promoearn: Wild weather on both coasts

Tuesday, October 26

Pedestrians make their way through a rainy and foggy New York, Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021.

$1,000,000,000,000. You read that right: $1 trillion. That's how much Tesla is now worth. It's Tuesday's news.

A nor'easter is blowing through, bombarding the East Coast. Tesla just joined the trillionaire club. And a hiker lost in the woods ignored calls from rescuers because they didn't recognize the phone number. Relatable.

👋 Hey there! Laura here. It's Tuesday, so here's Tuesday's news.

But first, is anybody out there? 🪐 For the first time, astronomers believe they have found signs of a planet outside our galaxy. It's about 28 million light-years away.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Strong storms on East and West Coasts

Wild weather struck both coasts Tuesday. Parts of New York City were assailed by more than 3 inches of rain, high winds and threats of hail and tornadoes, while California was digging rock and mud off roads after historic rain swept across much of the state. In the East, tens of millions of people from Maine to Georgia faced alerts for flooding rain and gusty winds as a nor'easter roared along the coast. Rain totals of 4-8 inches were forecast for parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and southwestern Connecticut into Wednesday, AccuWeather said. Manhattan and Brooklyn had both been swamped by 3 inches of rain, the National Weather Service reported. The storm has been categorized as a nor'easter since it will be spreading northeasterly winds along the coast, and is the first such storm of the season, AccuWeather said. Meteorologists expect the system to lose forward speed by Tuesday night.

•	What is a nor'easter, the storm slashing through the East Coast?
•	Landslides, flooding: Photos show aftermath of 'bomb cyclone' after it slammed West Coast.

COVID more dangerous than flu for kids, but RSV may be worse

COVID-19 isn't the only viral disease children are catching this year. Influenza, which sends thousands of children to the hospital each season, is predicted to ramp up in the coming months. Dr. David Buchholz, a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, says the flu, which is dormant through the summer, is not a simple comparison to COVID-19, which infects year-round. What's clear, he says, is that the risk of COVID-19 outweighs that of the flu during a typical season. Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is particularly dangerous, killing 100 to 500 children a year, he said.

👉 Vaccines for kids: A federal advisory committee on Tuesday voted to recommend authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for younger children. Three more steps remain: The FDA must approve the committee's recommendation, an independent CDC advisory panel must review the data, and then the CDC director must sign off.

•	New COVID-19 infections drop more than 50% as delta wave wanes.

First graders in Julie Fischer's class at J.F. Burns elementary in the Kings Local school district, head to their special, August 31, 2021. Shortly after school started, the school board voted to mandate masks for Pre-K through 6th grade due to increase numbers of COVID-19 and the Delta variant.

Liz Dufour, The Enquirer via USA TODAY NETWORK

What everyone's talking about

•	If you call 911 with a mental health emergency, will they know what to do?
•	Ringling Bros. circus could be making comeback – without the animals.
•	A man was being mauled by a bear. He survived the attack by kicking it.
•	Political voices take aim at Alec Baldwin for fatal 'Rust' incident.

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.

Tesla now worth $1 trillion

Money might not grow on trees, but Tesla shows it sure can be made from electric vehicles. With its stock price closing Monday at an all-time high of $1,024.86, the company's market value has eclipsed $1 trillion. Tesla, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is the fifth U.S. company to hit the milestone, following Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet. The latest rally came after rental car company Hertz announced Monday that it plans to buy 100,000 cars from Tesla by the end of 2022 in a pivot toward electric vehicles. It's among the largest electric vehicle orders ever placed. Tesla shares climbed another 2.6% on Tuesday, putting it on pace to end higher for a fifth consecutive day.

•	$1,000,000,000,000? Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire.
•	Hertz to buy 100,000 Tesla cars as rental car company pivots toward electric vehicles.

Vehicle production at Tesla's factory in California.

The Motley Fool

That's a lot of fake drugs

At least 150 suspects worldwide – including 65 in the U.S. – were arrested in a far-reaching drug enforcement operation involving the online peddling of fake pills often laced with lethal drugs, officials said Tuesday. Focusing on the widening illicit drug market on the dark web, the operation, known as "Dark HunTor," involved coordinated enforcement actions in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The investigation netted nearly $32 million in cash, 45 firearms and an estimated 4 million deadly doses of fentanyl among the 500 pounds of illicit drugs seized.

•	DEA issues rare warning on fake pills containing 'lethal doses' of fentanyl.
•	1.8 million counterfeit pills seized, flood of fake meds driving record overdose deaths.

FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate speaks about Operation Dark HunTor, a joint criminal opioid and darknet enforcement operation, during a press conference at the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC, on October 26, 2021. - Police around the world arrested 150 suspects, including several high-profile targets, involved in buying or selling illegal goods online in one of the largest-ever stings targeting the dark web, Europol said. HunTOR also recovered millions of euros in cash and bitcoin, as well as drugs and guns.

ROBERTO SCHMIDT, AFP via Getty Images

Real quick

•	Japan's Princess Mako marries commoner, loses royal status.
•	'Criminal couponer' tricked shoppers, robbed stores of $31.8 million.
•	Teacher suspended for 'terrorist' comment to Muslim student.
•	$1.2 trillion worth of initiatives face a Halloween deadline. Here's where we are.

📞 Spam call or rescuers?

Those car warranty calls are really annoying, but if you're lost in the woods and your phone rings – you should probably pick up. Officials in Colorado are asking hikers to do that one thing after a person was lost in the woods for 24 hours while hiking on Mount Elbert. Lake County Search and Rescue said the hiker started on the trail at 9 a.m. and did not return to their lodging by 8 p.m. that night. Rescuers attempted to reach the hiker via their cellphone, but were unsuccessful. But when set out to look again the next day, the person who reported the hiker missing advised they had returned. The hiker told LCSAR they had spent the night trying to get back on the right trail and had no idea rescuers were out looking for them, and they ignored repeated phone calls because they didn't recognize the number that was calling.

Awesome autumn: A few clouds hover above the Colorado Rockies on a glorious fall morning earlier this week. Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado, is in the background.

William Helms

A break from the news

•	👻 So easy it's scary: Check out these 7 DIY Halloween costumes.
•	🎃 Spooky story: Who's haunting the home of Hagerstown's founder?
•	💝 There isn't a national day to honor hometowns. So Ken Burns is asking for your help.

🗣 Let's play! USA TODAY launched something really fun. It's a new and improved Crossword App! Check it out!

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.