August 2020

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

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Marco collapses, sets stage for Laura to hit US

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As Tropical Storm Marco fell apart, the Gulf Coast turned its attention Monday to Laura, another system following just behind that could grow into a supercharged Category 3 hurricane with winds topping 110 mph (177 kph) and a storm surge that could swamp entire towns.

Storm not expected to delay $300 jobless checks

BATON ROUGE (AP) — The tropical weather threatening Louisiana won’t stop $300 checks from going out this week to about 400,000 people left unemployed during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday.

“We do not anticipate that the storm will delay that. I’m expecting those payments to be in the mail by the end of the week,” the Democratic governor said.

Jobless workers will get the weekly payments retroactive to Aug. 1, Edwards said.

Saints cut Bradham, place Bademosi on injured reserve

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints have cut linebacker Nigel Bradham and placed defensive back Johnson Bademosi on injured reserve.

Bradham is an eightyear NFL veteran who had spent his first four seasons with Buffalo and the previous four with Philadelphia, where he started 15 games for the 2017 Eagles that won the Super Bowl.

He lasted about three weeks on New Orleans’ roster before his release on Monday.

“It was a decision we made just based on what we had seen so far,” coach Sean Payton said. “We’re going to get some of these younger guys more work.”

Offshore oil, gas production crimped by storms

(AP) - Oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico was slowed Sunday by the approach of two storms that led companies to remove workers from more than 100 offshore platforms.

The Interior Department said that based on company reports at midday, 114 platforms had been evacuated. That is 18 percent of the staffed platforms in the Gulf, but they account for 58 percent of Gulf oil production and 45 percent of its natural gas output.

Energy companies are also moving drilling rigs used to explore for oil and gas.

Republicans paint dark picture of future if Trump loses

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans opened Monday night’s prime-time convention with dark warnings about America’s future if President Donald Trump doesn’t win a second term, casting him as a protector of religious freedom, the nation’s workers and much more.

A school teacher warned that conservative values were under attack from labor unions. A small business owner charged that businesses across America were facing unwarranted pandemic shutdowns and riotous mobs. And Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., likened the prospect of Democrat Joe Biden’s election to a horror movie.

Zoom glitches, briefly grinding US schools to a halt

NEW YORK (AP) — Teachers and parents got a brief glimpse of a new kind of pandemic-era nightmare Monday when Zoom — the video-conferencing service that powers everything from distance learning to business meetings to casual, socially distant get-togethers — abruptly went dead.

For roughly two-and-a-half hours Monday morning, many users were unable to load the Zoom website; others could neither host nor join scheduled meetings. Zoom fixed the problem by 11:30 a.m. ET, the company reported on its status page.

National Guard called out after police shoot black man

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s governor summoned the National Guard for fear of another round of violent protests Monday after the police shooting of a Black man turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said 125 members of the National Guard would be in Kenosha by night with responsibility for “guarding infrastructure and making sure our firefighters and others involved are protected.” County authorities also announced an 8 p.m. curfew.

California wildfires: Prepare to be away from home for days

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California fire officials are cautiously optimistic after dodging a major lightning storm, but they are pleading with residents to stay out of evacuation zones and prepare for days away from home as three massive San Francisco Bay Area wildfires rage on, suffocating the region with smoky air.

Residents urged to include pets in storm prep plans

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With the inclement weather predicted from upcoming storms, animal rescue experts are advising residents to make sure pets are taken care of as storm preparations are made.

Animal advocates and rescue workers Lauren and Donna Courville shared some suggestions of what to keep in mind.

“A lot of animals are scared to death of storms,” said Lauren. “Please bring your pets inside and properly contain them.”

Many animals can sense the pressure changes in the atmosphere when a storm is near.