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2020 Election: By The Polls

A slew of new national opinion polls have been published after the first presidential debate concluded last Tuesday:

                          Biden Trump
NBC News/WSJ: 53   39
IBD/TIPP:           49   46
The Hill/HarrisX:  47   40
Reuters/Ipsos:     51   41

A Rasmussen debate poll found that 44% of likely U.S. voters think Biden won, while 36% say Trump won, and 20% were undecided.

More: The deadline to register to vote is fast approaching (in many states it’s actually today). Don't miss the boat.

NYC Shuts Down 9 ZIP Codes

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced over the weekend that schools and nonessential businesses in nine zip codes of Queens and Brooklyn will need to close down starting Wednesday. The areas in question experienced north of a 3% positivity rate for seven straight days, prompting the closures.

CA Wildfires Shatter Annual Record

Wildfires in California this year have burned over 4M acres to date, state officials announced Sunday -- more than twice the area of the previous annual record (for scale, Connecticut spans ~3.5M acres). There have been over 8,200 fires in CA this year, killing 31 people and destroying more than 8,450 structures.

More: About 17k firefighters are still battling 23 fires across the state.

Worth Noting: Kentucky AG David Cameron released the full 20 hours of audio from grand jury proceedings in the case of Breonna Taylor on Friday. A written transcript has yet to be made available. (Listen here)

📚 Bonus Read: Throughout U.S. history, we hold this truth to be self-evident: From Woodrow Wilson to FDR to JFK, presidents have sometimes been less than truthful about their health. A deeper dive.

Delay Of Game

The NFL delayed two games -- Titans-Steelers & Patriots-Chiefs -- following positive COVID-19 test results among players and staff. Tennessee reported 18 positive tests over the past ten days, while New England and Kansas City both experienced an undisclosed number of positive tests (most notably Patriots quarterback Cam Newton).

More: The Patriots-Chiefs matchup is now scheduled for tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET on CBS. The Packers-Falcons Monday night matchup on ESPN was pushed to 8:50 p.m. ET. The Titans-Steelers contest was rescheduled for Week 7 on Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. ET.

An Uber Payout

Uber Technologies Inc. sold a $500M stake in its trucking branch, Uber Freight, in a funding round valuing the company at ~$3.3B. The infusion aims to help the company’s B2B logistics arm scale up operations, and comes as Uber’s core business (ridesharing) continues to lose cash as a result of the pandemic.

More: Launched in 2017, Uber Freight connects truck drivers with shippers, much in the same way its flagship ride-hailing app pairs drivers with those looking for a ride. Learn more.

Jobs Report Card

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ September Jobs Report was published Friday. The U.S. labor market added 661k jobs in September as the unemployment rate fell to 7.9% from 8.4%. The report, which found more than half the jobs lost in March-April have now been recovered, marked the first month since April that showed net hiring below 1M jobs.

👨‍💻💬 Tech Talk (cont.)… the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, and Google agreed to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee on October 28.

Couple Of The Century

When Becky Osowski of Mishawaka, IN, was hired as a cashier at the local Martin’s Super Market in 1969, she had no idea how this seemingly ordinary position would define her life. Joining the store’s staff at just 16 years old, Becky quickly became close with her coworker, Ed, after the two met in the produce aisle. Seven years later, Becky and Ed got married.

This week, Becky retired from Martin’s after working at the grocery store for 50 years. When Ed retires later this year, the couple will have devoted a combined 100 years of service to their employer. Throughout the past half-century, the supermarket has been a staple of the Osowski’s family, with one child and two grandchildren working at the store over the years.

Pretty In Pink

After his grandfather passed away from cancer last year, 37-year-old Wesley Hamnett of Lancashire, England, decided that he wanted to raise money for local cancer charities by cycling 1,250 miles from Russia to his home in England. However, when the pandemic hit this year, Wesley was forced to reconsider his epic journey, ultimately shortening the route while giving it a playful twist.

The father of two cycled from Glasgow, Scotland, back to Manchester, England, last month – a distance of 200 miles – while riding his eight-year-old daughter’s small pink bike (video). Wesley, who completed the arduous adventure in six days, overcame eight blown out tires and a 1,350-foot ascent to successfully raise $10,730 for four different charities. The dedicated dad still plans to traverse his route from Russia in the spring.

What’s Up, Dog!

The pandemic has forced animal shelters across the country to temporarily close their doors to the public, severely inhibiting the opportunity for pets in need to find their forever homes. At a time when a cuddly friend can help alleviate the loneliness of quarantine, one rescue organization teamed up with the NBA to raise awareness for cats and dogs in need of adoption.

For Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets, the Best Friends Animal Society filled the event’s virtual seats with 28 dogs and two kittens that are up for adoption (video). Within 48 hours of the game, one of the foster animals – a 4-pound-Chihuahua named Jolene – had already been selected by a new family, with several more of the rescues under consideration for permanent homes.