Local:
Richard Wallace, a resident of Rhode Island, has broken the North American giant pumpkin record at the Frerichs Farm Pumpkin Weigh Off in Warren, Rhode Island. The record-setting pumpkin weighed over 2,261 pounds, which unseated last year’s record holder, Wallace’s son Ron Wallace. The younger Wallace’s pumpkin weighed in at 2,230 pounds in 2015. Earlier, in 2012, Richard was the first man in the world to ever grow a pumpkin more than one ton.
Recent reports of clowns, which have largely turned out to be hoaxes, have spread to Rhode Island. In Pawtucket, two schools were closed after threats were made against them and clown sightings were reported. The schools, Goff Junior High school and Tolman High School, reopened after police found the claims to be false. University of Rhode Island Police also issued a statement about false clown reports on campus, stating that the university had “issued no directives related to reports of clowns” and that unsubstantiated clown sighting claims had spread through social media.
National:
President Barack Obama has declared a federal state of emergency in North Carolina, after record flooding was seen by the state in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Throughout the affected regions of the United States, the hurricane has resulted in more than 20 deaths, with at least 14 in North Carolina. Even after the rain stopped, the flooding along major rivers continued to increase, and resulted in mandatory evacuations throughout the state.
The second presidential debate of the 2016 election took place last Sunday night, Oct. 9. During the debate, candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton fielded questions in the “town hall” debate format from an audience of average American citizens. Pundits are split on the winner of the debate, but poll data from RealClearPolitics shows Clinton at an average of plus 5.8 percent nationally, from data as recent as Oct. 10. The third and final presidential debate will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 9 p.m. Eastern time at the University of Nevada, and will be moderated by Fox news anchor Chris Wallace.
Global:
Samsung, the Korean phone manufacturer and technology company, has stopped all production and ended all sales of the Galaxy Note 7 Smartphone. Previously, Samsung issued a widespread recall of the devices after their batteries caught on fire. Now, with reports of replaced devices also catching on fire, Samsung has told all owners of the phone to turn it off until the problem is solved. This is likely to permanently halt sales of the device.
On Monday, President of France Francois Hollande suggested that Russia’s actions in the Syrian conflict could be considered “war crimes” that could take place in the International Criminal Court. Hollande’s comments come after continued airstrikes on Syria, including many inflicting casualties on civilians. As a result, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, cancelled Hollande’s already-planned visit to Russia for Oct. 19.