Alaska hit hard by COVID-19
COVID-19 has affected many across the meeting and Alaska is no different. In recent weeks, Alaska has been among a handful of states with the worst rates for COVID-19 infections.
Staff with the state health department said they are unable to keep up with the number of daily test results, and due to the backlog in entering them, those numbers could actually be worse than the current daily reports indicate. As of Oct. 11, they have 464 new cases, and as of Oct. 12, 186 people are hospitalized due to COVID.
Alaska is the fourth highest COVID-19 ranking state in the country, tied with South Carolina. Alaska sits behind West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. The public health officials continue to sound the alarm that Alaska’s hospitals are filled to the brim with COVID-19 patients with over 106 beds reported occupied.
As of Oct. 12, the state is at 63.9% with at least one dose of the vaccine for ages 12 and up, and 58.7% of the state is fully vaccinated. 77.7% of people ages 65 and up are fully vaccinated.
Texas Governor prohibits COVID-19 vaccination mandate
On Oct. 11, Texas’s Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order that prohibits any entity, which includes private businesses, from imposing the COVID-19 vaccination requirement on employees or customers.
The Republican governor is taking action in response to what he called “bullying” by President Joe Biden and his administration after the president ordered a vaccine mandate for businesses across the country.
After Biden had announced last month the mandate required companies with 100 or more employees to ensure that their workforces are vaccinated or regularly tested, Texas was quick to take action to appeal the mandate.
“In another instance of federal overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas’ continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster,” Abbott said.
Since the release of the statement the White House has made no immediate comment.
Superman comes out as bisexual
On April 18, 1938, National Publications released the first issue of Action Comics which included the beloved superhero Superman. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were the creators behind the man in the red cape. Now, 80 years ago, to this day Superman is still a character who never faded amongst the new evolving superheroes created.
On Oct. 11, DC Comics announced on National Coming Out Day that a new version of Superman will come out as bisexual and will start a relationship with a man in the upcoming issue of “Superman: Son of Kal-El #5.”
Those who have followed along with the comics will see Jon Kent — the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane who inherited his father’s powers — fall for a reporter named Jay Nakamura. The two will be seen kissing in the fifth issue, which will hit stands on Nov. 9.
“I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes and I’m grateful DC and Warner Bros. share this idea,” writer Tom Taylor said, “Superman’s symbol has always stood for hope, for truth and for justice. Today the symbol represents something more. Today, more people can see themselves in the most powerful superhero in comics,” Taylor said.
Dave Chappelle’s controversial comedy special
Dave Chappelle, five time Emmy award winner and three time Grammy winner, has returned to Netflix with a new stand-up comedy special, “The Closer.”After premiering globally on Netflix on Oct. 5, Chappelle has received immense backlash for his controversial jokes and comments regarding transgender people.
The backlash received is not only limited to social media platforms. Netflix employees have also been criticizing the company’s decision to air the special.
Only days after the release of the special, Netflix employee Terra Field posted a Twitter thread responding to Chappelle’s special on Oct. 11. They wrote that the comedian “attacks the trans community and the very validity of transness.” The tweet soon went viral, currently sitting at over 17,000 retweets.
Netflix then took action and suspended Field along with two other employees for trying to attend a director-level meeting they were not invited to, and another trans employee is quitting the company over the release of the special.
A Netflix spokesperson told CNN after the backflash of the employee suspensions that, “It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.”
In the special, Chappelle says that will be the last time he publicly will comment on trans people or issues.
