Newsletter Aug 23, 2021

It had been 30 years since a tropical storm made landfall in New England, but Henri made history over the weekend as the area attempts to recover.
3 things you must know

  • Tropical Storm Henri slams Northeast with rain, wind, surge

    Tropical Storm Henri hammered the Northeast over the weekend, bringing heavy rains, high winds and hazardous storm surge to the region. It was the first land-falling storm in the Northeast since 1991.

    On the weekend New York City was celebrating a return to normal with a live concert in Central Park, Henri's outer bands arrived to stop the show Saturday (mid-Barry Manilow's "I Made It Through The Rain") and announce the arrival of a whole new set of problems.

    Henri came ashore in Rhode Island early Sunday with 60 mph winds and flash flooding, but the most damage may have been the result of the storm surge stemming from a full moon, high tide landfall. Henri was moving up the East Coast and out to sea Sunday night as New Englanders awaited sunrise to access the damage and get to work.

    SEE THE DESTRUCTION LEFT BEHIND IN HENRI'S WAKE

  • Delta variant could play a roll in a fourth stimulus check

    Just months ago when the US economy was recovering and vaccines were making strides against COVID-19, talk of a possible fourth stimulus check going out to those still struggling from the pandemic seemed like a long shot. But with the Delta variant hitting areas of the country with low inoculation rates, there's still a chance.

    Some Democrats have been calling for a fourth round of stimulus checks before the ink had even dried on the American Rescue Plan, which sent $1,400 payments to qualified recipients. Republicans still scoff at the idea, especially after the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill it recently approved. It's hard to see broad support, but not impossible.

    SEE IF AND WHEN AMERICANS WILL GET ANOTHER CHECK

  • Cryptocurrency gets another celebrity bump, price boost

    Bitcoin made news by approaching $50,000 over the weekend, but no cryptocurrency gets more celebrity shout-outs than Dogecoin. From musicians like Snoop Dogg and KISS's Gene Simmons to billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, the self-titled "Shibes" can send the price soaring with a few clicks of their Twitter thumbs.

    Cuban fired the latest pro-Doge tweet, calling it "the people's way to pay." The Dallas Mavericks owner even accepts the crypto as payment at games, but unlike the other celebrity endorsers he owns very little. Still, Dogecoin has become a hit with big-name investors and cryptocurrencies are making gains both in value and credibility.

    READ ABOUT CRYPTOCURRENCY'S RECENT PRICE RALLY
Markets
DJIA 35,120.08 0.65%
S&P 500 4,441.67 0.81%
Nasdaq Composite 14,714.66 1.19%
Japan: Nikkei 225 27,487.10 1.75%
UK: FTSE 100 7,087.90 0.41%
Crude Oil Futures 62.70 0.90%
Gold Futures 1,787.50 0.20%
Yen 109.84 0.05%
Euro 1.17 0.15%
* As of market close
Taliban blames US for choatic evacuations

One week after the Taliban rolled into Kabul and took control of the Afghan government, American citizens and foreign nationals friendly to the US military are racing for their lives to leave the war-torn country. With the world pointing a finger at the US for the debacle, so is the Taliban.

Choas continued at the Kabul Airport as fleeing refugees tried to navigate through Taliban checkpoints with their documentation. Those fortunate enough to reach the airport were faced with further delays as reception centers in Qatar and Germany were already at capacity. The US admitted that evacuating everyone before the Aug. 31 deadline is "impossible."

FIND OUT PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PLAN TO ENLIST AIRLINES' HELP
Abbott tests negative as mask ban lifted

It's too soon to tell if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has had a change of heart after testing positive for COVID, but there certainly has been a change of policy in the Lone Star State as his mask mandate ban in schools has been lifted. It all comes in a wild four days that turned Texas upside down.

It all started Thursday when it was revealed that Abbott had contracted COVID after fighting health measures to slow the spread of the Delta variant. With the virus raging in his state, Abbott credited the vaccine for helping him test negative Sunday with only minor symptoms. Meanwhile, his mask mandate ban was overruled by the Texas Education Agency.

FIND OUT HOW TEXAS IS HANDLING THE SCHOOL MASK POLICY

'Jeopardy' back to musical chairs for host

"Who is Mike Richards?" If we were playing "Jeopardy," the real question (answer) would be "This disgraced former TV game show producer lasted little over a week in his failed bid to take over as host." That's exactly right after Richards stepped down under pressure for past insensitive remarks.

Richards taped a week of shows before his resignation, but now "Jeopardy" is back to using rotating guest hosts in an effort to find a permanent replacement for the late, great Alex Trebek. "When is never?"

FIND OUT WHO 'JEOPARDY' FANS HOPE WILL GET THE JOB

Quiz show trio

Ken Jennings holds the record for the most consecutive "Jeopardy" wins and James Holzhauer has the highest single-game payout. But who has the most career winnings in show history and how much have they won?

Friday’s answer: Former President Barack Obama has the most Twitter followers with 129.9 million, beating out Justin Bieber and Katy Perry.

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