promoearn: Want to register to vote? Today's a good day to do it.

Tuesday, September 22

Want to register to vote? Today's a good day to do it.

This is a good day to register to vote, fall is here and more news to start your Tuesday.

Good morning Daily Briefing readers. It's Jane here, bringing you Tuesday's top stories.

It's National Voter Registration Day, with 41 days to go before the presidential election. President Donald Trump has reportedly met with a potential candidate for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Flooding and "life-threatening storm surge" could be heading to parts of Texas and Louisiana, courtesy of Tropical Storm Beta. And pumpkin spice lattes at the ready 🎃 — it's the first day of fall.

Here's today's news:

National Voter Registration Day: Americans get ready to cast their ballots

Tuesday is National Voter Registration Day , a day created in 2012 and dedicated to enabling "broad awareness of voter registration opportunities" for thousands of Americans with the help of an online campaign and volunteers who "hit the streets" in a coordinated event, according to the National Voter Registration Day site. The day is a massive effort to register voters before the upcoming elections in the fall. Facebook, which pledged to register 4 million voters ahead of the November election, says it's more than halfway to its goal, logging 2.5 million registrations from Facebook, Instagram and Messenger users. Also, Twitter users should be aware that the social media company is rolling out its biggest push yet to encourage more Americans to cast their ballots in the November election Tuesday as well.

•	Get ready: Register to vote or check your status here
•	Election 2020: When early voting and mail voting for president begins in every state
•	Facebook election turnout: Company says it has already registered 2.5 million Americans to vote
•	Twitter's get-out-the-vote campaign push will be in your face Tuesday

Trump held White House meeting with Supreme Court frontrunner, sources say

President Donald Trump met with Appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett , among the jurists on a short list of potential candidates for the Supreme Court, at the White House on Monday, according to two advisers who spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity. Trump has said he will announce his Supreme Court pick at the end of this week, after memorial services for the late Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who will become the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. Barrett and appeals court Judge Barbara Lagoa are considered among the top candidates for the job. Trump insisted Monday that he welcomes the threat of a second impeachment by Democrats if he is successful in his push to fill the Supreme Court seat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not ruled out the possibility of impeachment.

•	'I want them to do it': Donald Trump says he welcomes second impeachment over Supreme Court seat
•	Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to lie in state at US Capitol on Friday after two days at Supreme Court
•	Here are the senators to watch in the fight over filling Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the Supreme Court

In coronavirus news:

•	Coronavirus updates: Hollywood unions, studios reach return-to-work deal; US nears 200K deaths; 3 NFL coaches fined for not wearing masks
•	Is 6 feet enough? CDC walks back its walkback on airborne transmission of COVID-19
•	Horseshoe crabs have a vital role in the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Here's why
•	National Institutes of Health staffer to 'retire' after being outed as author of online attacks against Dr. Anthony Fauci
•	Two new studies indicate COVID-19 can spread on long airline flights, promote distancing
•	'It does affect more than your lungs': Why COVID-19 survivors may need to get screened for heart damage
•	How do you teach performing arts when there are no performances? This school is learning

Tropical Storm Beta makes landfall, drenches storm-weary Gulf Coast

Tropical Storm Beta, the 23rd storm of the relentless 2020 hurricane season, is expected to bring flooding downpours to Texas and Louisiana this week, along with "life-threatening storm surge near times of high tide" through Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The first rain bands from Beta reached the Texas coast on Sunday, but the storm, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, made landfall Monday night on the Texas coast, according to a Hurricane Center update. Forecasters said up to 15 inches of rain could fall in some areas. Rough surf and high tide have already caused structural damage to a fishing pier in Galveston, Texas, and a state of emergency has been declared for Louisiana and parts of Texas. "Be weather aware because things can change. This is 2020 and so we have to expect the unexpected," advised Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

•	'Crazy' 2020 hurricane season: Period matches 2005 in activity, but not storm intensity
•	Storms Alpha and Beta form: Hurricane season 2020 has been so busy, we have to use Greek letters
•	'What do we do?': Florida residents have runaway barges in their yards after Hurricane Sally

More news you need to know:

•	Wildfire destroys LA nature center, homes; 6 people in Oregon accused of starting blazes
•	Savanna's Act, a bipartisan bill to address 'tragic issue' of missing and murdered Native Americans, passes US House
•	Los Angeles sheriff's deputies out of hospital, 'long road to recovery' as search continues for gunman
•	'He's loved and will be missed': Firefighter killed in California blaze sparked at gender reveal party ID'd as Charles Morton
•	Wisconsin DOJ hires former Madison police chief to review Jacob Blake shooting investigation
•	6 Louisville police officers are under internal investigation for their roles in fatal Breonna Taylor shooting
•	Jackie Stallone, celebrity astrologer, Sylvester Stallone's eccentric mother, dies at 98

Woman suspected of sending ricin to White House to appear in court

A woman suspected of mailing a package containing the poison ricin to the White House is now expected to appear in a New York court Tuesday, following her arrest at the U.S.-Canada border. The suspect was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing near Buffalo on Sunday and is expected to face federal charges in connection with the package, which was intercepted in the past week. Ricin, a poison drawn from the husks of castor beans, has surfaced in other plots targeting President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama and other officials. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure to ricin through inhalation, ingestion or injection can lead to death.

•	Ricin explained: Just how deadly is it, how does it kill?
•	Suspect arrested: Woman suspected of sending ricin-tainted package to Trump taken in at US-Canada border
•	From 2018: Navy vet arrested in case of poisoned letters sent to White House; ricin ingredients found

Hello, pumpkin spice: It's the first day of fall

Our long, hot summer is finally coming to an end Tuesday with the autumnal equinox, which marks the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere . At a precise moment each September, the sun is directly above the equator, marking the exact time of the autumnal equinox (this year that moment is Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. ET). Below the equator in the Southern Hemisphere, it's known as the vernal or spring equinox and marks the beginning of spring. Although some people claim the autumnal equinox is the "official" start of fall, there is no administrative or political organization that actually designates that. Indeed, though astronomers say summer ends Tuesday, meteorologists and climatologists said summer ended Aug. 31, the final day of the three hottest months of the year (June, July and August).

•	'Abrupt, punctuated and spectacular': Foliage forecast shows leaves may change early this year
•	Pumpkin Spice season: Brands roll out their seasonal fall flavors
•	Deals for fall: Where to get rakes, leaf blowers and more fall cleaning supplies on sale