Tornadoes Hit Tennessee

A powerful storm system caused several tornadoes to touch down across Middle Tennessee early Tuesday morning, which resulted in at least 22 deaths. More than 140 buildings were destroyed, and over 45,000 people were left without power in the area.

Coronavirus Update

U.S.:

• Two more deaths attributed to the virus were reported in Washington on Tuesday, bringing the total number of U.S. deaths up to nine (all in WA state).
• A bill for emergency funding to combat the outbreak could see a floor vote in the House as early as today.

World:

• China reported 125 new cases and 31 more deaths on Tuesday.
• South Korea reported 851 new cases (>5,000 total), while Iran saw a 56% increase in cases, up to 2,336 nationwide.

U.S. & China’s State Media

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that five Chinese state media outlets would be required to reduce their number of U.S.-based Chinese employees from 160 to 100. The U.S. cited a “longstanding, negative trend” in China’s treatment towards foreign journalists as a reason for the decision.

Unrelated media news: The Trump campaign sued the Washington Post for defamation on Tuesday, citing two opinion pieces about Russian assistance that ran last July.

Rate of Change

The Federal Reserve announced an interest rate cut of 0.5%, citing the economic impact of the coronavirus as the reason for the decision. This was the first time the Fed introduced an emergency rate cut in between meeting sessions since the 2008 financial crisis.

More: What the Fed’s interest-rate cut means for you.

Not Good in the ‘Hood

For the second consecutive day, Robinhood reported technical issues that prevented some users from accessing its platform. On Monday, customers were shut out entirely from trading as the Dow experienced its largest single-day increase in over a decade.

More: A company spokesperson said Robinhood will offer compensation for the outage on a case-by-case basis.

Startups Just Want to Have Funds

Short-video streaming platform Quibi announced it has closed a $750 million round of funding, in addition to the $1 billion the company previously raised in its first round of funding. Quibi did not disclose the company’s valuation from the funding round.

In other funding news, Bolt Mobility - a scooter startup co-founded by Usain Bolt - closed a $30 million Series A round at a $100 million valuation.

Leap of Faith

We’ve previously mentioned how rare it is for Leap Babies (born Feb. 29) to find someone who shares the same birthday, but we’re back again with another improbable coincidence.

This past Saturday (Leap Day), Dane and Lindsay Demchak welcomed their second child - a girl named Scout - four years to the day after their firstborn, Omri, was delivered on Feb. 29 2016.

Roll a Mile in My Wheels

Tennessee native Alex Johnson has been confined to a wheelchair for most of his life. The 14-year-old, who suffers from skeletal dysplasia, issued a challenge to local lawmakers to experience a day from his point of view.

Ten members of the Tennessee House of Representatives stepped up to the plate and spent an entire day working from a wheelchair, an experience they universally described as ‘rewarding’ and ‘eye-opening.’

TIE Fighter

When New Jersey native Darius Brown, 13, first heard of the destruction caused by recent hurricanes Harvey and Irma, his heart went out to the thousands of animals left without homes after the storms.

Darius figured if he could make the animals look more dapper, they would be more likely to be adopted - he put his sewing skills to work manufacturing custom bowties, and to date has helped more than 100 shelter animals find their forever homes.

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