WITH a week to go before Election Day, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are campaigning across the country. Over 70 million people have already voted, it’s reported (Shutterstock).

The 2020 presidential election campaign charged ahead on Tuesday, with Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee and former vice president Joe Biden continued pressing their cases with a week to go before Election Day.

Biden, who is leading in most polls, went to Warm Springs, Georgia ­– where Franklin Roosevelt sought to recover from polio – and promised to unify the country, vowing to be a president for all Americans.

“Has the heart of this nation turned to stone? I don’t think so. I refuse to believe it,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Trump was in Michigan, appealing to women voters. “We’re getting your husbands back to work,” he said, according to USA Today. “They want to get back to work.” And, in referring to efforts to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases, said “the cure can never be worse than the problem itself.”

In other election-related news:

• Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a concurring high court ruling Monday, argued in favor of requiring that all ballots must be received by election day in order to be counted.
• RealClearPolitics.com’s average of recent presidential polls showed Biden leading with the support of 50.6 percent of voters to 43.5 percent for Trump, a margin of 7.1 percent. Fivethirtyeight.com’s survey shows Biden with 51.9 percent to 42.8 percent, a margin of 9.2 percent.

The news: COVID-19 spike keeps going

The United States has added over 360,000 new cases of coronavirus over the last five days, according to Johns Hopkins University. The numbers show an average of 63,500 cases and almost 500 deaths a day, according to United Press International. • Keith Raniere, founder of the controversial NXIVM cult, was sentenced to 120 years in prison on Tuesday after being convicted on a variety of sex trafficking and other charges involving girls as young as 13 years old.  •  Protests have followed the shooting of a 27-year-old black man by police in Philadelphia. The man, identified as Walter Wallace, was holding a knife, according to witnesses and police. •  Tuesday was a mixed day on Wall Street, with two major stock indexes down, and one up. The Dow fell by 222.19 points and the S&P 500 by 10.29 points. Nasdaq was up by 72.41 points.

Weather: Smoky skies and hotter temps

If you can see through the smoke and soot in the skies from the Silverado and Blue Ridge fires, you’ll notice that it’s otherwise sunny and seasonably warm. Tuesday’s high in the West Orange County area was 78 degrees in the afternoon, with an overnight low of 54. Smoky skies are expected to continue through Wedneday with a high of 79 (overnight low of 56).  The smoke should clear by Wednesday evening and skies are expected to be sunny and clear by Thursday with a daytime high of 55. Friday is forecast to be a bit cooler at 77 during the day and 55 at night.

Sports: Dodgers win 2020 World Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers have won their first World Series title since 1988, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in Game Six Tuesday night. Mookie Betts, who struck out in his first two at-bats, doubled, scored the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice and hit a solo home run in the Game Six win. The Dodgers trailed 1-0 until the Rays pulled their starter, Blake Snell in the six inning. Snell had yielded just two hits and struck out nine batters before he was pulled. Combined, the two teams set a World Series record of 25 strikeouts, the most in a nine-inning Series game.