Thursday, October 26th, 2023

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023

Good morning! On this date in 1825, the Erie Canal was opened after eight years of construction. It connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie and several of New York’s largest cities—like Syracuse and Buffalo—and became a major route for commercial ships. Today, it’s mostly used by recreational craft.

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Mike Johnson Becomes New House Speaker

After three weeks of turmoil and three failed nominees, House Republicans unanimously elected Rep. Mike Johnson as the new House Speaker. The final vote was 220-212.

Johnson, elected to Congress in 2016, will become the first Speaker from Louisiana. He served as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference and is considered more conservative than Kevin McCarthy, whom he replaced.

The first vote under Johnson on Wednesday was a resolution to support Israel in its war with Hamas. But more difficult votes are coming on funding for the Ukraine War and appropriations bills to avoid a government shutdown.

Mass Shooting in Maine

At least 16 people were shot and killed last night in Lewiston, Maine.

Dozens more were injured in the attack, which took place at a bowling alley and bar. As of midnight ET, the shooter had not been caught, and police were searching the surrounding areas for a person of interest.

State and local authorities identified Robert R. Card as the suspect. Card, a 40 year-old firearms instructor, spent time in a mental hospital in 2023. He also claimed to hear voices and threatened a previous shooting, according to a police document.

Authorities are asking all businesses in the area to stay closed until the shooter is caught.

State Pulls Driverless Cars Off the Road

California ordered General Motors to remove its driverless Cruise auto-taxis from state roads, calling the vehicles a risk to the public and saying the company “misrepresented” the safety of the vehicles.

Cruise cars have been cited in several accidents, most recently when one hit a woman pedestrian and then dragged her before stopping. The vehicles have also had software issues that led to major traffic snarls in San Francisco.

At the same time, rideshare drivers and others in Los Angeles are protesting the rollout of Alphabet’s driverless Waymo cars in that city. The drivers cited cases where driverless cars interfered with rescue vehicles.

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➤ Donald Trump briefly took the stand in his New York civil fraud trial over comments he made about the judge’s clerk. The judge then fined him an additional $10,000 on top of the $5,000 fine he issued Trump days ago. (More)

➤ Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a member of the Democrats’ progressive “Squad,” was criminally charged for pulling a fire alarm in the House when Democrats wanted to stall. Bowman will be arraigned this morning. (More)

➤ President Biden’s name won’t appear on the 2024 New Hampshire primary ballot, his campaign said. The Democrats have set South Carolina for the first primary and labeled New Hampshire’s earlier date as unauthorized. (More)

➤ GOP presidential candidate Tim Scott is shifting nearly all his dwindling resources to focus on Iowa, where a primary win could revitalize his campaign. Scott is currently polling at about 2% nationally. (More)

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➤ The NBA champion Denver Nuggets picked up where they left off, opening their NBA season by beating the L.A. Lakers 119-107. Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic scored 29 points with 13 rebounds and 11 assists. (More)

➤ This year’s World Series matchup is an amazing long shot. The odds that the Texas Rangers would face the Arizona Diamondbacks were 1,750 to 1 when the season began. Both teams finished in last place just two seasons ago. (More)

➤ Philadelphia sports fans, legendary for their ferocity, make their feelings clear in this hilarious example of interviews done right after the Phillies’ loss to the Diamondbacks Tuesday night. (See Video. WARNING: Explicit language, ineptly bleeped.)

Market Report 10/25/23

▼	NASDAQ Natl. Assoc. of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations	12,821.22	–2.43%
▼	SPX S&P 500	4,186.77	–1.43%
▼	DJI Dow Jones Industrial Average	33,035.93	–0.32%
▲	BTC Bitcoin	$34,742.0	+2.35%
▲	LRN Stride Inc	$52.52	+18.02%

➤ Big Stock Move: Stride Inc. saw its stock jump 18% Wednesday after the tech-based education company reported record-high first-quarter earnings and enrollment. (More)

➤ Boeing reported a $1.6 billion loss for the third quarter due to fewer deliveries of its troubled 737 Max airliner and the cost of building two new Air Force One presidential jets. (More)

➤ FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried will testify today at his fraud trial, where he’s accused of stealing $8 billion of customer funds. Lawyers describe it as a “Hail Mary” pass for the beleaguered defense team. (More)

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➤ The Marines are testing a “robotic goat” to fire rocket-propelled grenades used to disable tanks on the battlefield. The rocket launcher is strapped to the back of the commercially available robot. (See Video)

➤ The U.S. Space Force unveiled its first official painting, an artist’s rendering of a “futuristic intercept vehicle” flying toward an enemy satellite. (See Painting)

➤ Google Maps disabled live traffic data in Israel and Gaza at the request of the Israeli military, ahead of a potential ground invasion into Gaza. Google says it’s done this before in conflict situations. (More)

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➤ This dentist’s breakthrough could stop you from snoring on the first night. (More)

➤ Nearly 70% of Americans have little to no trust in the mass media. A Gallup poll shows 39% have no confidence in mainstream news reporting, the highest level on record. (See Poll)

➤ Americans overwhelmingly support Israel in its war with Hamas, with more than 80% siding with Israel in a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll. Older respondents were more likely to favor Israel than those under 25, who split almost 50/50. (More)

➤ Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers blame President Biden for the migrant crisis, and over half agree it will “destroy” NYC, according to a new Siena Poll. Biden’s New York approval ratings are at their worst level ever. (More)

➤ A baby girl was born at the Indianapolis Colts football stadium Sunday when the mom went into labor just as she was entering the Colts-Cleveland Browns game. The new baby is the niece of Browns receiver David Bell. (More)

➤ “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin fired his agent at the powerful Creative Artists Agency after the agent shared a pro-Palestinian Instagram post. Sorkin has moved to the rival William Morris agency. (More)

➤ A man jumped into Disney World’s EPCOT lagoon after making a $6,000 bet with his friends. “You’re gonna get kicked out,” a bystander warned as the man jumped into the lagoon. Disney security was there when he climbed out. (See Video)