A piece of equipment for Southern California Edison may have sparked a wildfire Monday in Southern California that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, the Associated Press reports.

The fire, covering 11 square miles in Orange County, was accelerated due to high winds, which turned a small smoky spot fire into a quick-traveling blaze.  Two firefighters have been critically injured fighting the wildfire.

In his campaign stop in Allentown, Pennsylvania today, incumbent republican presidential nominee Donald Trump demonstrated a lack of knowledge about how votes are tallied and how little he knows Pennsylvania.

As the NBC video shows, Trump was complaining that Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Tom Wolf denied the Trump campaign the use of an indoor venue.  Of course, Governor Wolf does not issue permits from local municipal governments for events.

“[A]nd the governor that counts the ballots, right?  The governor counts the ballots.  And we’re watching you, very closely, in Philadelphia,” Trump rambled.  “We’re watching you.”

The governor of Pennsylvania doesn’t live in Philadelphia; the state capital is Harrisburg.  And the governor doesn’t “count the ballots.”  That’s done by local election boards.

Hospitals in Utah are facing filled wards and limited resources.  Their patients are facing the very real possibility that no matter how sick they are, they will not be treated, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

The seven-day moving average of new coronavirus cases in Utah has tripled in the last six weeks, to more than 1,900 new confirmed cases a day.  The number of non-specific ICU beds is roughly 180 out of 500 overall.

Many hospitals in the state have already reported that their ICU beds are full.  The University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City reported 95% of its ICU beds were full as of October 8th.  Last week, all Utah hospitals reported 102% ICU capacity.  Two hospitals have opened up overflow ICU beds.

The Salt Lake Tribune, the daily newspaper serving Utah’s capital city, will cease its daily printed edition, switching to a Sunday-only format at the end of the year.

Published since 1871, the Tribune had an agreement with the competing Deseret News to share printing facilities, thereby allowing both publications to cut costs.  Both publications independently decided to end the 68-year-old agreement.

Along with ceasing daily publication, the Tribune will also switch from a home-delivery model to a mail-delivery process.

“While we mourn the loss of our daily print edition, we eagerly embrace the opportunity of bringing an exciting new weekly product to our readers’ homes,” interim Editor David Noyce said. “It will feature the journalism Tribune readers have grown to trust and expect, along with new elements — all packaged in an energized edition.”

CNN: “Prior to becoming a prominent backer of Donald Trump, Kayleigh McEnany praised then-Vice President Joe Biden as “funny and likable” and a “man of the people” who resonates with “middle class voters.” As White House press secretary and before that a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee and Trump campaign, McEnany has been a relentless critic of Biden. She has mimicked many of the President’s attacks on the former vice president calling him ‘sleepy’ and ‘a radical socialist.’ But in August 2015 interviews reviewed by CNN’s KFile, McEnany said Republicans would run into a problem in a potential race between Donald Trump and Biden.”

“At the time, Biden was considering a run for the White House. ‘I think the Republicans run into a problem if it is Joe Biden and if it is maybe a Trump on the other side,’ McEnany said on local New York’s AM970. ‘Because Joe Biden, one of the things he is remarkable at is really kind of being a man of the people and resonating with middle class voters. Feeling like – coming off as human. His gaffes – as much as we make fun of them – to a certain extent they make him look human. So not, since he’s likable.”

Daily Beast: “Fox News has been planning its election night coverage for weeks, prepping staff and on-air talent for the biggest news night of the year. But now Fox faces uncertainty after the network’s president and many of its key on-air stars may have been exposed to COVID-19. ‘Everyone is in a panic about election night,’ said one current Fox News staffer. On Sunday, The New York Times reported that top Fox News executives and talent will quarantine and get tested after flying on a network-chartered flight from Nashville to New York—following Thursday night’s presidential debate—with a staffer who later tested positive for the coronavirus. Passengers included network president Jay Wallace and on-air political hosts and analysts like Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Dana Perino, and Juan Williams. (A Fox News spokesperson would not confirm the Times story or the exposure, citing employee confidentiality.)”

“All four of those stars were expected to play key in-studio roles for Fox’s election-night coverage. But now it’s unclear how the network plans to proceed with its top talent potentially unable to gather in the same room. ‘I believe it will put election night-plans into chaos,’ another current Fox staffer told The Daily Beast under condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. ‘It will be like starting from scratch… It’s not good for anyone.’ The employee added: ‘It’s insane that there’s a possibility the anchors will have to host the biggest night of 2020 from their homes.'”

Big problems and discrepancies with Mail In Ballots all over the USA. Must have final total on November 3rd.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2020

Financial services firm Charles Schwab Corp. announced that it will cut 1,000 jobs by the end of the year as part of its merger with TD Ameritrade.  The job losses will mostly impact their branch operations, according to Reuters.

“These reductions are part of our efforts to reduce overlapping or redundant roles across the two firms,” Charles Schwab said in a statement.  Schwab completed the acquisition of TD Ameritrade earlier in October.

Charles Schwab Corp. stated that it would make no further layoffs during 2020.

“Workers from the state Department of Agriculture managed to destroy the first nest of so-called murder hornets discovered in the U.S. without suffering any stings or other injuries, the agency said Monday. The nest, located in Whatcom County near the Canadian border, created concern because the Asian giant hornets are large and their sting can be lethal, especially if a person is stung numerous times. The hornets also pose a huge threat to honey bees that pollinate many crops. ‘No one was stung and no one was even attacked that I am aware of,’ said Sven-Erik Spichiger, an entomologist who directed the nest eradication Saturday near the town of Blaine. Scientists recovered 98 hornets from the nest, including 13 that were captured alive in a net, the agency said. ‘The WSDA is not selling any Asian giant hornet specimens,’ spokesman Karla Salp said in response to questions from the public. The captured specimens will be given to various researchers, she said” – Associated Press.

Robert Murray, the chief executive of the bankrupt Murray Energy coal mining company, has died, ABC News reports.

Murray was infamous for flouting regulations and fighting efforts of the federal government to having coal mining companies pay workers compensation for black lung disease.

Murray had applied for funds available through the federal funds for those impacted by black lung disease.  Murray’s Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah collapsed in 2007, trapping six miners, who were rescued.  Media reports at the time found that Murray mines had racked up more than 4,000 violations and hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid fines.

Tennesseean: “An attorney for Tennessee Sen. Joey Hensley conceded Monday the politician, a small-town doctor, prescribed opioids to family members and an employee with whom he was in a romantic relationship, in what the state contends is a violation of medical ethics. During opening arguments in a medical discipline proceeding, attorney David Steed said it was well-intentioned, harmless and all but unavoidable for Hensley to prescribe to relatives in a small Tennessee town where he is the only available doctor.”

“Steed confirmed Hensley twice prescribed an opioid painkiller to a nurse at his clinic with whom he was in a romantic relationship. ‘There are not many people in the county who haven’t been to see Dr. Hensley, and she was one of them,’ Steed said, adding a moment later, ‘Half of the county are Hensleys. Everyone there knows everyone. There were multiple relationships and the physician-patient relationship was only one and somewhat incidental to the others.’ The nurse with whom Hensley had a romantic relationship with is identified as his second cousin in case records and courtroom testimony from a separate proceeding. On Monday, a Tennessee Department of Health investigator testified Hensley wrote this woman at least 47 prescriptions for controlled substances from 2011 to 2018, which includes the time period of their romantic relationship. Hensley didn’t require the nurse undergo drug tests to prevent abuse and did not properly document most prescriptions in her medical records, the investigator said.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics on Monday reported that the number of COVID cases in children has increased 14% over the last two weeks, accounting for 11% of all coronavirus cases in the United States, CNN reports.

Nearly 800,000 children under the age of 20 have contracted coronavirus as of October 22nd, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.  Close to 95,000 of those cases were reported in the final two weeks of the dataset, from October 8th through October 22nd.

Federal child trafficking arrests and convictions fell to a nine-year low during fiscal year 2019 and continued to be low in FY 2020, dropping to the lowest levels since 2012, a new study by Syracuse University reports.

Just 180 people were prosecuted for child trafficking-related crimes in FY 2020, with 200 others arrested but not prosecuted.  The number of child sex crimes dismissed from prosecution reached an all-time high in FY 2017, the majority of which was part of Trump’s first months in office.  During that time, 323 cases, or 54% of those arrested, had charges dropped.

“The Texas Army National Guard said Monday it had been ordered to dispatch 1,000 troops to five major cities around the state in conjunction with the Nov. 3 election, including San Antonio. The guard in recent weeks had told the San Antonio Express-News that its commander, Maj. Gen. Tracy Norris, had been asked to draft contingency plans in case of trouble at polling places in major cities around the state” – San Antonio Express-News.

West Virginia republican Congressman Alex X. Mooney allegedly used tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for questionable personal expenses including fast food, trips to wineries and resort vacations, Roll Call reports.

Of the most curious spending, Mooney spent $1,900 during 52 trips to Chik-fil-A, most near his residence in Charles Town, West Virginia and another $4,500 at Rooster’s Amish Shed, a store that builds garden storage sheds.

Some of Mooney’s spendin seem to have been intentionally mischaracterized on financial statements.  An expense for $140 to Appalachian Boarding Company was allotted to “office expenses,” although the business provides paddle board rentals.

“With about a week until Election Day, labeling their opponents as radicals has become the closing message for Republicans in tight races around the country. While Democrats have focused on health care access and getting the coronavirus pandemic under control, most Republicans have settled on a message of grievance — that Democratic governance would bring socialism and left-wing extremism. The Republican efforts range from the presidential race to the Senate level and even some local elections.”

“At the top of the ticket, President Trump continues to ignore Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s history as a bipartisan candidate, instead portraying him as someone who is promising a political revolution in the mold of Mr. Sanders. On Saturday in suburban Wisconsin, President Trump said what most Republicans have merely hinted at: ‘We should be running against Bernie.’ Last week, during the debate in Tennessee, Mr. Biden argued that he had defeated Mr. Sanders because of these differences, deploying an argument he has used throughout his presidential bid: The American people know him and his record. ‘I beat the socialist,’ Mr. Biden said in a September interview with a Wisconsin network. ‘That’s how I got elected. That’s how I got the nomination. Do I look like a socialist? Look at my career — my whole career. I am not a socialist'” – New York Times.

“Voters in Wisconsin have flocked to the polls despite the coronavirus pandemic. As of Monday morning, more than 1.3 million absentee ballots have been returned, including early voting ballots cast since Tuesday, the start of early voting, according to the state Elections Commission. Now, the Democratic mayors of Wisconsin’s five largest cities are issuing a challenge to voters, and each other, with just eight days before the presidential election Nov. 3.”

“Mayors Cory Mason of Racine, John Antaramian of Kenosha, Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, Eric Genrich of Green Bay, and Satya Rhodes-Conway, of Madison, are competing against one another to see who can get the most absentee and early voters. It’s one way to keep the polls safe, secure and healthy on Election Day, the mayors said during a joint press conference Monday. As of right now, about one-third of registered voters in Racine and Green Bay have returned their ballots by mail or voted early, Mason said. ‘We’re all making efforts to make sure people can vote and can vote safely,’ Mason said. ‘We’re excited to see who wins, and I think we’re all a little bit competitive and excited to see which city will have the highest amount of participation'” – Wisconsin Public Radio.

Politico: “The Trump administration is fighting in federal court to block states from giving billions of dollars in emergency food stamps to the lowest-income Americans during the coronavirus crisis. Residents of Pennsylvania and California have sued Trump’s Agriculture Department over a policy that has kept roughly 40 percent of households who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from receiving any emergency benefits during the pandemic.”

“After being ordered by a federal judge last week to proceed with the payments in the Pennsylvania case, the department is continuing to appeal. The Agriculture Department says that it’s simply following the law. A spokesperson noted that a California court recently sided with USDA on a procedural matter. Critics say the Trump administration is trying to return to its pre-Covid mission of shrinking safety net programs, even as economists warn more help is needed for businesses and millions of households that are newly unemployed, behind on rent and struggling to buy food.”