U.S. Senate Democratic Candidate Amy McGrath made biscuits Wednesday, October 7 with Chef Sara Bradley owner of the Freight House in Paducah. The special event was live on Instagram at the restaurant.

McGrath said, "We're going to be making biscuits today with amazing chef Sara. We'll be talking about what the restaurant industry needs." Bradley gave a brief description of the restaurant location. Then, McGrath continued. "I've never done this before so tell me what we're going to do."  

Chef Bradley said, "I've made about a million biscuits in my lifetime. This is a recipe I learned when I was down in Alabama. An older lady taught me this recipe and it's an interesting technique where you use a church fold." 

The plan was to bake while discussing politics, McGrath's plan to help the restaurant and arts industries, plus discuss what it's like being a woman in a male dominated profession. McGrath is a former Marine fighter pilot and was the first woman to perform a combat mission for the Marine Corps, as well as the first to pilot the F/A-18 on a combat mission. 

Bradley was a Top Chef contestant and grabbed a spot in the finale in Lexington last year on Season 16 drawing a lot of attention to Kentucky. The Freight House is a unique southern style restaurant and bourbon bar. It's been open for five years and is located at the Paducah riverfront. 

McGrath opened a staff office in downtown Paducah only weeks ago. It's nestled in the corner of Market St. and Broadway. The Freight House is a mere two blocks away. As the general election nears, candidates are spending their last few weeks hitting the campaign trail and from the looks of things, enjoying every minute of it. 

Does it even matter that it's fall? We're stuck inside much of the time, anyway, and new TV shows come at us all year round. Well, yes, there's reason to celebrate precisely because of how the pandemic disrupted things. Broadcasters couldn't develop new material, thanks to production being halted. So, viewers watched more streaming services. Even HBO, FX and Showtime were forced to push back some of their best material to ensure they could get through the long summer.

It feels like a minor miracle that there are still so many high-quality shows coming to the small screen this season. Almost all of them are on premium cable channels and streaming — a few have been imported from overseas — with some shows completing episodes under tight testing and social distancing rules.

The quality of this year's fall season is something of a tribute to Hollywood's ingenuity — keeping the world entertained through this challenging year. Here are picks from NPR critics Eric Deggans, Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon for the best shows coming this season.


The Amber Ruffin Show and Wilmore (both on Peacock) Now airing; new episodes Fridays
It was something of a tragedy when Comedy Central canceled Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show right before the 2016 elections; now he has a chance to bring his acerbic wit to bear on 2020's balloting. And writer/performer Amber Ruffin has always been a highlight of Late Night with Seth Meyers (see her take on "What Trump has done for Black America" for delightful proof); it was just a matter of time before she got her own showcase. I'm not sure why Peacock is calling talk shows on a streaming service "late night" shows, but I'm confident they'll be funny whenever you watch them. — Eric Deggans

Fargo (FX) Sunday, Sept. 27
"Chris Rock plays an enterprising 1950s mob boss in Kansas City, Missouri" is a logline you probably didn't expect to read, but so it is with the fourth season of the anthology series. Rock is not exactly known for his acting chops, and the last time he took a "dramatic" turn was in a perhaps unintentionally goofy guest-starring role as a menacing drug kingpin on Empire. His casting here alone is intriguing enough — but throw in an impressive ensemble that includes Timothy Olyphant, Jason Schwartzman and Jessie Buckley (as a nurse who might be up to something sinister), and you've got a crime tale worth checking out. — Aisha Harris


The Boys in the Band (Netflix) Wednesday, Sept. 30
Since its Off-Broadway premiere in 1968, Matt Crowley's groundbreaking, often caustically funny play about a group of gay men at a birthday party that goes sour has been turned into a 1970 film and re-staged many times, most recently in a brief, 50th-anniversary run on Broadway in 2018. Now, that production — which took home the Tony in 2019 for Best Revival — has itself been made into a film, along with its entire cast — all of whom, notably, are gay themselves (Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Zachary Quinto and others). Over the years, reception to the play has cycled through acclaim to disdain (some found its depiction of bitchy, self-loathing gay men insulting) and back again. But Crowley's decision to center a play on the lives of gay men, and to do so with such unapologetic honesty a year before Stonewall, remains remarkable. — Glen Weldon


The Salisbury Poisonings (AMC+) Thursday, Oct. 1
It may sound like masochism recommending a TV series about health officials rushing to identify a mystery illness while the audience is living through an actual pandemic. But that real-life resonance only adds potency to this well-crafted, suspenseful British series which dramatizes the crisis back in 2018 when a former Russian military intelligence officer and his daughter collapsed in the center of Salisbury, England. I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't realize the extent of the emergency when this actually happened, as local authorities feared mass casualties might result from the town's exposure to one of the most deadly synthetic substances on the planet. — Eric Deggans


Gangs of London (AMC+) Thursday, Oct. 1
The central story here moves slowly; the patriarch of a powerful crime family in London is murdered by a couple of small-fry hoodlums, and his bloodthirsty son is on a tear to learn who was behind it. But there's a mole inside his organization — I can't spoil who or why — and this character commands the most compelling parts of the story. Be warned: This show, which originally aired on Sky TV in England, is an explicitly gory, super-violent series. But it also features some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen on television, choreographed by director and Indonesian action film auteur Gareth Evans and featuring rising star Sope Dirisu. — Eric Deggans

Emily In Paris (Netflix) Friday, Oct. 2
Lily Collins stars in this series about an American dispatched to a Parisian adventure by her employer, even though she speaks no French. Sudsy and upbeat, it feels like TV Land's Younger for people who like France. And although it hits a lot of familiar social media and relationship-related story beats, there's something very watchable about its flawed protagonist, even if you find yourself siding with the French people who find it appalling that she expects everyone to speak English. — Linda Holmes


The Good Lord Bird (Showtime) Sunday, Oct. 4
In the last few months many white Americans have taken an interest in confronting anti-Black racism, which makes the timing of this seven-part limited series dramatizing the exploits of the white abolitionist John Brown, particularly apt. Based on James McBride's award-winning historical novel of the same name, it's narrated through the eyes of a fictional enslaved boy named Onion (Joshua Caleb Johnson) who joins the tempestuous Brown's (an enigmatic Ethan Hawke) ragtag camp of followers leading up to the 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. At times humorous, action-packed and suspenseful, the show doesn't shy away from the erratic behavior and violent tendencies that have made Brown such a polarizing figure. — Aisha Harris


The Comedy Store (Showtime) Sunday, Oct. 4
As the stand-up industry struggles to adjust to a Zoom-focused world, this five-part documentary series about the Comedy Store night club arrives to stoke nostalgia for one of Los Angeles' legendary cultural fixtures. The list of famous talking heads expounding on the history of the club and its renowned owner and career-maker, the late Mitzi Shore, is long: David Letterman, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Jim Carrey, Whitney Cummings, Damon Wayans, Bill Burr, Michael Keaton and more. Directed by filmmaker Mike Binder (himself a former comic), it won't replace the in-person experience of late-night comedy sets, but it might bring you a little joy. — Aisha Harris


NEXT (Fox) Tuesday, Oct. 6
In this sci-fi miniseries, John Slattery plays a tech billionaire who experiences a change of heart and blows the whistle on an artificial intelligence that, he says, has become sentient and infiltrated "cameras, cellphones — anything with a lens or a mic or a sensor." The world thinks he's crazy, but he's soon recruited by a cybercrime-fighting agency because people have started getting murdered by their tech. Slattery is always fun to watch, but it remains to be seen if, at this precise cultural moment, audiences are clamoring to admit even more paranoia into their daily lives. — Glen Weldon
The Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix) Friday, Oct. 9
Netflix follows up the success of its 2018 mini-series The Haunting of Hill House with this mini-series about another spooky old domicile. This time out, however, creator and showrunner Mike Flanagan won't be adapting a Shirley Jackson novel, but a handful of stories by Henry James. Several Hill House cast members return, albeit in new roles. Hill House was legitimately unsettling, and the Bly Manor trailer starts right off with a sweet-voiced little girl singing tunelessly (which, let's stipulate, isn't playing fair), so it's a safe bet the series will be there for you, and your need to get seriously creeped out, this Halloween season. — Glen Weldon


Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America (PBS) Tuesday, Oct. 13
This documentary makes the compelling case that much of America's struggle with race and oppression — including the Civil War — can be traced to the fight over controlling Black people by policing their mobility. A string of insightful academics connects Black motorists unfairly stopped by police with the legacy of slave catchers in the Deep South — volunteers who terrorized Black people by demanding travelers show papers from their owners giving permission for their movements. This revealing film charts how, from the slavery era until modern times, little compares to the "gut-wrenching horror that is driving in a racist society." — Eric Deggans
Social Distance (Netflix) Thursday, Oct. 15

I know. You're tired of half-baked monologues and thinly-disguised, one-person theater pieces made into TV programs by people on lockdown. But this eight-part anthology series is different, featuring stories about life in isolation that would have been compelling in any setting. The tales include a Latinx family whose conflicts burst open during a memorial service by Zoom call (master character actor Miguel Sandoval is this episode's ace) and a relentlessly energetic child who spends her days at home alone while her mother works as a quarantined caregiver. Producers chose the stories here with care, focusing on how humanity struggles — and occasionally thrives — in the face of an unparalleled, global exercise in social distance. — Eric Deggans


The Trial of The Chicago 7 (Netflix) Friday, Oct.16
Aaron Sorkin's stuff tends to be really good (The West Wing) or really annoying (The Newsroom). His latest is a film about the trial of the "Chicago Seven" after the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With a fascinating cast (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and ... Sacha Baron Cohen?), it's a project Sorkin has apparently been working on for years, and because of the pandemic, it's landing on Netflix instead of in theaters. — Linda Holmes


David Byrne's American Utopia (HBO) Saturday, Oct. 17
Far too few of us got the chance to catch Byrne's joyous, exultant and expansive smash hit theatrical concert during its too-brief Broadway run, and the pandemic has indefinitely delayed a planned return engagement and touring show. But in October, HBO's bringing you Spike Lee's film of the show, in which Byrne and a troupe of 11 musicians, singers and dancers – all barefoot, all clad in gray suits – perform new Byrne tunes and classic Talking Heads songs while executing Anne-B Parson's astonishing choreography with the exacting precision of a color guard. Yes, sure: They'll be gyrating and hopping, twisting and running, and you'll be sitting on your couch scarfing Funyuns. But don't feel guilty about that. Because by the time they launch into "Once in a Lifetime," you'll be dancing around your living room alongside them. - Glen Weldon

Rebecca (Netflix) Wednesday, Oct. 21
Netflix is dreaming of going to Manderley again: This adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's swoonily gothic novel will have a tough time stepping out of the long shadow of Hitchcock's classic 1940 film, but the cast is intriguing. Lily James stars as Mrs. de Winter, whose new, impetuous marriage to the dashing Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer) is threatened by the memory of his first wife — and the forbidding housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas), who continually attempts to undermine her employer's new, too-impressionable wife. — Glen Weldon


The Undoing (HBO) Sunday, Oct. 25
If you like sudsy David E. Kelley dramas (Ally McBeal, Big Little Lies), this is probably for you. And if you'll watch pretty much anything Nicole Kidman and/or Hugh Grant are in, this is probably for you, too. A limited series adapted from Jean Hanff Korelitz's psychological thriller You Should Have Known, Kidman and Grant play Grace and Jonathan, a wealthy New York City couple with a son in private school. When Jonathan disappears, Grace is left to pick up the pieces — so viewers can expect yet another arresting performance from the actor amidst the murder, scandal and intrigue this premise promises. — Aisha Harris


That Animal Rescue Show (CBS All Access) Thursday, Oct. 29
Beloved filmmaker Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise) made this documentary series about rescue animals around Austin, Texas. There are episodes about dogs, horses, goats and more, many of which feature the close and special relationships between people and the animals they love and rely on. Linklater has a feel for Texas and for elemental human feelings, and a series that comes with a strong pedigree about one of the world's most popular subjects might turn out to be just what a stressed-out audience needs. — Linda Holmes


The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special (Disney+) Tuesday, Nov. 17
The jaw-droppingly weird 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special -- which was so awe-inspiring in its arrant cheesiness that George Lucas insisted it never be re-aired or released to home video — has become a cult favorite thanks to fans who shared grainy bootleg videotapes of it and uploaded it to sites like YouTube. Now, at last, the mess that was hotter than Mustafarian lava is getting embraced by the keepers of the Star Wars franchise. LEGO versions of characters from the most recent Star Wars trilogy will interact with characters and settings from the 1978 special. No word yet on whether it will feature a LEGO Bea Arthur belting lyrics to the Mos Eisley cantina song, but we live in hope. — Glen Weldon

Animaniacs (Hulu) Friday, Nov. 20
Because nothing in Hollywood is ever really new anymore, it was only a matter of time before this beloved '90s cartoon series would be rebooted like so many other franchises of its era. What makes this particular resurrection feel a little more justified than most: The series' "zany to the max" pop culture-stuffed humor has basically become one of the primary languages of social media in the '00s. And luckily for nostalgic millennials — presumably this remake's primary audience — all of the main players from the original cast have returned, including Rob Paulsen as Pinky and Maurice LaMarche as The Brain. — Aisha Harris

The Prom (Netflix) Friday, Dec. 11
This sudsy, knowingly funny musical ran for less than a year on Broadway, but it's getting a Netflix adaptation that's certain to endear it to a wider audience. Unlike The Boys in the Band — Netflix's other Broadway adaptation this fall — producer/director Ryan Murphy has ditched the entire (outstanding) Broadway cast in favor of big names like Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Awkwafina and, inevitably, James Corden. That's unfortunate, but the story (a group of faded, self-important New York theater actors descend on a small town to help a young lesbian take her girlfriend to the high school prom) is strong, the songs are insanely catchy, and the script is loaded with jokes that poke laser-targeted fun at Theater People. — Glen Weldon


The Stand (CBS All Access) Thursday, Dec. 17
This event series, based on Stephen King's classic dystopian novel, gets the Worst Timing Ever Award. Centered on the battle for good and evil after a plague (in the book, it was a killer flu, no less) wipes out most of the world's population. Whoopi Goldberg, who seems an embodiment of the "magical negro" trope playing Mother Abagail, King's manifestation of good — opposing Alexander Skarsgård's evil Randall Flagg — also raises a few, um, red flags. Still, I have hope for this project, which has whipped up an eclectic cast that includes X-Men alum James Marsden, Aquaman's Amber Heard and rocker Marilyn Manson. Honestly, I'd watch a TV show that featured this group arguing over what to have for dinner. — Eric Deggans
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Your Honor (Showtime) Dec. TBA
Forget about meth-making high school teacher Walter White; Bryan Cranston is now playing another corrupted authority figure in Showtime's limited series based on an Israeli crime thriller. This time, Cranston is Michael Desiato, a respected judge in New Orleans who fakes evidence and worse to disguise his son's culpability in a hit and run accident that kills someone. When the victim turns out to be the son of a vicious crime boss — played by another ace character actor, Boardwalk Empire alum Michael Stuhlbarg — you can guess how complicated everything becomes. And how awesome the acting will be. — Eric Deggans

By Scott Simon
​The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg adds another loss to a year that has already seen so many. 2020 has brought illness, isolation, financial struggles, and overwhelming fear. It's often felt like the hardest year many of us have ever known. And it's still months from being over.

But this weekend also begins 5781: it's Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. And that number – 5781 – may remind us that humanity has suffered other plagues, famines, losses, wars and disasters for centuries before 2020.

The shofar, a hollowed out ram's horn that was an ancient trumpet, is sounded on Rosh Hashana. I found myself convinced last night, as Justice Ginsburg's death was reported, that this year the cry of the shofar horn somehow heralds her passing from this earth and this nation Justice Ginsburg strived so mightily and tirelessly to make more fair and kind.

Just hours before she died, Rabbi Danny Zemel of Temple Micah in Washington, D.C., told us the call of the shofar should remind us that "we are descended from prophets. We have a mandate to speak for those with no voice." It is easy to see, in the light of this first morning of a new year, how Ruth Bader Ginsburg walked in the path of prophets – calling us to pay attention not only to the world around us, but to the corners and people, close and far, we may not have seen clearly, and make them part of our lives too.

Cantor Sarah Sager of the Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple near Cleveland told us that the last, trilling bleats of the shofar on Rosh Hashana are "an alarm to tell us that the injustices and inequities of our world demand our attention." Ruth Bader Ginsburg paid that attention with her incisive, sharp and extraordinary mind and dauntless heart.
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death is a loss. But she leaves in a season in which people are called to reflect on life and refresh their sense of purpose in the world. Her memory will be heard in the sound of the shofar this year, calling people to look above, and use their lives' work to lift others.

The supernatural horror movie filmed in Mayfield, Kentucky debuted this past week via video-on-demand. The flick 'Star Light' is about a group of friends hanging out over the weekend and strange thing happen. A pop star with supernatural powers finds herself stranded in the middle of the road only to be rescued by the main character, Cameron Johnson.

Johnson can't just leave the pop star in the middle of nowhere, so he takes her back to the house where his friends are hanging out. One by one, the friends die. 

'Star Light' is one of those films that reminds you of movies like 'Scream' accept not as good. Or maybe the Friday the 13th franchise only not as gruesome and lacking in  'I gotcha' moments. There is blood, just not an overwhelming amount of it. 

The acting was subpar. The cast of characters average. The scary guy in the film was just a weird, bad actor. I'm not a movie critique and horror movies aren't my thing. I wanted to see shots of the town. The buildings and key attractions were fun to see and it gave me a reason to push forward. 

The movie lasted 90 minutes. The ending wasn't what I expected. It was anticlimactic. I'm not sure if many will rent 'Star Light'. When I rented it at $4.99 from Amazon Prime, only two other people had viewed it. 

Anyway, I said I would watch it and I did. Save your money and wait til you can stream it for free. 

COVID-19 shutdowns and mishandling have helped to create unemployment and job loss for over 30 million U.S. citizens. A staggering one in five American workers are collecting unemployment benefits to date. Since my stint with coronavirus unemployment, I started a website. At present, I’m not making any money, but things could change. Hope floats. 

Before the pandemic, I worked as an adjunct instructor at WKCTC, and had a second job at a local newspaper publishing company. This summer, I had neither position. Backtrack to December 2019, I was asked if I wanted to write articles for the newspaper group. I’ve tested the waters in several areas of my expertise, however, writing was never one of them. Now, I wonder why it took so long to try. 

There have been times in my life I’ve faced troubles. Much like anyone else, life hasn’t always been fair or just. I had a glimpse of various bumps in the road during my high school years but up to that point, I felt I had lived a charmed life. 

I graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism with sights set on being the next Jane Pauley. Life had other plans for me. 

The saying, ‘when life hands you lemons, make lemonade.’ For some of us, it’s the choices we make that turns everything to sour grapes. Whether it’s bad luck or bad choices, it’s how we cope with life’s challenges that matters. One can either brush themselves off and get back on the horse or sink further into misery and despair.  

Recording our lives through Facebook is a wonderful idea. Most have smartphones that are used to take pictures and record short videos. Once we’ve captured those moments, we add our photos and videos to the social media site with a click of a button and presto, a record of our lives in the form of a timeline. From now and until the end of Facebook, those important moments are memorialized. 

Through the years, I’ve chosen destructive behavior to deal with problems. I’m not proud of my coping strategies, but I accept them for what they are. I’m still alive and kickin’, just worse for the wear. That’s until I found the right coping skill for me, writing. 

Not just short, little quips on social media that present all things in a positive light, but real, down-in-the-dirt, sometimes ugly, time-consuming, thought-provoking writing. My undergraduate degree is in broadcast journalism (I believe the more widely accepted term today is multimedia journalist), since the emphasis was on broadcasting, I didn’t think I had the proper training to be a writer. I’m not an English Lit major either, but I have life experience, passion, drive, spell-check and a thesaurus on my computer. I’m challenging the negative thoughts. 

After googling the internet trying to find what it takes to be a writer, each search led me to blogger sites, undoubtedly through SEO. As part of my expertise as a public speaking instructor, one of the first things I share with students is using credible sources. The search continued. 

Next, I looked for books on becoming a better writer. There were several: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, by William Zinsser. A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway on Writing, edited by Larry W. Phillips, and the list goes on. I’ll pick up a copy or two for later use. 

As I continued my quest on how to be a writer, my thoughts turned toward fiction writer John Grisham. I wasn’t an avid reader in high school but priorities changed as an adult and so did my taste in entertainment. Thank goodness.

Grisham was an attorney who wrote about attorneys. The southern city’s he explored in his books were city’s I knew well. And, his attention to ‘the little things’ kept me interested. Everything was explained down to the last detail. I wanted to know his thoughts on pursuing a writing career.  

Grisham said to ‘write a page everyday, between 200 - 1000 words, and you’ll have a novel in two years.’ He suggested writing at the same time everyday and in the same place for an extra hour, no exceptions. At this time, I have no plans to write a novel.

Jane Pauley is a journalist/writer I’ve admired. She was invited as a guest speaker a few years ago to Chesapeake Public Schools in Virginia. After speaking, Pauley took questions from aspiring student journalists. One student wanted to know about finding a passion for journalism and a voice for the voiceless. Pauley responded by saying ‘those stories are out there waiting to be identified and if something inspires you, go find it.’ 

It boils down to passion and commitment. There’s nothing you can’t do if you have those two idealism's. If you’ve got something to say, say it, write it, practice the craft. 

Recording your thoughts on paper isn’t a new concept. Therapists have advocated this therapy option for years. Journaling is a positive way to deal with stress, anxiety and depression. According to the University of Rochester Medical Center, writing your thoughts down on paper helps to improve your mood, it aids in relaxation and meditation, and it promotes healthy life- coping skills.  

Facebook and other social media formats have their place in society and will only get bigger and more broadly used as time permits. It’s a place to record memories, share memories, stay connected with family and friends, conduct business as an entrepreneur or small company, promote non-profits and upcoming events, it’s amazing all it can do. 

Facebook has its limitations. It’s short clips, news briefs, a quick scroll through the news feed and you’re done. Writing or journaling gives you that time of reflection. The ability to have thoughts you didn’t know you had or were capable of thinking. The world is fast, let your mind catch-up. That’s what I did and I hope I never go back. 

 



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UPS is showing a profit of 1.77 billion dollars in the second quarter
A boom in online shopping during the pandemic pushed revenue higher at United Parcel Service Inc., which reported a $1.77 billion profit for the second quarter. 

UPS said Thursday that shipping volume jumped 23% to more than 21 million packages a day. Crucially, shipment from businesses to U.S. consumers soared 65%.

“Our results were better than we expected, driven in part by the changes in demand that emerged from the pandemic, including a surge in residential volumen, COVID-19 related healthcare shipments and strong outbound demand from Asia,” said new CEI Carol Tome.

With thousands of retail stores ordered closed for safety reasons this spring, and some shoppers still wary of returning, consumers are going online to buy items they once carried out of a store, meaning more business for delivery companies.
 
99 days without a single death and now it's back

Hanoi, Vietnam - for 99 days, Vietnam seemed to have defeated the coronavirus. There wasn’t a single reported case of community transmission. not a signal death. A handful of cases were caught and isolated at the border, but otherwise people were returning to their normal lives. The country of 96 million people was hailed globally as a standout success. 

But then a week ago, an outbreak began that has now grown to 43 cases in six parts of the country, including three of the largest cities, and forced authorities to reimpose restrictions many thought they had put behind them. And experts worry the outbreak could be much larger than currently known. 

Sharks find easy prey among seals in Maine, swimmers take extra precaution

Portland, Maine - Seals are thriving off the Northeast coast thanks to decades of protections, and that victory for wildlife has brought a consequence for humans - more encounters with sharks. 

Seals are a favorite prey of large sharks such as the great shark. The death this week of swimmer Julie Dimperio Holowach, who was killed by a great white off Harpswell, Maine, might have happened because the shark mistook her for a seal, authorities said. 

Fauci promoting goggle wear

Washington - Trump administration health officials say there is evidence to support wearing face shields to protect oneself from the coronavirus. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx have both suggested their use, saying they provide the wearer with some protections, unlike face masks, which are primarily recommended to protect others. 

“The mask is to protect others,” Birx told Fox and Friends Thursday. “The thing about the face shields, we think that could protect the individuals and that it would decrease the ability of them to touch their eyes and spread the virus.” 

Fauci on Wednesday told ABC News, “If you have goggles or an eye shield, you should use it.”

Trump tweets mail-in ballot voter fraud, move the election date

Washington - President Donald Trump is for the first time floating a ‘delay’ to the Nov. 3 presidential election, as he makes unsubstantiated allegations that increased mail-in voting will result in fraud. 

The dates of presidential elections - the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year - are enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change. The Constitution makes no provisions for a delay to the Jan. 20, 2021 presidential inauguration.

Trump tweeted Thursday? “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

U.S. economy down 33% second quarter worst EVER

Washington - a grim picture emerged Thursday of a U.S. economy that has endured a record-shattering plunge last quarter and is now struggling to rebound as the coronavirus keeps forcing more layoffs.

The economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9% annual rate in the April-June quarter, when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work and sending unemployment surging to nearly 15%.

The government’s estimate of the second-quarter fall in the gross domestic product was the sharpest such drop on records dating to 1947. The previous worst quarterly contraction, a 10% drop, occurred in 1958 during the Eisenhower administration.  

Earthquake in Los Angeles

Los Angeles - A magnitude 4.2 earthquake shook the Los Angeles region before dawn Thursday but no significant damage was reported.

The 4:29 a.m. jolt was centered in the northern San Fernando Valley and occurred at a depth of 5.5 miles (8.9 kilometres), the U.S. Geological Survey said. A magnitude 3.3 aftershock followed.

The Los Angeles Fire Department found no damage or injuries in a survey by ground and air units, a standard procedure after earthquakes in the nation’s second-largest city.



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By KIM CHANDLER
SELMA, Ala. (AP) — The late U.S. Rep. John Lewis crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, for the final time Sunday as remembrances continue for the civil rights icon.
The bridge became a landmark in the fight for racial justice when Lewis and other civil rights marchers were beaten there 55 years ago on “Bloody Sunday,” a key event that helped galvanize support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Lewis returned to Selma each March in commemoration.

Sunday found him crossing alone — instead of arm-in-arm with civil rights and political leaders — after his coffin was loaded atop a horse-drawn wagon that retraced the route through Selma from Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the 1965 march began.

As the wagon approached the bridge, members of the crowd shouted “Thank you, John Lewis!” and “Good trouble!” the phrase Lewis used to describe his tangles with white authorities during the civil rights movement.

Some crowd members sang the gospel song “Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed on Jesus.” Later, some onlookers sang the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” and other gospel tunes.

Lewis died July 17 at 80, months after he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Lewis served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death.

The wagon rolled over a carpet of rose petals, pausing atop the bridge over the Alabama River in the summer heat so family members could walk behind it. On the south side of the bridge, where Lewis was beaten by Alabama state troopers in 1965, family members placed red roses that the carriage rolled over, marking the spot where Lewis spilled his blood and suffered a head injury.

As a military honor guard lifted Lewis’ casket from the horse-drawn wagon into an automobile hearse, Alabama state troopers, including some African American ones, saluted Lewis.

Franz and Ellen Hill drove more that four hours from Monroe, Louisiana, to watch the procession.

Franz Hill, 60, said he remembers, as an African American child, watching news footage of Lewis and other civil rights marchers being beaten by law enforcement officers.

“I had to come back and see John Lewis cross the bridge for the last time,” said Hill. “It’s funny to see the state troopers here to honor and respect him rather than beat the crap out of him.”

Lewis’ body was then taken to the Alabama Capitol in the afternoon to lie in repose, retracing the route marchers took in the days after Bloody Sunday to demand justice from Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

Bertha Surles and Edna Goldsmith stood along the highway between Selma and Montgomery to pay their final respects. Both carried signs, reading “Thank you.”
“He fought for rights up unto his death,” said Surles, 70.

She was in high school on Bloody Sunday and remembered watching the news footage of Lewis being beaten with horror.

“They didn’t give up and something good came from it. Still need some improvement, but something good came from it.”
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“John was willing to sacrifice life so we can have the freedom to vote,” said Edna Goldsmith, who was wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt. “We want to see him off with a bang.”
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A series of events began Saturday in Lewis’ hometown of Troy, Alabama, to pay tribute the late congressman and his legacy. He will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol next week before his private funeral Thursday at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once led.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s top business regulator said Saturday that he planned to set up meetings with bar owners to discuss how they can reopen their businesses again safely, as the Sunshine State surpassed New York State in the total number of coronavirus cases.
Halsey Beshears, secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, said he planned to start setting up meetings with owners of bars and breweries across the state later this week to discuss how they can reopen without spreading the virus.
Late last month, Florida banned alcohol consumption at its bars, for the second time this year, in response to a spike in the number of coronavirus cases.

“We will come up with a Safe, Smart and Step-by-step plan based on input, science and relative facts on how to reopen as soon as possible,” Beshears tweeted.
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Last week, members of Florida’s craft brewing industry sent a letter to Beshears and Gov. Ron DeSantis, warning that almost a third of the 320 craft breweries in Florida could be forced to go out of business in the upcoming weeks if the restriction on on-site consumption continues.

“The health of our community is paramount, but it cannot be at the life savings of hundreds of entrepreneurs, the livelihood of thousands of families and the majority of an entire industry,” the letter said.

The Florida Department of Health reported 12,199 new cases Saturday, bringing the state’s total since March 1 to 414,511 cases. Florida surpassed New York State’s 411,200 cases and is now trailing only California in having the nation’s largest caseload.

Florida also reported 126 new deaths, raising that total since the start of the pandemic to 5,894 fatalities on Saturday. By comparison, New York State has had more than 25,100 deaths.