News

The Los Angeles Times reports: Crews raced Sunday morning to contain the damage from a major oil spill off the Orange County coast that left crude spoiling beaches, killing fish and birds and threatening local wetlands. The oil slick, first reported Saturday, originated from a broken pipeline less than three miles off the coast of Huntington Beach connected to an …

The Associated Press reports: Alaska on Saturday activated emergency crisis protocols that allow 20 medical facilities to ration care if needed as the state recorded the nation’s worst COVID-19 diagnosis rates in recent days, straining the state’s limited health care system. The declaration covers three facilities that had already announced emergency protocols, including the state’s largest hospital, Providence Alaska Medical …

Reuters reports: Worldwide deaths related to COVID-19 surpassed 5 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, with unvaccinated people particularly exposed to the virulent Delta strain. The variant has exposed the wide disparities in vaccination rates between rich and poor nations, and the upshot of vaccine hesitancy in some western nations. More than half of all global deaths reported …

Austin’s NBC News affiliate reports: The Austin Fire Department Arson Investigators and the FBI announced an arrest in an incident involving a person who tried to vandalize and start a fire at the Travis County Democratic Party Headquarters earlier this week. On Friday, AFD identified the man as Ryan Faircloth, 30. An arrest warrant released on Friday for Faircloth said …

Reuters reports: The United States surpassed 700,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, as officials roll out booster doses of vaccines to protect the elderly and people working in high-risk professions. The country has reported an average of more than 2,000 deaths per day over the past week, which represents about 60% of the peak in fatalities …

The New York Times reports: Portugal’s health care system was on the verge of collapse. Hospitals in the capital, Lisbon, were overflowing and the authorities were asking people to treat themselves at home. In the last week of January, nearly 2,000 people died as the virus spread. The country’s vaccine program was in a shambles, so the government turned to …

New York City’s CW affiliate reports: As the NYPD continues to work on improving customer service and neighborhood relations, the department has launched a new greeter program featuring “community guides.” The Community Guide is a dedicated customer service representative who will serve as the first point of contact to welcome all visitors who come into precincts, according to the NYPD. …

Via press release from the US Supreme Court: On Thursday, per the Court’s regular testing protocols, Justice Kavanaugh had a routine Covid test ahead of Justice Barrett’s investiture on Friday. On Thursday evening, Justice Kavanaugh was informed that he had tested positive for Covid-19. He has no symptoms and has been fully vaccinated since January. Per current Court testing protocols, …

The Hill reports: A study released this month found that the rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in rural areas have far surpassed those being observed in metropolitan communities, with rural mortality rates more than double that of urban ones. The study from the Rural Policy Research Institute’s (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy found that as the summer ended, …

The Associated Press reports: French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was convicted Thursday and sentenced to a year of house arrest for illegal campaign financing of his unsuccessful 2012 reelection bid, will appeal the ruling, his lawyer said. The court said Sarkozy would be allowed to serve the one-year sentence at home by wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet. Sarkozy’s lawyer, Thierry …

The DCist reports: More than a dozen states across the U.S. have already legalized marijuana sales, and later this fall lawmakers in D.C. will start debating whether to join that group. The D.C. Council has scheduled a public hearing on Nov. 19 to consider legislation from Chairman Phil Mendelson that would legalize the sale of recreational marijuana, alongside a separate …

Gothamist reports: A Department of Sanitation truck struck an outdoor dining shed, dragging it about ten feet with diners inside. The incident happened at Bar Six, located at West 13th Street and Sixth Avenue, around 6:30 p.m. during dinner service. A police spokesperson said the 30-year-old driver was backing up the vehicle, after collecting some trash on the corner of …

UPDATE: The first version of this post mistakenly called her a candidate for the Libertarian Party. My mistake! Yahoo News reports: Third-party candidate Princess Blanding derailed a gubernatorial debate between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Younkin, shouting from the audience and forcing moderators to take an unexpected commercial break. Blanding, representing the Liberation Party, is on Virginia’s general election …

The Associated Press reports: Police in Norway on Sunday reported dozens of disturbances and violent clashes including mass brawls in the Nordic country’s big cities after streets, bars, restaurants and nightclubs were filled with people celebrating the end of COVID-19 restrictions that lasted for more than a year. The Norwegian government abruptly announced Friday that most of the remaining coronavirus …

The BBC reports: Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have claimed victory in the federal election, telling the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel it should no longer be in power. SPD leader Olaf Scholz said he had a clear mandate to form a government, while his conservative rival Armin Laschet remains determined to fight on. The two parties have governed …

The Pueblo Chieftain reports: A Colorado State University Pueblo student arrested Tuesday for having a large cache of loaded weapons on campus allegedly told other students and CSU Pueblo staff he fantasized about setting off pipe bombs in the university courtyard and gunning down other students as they fled. The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office says that Robert James Killis, 24, …

Wilkes-Barre’s NBC News affiliate reports: Four Pennsylvania high school students have been charged, two as adults and two as juveniles, for conspiring to carry out an attack on the school on the 25th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell announced Friday. According to court paperwork, text messages were uncovered between the students discussing plans to …

The New York Times reports: State health officials rushed on Friday to roll out campaigns to provide coronavirus booster shots for millions of vulnerable people who got the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and to help a confused public understand who qualifies for the extra shots. Among their challenges: making sure that recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines know that …

Jersey City Upfront reports: Spanish artist Jaume Plensa just unveiled his latest public work of art. Lefrak and Simon commissioned Plensa to create “Water’s Soul” — an 80-foot tall sculpture sitting on the edge of the newly constructed Newport Pier. The Newport sculpture is Plensa’s second major, permanent installation in the New York area. Another of his works — “Voices” …

ABC News reports: Authorities identified the suspected gunman Friday as UK Thang, 29, a third-party vendor for Kroger. Collierville Police Department Chief Dale Lane said in a press briefing Friday that a total of 15 people were shot, including 70-year-old Olivia King who died from her wounds, and are in stable condition. Ten of the victims shot were Kroger employees …