Category 4: Hurricane Michael hit the Florida panhandle as one of the most powerful storms known to have made landfall in the United States with winds up to 155 mph. It was just shy of a Category 5.

The center of the storm passed over the small seaside community of Mexico Beach, 100 miles southwest of Tallahassee. The ocean surge was up to eight feet.

Roofs were ripped off, homes destroyed, neighborhoods flooded, and harbors piled up with boats torn from docks and moorings. At least one person was killed when a tree fell on his home. About 400,000 people lost power.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said, “Hurricane Michael is the worst storm that the Florida Panhandle has ever seen.”

Michael passed over the panhandle and crossed into Georgia with winds reduced to 90 mph.

Unchecked: USA Today is being criticized for publishing an op-ed article attributed to President Trump loaded with untruths designed to whip up fear about Democratic proposals for “Medicare for all” and their hopes to take control of the House.

It’s part of Trump’s campaign to win and rule through fear. LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik writes, “USA Today had no business turning over a sizable chunk of its online and print real estate to Trump for the equivalent of a campaign rally.”

Written in cogent English not usually emanating from this president, “The article says, “Dishonestly called ‘Medicare for All,’ the Democratic proposal would establish a government-run, single-payer health care system that eliminates all private and employer-based health care plans and would cost an astonishing $32.6 trillion during its first 10 years.”

Trump warns that Medicare for seniors would be eliminated, patients would not be able to choose their own doctors, and bureaucrats in Washington would take over people’s health care decisions.

Repeating one of his speech points delivered at his rallies, the Trump article says, “The new Democrats are radical socialists who want to model America’s economy after Venezuela.” As if the Democrats want to model themselves after a broken country.

And it says, “Today’s Democratic Party is for open-borders socialism. This radical agenda would destroy American prosperity.”

Traditionally, opinion articles published by newspapers are vetted for truth and accuracy, but USA Todayappears to have printed what it was handed.

Former NY Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal told CNN, “The president does not have a free pass.” He said, “Our standard at the Times was that we do not print things that we knew not to be true, whether it was a letter, an editorial, a column or an op-ed. If a letter writer said something that was false, we would require them to correct or we wouldn’t run it.”

Monopoly Money: Futures indicate another nose dive today, a day after the Dow Jones lost 832 points, a drop of 3.3 percent. It was the third worst decline in Dow history.

Analysts say investors are worried about rising interest rates, which could signal an end to the rocketing stock market, and the continuing trade war with China.

Justice Files: The operator of the upstate New York  limousine company involved in the crash that killed 20 people was arrested, arraigned, and later released on $150,000 bond. Nauman Hussain, 28, is the son of the company’s owner. Shahed Hussain owns the company and is in Pakistan.

On Saturday a stretch limo with 17 passengers crashed, killing all 18 people on board as well as two people in a parking lot.

State of Denial: The disappearance of Saudi dissident journalist into his country’s Istanbul consulate is a diplomatic crisis in which one American ally, Turkey, is accusing another ally of murdering one of its own citizens.

This mess calls attention to the shortcomings of the US State Department under President Trump, which has shrunk, wiped out years of institutional knowledge, and failed to appoint new people to critical positions.

The following exchange is from a State Department briefing by deputy spokespersonRobert Palladino.

Q: Who again – what’s the name of the ambassador in Turkey right now?

RP: I don’t have that in front of me right now and I – Matt —

Q: What’s the name of the ambassador in Saudi Arabia right now?

RP: I see what you’re getting at. Okay. We are confident in our diplomatic —

Q: The answer is that you don’t have an ambassador in either place, right?

Danger, Will Robinson: Two astronauts — an American and a Russian — survived the failure of a Russian-made rocket just as it was about to carry them outside the atmosphere. They had been bound for the International Space Station.

American Nick Hague and Russian Aleksey Ovchinin landed safely in Kazakhstan after a ‘ballistic re-entry’, during which they experienced forces of up to 7G.

Fat Admiration: At a time when body image and fat shaming is one of the big social issues, the Katmai National Park and Reserve in Alaska has been running an annual “fattest bear” contest. Heading into winter hibernation, fat is exactly what a bear wats to be. They don’t go to Boca in February.

The winner this year is named “409 Beadnose.” The park’s announcement on Facebook says,  “Her radiant rolls were deemed by the voting public to be this year’s most fabulous flab. Our chubby champ has a few more weeks to chow down on lingering salmon carcasses before she heads up the mountains to dig herself a den and savor her victory.”