What to Know
- A competitive video gamer killed two people and at least nine more during a 'Madden NFL 19' tournament at a complex in Jacksonville, Florida
- So much for a glass of wine a day for your health's sake — all alcohol consumption is bad for you, according to a damning report
- Playwright Neil Simon, a master of comedy whose laugh-filled hits such as 'The Odd Couple,' dominated Broadway for decades, has died at 91
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Gunman Kills 2, Himself in Jacksonville Video Game Tournament Shooting
A competitive video gamer killed two people and wounded nearly 10 more during a "Madden NFL 19" tournament at an entertainment complex in Jacksonville, Florida, authorities said. The lone suspect in the shooting died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after opening fire at Jacksonville Landing, a mall and event space, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said at an evening news conference. Officials believe the gunman is 24-year-old David Katz from Baltimore. Two people were found dead at the scene, Williams said. Nine people with gunshot wounds and two others hurt during shooting are being treated at area hospitals. All are in stable condition. Though police have not yet released the identities of the two victims, one of them was identified by his former high school as Elijah Clayton. Multiple shots can be heard ringing out in video from an XBox Live stream that appears to capture the gunfire at the tournament. A red dot that appears to be a laser pointer is visible on the chest of a player seconds before the first of a dozen gunshots rings out.
Replacing John McCain in the Senate Is a Political Balancing Act
Sen. John McCain's death in office has handed Arizona's governor an empty Senate seat to give out — and a difficult political puzzle to solve before he does. Arizona law requires only that Gov. Doug Ducey name a replacement who is a member of McCain's Republican Party and who will fill the seat until the next general election in 2020. But in a state with a deeply divided Republican Party, where McCain was a towering but divisive figure, the choice is far more complicated. Ducey is balancing the demands of the many conservative Arizona Republicans who have soured on McCain due to his dovish immigration stance, criticism of President Trump and vote against a rollback of President Obama's health care law. They are wary of Ducey appointing a moderate. But naming someone with dramatically different views from McCain could be viewed as disrespectful to McCain's legacy, carrying its own risks. In either case, Ducey wants to set the party up to hold the seat two years from now, no easy task given the turmoil in his party. The decision is under close scrutiny in Washington. While McCain has been treated for cancer in Arizona and unable to vote in Washington, his party's already narrow Senate majority had shrunk from two votes to one.
No Amount of Alcohol Is Safe, Health Experts Warn
Local
So much for a glass of wine a day for your health's sake — all alcohol consumption is bad for you, according to a damning report. The global study, which claims to be the most comprehensive of its kind, pours cold water on previous reports that espouse the protective effects of alcohol under some conditions. While researchers acknowledged that moderate drinking can protect against heart disease and diabetes, they said that the risks of cancer and other illnesses outweigh those benefits and have called for a change in medical guidance. The majority of national guidelines suggest that one or two glasses of wine or beer per day are safe for an adult's health. However, the report's authors said, "Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none."
Weight-Loss Drug Belviq Seems Safe for Heart, Study Finds
For the first time, a drug has been shown to help people lose weight and keep it off for several years without raising their risk for heart problems — a safety milestone that may encourage wider use to help curb the obesity epidemic. The drug, Belviq, has been sold in the United States since 2013 and is the first of several new weight-loss medicines to complete a long-term heart safety study now required by federal regulators to stay on the market. With this study, Belviq has been convincingly shown safe for the heart, the study leader said. Although Belviq did not raise heart risks, it didn't lower them either, as many had hoped it would. The weight loss it produced was fairly modest — after 40 months, Belviq users had shed 9 pounds, twice as much as those on dummy pills. It may be that weight loss alone is not enough to lower heart risks, or that there needs to be more to do that, some doctors said.
Neil Simon, Broadway's Master of Comedy, Dies at 91
Playwright Neil Simon, a master of comedy whose laugh-filled hits such as "The Odd Couple," ''Barefoot in the Park" and his "Brighton Beach" trilogy dominated Broadway for decades, has died. He was 91. Simon died Sunday of complications from pneumonia surrounded by family at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, said Bill Evans, his longtime friend and the Shubert Organization director of media relations. In the second half of the 20th century, Simon was one of the American theater's most successful and prolific playwrights, often chronicling middle class issues and fears. Starting with "Come Blow Your Horn" in 1961 and continuing into the next century, he rarely stopped working on a new play or musical. His list of credits is staggering.
