Las Notis is a daily news column that gets you up to speed on the political, media + other goings-on in the United States, Latin America, and the diaspora—all in one quick digest.
Here’s your glimpse at what’s going on today:
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- Joe Biden announced several new White House hires as he continues building out his administration, despite Trump blocking the transition process. Biden has appointed two Latinas to several key positions, including Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, who will serve as his chief of staff, and Julie Chávez Rodriguez, the daughter of Cesar Chávez, who will direct the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. [NBC]
- Anthony Fauci criticized what he says has been a “disjointed” state-by-state response to the Coronavirus in the U.S. and urged for a more uniform approach to fight back the virus, which continues to spike across the country. “We need some fundamental public health measures that everyone should be adhering to, not a disjointed, ‘One state says one thing, the other state says another thing,’” he said. The U.S. has surpassed 11 million Coronavirus cases this week. [NYT]
- Democrats have called out Republican Senator Lindsey O. Graham after Georgia’s Republican secretary of state Brad Raffensperger said Graham tried to pressure him into finding ways of throwing out mail-in ballots that helped Joe Biden’s favor win the state. Graham denied behaving inappropriately, but Raffensperger told CNN, “It was just an implication of, ‘Look hard and see how many ballots you could throw out.” [WaPo]
- Less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Eta, Hurricane Iota made landfall in Nicaragua as a Category 4 storm. It has resulted in massive downpours that could result in floods and destruction to homes. [AP]
- The CW is developing Wonder Girl, a new series that will revolve around Yara Flor, a Latina Dreamer born to Amazonian Warrior and a Brazilian River God who finds out she’s Wonder Girl. The show is being written by Queen of the South executive producer/co-showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez and Berlanti Productions. [Deadline]
- Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Patricia Escárcega came forward on Twitter with an account of her employer paying her two-thirds of what her white male co-reviewer makes, despite the two of them holding the same job responsibilities and title. She filed a complaint, which the LA Times responded to with a two-page memo, it would not increase her salary to match her coworkers. [Eater]