WEATHER
*Cloudy skies today, high 67
LOCAL
*It's the 2nd year that 4 area malls are closing on Thanksgiving! Tennessee based CBL Properties is closing South County Center, Mid Rivers Mall, West County Center and St. Clair Square on Thanksgiving so employees can spend time with family. They will re-open at 6 a.m. on Black Friday, Nov. 24.
NATIONAL
*There are reports that downed power lines and exploding transformers might have started the deadly Northern California fires. ABC7-TV in San Francisco reports emergency dispatch recordings from when the fires began Sunday include calls about power lines falling in high winds and transformers exploding. Winds gusting to more than 75 miles an hour blew through the area late Sunday and early Monday. The wildfires in California have now claimed at least 23 lives.
The lineman who shared the information also noted that customers tend to resist the cutting of vegetation growing near the lines and that doesn’t help the situation.
A statement from PG&E, the main utility company in Northern California, refers to wind-blown trees, branches, and debris impacting electric lines. The utility's statement also mentions what it calls impacted infrastructure.
About two-dozen people are confirmed dead and over 200 missing in the fires sweeping through the wine country and other parts of Northern California.
Source: KABC TV
*An asteroid the size of a house flew right past the Earth this morning in what scientists called a "close miss."
The head of the European Space Operations Center in Germany says large rock was "damn close" to the Earth at a distance of only 26,000 miles away. To understand how close that is, the farthest satellites are only 22,000 miles away and the moon is 239,000 miles away. The asteroid is estimated to be about 45-to-100 feet in size and is flying at a speed of about 16,000 miles per hour. It made its closest pass by the Earth early this morning at around 1:42 a.m. ET.
President Trump Will Sign Executive Order On Healthcare-
President Trump is making his own moves on healthcare.
In an interview with Fox News' "Hannity," Trump said he's going to sign an executive order allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines on today. The president said he would've taken this action earlier, but he hoped that such a measure would be part of a more comprehensive healthcare bill.
He said this order is going to help a lot of people get cheaper health insurance. One of the provisions will ease rules on small businesses banding together to buy health insurance, so they can go in together on plans.
Congress tried unsuccessfully to repeal and replace Obamacare. Trump insists there's still a chance they will pass a healthcare bill.
Source: The Hill
The wildfires in California have now claimed at least 23 lives Here's what we know as of Wednesday evening:
- In addition to the dead, 285 people are missing. That's down from 600 reported earlier.
- The 22 fires have burned 170,000 acres, primarily in the wine country of Northern California.
- 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed.
- 8.000 firefighters are trying to contain the North Bay fires.
- Smoky conditions forced the cancellation of 80 flights out of San Francisco International Airport and delayed 25 percent of all flights. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Dry, windy conditions are forecast to persist in much of the area, which will spread the blazes even more.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that power lines downed by high winds may have sparked a number of the fires.
SPORTS
*The Blues play in Florida tonight, it's an away game