promoearn: Brian Laundrie's remains confirmed

Thursday, October 21

North Port, Fla., police officer block the entrance to the Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021, in North Port, Fla. Items believed to belong to Brian Laundrie and potential human remains were found in a Florida wilderness park during a search for clues in the slaying of Gabby Petito .

The extensive search for the missing fiancé of slain blogger Gabby Petito is over after remains found in a Florida park were identified as Laundrie's. It's Thursday's news.

You might need to throw away your onions. The House has voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress. And former President Donald Trump has been banned from major social media networks, so he made his own.

👋 Laura here. Hope you're comfy: It's a no-bones day! Here's Thursday's news.

But first, why am I talking about bones? 🔮🦴 Well, it's because of Noodles, who is a psychic pug on TikTok. You read that right! The pug's owner says Noodles can predict the future, depending on whether he wakes up with bones. Check it out.

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Remains found are those of Brian Laundrie

The search for the missing fiancé of slain blogger Gabby Petito is over. The human remains found in a Florida wilderness park this week have been identified using dental records as Brian Laundrie, according to the FBI. Earlier Thursday, Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino said Brian's parents were "heartbroken" after the discovery of the remains and items that belonged to him. "It's quite sad, you can imagine as a parent, finding your son's belonging alongside the remains," Bertolino told CNN. The lawyer dismissed as "hogwash" a suggestion that father Chris Laundrie had planted the personal items that were found. Brian Laundrie had been named a person of interest in Petito's death.

•	Brian Laundrie's remains found during search: What we know.

Onions, we've got a problem

Is someone cutting onions in here? Please stop. Throw them away. They might have salmonella. A mysterious case of salmonella is growing, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked the outbreak to fresh whole onions. The CDC says 652 people have been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Oranienburg from 37 states as of Oct. 18. Now, go check your onions: The affected red, white and yellow onions were imported from Chihuahua, Mexico, between July 1 through Aug. 27 and distributed by ProSource Inc., and were sold to restaurants and at grocery stores throughout the country. The CDC said "if you can't tell where the onions are from, don't buy or eat them."

•	Recalls you need to know about: Check out USA TODAY's curated database of consumer product recalls for the latest information.

Do these onions have salmonella? Not sure. The CDC says to throw them away if you don't know where they're from.

Tamara Kulikova, Getty Images

What everyone's talking about

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•	Haiti native speaks on family's own kidnapping experience.
•	$1,000,000,000,000? (That is indeed the correct amount of zeroes) Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire.

The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today.

House votes to hold Steve Bannon in contempt

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to hold former Trump adviser Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress. Bannon, who served as White House chief strategist for the first few months of Trump's presidency, ignored subpoenas from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. The full House voted 229-202, with all Democrats voting in favor and most Republicans voting against. House GOP leadership was urging members Wednesday to vote against the vote, but nine Republicans voted to hold Bannon in contempt. That included Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who both serve on the Jan. 6 committee. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will now recommend the contempt report to the Justice Department which has the final say on whether to prosecute Bannon.

•	Lawmakers: Holding Bannon in contempt could put others on notice.
•	What's the meaning of 'contempt'? What power does Congress have?

President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon speaks with reporters in New York on Aug. 20, 2020.

Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, AP

CDC panel approves more boosters

Mix-and-match COVID-19 booster shots could be available by the weekend after a crucial federal committee unanimously voted to allow them Thursday. Letting Americans choose among the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines as a COVID-19 booster shot would increase protection against the disease that is killing on average 1,093 Americans a day, the committee said. It also voted to recommend a second shot for all 15 million Americans who received the one dose J&J vaccine, as well as a booster dose for certain groups of people who got the Moderna vaccine. Once CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signs off on the recommendation, which is expected to occur quickly, Moderna and J&J boosters can begin to be offered in the United States. Boosters for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were approved in September for people 65 and older and for high-risk workers.

•	Do you need another shot? Can you mix and match vaccines? Your COVID-19 booster questions, answered.
•	Kids flooded hospitals with COVID-19 and other bugs in the fall. What will winter bring?

Amanda Gomes, left, receives her COVID-19 vaccine from family nurse practitioner Temperance Taylor during a clinic set up in Bethel AME Church Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, in Providence, R.I.

David Goldman, AP

Real quick

•	NOAA winter weather outlook: Warmer than average across South, East.
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•	8 missing children recovered, 18 sex offenders arrested in Louisiana.
•	Man confesses 20 years later to throwing wife out of an airplane.
•	Ex-Minneapolis officer to serve 2 more years for killing unarmed woman.
•	Elio Motors promised a next-gen car and got millions in deposits. But where are the cars?

Trump's own social media platform

After being banned from the biggest social media platforms, former President Donald Trump has announced he plans to launch his own social media platform called Truth Social. Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube after his supporters stormed the Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot over concerns that his presence on social media would incite more violence. The platform will be available through an app on the Apple Store as a beta version for trial by "invited guests" in November, and the company expects a full rollout in the first quarter of 2022. The newly formed Trump Media and Technology Group also plans to launch a video-on-demand service, TMTG+, to feature "non-woke" content, it said. The reaction to his announcement has been mixed.

•	'You can't make this stuff up': Reaction to Trump's Truth Social is mixed.
•	Twitter labeled Trump's false tweets. Here's how they spread anyway.
•	Still using Facebook? 3 ways to make sure it's not listening.

In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo with the White House in the background, President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington. Soon after he spoke, thousands of supporters marched on the Capitol, some of whom stormed the building.

Jacquelyn Martin, AP

A break from the news

•	🏠 Think you can't afford to buy a home? Consider these options!
•	🤩 Amazing photos: Hunter's moon illuminates October skies.
•	🛍 Deal alert! Shop Black Friday 2021 at Amazon, Walmart and more.

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