Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Interceptor7, Magnifico, annetteboardman, Besame and jck. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) Man Oh Man, wader, Neon Vincent, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Doctor RJ, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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Chicago Tribune: FDA approves U. of I.’s ‘potentially game-changing’ COVID-19 saliva test as state records 2,295 new cases and stares down ‘troubling trends’ in some regions by jaime Munks and Angie Leventis Lourgos
A saliva-based COVID-19 test developed by the University of Illinois has received emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, creating the potential for widespread use of a test experts say is faster, cheaper and simpler.
“This has potentially game-changing implications for our statewide testing complex as well as for testing on a national level, particularly for our high-risk communities and settings,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference Wednesday where he characterized the announcement as “some of the best news that we’ve had since this pandemic began.”
Illinois was one of many states that struggled in the spring to ramp up its testing capacity, amid a nationwide shortage of the materials needed to conduct testing. The Illinois Department of Public Health on Wednesday said the state had for the first time surpassed 50,000 tests conducted during a 24-hour period, raising the total number of tests conducted in the state to nearly 3.5 million.
Along with the increased testing came the highest daily statewide case tally since May 24: 2,295 newly-confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Miami Herald: Nearly 600 Miami-Dade County Public School employees have tested positive for COVID-19 by Colleen Wright
Almost 600 Miami-Dade County Public Schools employees have tested positive for the novel coronavirus from March through July.
Spokeswoman Natalia Zea confirmed Wednesday that the district’s risk management department, tracking claims made to health insurance, reported 578 cases since the district began collecting that data.
She did not break down that figure on which of the district’s 40,000 employees, the largest employer in the county, contracted the virus.
That figure is a significant jump from July, when Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s chief of staff said only 100 employees had come down with the virus.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin clerks worry about November election as mail-in ballot requests grow by Laura Schulte
With August's primary election behind them, clerks in Wisconsin are now starting to look with apprehension toward the November presidential election, still in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Though the number of voters in the August election didn't add up to a delay in vote totals or in-person lines extending around buildings, it raised concerns over the delay a large number of absentee ballots could cause in November's presidential election.
Diane Coenen, Oconomowoc's city clerk, said Tuesday's election was manageable for her staff, but only 3,492 people voted, and 2,368 of those were absentee ballots. She knows that number is only going to go up for November, and she's worried about what's going to happen when that landslide of absentee ballots have to be counted.
"Elections are designed for people to go to the polls, and that's how we've always facilitated elections, and how they're set up to run," she said. "Our workers are trained to process voters at the polls. The absentee process taking place between voters — that's where mistakes can happen."
Seattle Times: As wildfires burn across Washington state, Inslee declares an emergency by Joseph O’Sullivan
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday declared a state of emergency as wildfires burned on the Olympic Peninsula and in Central and Eastern Washington.
The proclamation authorizes the Washington National Guard to activate and help the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) protect houses, businesses, public infrastructure, as well as agriculture and natural resources.
With large-scale wildfires burning in recent years across the state, National Guard members have been trained and deployed to help fight fires.
Firefighting resources across the state are currently spread thin, according to a statement from the governor’s office. The situation is compounded by dry weather, high temperatures and an increase of visitors to wilderness areas in Washington. A majority of wildfires earlier this year were started by people.
Buzzfeed: The Federal Officers Who Cleared Protesters From Lafayette Square Can Stay Anonymous For Now, A Judge Ruled by Zoe Tillman
WASHINGTON — The identities of federal officers accused of using unconstitutional force to clear protesters in front of the White House in June before President Donald Trump walked through for a photo op can remain secret for now, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.
Black Lives Matter DC and other protesters who filed suit over the June 1 incident at Lafayette Square had asked the judge for permission to seek documents and other information from the government early in the case to identify officers who were on the scene, those who were equipped with weapons, and those who used their weapons.
The plaintiffs are pressing claims in federal court in Washington against individual officers involved, as well as against Trump, Attorney General Bill Barr, and other senior administration officials.
This type of information exchange, known as discovery, usually happens later in a case, and US District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled that the plaintiffs failed to show they were entitled to do it now. She noted that they weren’t asking for a preliminary injunction or other immediate action from the court, and the Justice Department hadn’t had a chance to respond to the lawsuit or argue for early dismissal yet.
Reuters: Mother of Black man who died after encounter with police in Colorado cancels rally by Keith Coffman
DENVER (Reuters) - The mother of a young Black man who died after being placed in a chokehold by police in Aurora, Colorado, has canceled a planned march to commemorate the one-year anniversary of his death, saying she will not be “celebrating” the tragedy.
Sheneen McClain wrote on Facebook that she could no longer bear hearing protest chants of “I can’t breathe” - words her son, Elijah, 23, repeatedly uttered during his fatal struggle with police. She said that slogan has become so painful to her it amounted to “emotional abuse.”
“It’s not okay to repeat my son’s dying words because it’s all you think you can do ... that hurts me,” the mother said in the posting calling off a march that had been set for Sunday.
A separate rally honoring Elijah McClain and other African-Americans slain by law enforcement will go on as scheduled on Saturday at the state capitol in nearby Denver, organizers said.
Washington Post: The centers helping child abuse victims have seen 40,000 fewer kids amid the pandemic by Samantha Schmidt
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, advocates and educators have warned that the closures of schools would make it terrifyingly difficult to keep a watchful eye on children who are being abused.
Child abuse reports began to
plummet across the country — not because it wasn’t happening, but because teachers, doctors and others had fewer ways of catching it. Now, a new survey of children’s advocacy centers across the country offers some of the clearest data yet on the scope of this gap in child abuse reporting.
The centers, which provide support for families and children as abuse cases move through the justice system, reported serving 40,000 fewer children nationwide between January and June of this year than the same period last year, from 192,367 children in 2019 down to 152,016 this year, a 21 percent drop, according to the National Children’s Alliance, an accrediting body for a network of 900 children’s advocacy centers.
DW: EU rejects Belarus election result, vows quick sanctions
EU leaders said on Wednesday they did not recognize the results of the disputed presidential elections in Belarus, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying the August 9 poll was "neither free nor fair."
The EU had "no doubt that there were massive violations of procedure at the elections," Merkel said following an emergency video conference. "And for this reason, the results of the elections cannot be recognized."
The official EU statement following the leaders' meeting read: "The EU has been following the developments in Belarus very closely and with increasing concern. The 9 August elections were neither free nor fair, therefore we do not recognize the results."
The elections saw President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country for 26 years, reelected for a sixth term in office. The election commission gave him 80% of the vote. Since the elections, the country has been in the grip of massive protests accusing the government of having rigged the election.
AlJazeera: For weeks, Malians protested for change. Then a coup happened by Hamza Mohamed
It was around midnight, hours after his seizure at gunpoint by soldiers in Mali's capital, when Ibrahim Boubacar Keita finally appeared on national television.
"I would like at this precise moment, while thanking the Malian people for their support throughout these long years and the warmth of their affection, to tell you of my decision to relinquish my duties," the 75-year-old president said behind a mask worn amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Capping a dramatic day of confusion and turmoil, Keita said he had been left with no choice but to declare the dissolution of the government and parliament.
"If it pleased certain elements of our military to decide this should end with their intervention, do I really have a choice?" he said. "[I must] submit to it because I don't want any bloodshed."
In the early hours of Wednesday, it was time for the mutinying soldiers who had forced Keita out of office and detained several senior government officials to make an appearance on state television.
BBC News: South Korea tightens Covid-19 curbs amid warning of new 'crisis'
Museums, nightclubs and karaoke bars have closed in and around South Korea's capital, Seoul, as Covid-19 cases reach a five-month high.
The country reported another 297 new cases on Wednesday - the highest daily figure since March.
South Korea is viewed as one of the world's coronavirus success stories for its management of the disease.
But a spike in new cases linked mostly to a church has sparked concerns of a wider outbreak.
Wednesday saw a three-digit increase in cases for a sixth day after weeks with numbers generally around the 40s. Of the 297 infections reported, 252 were in the greater Seoul area.
Many of the new cases have been linked to the Sarang Jeil Church, whose pastor has been a vocal critic of President Moon Jae-in.
Everyone have a good evening!
