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ClickOnDetroit Morning Briefing -- Sept. 25, 2020

Here are this morning’s top stories

Credit NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights). This spectacular “blue marble” image is the most detailed true-color image of the entire Earth to date. Using a collection of satellite-based observations, scientists and visualizers stitched together months of observations of the land surface, oceans, sea ice, and clouds into a seamless, true-color mosaic of every square kilometer (.386 square mile) of our planet. These images are freely available to educators, scientists, museums, and the public. This record includes preview images and links to full resolution versions up to 21,600 pixels across. Much of the information contained in this image came from a single remote-sensing device-NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS. Flying over 700 km above the Earth onboard the Terra satellite, MODIS provides an integrated tool for observing a variety of terrestrial, oceanic, and atmospheric features of the Earth. The land and coastal ocean portions of these images are based on surface observations collected from June through September 2001 and combined, or composited, every eight days to compensate for clouds that might block the sensor’s view of the surface on any single day. Two different types of ocean data were used in these images: shallow water true color data, and global ocean color (or chlorophyll) data. Topographic shading is based on the GTOPO 30 elevation dataset compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey’s EROS Data Center. MODIS observations of polar sea ice were combined with observations of Antarctica made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s AVHRR sensor—the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer. The cloud image is a composite of two days of imagery collected in visible light wavelengths and a third day of thermal infra-red imagery over the poles. Global city lights, derived from 9 months of observations from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, are superimposed on a darkened land surface map. Metadata Sensor Terra/MODIS Visualization Date 2002-02-08 . All Sensors MODIS . All Satellites Terra MODIS . All Categories Collections Blue Marble Blue Marble 2002 (WJXT Channel 4)

What to know today 🌅

Michigan health officials make recommendations regarding Halloween celebrations

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidance Thursday on how to safely celebrate the holiday during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its guidelines for celebrating Halloween Tuesday.

“The way we celebrate Halloween in Michigan will be different this year due to COVID-19,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun. “However, there are still many ways to celebrate safely. The guidance MDHHS issued today provides tips for trick-or-treaters and their parents along with homeowners who wish to hand out treats.”

Read more here.

Judge rules 2020 census must continue for another month

A federal judge has stopped the 2020 census from finishing at the end of September and ordered the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident to continue for another month through the end of October, saying a shortened schedule likely would produce inaccurate results.

Related: Detroit residents urged to fill out US Census as Sept. 30 deadline approaches

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in California made her ruling late Thursday, two days after hearing arguments from attorneys for the Census Bureau, and attorneys for civil rights groups and local governments that had sued the Census Bureau in an effort to halt the 2020 census from stopping at the end of the month. Attorneys for the civil rights groups and local governments said the shortened schedule would undercount residents in minority and hard-to-count communities.

Read more here.

MAC football return? Key vote expected today

The Mid-American Conference (MAC) could be returning to the football field this year following a key vote expected Friday.

The MAC was the first of the NCAA division one conferences to postpone their football season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more here.


Trending 📈

🌎 Global Climate Action Day: Is it too late? What can you do?

Today is a Global Climate Action Day. Many youth groups will be taking to the streets to bring awareness to the dangers of climate change for future generations. These are organized by Fridays for Future, which started calling for school walkouts and other forms of peaceful protest in the last couple of years, spearheaded by the young climate activist, Greta Thunberg.

🗳️ Michigan Legislature eases processing of absentee ballots

Michigan lawmakers voted Thursday to made it easier for clerks to process a surge in absentee ballots in the battleground state’s presidential election by letting them start a day earlier than normal.

Election officials currently cannot remove ballots from outer envelopes until 7 a.m. on Election Day, which this year is Nov. 3. Legislation sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her expected signature would allow them to be opened between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, in cities or townships with at least 25,000 residents. Ballots would have to remain in secrecy envelopes until being counted on Nov. 3.

Read more here.

🚗 Bill aims to bring back Michigan’s blue license plate

The plates would not be the standard issue. Instead, the classic blue and black plates would be available with any vehicle registration for an added fee of $100. The revenue will go to the state’s transportation fund, according to the Michigan Senate.

Read more here.

💉 China aims to make 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses a year

A Chinese health official said Friday that the country’s annual production capacity for coronavirus vaccines will top 1 billion doses next year, following an aggressive government support program for construction of new factories.

Capacity is expected to reach 610 million doses by the end of this year, Zheng Zhongwei from the National Health Commission said.

Read more here.


Coronavirus in Michigan 🦠

The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Michigan has risen to 119,597 as of Thursday, including 6,700 deaths, state officials report.

Thursday’s update represents 982 new cases and eight additional deaths. On Wednesday, the state totals were 118,615 cases and 6,692 deaths.

New COVID-19 cases and deaths remain flat in Michigan. Testing has remained steady, with an average of more than 30,000 per day, with the positive rate just above 3 percent over the last 10 days. The state reported its highest one-day testing total with more than 41,000 diagnostic tests on Aug. 21.

Hospitalizations are stable and the number of patients in critical care is near its lowest point since tracking, dating back to April.

Michigan has reported 90,216 recoveries. The state also reports “active cases,” which were listed at 21,700 as of Wednesday. Michigan’s 7-day moving average for daily cases was 679 on Wednesday. The state’s fatality rate is 5.6 percent.

Here’s a look at more of the data:


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