Front Page News

Trump Discharged From Walter Reed

President Trump was discharged from Walter Reed Medical Center Monday night and returned to the White House via helicopter. He released a video message shortly after arriving at the White House. (Watch here)

More: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany and two of her deputies tested positive for the coronavirus, joining 15 other people connected to the White House who have tested positive in recent days. (The full list)

CDC Acknowledges Airborne Transmission

The CDC updated its official COVID-19 guidelines yesterday to acknowledge the potential for airborne transmission of the virus. The new guidelines detail how small particles that linger in the air can spread the virus even after an infected person has left the area, a situation that most commonly occurs in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation.

Nobel Prize Week

Drs. Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine on Monday for their discovery of the hepatitis C virus. The committee said their achievements “made possible blood tests and new medicines that have saved millions of lives.”

More: The Nobel Prize in Physics will be announced today (check for updates), Chemistry on Wednesday, Literature on Thursday, the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, and the Memorial Prize in Economics next Monday.

🏫 School’s Out… NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered schools in nine critical zip codes to close starting today, and stopped short of requiring nonessential businesses to close.

Worth Noting: The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated witness requirements for South Carolina absentee ballots on Monday night.

Closing Curtain

Regal Cinemas will temporarily close all 663 of its movie theaters in the U.S. and UK, parent company Cineworld announced on Monday. The company, which did not provide a timeline for when the theaters would reopen, blamed the move on the postponements of several major film releases due to the pandemic. The closures will affect about 40k workers across the U.S.

No Refunds

The FBI arrested a former Amazon employee accused of committing fraud against the company, Amazon disclosed on Monday. The man, Vu Anh Nguyen, allegedly used his position within the company to fraudulently issue ~$100k worth of product refunds to himself and his associates.

Instagram Sets Up Shop

Instagram announced an expansion of shopping functions to its platform yesterday. The move will allow users to view products and make purchases (either in-app or by visiting the seller’s website) across IGTV, Instagram Live, and Stories. The company also said it would soon begin testing shopping within Reels, its TikTok rival released in early August.

💳 New Product Launch: Venmo debuted its first credit card (offered through Visa), which gives consumers 1% cash back on all purchases.

Free Bird

Last February, 17-year-old Ali El Oud of Beirut, Lebanon, was out fishing with his son, Omar, when the pair spotted an injured pelican floating in the water. Upon closer inspection, Ali and Omar discovered that the bird was bleeding from a cut on his leg, and his flight feathers had been severed -- likely by illegal wildlife traffickers looking to sell them on the black market.

Ali, a manager at a seaside restaurant in Beirut, helped his son bring the wounded animal back to the marina located next to the establishment, and Omar has been nursing the bird back to health ever since. Now, the pelican – nicknamed Ovi – is one of the best customers at Ali’s restaurant, waddling into the kitchen up to three times a day to receive fresh fish and back scratches from his rescuers. (Video)

‘Great’ Grandpa Ron

Before the pandemic hit, Ron Jacobson of Ronald, WA, would spend his mornings giving hundreds of hugs to the young learners at Cle Elum-Roslyn Elementary as they started their school day. The Vietnam veteran – affectionately called ‘Grandpa Ron’ by the students – had already logged 900 volunteer hours at the school during the 2019-20 academic year when the district transitioned to virtual instruction in March.

Soon after the switch to online learning, the school began receiving messages from the students that they missed seeing their dear Grandpa Ron. In response, the school’s administration added Ron’s contact information to the school directory. Immediately students began to reach out and give back to their faithful friend, writing letters and emails to check on him, and even offering to walk his dog.

Flower Power

Chance and Hannah Buckner of San Angelo, TX, originally planned to celebrate their wedding this past April but were forced to postpone their special day due to the COVID-19 lockdown. On September 19th, the two were finally able to hold their ceremony, but as the newlyweds loaded the floral arrangements from the event into the back of their pickup truck, Hannah had an idea.

The new bride took to Facebook to ask if any friends or family members knew of anyone in their community who could benefit from receiving one of the wedding bouquets, which would otherwise be thrown away. After receiving more than 120 responses to the social media post, Chance and Hannah embarked on a six-hour journey to deliver the floral arrangements to isolated community members throughout San Angelo.

The future of veggies is here.

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Green Giant® Veggie Spirals are made with 100% vegetables and are the perfect swap-in for traditional pasta. They have no sauces or seasonings, putting you in the driver’s seat.

It’s time to get on board.
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