Afternoon News Update, 10/8/20

By Patrick Harris

In campus news, Appalachian is currently responding to twenty-seven new cases of COVID-19 in four active clusters. All of these new cases are in students originating from residence halls. Fifteen of these students are currently in active isolation, with the remaining twelve having recovered past the isolation stage. In local news, North Carolina senatorial candidate Cal Cunningham was recently caught engaging in an extramarital affair, sending sexually explicit text messages to an unnamed individual. As of now, Cunningham has made a public apology for his conduct and will continue his campaign against incumbent Thom Tillis. In national news, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris met face-to-face for 2020’s Vice Presidential Debate. Moderated by Susan Page of USA Today, the two debated for approximately 90 minutes on topics ranging from the economy, to climate change, to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.