Target Practice: Actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene which required him to point a gun toward the camera when the gun went off, killing the cinematographer, according to an affidavit filed in court.

  The movie’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died and director Joel Souza was wounded.

  The focus of the investigation into last week’s the fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” appears to be on the first assistant director Dave Halls, who declared “cold gun” when he handed Baldwin the revolver loaded with at least one live round.

  The recording of a 911 call reveals the script supervisor Mamie Mitchell saying, “He’s supposed to check the guns. He’s responsible for what happens on the set.”

  Crew members on previous movies had complained about Halls’ casual approach to on-set safety. 

  The movie also had what’s called an “armorer,” the person responsible for weapons and their safety. The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had worked as lead armorer on only one previous film. 

Big Bust: Colombian drug lord Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known by his alias Otoniel and one of the most powerful figures in the drug trade since Pablo Escobar was caught 30 years ago, has been captured by armed forces in his jungle hideout.

  One police officer was killed during the operation.  

  A picture shows him standing between two heavily-armed, camo-clad soldiers wearing surgical masks, as if the biggest danger he poses is giving them the coronavirus. 

  The 50-year-old Usaga is a former left-wing guerrilla and leader of the notorious drug trafficking group Clan del Golfo — the Gulf Clan — which runs cocaine smuggling routes through thick jungles in the country’s north. He was captured at his jungle hideout. 

  Usaga is believed to have shipped drugs to the US. He’s also accused of killing police officers, recruiting minors, and sexually abusing children.

The Facebook Papers: Internal Facebook documents reveal that the social network’s employees repeatedly raised warnings about the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories before and after the November vote that Donald Trump still clams he won. 

  The NY Times reports that Facebook employees saw suspect activity 16 months before the election. The report says that within a week after the election, 10 percent of viewings of political material were of posts that claimed the vote was fraudulent. The documents say “There was also a fringe of incitement to violence.” 

  The documents reported on by the Times say that in every case Facebook failed or struggled to deal with the problem.

Covid Nation: Singer Ed Sheeran announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus and would be canceling public appearances. He didn’t say whether he was actually sick. Sheeran had been scheduled to be the musical guest November 6^th on Saturday Night Live.

  Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci says children ages 5 to 11 may be eligible for Covid vaccines by early next month. He said some of the youngest Americans could get their first dose by early next month.

  This morning, new cases of Covid-19 in the US are down 25 percent over the past two weeks and deaths are down 13 percent.

Coup: Right on the verge of converting the country to civilian government, Sudan’s military this morning seized the country’s prime minister and took over the government.

  Pro-democracy demonstrators were already on the streets by dawn. They barricaded streets and burned tires.

  Sudan was still recovering from the 30-year rule of the autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, who was deposed in 2019. The country was on the verge of completing a three-year transition to full civilian control.

Anchors Aweigh: The NY Post floats a story that CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell is at risk of losing her job “as cost-slashing execs at the broadcasting giant quietly search for her replacement amid sagging ratings.”

  O’Donnell is paid $8 million a year and CBS moved the Evening News to Washington to accommodate her.

  Former ABC  News executive Shelley Ross, a veteran of network knife fights, comments on Facebookthat, “This is how it all starts, the vicious blame game in network news. An anonymous leak like this one — the trial balloon sent up to test the reactions of staffers and critics.” She says, “My question is: why not make your decisions in private, execute your new plan discretely and let people get on with their lives and careers with the dignity they deserve.” 

The Obit Page: Jay Black, lead singer for the group Jay and The Americans that churned out a string of hits in the early 1960s, has died at age 82. For a few years you could barely turn on top 40 radio without hearing his soaring voice deliver the  songs  “Cara, Mia,” “Only in America,” “Come a Little Bit Closer,” and “Let’s Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key).” 

  Jay was not his real name. He was born Jason Blatt and he wasn’t even the original “Jay” of the group. He replaced Jay Traynor in 1963, a year after the group’s first hit, “She Cried,” climbed to No. 5 on the chart.

Nightmare on Elm Street: National Public Radio, which on many days can put you to sleep, reports on a natural phenomenon that’ll have you staring at the ceiling all night. 

  The network reports a story about a parasite that can get inside another creature’s mouth, dissolve its tongue, and replace it, becoming that other animal’s tongue and stealing nutrients.  They give the example of a fish, the Atlantic croaker,  the tongue of which has been replaced by something looking like crab legs. It’s called an isopod.

  “This parasite detaches the fish’s tongue, attaches itself to the fish’s mouth, and becomes its tongue,” says a posting by the Galveston Island State Park in Texas .” It says, “The parasite then feeds on the fish’s mucus.”

  If you’ve already eaten breakfast, it’s too late.

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