GEORGIA’S election results have been certified (Shutterstock).

Efforts to challenge or reverse the results of the Nov. 3 election took another setback on Friday, as the State of Georgia formally certified Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in that state, giving him 306 Electoral College votes to the president’s 232. To win, a candidate must have 270. According to United Press International, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said, “Working as an engineer all my life, I live by that numbers don’t lie. I believe that the numbers we have presented today are correct.”

Gov. Brian Kemp signed the final certification later in the day, but called for an audit, which would involve another hand count.  Biden won the state by roughly 12,000 votes.

A lawsuit alleging “improper procedures” by election officials by the Trump campaign was dismissed on Thursday by a federal judge.

The New York Times is reporting that a group of Republican legislative leaders from Michigan were summoned to a meeting with Trump but expressed their intention to “follow the normal process” of certifying election results and accept the outcome of the vote.

Georgia and Michigan are two of the five states that were “flipped” from red to blue from 2016 to 2020.

As some late-counted votes trickle in, the latest tally shows Biden with 79,747,382 votes (51.1 percent) to 73,750,213 (47.2 percent) for Trump, a margin just short of six million votes, according to the Associated Press.

The News: 8 are hurt in mall shooting

Eight persons were hit by gunfire in a shooting at a shopping mall near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to the Associated Press, the attack took place around midday at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa. Seven adults and one child were hurt, but none of the wounds were considered life-threatening. Police are looking for a possible suspect, described as a white man in his 20s or 30s. • The overall U.S. death toll from coronavirus is near 254,000, with infections at 11.8 million. A new one-day record of nearly 188,000 was set on Thursday, reports the AP. • The 14-day range of COVID-19 infections shows a 73 percent increase, according to The New York Times, with deaths up 63 percent over that period. • Donald Trump. Jr., has tested positive for the coronavirus. Florida Sen. Rick Scott has also tested positive.

Weather:  It’ll be cold at night, anyway

The statewide curfew that begins at 10 p.m. on Saturday may seem inconvenient, but the weather will be so chilly after sundown you may find it better to stay at home. According to the National Weather Service, the overnight lows in the West Orange County areaswill be in the low 50s and upper 40s through the weekend and into next week. Nights will have fog and clouds, but days should be sunny. Saturday’s high should be 74 with mostly cloudy weather. Sunday’s high is expected to be 72, then 67 on Monday. In coastal areas, overnight lows should be similar, but daytime highs five to seven degrees cooler. Saturday’s forecast is a high of 65 for Huntington Beach, dipping to 64 on Sunday and 61 on Monday.

Sports: The NBA is almost back … so soon

It seems just yesterday the Lakers overpowered the Other Guys to win the league title. And it seems like it’s about to start up the new 2020-21 season almost tomorrow.

Here’s the tentative scheduled. Pre-season games will be held Dec. 11-19, with the first half of the regular season running from Dec. 22 to March 4. The All-Star break is set for March 5-10. The second half runs March 11-May 16, followed by a play-in tournament May 18-21. The NBA Playoffs are set to run from May 22 to July 22.