Barrett high court hearings start

The two major parties are divided on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court created by the death of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

At the opening of Senate confirmation hearings, Mrs. Barrett presented herself as a fair-minded conservative. “Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life,” she told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, and promised to be part of  “an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written,” according to the Associated Press.

She was appointed by President Donald Trump and is supported by Republicans, especially those who hope she would help strike down Roe vs. Wade – which legalized abortions nationwide – and the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare.”

Democrats are generally opposed, fearful that her confirmation – which is considered almost certain – will create a 6-3 conservative majority that could dominate the legal landscape for years or even decades.

Kamala Harris (D-California), the Democratic vice presidential nominee, said the court is “often the last refuge for equal justice.” The confirmation process itself is controversial; public opinion polls indicate that most Americans want the party that wins the presidency in November to choose the next justice.

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The News: Biden and Wall Street both doing well

Voters are now supporting former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee over incumbent Republican President Donald Trump by a double-figure margin. RealClearPolitics.com’s average of recent presidential polls shows Biden with a lead of 10.2 percent; FiveThirtyEight.com’s average shows a Biden margin of 10.4 points with three weeks to go before Election Day. • Wall Street picked up on Monday what it started last week, a run of rising stock prices. The Dow was up 250.62 points and the S&P 500 rose by 57.09 points. Tech-heavy Nasdaq showed a gain of 296.32 points. • Amazon Prime Day 2000 will kick off the online holiday shopping season at midnight, according to USA Today. Also in play are Target’s Deal Days and Walmart’s The Big Save event. With more online purchasing, more online scams are expected, so be wary of recorded phone messages or online posts claiming to be from one of those retailers.

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Weather:  Can we beat the heat? Let’s hope

The Lakers defeated the (Miami) Heat; maybe we can be as lucky this week. Hazardous hot weather conditions are predicted through Friday in the West Orange County area. Tuesday’s forecasted high is predicted to be 94, with an overnight low of 63. A slight dip on Wednesday with sunny skies and 93 degree on the thermometer, along with an overnight low of 63. The National Weather Service says Thursday will see a high of 94 (overnight low of 64), and then 96 on Friday. The national forecast calls for high winds and snowfall across the northern Rockies and Plains. On the Gulf Coast, the remnants of Hurricane Delta will lead to heavy rainfall. A slow-moving area of low pressure is expected to bring moderate to heavy rains to the Northeast on Tuesday.

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Sports: Chargers and Dodgers lose late

It was a good weekend for Los Angeles area sports teams, with the Rams and Lakers both winning. But Monday was a lot different.

• New Orleans Saints 30, Los Angeles Chargers 27 (OT): In the Crescent City the Chargers built and then lost a 20-3 lead to lose to the Saints on a Monday Night Football game. The loss dropped LAC to 1-4; the Saints are 3-2. Drew Brees passed for 325 yards, throwing for one touchdown and running for another in the wild win. His heroics overshadowed the performance of Charger rookie QB Justin Herbert who threw for four touchdowns and 264 yards. The winning score came on a 36-yard field goal by Will Lutz. The Chargers missed a chance for a win in regulation time when Michael Badgley’s 50-yard field goal attempt hit the goal posts.
• Atlanta Braves 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 1: In the first game of the National League Championship Series, the Braves scored four runs in the top of the ninth to break a 1-1 deadlock and get the win. Home runs by Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley accounted for three of the runs. Max Fried worked six innings for ATL, giving up four hits and just one earned run. He struck out nine batters and walked two. Walker Buehler gave LAD a strong start, too, going five innings and yielding just three hits and one run. He struck out seven batters but walked five. Game Two is Tuesday.