Blackboard Jungle: With debates raging about vaccinations and mask mandates, at least 1,000 schools in 35 states have already closed for anywhere from a single day to several weeks as the Delta variant of the coronavirus rips through the country. 

  According to the tracking website Burbio, 58 percent of schools in the US do not require kids to wear masks in the building. Some schools went to at-home learning and others have a mix of home and school.

  Across the country, deaths from Covid-19 are up 55 percent over the past two weeks, new cases up 8 percent.

  In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear says the situation is “dire” after the legislature blocked his attempts to impose mask mandates in schools. As of yesterday, the state’s daily average of new cases was 4,423.

  “If I had the ability to do it right now, we would have a masking order when you are in public and indoors,” Beshear said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “We know that’s a proven way to slow the spread of the virus and ultimately help our health care capacity.”

Blackout: Some parts of Louisiana hard hit by Hurricane Ida could go three weeks or more before power is restored, according to Entergy Louisiana. Yesterday close to 600,000 customers were still without electricity.

  The damage statistics are stunning. More than 24,000 power poles were damaged or destroyed, over 29,000 spans of wire fell, and 5,742 transformers failed. 

  Gov. John Bel Edwards said, “It is hard for me to imagine that we will ever have an electrical infrastructure — or other types of infrastructure as well — that can withstand a storm of this severity without any disruptions.”

Downrange: A former Marine sniper who served in Afghanistan shot and killed four people, including a baby, in two homes near Lakeland, Fla. over the weekend. He also got into two firefights with sheriff’s deputies before he was wounded and taken into custody. 

  An 11-year-old girl also was wounded. 

  Police identified the gunman as Bryan J. Riley, 33, of Brandon, Florida, east of Tampa. He worked in security. The local sheriff said Riley has post-traumatic stress disorder and was wearing body armor and camouflage.

 There was no known connection between Riley and the victims. 

  Three of the people were a 40-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman, and the 3-month-old son she was cradling in her arms. A fourth victim, the infant’s 62-year-old grandmother, was found dead in another home on the same property.

The Spin Rack: An estimated 100 Afghan women protested for their rights outside the  Defense Ministry in the capital city of Kabul, Saturday, and were teargassed and beaten. But they were out there and they vowed to keep protesting. — Also in Kabul, at least 17 people died in celebratory gunfire after the Taliban announced they had seized control of Panjshir, the last holdout province in Afghanistan. — CNN now has a gender reporting team called “As Equals.” They started work in May. —  Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, announced that they have become the parents of a baby boy and a girl. — A new Covid-19 variant called “mu” has appeared on the medical radar, but Dr. Anthony Fauci says it’s not an immediate threat.

The Obit Page: Willard Scott, the longtime showman weather forecaster for NBC’s “Today Show,” has died at his Virginia farm. 

  As training for his cornball presentation of the weather, Scott had previously played Bozo the Clown and the original Ronald McDonald on television.

  His presentation was as much about himself as the weather. At 6-foot-3 he weighed 300 pounds and had a gap in his front teeth. He wore a boutonnière, funny hats, and sometimes a  toupee. 

  He once delivered the weather dressed as the androgenous singer Boy George and another time as the busty “Brazilian bombshell,” Carmen Miranda.

  Scott didn’t claim that it took a lot oof skill to be a television weatherman. He once said, “A trained gorilla could do it.”

  One of his signature things was wishing happy birthday to viewers who had turned 100. He didn’t make it himself. He was 87.

Pandemic Politics: A group of Donald Trump loyalists and anti-vax doctors are on a tour of events across the country promoting doubts about the 2020 election and the pandemic. The “ReAwaken America” tour features high-profile Trumpies including former general Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, and lawyer Lin Wood, who has claimed the Chinese helped rig the election for Joe Biden. They’ve already held events in Florida and Michigan and have scheduled events in Colorado and Texas.

  Flynn has claimed that the pandemic is a fabrication to take attention away from the supposedly rigged election.

  During one event in July, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell claimed that Donald Trump won the 2020 election by 80 million to less than 68 million for Joe Biden. The official result is 81 million, Biden, 68 million.

  Donald Trump actually received 74 million votes in the election, and Joe Biden won with more than 81 million votes.

  The tour also features appearances by vaccine skeptic Dr. Stella Immanuel, who has claimed that sex dreams involving demons cause illnesses and alien DNA has been used in medications.

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