Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, September 8, 2020:
ELECTION 2020: THE FINAL SPRINT
The presidential election is officially underway, with North Carolina the first state to begin sending out ballots by mail. Joe Biden is maintaining a fairly stable lead of about 8 points nationally, though the race has tightened in crucial battleground states like Pennsylvania. The president’s reelection campaign is facing a cash crunch after blowing through $800 million, even as Biden raised a record $365 million in August. Election Day is 56 days away; the first debate is three weeks from tonight. NY TIMES
CLIMATE CHANGE: CALIFORNIA
HEAT: Southern California is coming off a record-breaking heat wave that scorched the state over the holiday weekend. L.A. County set a new all-time high temperature on Sunday: 121 degrees in Woodland Hills. Meteorologists say the last time it was that hot in Los Angeles was 125,000 years ago. NPR
FIRES: The unrelenting heat led to new wildfires across the state, which has now set a record of 2 million acres burned this year. The El Dorado fire in San Bernardino County is now at 10,000 acres and growing -- fire officials say it was sparked by a pyrotechnic device used in a gender-reveal party. SF CHRON
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Congress returns from recess today for an abbreviated pre-election session that will be dominated by negotiations over a new stimulus bill. The GOP-controlled Senate is expected to pass its own “skinny” bill, but it faces opposition from the Democratic-controlled House, which passed its own larger bill months ago. Overseas, India has overtaken Brazil to claim the second-worst caseload after the U.S., while China has declared success in beating the virus. CHICAGO TRIB
SOCIAL UNREST
Two people were arrested during violent clashes between Trump supporters and counterprotesters in Salem, Ore., as demonstrators marked 100 consecutive nights of protests 45 miles away in Portland. Jacob Blake, the Black man shot by police in Kenosha, Wis., spoke over the weekend from his hospital bed, as Sen. Kamala Harris met with his family on her first campaign swing through Wisconsin. CNN
LIVING AT HOME
For the first time since the Great Depression, the majority of young adults in the U.S. are living with their parents. In July, 52 percent of Americans aged 18-29 were living with one or both of their parents, up from 47 percent in February. The statistic cuts across all racial and ethnic groups, genders, and locations -- a sign of how hard the pandemic and economic downturn has hit the younger generation. PEW
IPHONE RUMOR MILL
The week or so after Labor Day is typically when Apple unveils its new iPhones. Things are a bit delayed this year -- there’s still no official announcement of an upcoming Apple event -- but the rumor mill is in full swing nonetheless, especially given that Apple is expected to drop the first fully redesigned device since the iPhone X. Here’s a good rundown of what the new line of iPhones will look like, what’ll be under the hood, and when we might see them: THE VERGE
TENNIS NO. 1'S
The U.S. Open men’s trophy is now up for grabs after No. 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the tournament. Djokovic was DQ’ed after he inadvertently hit a line umpire in the throat with a ball when he swatted it in frustration after losing a serve. On the women’s side, No. 1 Ash Barty says she won’t defend her French Open title later this month, citing the coronavirus. Barty is not currently playing at the U.S. Open for the same reason. ESPN
BOX OFFICE
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet grossed about $20 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, a result that would have been considered an unmitigated disaster for a $200 million blockbuster in a normal year, but one that analysts are calling “fair” given the circumstances. In some ways, Tenet’s release makes things harder for studios going forward: if the numbers came in better, it may have signaled moviegoers are ready to come back to the theaters in the fall; if they were worse, it would have given cover to delay the rest of the year’s releases until 2021. VARIETY
SPOTTED...
Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill, taking a break from filming the new Jurassic World movie to sing a duet. In the upcoming film, Goldblum and Neill -- aka Dr. Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant -- will be on screen together for the first time since the original Jurassic Park came out in 1993: WATCH
LEFTOVERS: FULL OF S---
The city of Danbury, Conn. has agreed to rename a sewage treatment plant after the comedian John Oliver on the condition that Oliver show up for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Oliver had offered a $55,000 donation to charity if the city put his name on the sewage facility, part of a running bit on Oliver’s HBO show, Last Week Tonight. DANBURY NEWS TIMES
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