Supreme Court

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September 18th due to complications from pancreatic cancer, according to Nina Totenberg from NPR. She was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Bill Clinton and served on the court for 27 years. She was well-known and respected for her influential work in eliminating gender-based stereotypes in many laws. Following her death, she became the first woman to lie in the US Capitol. In her absence, President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the open seat in the Supreme Court, according to the Washington Post. This decision has faced lots of backlash because of its proximity to the election and the previous actions by Senator Mitch McConnell to prevent Obama from selecting a Supreme Court Justice when a seat became available near the end of his presidency. Moreover, many people feel that whoever wins the presidency should instead be able to choose the next Supreme Court Justice. The Republican-majority Senate now has about a month to confirm the nomination before the election. However, confirming the nomination can still be done after the election. If Democrats win the presidency or take control of the Senate, the incumbents will be able to confirm the nomination until the winners of the elections are sworn in, in January.

Sports

The NBA playoffs have been underway with finals will start on September 30^th between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat. The NBA and NHL playoffs have created what has been dubbed as “bubbles” where the players live in hotels and play their games in one area until the playoffs are over. This is meant to minimize the spread of Covid-19 between them and outside of the team as well. Some highlights include the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs in which the Denver Nuggets became the 12^th team in NBA history to win a series after being down 3-1 in a best of seven series. In the next round of the playoffs, the Nuggets came back from down 3-1 again versus the Los Angeles Clippers to make the Western Conference Finals. The Nugget’s playoff run ended in the Western Conference Finals as they lost the series 4-1 against the Lakers as Lebron James becomes the fourth player in NBA history to make the NBA finals 10 times. The Miami Heat’s run to the NBA Finals was unlikely as they were the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. In the second round, they defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, the Eastern Conference favorite, and the team with the highest winning percentage in the regular season.

In other bubble news, the Tampa Bay Lightning are the 2020 Stanley Cup Champions. They defeated the Dallas Stars 4-2. This is Tampa Bay’s second Stanley Cup victory with their first one in 2004. Tampa Day defenseman Victor Hedman was awarded the 2020 Conn Smythe Award, given to the most valuable player in the playoffs.

After two weeks, the NFL season is off to its highest scoring start ever. The teams broke the previous record 1,556 points through the first two weeks by scoring 1,611 points. They also broke the record for most touchdowns scored through two weeks by scoring 186 touchdowns, according to Michael David Smith writing for Pro Football Talk. After week three, the Tennessee Titans reported nine cases of coronavirus within the team. Four cases were of the players and five of the cases were of the staff, according to a statement from the NFL. The week 4 matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers will be postponed because of the coronavirus cases within the Titans organization, according to the NFL.

California

Wildfires have been ravaging California for years and this year, due to extreme heat waves, and drought, things have become much worse. Over the Summer, Death Valley recorded the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth at 130 degrees. These kinds of extreme heat, and lack of rain, make California more susceptible to wildfires. In 2020 there have been about 8,100 wildfires and over 3.9 million acres of California have been burnt. There are 26 major wildfires and over 17,000 firefighters on the front lines, according to the California Statewide Fire Summary on September 30^th. In response to these events, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California plans to ban the sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035. This decision was made in the hopes of accelerating California’s goal of slowing down global warming.

Presidential Election

It is a month away from election day and the outcome already seems contested. President Trump has been trying to eliminate mail-in voting due to potential voter fraud. Former Presidential Candidate Michael Bloomberg has brought his name back into the spotlight by using his wealth to help Floridians vote. A law in Florida makes it illegal for felons to vote until they have paid for certain legal fees. Last week Bloomberg helped raise about $16 million to help restore the voting rights for felons that have completed their sentences. This has already restored voting rights to over 4,000 Floridians, according to Executive Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Desmond Meade. The first Presidential Debate occurred last week and had many interesting moments. The biggest storyline was the number of interruptions during the debate. The HuffPost reported that President Trump interrupted Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace a combined 128 times. Biden interrupted about 12 times. Wallace asked for President Trump to stop interrupting 25 times. There is now a possibility that for the next presidential debate, CBS will give the moderator the ability to turn off a debater’s microphone to prevent frequent interruptions, according to CBS.