Today in Events: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons in Jeopardy, P.G.A. Awards Will Include a Top Honor for Fox News Harassment Drama, Russia Could Be Banned From Tokyo Olympics

November 26, 2019

1. MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE BALLOONS IN JEOPARDY: Will they or won’t they? That’s the question being grappled with by Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade organizers due to high wind forecasts that could make the festivities’ 16 balloons dangerous. If the balloons are grounded, it would mark only the second time that’s happened since 1971. New York Post: “When the parade kicks off around 9 a.m. Thursday, sustained winds are expected to reach 20 to 30 mph, and gusts could be as high as 40 to 50 mph, Accuweather senior meteorologist Paul Walker said Monday morning. The large inflatables could be grounded if sustained winds reach 23 mph and gusts exceed 34 mph, under city regulations. ‘That will be difficult for them to try to fly the balloons,’ Walker said. ‘You don’t want to try to hold a balloon down with those winds.’”

2. P.G.A. AWARDS WILL INCLUDE A TOP HONOR FOR FOX NEWS HARASSMENT DRAMA: Bombshell, the new dramatic film about sexual harassment at Fox News produced in part by star Charlize Theron, will receive the Stanley Kramer Award at the 2020 P.G.A. Awards, the Producers Guild of America announced Monday. The 31st annual P.G.A. Awards take place on January 18 at the Hollywood Palladium. The Hollywood Reporter: “Established in 2002 to honor a production, producer, or other individuals whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues, the Kramer Award has previously been presented to people associated with Get Out, An Inconvenient Truth, Hotel Rwanda, and many other movies. ... 'Bombshell proves that cinema has the power to encapsulate moments and movements in a way that serves and enlightens us all,’ P.G.A. presidents Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher said in a statement."

3. RUSSIA COULD BE BANNED FROM TOKYO OLYMPICS: A major international anti-doping committee has recommended a four-year ban from global sports for Russia after investigators found that local officials erased test results from a database provided to anti-doping regulators. The recommendation, if approved, would bar Russian athletes and teams not only from next year’s Tokyo Olympics, but from many other major competitions. New York Times: “The proposed punishments, which come four years after Russia was caught running one of the most sophisticated doping programs in sports history, were included in a report produced by a World Anti-Doping Agency committee led by the British lawyer Jonathan Taylor and sent to members of the organization’s board last week. In addition to a new round of embarrassment and public scorn, Russia faces the possibility of years of global sporting isolation, barred from events like soccer’s World Cup and forbidden from even bidding to host dozens of major international competitions.”