-breaking blazes swept the state in August. California’s fires this year have “broken almost every record there is to break,” the state’s firefighting agency, Cal Fire, tweeted on Tuesday. Fires have burned more than 3.8 million acres so far this year, more than five times the average of 740,000 acres burned by this time in the past five years. Five of the six largest fires in California history have occurred this year. [HuffPost]
BIDEN RELEASES HIS 2019 TAX RETURNS Just hours before the first presidential debate of 2020, Biden released his 2019 tax returns, showing a taxable income just shy of a million dollars. Biden and his wife, Jill, paid $299,346 in taxes through the year on a taxable income of $944,737, after receiving a $46,858 refund, according to their 2019 federal tax returns. Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris also posted her federal and California tax returns from 2019, showing she and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, had a taxable income of more than $3 million and paid $1,185,628 in taxes. [HuffPost] |
