Biden inauguration plan calls for COVID-19 memorial light show
President-elect Joe Biden’s inaugural committee plans to stage a COVID-19 memorial light show of Washington, DC, monuments and is asking churches to ring their bells to commemorate the more than 343,000 US pandemic deaths. The plans call for church bells to ring nationwide at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 19 before Biden takes office on the morning of Jan. 20. Axios reports that Biden will lead a light show at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool just south of the White House, though the precise timing and nature of the display are unclear. Many other details of the inauguration remain uncertain. Traditionally, throngs of the incoming president’s supporters pour onto the National Mall while businessmen pay inflated hotel rates to attend balls where they can rub shoulders with incoming officials they hope to influence. Biden has encouraged supporters to stay home amid the coronavirus pandemic, though viewing stands for a parade were erected on Pennsylvania Avenue north of the White House. https://eng