Mic Daily: Beto O’Rourke smashes fundraising records — and other news of the day

Good evening, folks. Exhausted though you may be, you survived the week. Congratulations! Before you switch that brain off for the next 48 hours, here are the five most important stories out of Mic today. Give ‘em a read, won’t you? I picked them myself.

Beto O’Rourke blows past records with massive fundraising haul

In just a few months, Beto O’Rourke — the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate facing off against GOP Sen. Ted Cruz — raised a whopping $38.1 million. That’s more than most presidential candidates raise over the same period of time, Mic’s Emily Singer reported.

Trump’s new law protects travelers with disabilities — but advocates worry it might be meaningless

In early October, President Donald Trump authorized a number of airline regulations that should benefit consumers — one of which is specifically aimed at making life a bit easier for travelers who have disabilities.

Advocates, however, question whether the regulations will really do anything at all.

On Titans, people of color play orange and green characters. Of course there was backlash.

A new live-action adaptation of Teen Titans, an animated cartoon which itself is based on characters from DC comic books, is officially out as of Friday. But the path to get here has been paved with horrific, racist — and frankly, unsurprising — amounts of harassment aimed at its lead actors.

Mic’s Chauncey Alcorn interviewed the cast to hear what they had to say about the backlash they’ve received from so-called fans.

Parents create “R Kelly abuse hotline” to give accusers a voice

For the past two decades, multiple women have stepped forward to accuse singer R. Kelly of sexual abuse, including some particularly chilling accounts that resemble sex trafficking and cult-like behavior, experts have said.

Now, Timothy Savage and Jonjelyn Savage, who have said their daughter is “being held against her will” by Kelly, have set up a hotline for other people to open up about their own experiences.

Family doctors are “not doing enough” to curb STDs

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported cases of common sexually transmitted infections are at record highs. The reasons for this are multifaceted, but some say one contributing factor is that, in general, family doctors aren’t testing their patients for common STIs as frequently as they should be.

In fact, some patients, like writer Rob Nolan, circumvent their family doctors entirely and choose to get tested — and if necessary, treated — for STIs at specialized clinics that handle this sort of thing every day.