Science

Need2Know: Waukesha Suspect, Black Friday Creep & Asteroid Mission

Nov 23, 2021

Schematic of the DART mission shows the impact on the moonlet of asteroid (65803) Didymos. Post-impact observations from Earth-based optical telescopes and planetary radar would, in turn, measure the change in the moonlet’s orbit about the parent body. Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab

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Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Tuesday, November 23, 2021:

CHRISTMAS PARADE CRASH

The man who allegedly plowed through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis., killing five people and injuring 48, has been identified by police as Darrell Brooks, a rapper who performs under the name MathBoi Fly. Brooks is facing five counts of intentional homicide. Police say Brooks had just fled a domestic dispute when he sped his Ford Escape through the parade route, and that there’s no evidence he knew anyone in the parade. Court documents show that Brooks has a lengthy criminal record, including an arrest earlier this month for allegedly running a woman over with his car. He was released on $1,000 bail last week, which the prosecutor in that case now says was “inappropriately low.” AP

BOOSTER EXPANSION

The White House says as many as three million people got their boosters since the CDC authorized the shots for all adults on Friday, a strong start for the booster campaign heading into the holidays. More than 36 million Americans have been boosted since September. The White House also announced that 95% of federal employees have complied with the vaccine mandate, which goes into effect today. NBC NEWS

AHMAUD ARBERY KILLING

The prosecution will give its closing rebuttal today in the trial of the three white men charged with murdering Ahmaud Arbery. The defense rested its case by blaming Arbery for “running away instead of facing the consequences” and “making terrible, unexpected, illogical choices.” Arbery’s mother left the courtroom after a lawyer for the defense caused audible gasps when she told jurors: "Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails.” That comment appears to be based on Arbery’s autopsy, which described his toenails as “long and very dirty." CNN

FED CHAIR TO STAY ON

President Biden will re-nominate Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve for a second term. There were murmurs that Biden was going to nominate another veteran of the Fed, Lael Brainard, to the top job amid pressure from progressives. Instead, she is being put forth as vice chair. Biden praised Powell for his “decisive” leadership during the pandemic. CHEDDAR

BEZOS DONATIONS

Jeff Bezos has donated $100 million to former President Obama’s foundation, the largest individual gift the foundation has received to date. The donation was given in honor of John Lewis, with Bezos asking that the plaza at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago be named after the late civil rights icon. Bezos also made a simultaneous gift of $166 million to the NYU Langone hospital system. While the Amazon founder has been upping his philanthropy of late, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, who has given away close to $9 billion since their divorce. ABC NEW S

BLACK FRIDAY CREEP

Target has announced it will be closed on Thanksgiving Day -- not just this year but for good. Target CEO Brian Cornell says the retailer is making a pandemic-era change permanent, forcing back a trend of the Black Friday sales creeping into Thanksgiving. Walmart is also closing for the holiday, but hasn’t said whether it will follow in Target’s footsteps in the future. AP

LEBRON SUSPENDED

LeBron James will be sitting on the bench when the Lakers play the Knicks in NYC tonight. The NBA suspended James for one game following an altercation at the Lakers-Pistons game on Sunday night, in which James hit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart in the face as they jostled for position during a free throw. That hit, which James says was an accident, caused him to be ejected for only the second time in his 19-season career. Stewart was also ejected and has been suspended two games after he repeatedly tried to fight James in the ensuing melee. ESPN

GUCCI GANG

If you’re planning a post-turkey outing to the movies, Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci opens widely in theaters tomorrow, just in time for Thanksgiving. The film is inspired by the wild story of the family behind the Italian fashion empire, with Lady Gaga and her much-discussed accent in the lead role. The early reviews are all over the place, with critics calling it everything from “an astounding maelstrom of overacting” to “absurdly enjoyable.” In the meantime, get in the zone by checking out the Lake Como palazzo featured in the film, now available to rent out on Airbnb: SEE IT

SPOTTED...

… Pete Davidson, sporting a hickey while out on a date with Kim Kardashian in L.A.: SEE PICS

...All Too Well (Taylor’s Version), moving into the top spot on the Billboard 100. At 10:13, the Taylor Swift ballad eclipses Don McLean’s American Pie as the longest song to ever top the chart: BILLBOARD

LEFTOVERS: BRACE FOR IMPACT

NASA is launching a mission tonight that’s right out of one of those disaster movies from the 1990s. The space agency’s new planetary defense division is planning to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to bump the rock slightly off course, the first real-world test of a technique that could theoretically become useful if an asteroid of a certain size is discovered to be hurtling toward Earth. The asteroid in question is six million miles away, and it will take the golf-cart sized spacecraft about 10 months to get there. The launch, with an assist from a SpaceX rocket, happens tonight (weather permitting): WATCH LIVE

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