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.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
Houston Chronicle: Hurricane Laura: Prepare your home for high winds in Houston as Laura strengthens by Abigail Rosenthal
The National Hurricane Center upgraded Laura to a hurricane Tuesday morning.
The storm is expected to make landfall between Wednesday night and Thursday night as a hurricane. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has urged residents to prepare for a major wind event, emphasizing heavy gusts as a bigger threat than flooding with this particular storm.
"Harvey was a rainy event. This one, for example, would be more of a windy day. We are certainly more prepared than we were three years ago," Turner said. "We learned a lot from Hurricane Harvey, but you cannot compare Harvey with what we are dealing in this particular case."
For those more inland, wind will indeed be a major part of the storm.
Chicago Sun-Times: In latest Turnaround Agenda, Rauner shifts his political activity to Florida – and the voting machine by Mark Brown
Illinois voters gave Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner a pretty clear indication of what they thought of him in 2018 with a 54%-38% drubbing at the hands of Democrat J.B. Pritzker — a losing margin of nearly 714,000 votes.
Now Rauner has returned the compliment by voting with his feet.
The one-term governor has switched his voter registration to his waterfront mansion in Key Largo, Florida, just south of Miami.
I can’t say whether that’s sour grapes on Rauner’s part or just an effort to save money on taxes (Florida doesn’t have a state income tax.) I could understand a desire to vote in a swing state.
But the move certainly doesn’t speak to any deep attachment to Illinois or its people, as Rauner professed while shelling out big bucks to get elected in the first place.
Rauner signed up to vote in Monroe County, Florida, on May 27, 2020. He is registered as a Republican.
The Rauners sold their home in Winnetka last year, although they still maintain a condo overlooking Millennium Park, a New York penthouse and ranches in Montana and Wyoming, at last check.
Kenosha News: Sheriff advises residents best course is to stay at home tonight by JIll Tatge-Rozell
The number of Wisconsin National Guard troops in Kenosha County will increase, Executive Jim Kreuser and Mayor John Antaramian announced Tuesday under a commitment they obtained from Gov. Tony Evers.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth released a statement advising residents the best thing they could do tonight would be to stay at home.
"As we enter what will likely be another very challenging night in Kenosha County, I want the public to know that the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and our partners in law enforcement are doing our utmost to protect our community during this unprecedented time of unrest," Beth said.
"We are working alongside members of the Kenosha Police Department and law enforcement departments from across Wisconsin, as well as state and federal authorities and the Wisconsin National Guard, in a concerted attempt to minimize the spread of the destructive behavior that has plagued us since Sunday night.
"People are frustrated, I get it. And they’re scared. I certainly get that, too. Rumors abound on social media and elsewhere, with widely varying levels of truth to them. We know that much of the damage is being inflicted by people coming in from outside our community, with the intent to rob and destroy, not to engage in their First Amendment right to demonstrate.
Los Angeles Times: ‘Significant progress’ as weather helps in battle against historic Northern California wildfires by Luke Money
Favorable weather conditions gave crews on the front lines of the historic firestorm in Northern California a boost, as officials reported scant overnight growth on two of the largest blazes the state has seen.
Although the progress is encouraging, the widespread wildfires continue to take a dramatic toll, and not just in terms of acres burned.
The fatalities among the fires stands at seven, including five who perished as a result of the LNU Lightning Complex fire — three in Napa County and two in Solano County — and one in the CZU Lightning Complex fire burning in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. A pilot also died in a helicopter crash in Fresno County while on a water-dropping mission for the Hills fire.
Seven people also have been reported missing in the area of the CZU Lightning Complex, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Chris Clark.
Washington Post: Universities sound alarm as coronavirus cases emerge just days into classes — 530 at one campus by Hannah Knowles
More than 500 cases at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Nearly 160 at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Dozens at the University of Southern California.
Colleges and universities that brought students back to campus are expressing alarm about coronavirus infections emerging as classes have barely started, raising the possibility that everyone could be sent home.
“The rise we’ve seen in recent days is unacceptable, and if unchecked, threatens our ability to complete the rest of the semester on campus,” University of Alabama President Stuart Bell said at
a news conference on Monday, five days after classes resumed, as the mayor of Tuscaloosa temporarily closed bars and warned that the local health system could become overwhelmed.
While a growing number of schools have backed off reopening, opting instead for online classes, others are hoping that a host of new rules and adaptations can keep the coronavirus at bay. They are requiring masks, mandating testing and threatening students and campus groups with penalties for partying. Ohio State University said this week that it had suspended 228 students for virus-related violations.
Buzzfeed: A Refugee From Vietnam Has Been Named The New Leader Of ICE by Hamed Aleaziz
The Trump administration has selected Tony Pham, a refugee from Vietnam who went on to oversee a jail in Virginia, to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Pham takes over for Matt Albence, a career official who supported President Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Trump has often cited his support for ICE and his efforts to restrict immigration in campaign rallies.
“As a seasoned leader with DHS, Tony will ensure ICE continues to safeguard our country’s borders from crime and illegal immigration,” an ICE spokesperson said. The Washington Examiner first reported the news on Tuesday.
Under the Trump administration, ICE has seen multiple leaders come and go, including Albence, current acting Customs and Border Protection commissioner Mark Morgan, and others, as its profile was raised due to controversial operations and policies. Albence, like many in the Department of Homeland Security, was leading the agency in an acting capacity. Pham will continue that by becoming the latest “senior official performing the duties of the director.”
New York Times: Covid-19 Live Updates: C.D.C. Changes Testing Guidance to Exclude People Without Symptoms, Worrying Experts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly modified its coronavirus testing guidelines this week to exclude people who do not have symptoms of Covid-19 — even if they have been recently exposed to the virus.
Experts questioned the revision, pointing to the importance of identifying infections in the brief window immediately before the onset of symptoms, when many individuals are thought to be most contagious.
Models suggest that about half of transmission events can be traced back to individuals still in the so-called pre-symptomatic stage, before they have started feeling ill — if they ever feel sick at all.
A more lax approach to testing, experts said, could delay crucial treatments, as well as obscure the coronavirus’s true spread in the community. Case numbers remain persistently high across much of the United States, though they have been falling in recent weeks, to an average of about 43,000 new cases a day from a peak of more than 66,000 a month ago. Many of the states that saw the largest outbreaks in early summer are now reporting sustained progress, including Arizona and Florida. But parts of the Midwest, as well as Hawaii and some U.S. territories, are still seeing increases in new cases.
BBC News: Flordelis de Souza: Brazilian MP accused of ordering husband's murder
A Brazilian congresswoman has been accused of orchestrating the murder of her pastor husband, after multiple botched attempts.
Flordelis dos Santos de Souza's husband, Anderson do Carmo, was shot 30 times at their home in Rio de Janeiro in June 2019.
Ms de Souza, 59, said her husband, 42, had been killed in a robbery.
But prosecutors say they have unearthed a murder plot, implicating Ms de Souza and several of her children.
Ms de Souza, a celebrity lawmaker for Rio de Janeiro who found fame as a gospel singer before entering politics, has dismissed the allegations, insisting she is innocent.
On Monday, prosecutors announced charges against Ms de Souza and 10 others, including six of her children and one granddaughter. Arrest warrants were issued against nine of the accused.
Police could not arrest Ms de Souza, known as Flordelis to her fans, because her status as an elected lawmaker affords her parliamentary immunity.
DW: The people 'want a new Belarus,' opposition leader says by Dave Raish
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says the recent disputed presidential election in Belarus and the government's harsh crackdown on protesters has made President Alexander Lukashenko's position untenable.
"Our people have changed," Tsikhanouskaya told DW's Konstantin Eggert in Vilnius, where she fled after the August 8 vote. "I don't know what is going to happen in the nearest days, but I know what will happen in the nearest future: Our people will not step away, they woke up and they want a new Belarus."
"The person who has to step away is Mr. Lukashenko," she added. "People will not forgive him, people will not forget anything about this situation that happened after the elections."
Official figures claim Lukashenko won a sixth term in office with 80% of the vote, but the opposition and the European Union have disputed those results. Tsikhanouskaya and EU leaders have called for fresh elections.
When asked whether Lukashenko himself could participate in the proposed new vote, Tsikhanouskaya said: "It's only up to him. We are a free and fair country, so any person would be able to participate in these elections."
Guardian: Gaza enters Covid lockdown as first community cases emerge by Rosie Scammell and Hazem Balousha
As coronavirus spread globally, Gaza was shut off from the world amid fears its fragile healthcare system could not cope with the pandemic. Now the first cases have been detected within the enclave and Palestinians there say they are facing a “catastrophic” situation.
“Gaza has already collapsed,” said Mahmoud Miqdad, a supermarket owner. “No work, no money, no travel, wars, killings, suicides, and now coronavirus. What else can we expect?” asked the 41-year-old.
Gaza’s 2 million residents were in lockdown on Tuesday after authorities announced four people from the same family had tested positive for coronavirus in the central Maghazi camp. All Gazans returning from Israel or Egypt had to remain isolated at dedicated centres.
The emergence of the virus in Gaza comes despite months of severe restrictions on exit and entry to the strip which have hit the already weak economy.
Shahed Smiri, a 35-year-old NGO worker, said she feared for her family and had just enough food to last the 48-hour shutdown.
Everyone have a good evening!
