1. World News: Puerto Rico has declared a state of emergency after suffering its largest power outage since 1980.
The outage left 1.5 million Puerto Ricans without power. The large scale outage is being blamed on a substation fire. (NPR)2. Game Changer: It's now possible to register to vote over text or through Facebook thanks to a service called HelloVote.
Voters can either text HelloVote or message it via Facebook Messenger to start the process. From there, new voters fill out a form with some basic information required by states, like a mailing address. (Read More)3. Must-See: The MacArthur Foundation has announced 2016's 23 Genius Grant recipients.
This year's geniuses, who will each receive $625,000 over the course of the next five years, include a poet, a graphic novelist, and a geobiologist. (The Daily Beast)AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
4. ICYMI: Brad Pitt is being investigated over child abuse allegations by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services.
Sources allege that the actor was "verbally abusive" and got "physical" with one of the kids while on a private plane with his family. Pitt was reportedly drinking at the time, the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services claims. (Read More)5. In-The-Know: Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo welcomed their new daughter.
Levine took the time off from touring in anticipation of the birth. The baby's name is Dusty Rose. (Read More)6. Tech Talk: Yahoo confirmed that over 500 million of its accounts were compromised in 2014.
Rumors of the breach began spreading in August, when Yahoo said it was looking into claims from the cybercriminal Peace. He (or she) claimed to be selling Yahoo user data, including passwords, usernames, dates of birth, and email addresses. (Read More)7. Listen Up: According to The Climate Institute, climate change could negatively affect the world's coffee supply.
Both consumers and coffee companies could be affected by a lack of coffee which could be caused by land depletion or an increase in coffee-damaging bugs spurred on by climate change. (Gothamist)8. Here At Home: Protests continue in Charlotte as activists call for release of the video of Keith Lamont Scott's killing.
Police chief Kerr Putney said that he wouldn't release the tape as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation, saying it does not present conclusive evidence that Scott pointed a gun at police. Scott's family has viewed the tape, but found it inconclusive. The family says that Scott was holding a book, while police say he had a gun. (Read More)