Mid-Morning Reads for International Sudoku Day (September 9)

Happy Wednesday! Good news, everyone: My tenure & promotion portfolio is due Monday, so this is the last Morning Reads edition I’ll make you wait until late in the morning for in the foreseeable future. Again, apologies for my lateness.

It’s International Sudoku Day according to my dad, who loves sudoku, so I’m making sure to highlight it for him. Here’s a bit about the history of the day, and surely the best way to celebrate is to play, right?

Unrelatedly, on this day in 1776, we were officially renamed the United States of America (having previously called ourselves the United Colonies of America) by the Continental Congress. Today, I’m thankful for the change all these years later.

Now, let’s get to the news:

Pat Conroy

• Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was originally pretty darn mad at the 1,000 Georgians who voted twice during the primary election (alternate link), threatening to prosecute to “the fullest extent of the law.”
  • For the record, that’s 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
  • Now that he’s had a chance to count to ten, he says his office is going to investigate all of the cases, but he didn’t think most voters had ill intent.
• President Donald Trump has decided to extend the offshore drilling moratorium on the eastern Gulf of Mexico and expand it to include the Atlantic coasts of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
• Georgia produce farmers are struggling due to a surge in produce coming from Mexico in what they claim are unfair trade practices.
• An open records request has provided details of just how bad the Pine Bluff landfill violations in Ball Ground are. Spoiler alert… it’s bad.
• Six personal injury lawsuits have been filed against Sterigenics in Cobb County and BD in Covington stemming from their releases of ethylene oxide. More are expected.
• Governor Brian Kemp wants to block Georgia residents’ access to the Affordable Care Act exchange, instead prompting them to purchase private plans (alternate link). The Brookings Institute has said this could result in 60,000 Georgians being pushed into purchasing junk plans.

Alice Walker

• In case you’re wondering, college students did not follow social distancing guidelines set forth by their campuses during the Labor Day weekend.
  • Shaming and blaming the students doesn’t work and often backfires.
  • Like administrators didn’t know how this was going to go. (They did.)
• The DOJ moved President Trump’s defamation case over a rape charge to federal court, making the U.S. government the defendant rather than the president himself. (Alternate link.)
• Federal investigators are ramping up efforts to uncover fraudulent uses of the loans meant to save small businesses from closure during the onset of the COVID pandemic.
• 9 million Americans still need to claim their stimulus checks, according to the IRS.
• Now that flu season is fast approaching, scientists are trying to predict how COVID and flu might mix together. Sounds delightful, doesn’t it?
• AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine trial has been temporarily halted after a patient had an adverse reaction. (Alternate link.)

Flannery O’Connor

• An 80-year old who disappeared while hiking turned up at his own missing person’s appeal.