Coronavirus Update

On Friday, officials in China’s Hubei province reported over 15,000 new cases of the coronavirus and more than 250 deaths. According to Johns Hopkins’ real-time online tracker, there are more than 71,000 confirmed cases and 1,770 deaths, overwhelmingly located in mainland China.

A top U.S. health official confirmed that 44 Americans aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship - currently quarantined in Japan - have been infected.

U.S. & Taliban Peace Deal

The U.S. and Taliban have reportedly agreed to a seven-day “reduction in violence” deal. If the cease-fire holds for seven days, the two sides would then sign a peace agreement under the terms of the reported deal.

DOJ Under Fire

On Friday, the DOJ said it will not seek criminal charges for former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who allegedly lied to investigators about a leak to the media. Separately, more than 1,100 former Justice Department officials have signed an open letter calling for the resignation of AG William Barr after he lessened the DOJ’s initial recommended sentence for longtime Trump aide Roger Stone.

HQ Trivia’s Pursuit

On Friday, the live-video trivia game company HQ Trivia laid off its full staff of 25 and ceased operations after a potential deal to acquire the company fell through. HQ Trivia was started by two former Vine founders in 2017, and, at one point, had more than 2.3 million players vying for daily cash prizes, but the death of co-founder Colin Kroll and a failed internal coup led to the company’s eventual dissolution.

Watch a recording of the crazy, drunken final HQ Trivia game here.

Weed Money

On Saturday, a jury ruled against Bayer AG and BASF SE, determining that the German pharmaceutical companies encouraged farmers to spray a hard-to-control weedkiller which damaged other farmer’s nearby crops. The federal court awarded a Missouri peach farmer $265 million after thousands of his trees were destroyed by the companies’ products.

Note: The settlement is separate from Bayer’s legal troubles surrounding their weedkiller, Roundup, which has been linked to cancer.

You Know WHO

Last week, more than a dozen tech giants (including Amazon, Google, Verizon, and Twitter) met with the WHO at Facebook’s Menlo Park campus to discuss the problem of misinformation with regards to the coronavirus. Apple, Uber, and Lyft were reportedly invited but did not attend the meeting.

Play It By Ear

For those born with impaired hearing, listening to music has long been a dream just outside their (literal and figurative) reach - until now.

Thanks to the Feel the Music Project, deaf audience members can now ‘listen’ to classical music through the physical vibrations of the instruments.

Coming Up Roses

Valentine’s Day can be tough on women who are missing their romantic partners - especially widows and military wives.

For the past eight years, a group of four brothers from Spokane, WA have hand-delivered hundreds of individual roses to anyone needing a special Valentine’s Day reminder that they are loved.

Goody Two Shoes

Research shows that more than one in five children in the United States is living in poverty and in desperate need of clothing essentials, including 500 students at a local Dallas elementary school.

When Dallas native Ashley Bosse Lubetkin heard of her hometown’s dilemma, she stepped up to raise $12,000 in concert with nonprofit Shoes That Fit to buy a brand new pair of shoes for nearly every single student.