CA wildfires

A wildfire that started Wednesday night in California wine country spread to more than 15 square miles yesterday amid planned power outages, high winds, and low humidity across the state. More than 40,000 people in the area have been ordered to evacuate their homes.

Former Spanish leader exhumed

Forty-four years after his death, Spain began exhuming the body of dictator Francisco Franco yesterday from the Valley of the Fallen, a monument outside of Madrid. The monument has been criticized for paying undue homage to a fascist regime.

Chicago teachers’ strike

The Chicago Teachers Union’s 25,000 members and thousands of support staff have been striking for more than a week, demanding smaller class sizes, more counselors, higher wages, and citywide affordable housing. Chicago has the third-largest school district in the country and this marks the first teacher strike since 2012.

Report cards (cont.)

Intel, PayPal, Amazon, and Twitter all released their Q3 earnings reports on Thursday. Intel and PayPal reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ expectations and enjoyed a rise in share price as a result, while Amazon reported a 26% decline in profit from this time a year ago (shares dropped ~10%), and Twitter shares dropped over 20% in response to a disappointing earnings report.

Public Domain

Virgin Galactic will become the first human spaceflight company to trade on public markets following a shareholder-approved merger. The merger is with one of Chamath Palihapitiya’s ventures and values Virgin Galactic at $1.5 billion ahead of the company’s Monday NYSE debut.

All's Fair

Fair, a flexible car-ownership startup valued at $1.2 billion, announced it will be laying off 40% of its staff and replacing its CFO. The SoftBank-backed company said the move is a proactive attempt to make the company more profitable following the publicized struggles of high-valuation, low-profitability companies such as Uber and WeWork.

Total Recall

Subaru is recalling over 400k vehicles to fix problems with engine computers and debris that can fall into motors. The recall covers Imprezas from 2017-2019, as well as 2018 and 2019 Crosstreks, and is scheduled to begin Dec. 13.

It runs in the family

Aiden Jaquez is only 11 years old, but he’s already spent years doing what many people dread – running. And not just around playgrounds and sports fields or away from older siblings, but long distances. Thirteen-point-one miles, to be exact.

Last weekend, Aiden broke the world record for the youngest person to run half marathons in every single state. At 6 years old, he was inspired by his grandmother, who’s been a long-distance runner his whole life. He saw her accomplishments – and the medals she got for completing them – and decided that he wanted to do it, too.

So they started running together. And for the last four-and-a-half years, they’ve been traveling around the country completing races, collecting medals, and pounding the pavement in many different terrains. While he’s excited about his record, Aiden said mostly he just enjoys running. It gets out his energy, he said, and better yet, he gets to hang out with his grandmother. What could be better?

Come Together

While natural disasters can devastate cities and towns in a matter of minutes, it’s often in the aftermath of those unexpected and uncontrollable catastrophes where the warmest sides of humanity are on display. And after a tornado whipped through Dallas last weekend, the community stepped up in a big way.

The day after the storm, local food chains handed out sandwiches to people on the streets doing cleanup work; movie theaters invited folks who were suddenly without homes to come in for free PG-rated films; and storage facilities opened empty units for free to people who suddenly needed a place to store their belongings while they rebuilt their homes.

There were even some acts that saved lives. One business made the decision to close early and send all their employees home just hours before being completely leveled by the storm. And when one Dallas resident heard a whining at his door, he welcomed a lost, terrified pup inside and connected with the dog’s owner to get the poor thing back home after the storm. So despite the difficulties that these communities are facing as they begin the process of rebuilding, one thing’s for sure – they’ve got each other’s backs.