President Trump and Melania Trump test positive for COVID-19
In the early hours of Friday, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump told the public they had tested positive for COVID-19 in a tweet by Trump saying, “Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday night, the President announced he would be going to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment. According to The New York Times, “The doctors said Trump’s blood oxygen level dropped twice… after he was diagnosed with the virus, requiring medical intervention… But they insisted that his situation had improved enough since then that he could be released from the hospital as early as Monday.”
Wildfire evacuations ordered in Northern California
As Northern California braces for powerful winds with ongoing wildfires, evacuations were ordered on Thursday afternoon. The evacuation order is to remain in place through Saturday morning, with hot, dry conditions and turbulent northwest winds. In the Bay Area alone, nearly 70,000 residents are under evacuation orders. According to NBC News, “24,000 buildings in Napa and Sonoma counties, north of San Francisco, remained threatened by the Glass Fire, which ignited overnight Sunday in the Napa Valley and burned through vineyards, resorts and homes.”
48-hour delay in audiotape release granted in Breonna Taylor case
On Wednesday, “Kentucky State Attorney General Daniel Cameron was granted a 48-hour delay in releasing the grand jury’s recordings in the Breonna Taylor case after asking for more time just hours before he had been ordered by a judge to place the materials in the court record,” according to ABC News. While Cameron had requested a week to redact names and personal witness information from the 20 hours of audio recording, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith only granted him an extension until Friday to release the tapes.
Mississippi becomes the first state to lift statewide mask order
At a news conference on Wednesday, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced the reversal of the statewide mask mandate and eased some restrictions on social distancing for public gatherings. While masks will still be required in schools and close contact businesses like barbershops and salons, according to the New York Post, “Reeves said he would be leaving it up to residents to decide whether to wear a mask.”
