Bits ‘n pieces from east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. A recent sampling:

A 4.3 percent increase in new home construction is a big factor behind the 60 percent rise in lumber prices, according to MarketWatch.com.

Rhode Island taxpayers were surprised to find their tax refund checks signed by Mickey Mouse. The Department of Revenue said the signature was a “technical error,” The Week reported.

The postmaster general will not reinstall high-speed mail sorting machines he has ordered sidelined. Nor will he put back into place public mailboxes that have been removed, reported the Alliance for Retired Americans. Forbes noted that in Washington state, postal employees have defied orders to not use the sorting machines.

Moo: A British pub has utilized electric fencing to remind people to observe social distancing. It’s not always on, but can be at any unknown time. According to a report in The Week, it has worked well.

If masks are adopted by 95 percent of the population to protect against COVID-19, 33,000 lives could be saved by early October, according to the University of Washington’s Health and Metrics Evaluation.

But there’s an even better path forward, according to Dr. Ashish K. Jha, writing in Time magazine. The technology exists and is being used elsewhere, wherein routine COVID-19 antigen testing provides results quickly and inexpensively ($1 per test) relative to current testing used in the U.S. Jha, professor of global health at Harvard’s Y.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the U.S. has the ability to provide the tests in “massive numbers and to distribute them all over the country.”

Doing so will “ensure that we can safely go to work, do our shopping and send our kids to school.” To duck further pandemic woes in the future, Jha also recommends expanding government funding for infectious disease research, which typically takes a back seat to funding for cancer and heart disease.

An environmental epidemiologist from Georgia State University said people improve their resistance to COVID-19 when they have access to clean air, which can be facilitated by planting tree barriers near highways and in communities.

After protesters tore down a statue of St. Junipero Serra in July, several notable Catholics commented on Serra’s good qualities while acknowledging that his missions also engaged in brutalities, cultural insensitivity and had a hand in the demise of up to 13,500 indigenous ancestors. They described the statue toppling as a way to foster an open dialogue and relinquish any “romantic” notions about the Catholic faith, as reported in the National Catholic Reporter.

Homegrown tomatoes have more lycopene, an antioxidant, according to a Yale Health dietician. Lycopene can reduce antioxidants associated with cancer, heart disease and aging diseases. There’s also evidence lycopene may protect against sun damage to the skin, reduce risk of prostate cancer and help women maintain bone mass. Tomatoes have anti-inflammatory phyto-chemicals.

Since Senate Republicans did not approve continuation of the $600 weekly unemployment benefit increase, the result will leave the jobless trying to get by on 40 percent of their pre-virus earnings, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Last week Donald Trump’s former White House advisor, Steve Bannon, was charged with fraud and money laundering. According to Mother Jones, Bannon allegedly defrauded thousands of people who donated to build a private wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

As of Monday, there were 181,059 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the 2019-20 flu season saw 24,000 deaths.

Two drugs now in development show promise for treating COVID-19, CNN reported. One drug stops viral replication, and the other blocks infection. The drugs are expected to be ready in early 2021.

The recent shooting of a black man in the back — at close range — by police in Kenosha, Wisc., was captured on video. He was visiting a friend when police responded to a domestic violence call. He is in stable condition. Multiple media outlets have covered the subsequent violence and looting that erupted.