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1. At least 70 people were killed and 3,000 more injured in a massive explosion in downtown Beirut on Tuesday. The blast flattened much of Beirut’s port and sent a giant mushroom cloud into the sky. The blast may have been caused by the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate. An Israeli bomb expert believed that people setting off firecrackers could have sparked the blast. Israel said it had nothing to do with the tragedy.
2. At least six people died after Tropical Storm Isaias made landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina early Tuesday. Tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey. Fierce rain forced the Staten Island ferry and outdoor subway lines in New York City to shut down Tuesday. As of 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, more than 78,000 CMP customers are without power. That’s down from almost 90,000 outages. The strong winds washed boats on Sebago Lake ashore.
3. The U.S. tops 4.7 million coronavirus cases w/ over 156,000 deaths. The Maine CDC reported five new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday and reduced the number of Mainers with the virus who have died to 123. A death which was originally classified as related to COVID-19 did not meet the criteria. Maine has 428 active cases.
4. Mount Desert Island Hospital believes at least 35 out-of-staters carrying COVID-19 have been on Bar Harbor’s Mount Desert Island this summer and could have spread the disease in the community. Multiple out-of-state visitors have sought advice after learning that the COVID-19 tests they took before leaving their home states came back positive.
5. Pumpkin spice lattes will reportedly return to Starbucks stores on August 28.
Last year, the first PSL was poured on August 27. Eater notes that, despite the fact that “August 28 is fully summer, the pandemic has made the progression of months and seasons basically meaningless.”
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