DEMOCRATS will nominate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as their presidential and vice presidential candidates this week (Shutterstock).

The Democratic National Convention gathered – sort of – electronically on Monday, featuring a combination of pre-recorded videos and live speeches as a kickoff to the final phase of the 2020 presidential (and vice presidential) campaign with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as their party’s standard-bearers.

Opening day speakers were former Ohio governor John Kasich and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Kasich, a Republican, was a candidate for president in 2016; Sanders, an independent, ran for the Democratic nomination against Biden this year.

“My friends, I say to you, and to everyone who supported other candidates in this primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake,” said Sanders.

“In normal times,” said Kasich, something like this would never happen, referring to him being a Republican, “but these are not normal times.”

The convention was originally planned to be held in Milwaukee, but the coronavirus pandemic made large gatherings impossible.

Biden, the former vice president under Barack Obama, will speak remotely from Delaware on Wednesday and formally accept his party’s nomination. Kamala Harris, the vice presidential nominee will speak on Tuesday. Other prominent speakers (some live and some pre-recorded) include Michelle Obama today (Monday), former President Bill Clinton (Tuesday), former President Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (Wednesday).

Decline of U.S. coronavirus cases continues

Despite the grim fact that over 170,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, there are some positive signs in the fight against the pandemic.

Sunday’s tally from the Johns Hopkins University showed fewer than 42,000 new cases in the U.S., the fewest in seven weeks. There were also fewer than 600 deaths on Sunday, after five straight days with at least 1,000 fatalities, according to United Press International.

The biggest peak of new cases – 77,000 – was in the middle of July.

Figures posted by JHU Monday showed the worldwide total of cases at 21,799,658, with the U.S. the leader with 5,433,882 cases, followed by Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa. The global death toll is now at 772,296, led by the U.S with 170,434 fatalities, followed by Brazil, Mexico, India and the United Kingdom/Great Britain.

A hot time in West OC this week

Get out your sunglasses, straw hats and cool drinks, because it’s going to be hot in the West Orange County area this week. The National Weather Service is calling for patchy fog in the morning on Tuesday, then mostly sunny in the late morning and afternoon. A high of 98 is forecast with a low of 70. Temps will be somewhat cooler on Wednesday with a high of 91 and low of 70. An excessive heat warning will be in place through Thursday.

Clippers win playoff opener

Here’s the lineup of games for area pro sports teams. Times are local. Results as they become available.

• Los Angeles Dodgers 11, Seattle Mariners 9: Corey Seager’s three-run home run was one of three round-trippers for the LA team in a slugfest win over the M’s. The victory kept the boys from Chavez Ravine in first place in the NL West with a 17-7 record, second-best in MLB.
• Los Angeles Angels 7, San Francisco Giants 6. Tommy LaStella’s walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Halos to the win. Mike Trout hit his 10th homer in the third. The Angels are now 8-15.
• Los Angeles Clippers 118,  Dallas Mavericks 110. Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points to lead the Clips to a win in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs. He had 12 rebounds and shot six-for-six from the free throw line..