40% of US electricity is now emissions-free (arstechnica.com)
Good news as natural gas, coal, and solar see the biggest changes....
Oregon weekly newspaper lays off entire staff after discovering a former employee had embezzled $90,000 and left bills unpaid (fortune.com)
An Oregon weekly newspaper has had to lay off its entire staff and halt print after 40 years because its funds were embezzled by a former employee, its editor said, in a devastating blow to a publication that serves as an important source of information in a community that, like many others nationwide, is struggling with growing...
California becomes first state to offer health insurance to all undocumented immigrants (abcnews.go.com)
About 700,000 adults between ages 26 and 49 will be eligible as of Jan. 1...
US homicide rates drop at record pace in 2023 (www.independent.co.uk)
Despite feelings of crime increasing, data from cities across the US indicate murder rates fell at record pace this year...
122 fishermen rescued after getting stranded on Minnesota ice floe, officials say (www.cbsnews.com)
Nasa mission lines up to 'touch the Sun' (www.bbc.com)
It promises to be a remarkable moment in the history of space exploration....
Mushrooms’ popularity is booming, but so are poisonings, experts warn (www.cnn.com)
…...
The 'wealth transfer' from boomers won't save Gen X and millennials (www.nbcnews.com)
Experts say baby boomers will give more than $50 trillion to their heirs. But for many, health care costs will claim the bulk of that wealth....
Judge blocks most of an Iowa law banning some school library books and discussion of LGBTQ+ issues (apnews.com)
A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked key parts of an Iowa law that bans some books from school libraries and forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues....
Cocaine bricks that washed up on NSW beaches this week may have been pushed ashore by king tides and Cyclone Jasper, police say (www.abc.net.au)
Don’t all rush … over 120kg of cocaine packages have washed up on NSW (Australia) beaches over the last few days....
The Biden administration once again bypasses Congress on an emergency weapons sale to Israel (www.pbs.org)
For the second time this month the Biden administration is bypassing Congress to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel as Israel continues to prosecute its war against Hamas in Gaza under increasing international criticism.
Man survives flight from Algeria to Paris hidden in plane’s landing gear (www.theguardian.com)
Unidentified man in life-threatening condition after enduring temperatures of around -50C on Air Algerie flight from Oran
‘I feel like a criminal for quitting’: nurses in the US fight ‘stay or pay’ agreements (www.theguardian.com)
Filipino nurses for Ohio-based company say they have been forced to pay thousands in fees after signing training contracts...
Danny Masterson sent to state prison to serve sentence for rape convictions, mug shot released (apnews.com)
DELANO, Calif. (AP) — “That ‘70s Show” actor Danny Masterson has been sent to a California state prison to serve his sentence for two rape convictions....
Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen says he unwittingly sent AI-generated fake legal cases to his attorney (apnews.com)
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s onetime personal lawyer and fixer, says he unwittingly passed along to his attorney bogus artificial intelligence-generated legal case citations he got online before they were submitted to a judge....
Founder of the American Family Association dies in Mississippi (apnews.com)
Donald Wildmon, the founder of the American Family Association, a conservative Christian advocacy group, has died, the organization announced Thursday....
2024 elections are ripe targets for foes of democracy (www.npr.org)
DeWine vetoes controversial bill banning trans kids from girls' sports and some medical treatments (www.ideastream.org)
Gov. Mike DeWine has vetoed a bill that nearly all of his Republican colleagues supported but many in LGBTQ communities and child health leaders opposed. The bill DeWine turned away would have banned trans youth from participating in girls’ sports and would have limited the access of trans children under 18 to some medical...
Drugmakers set to raise U.S. prices on at least 500 drugs in January (www.cnbc.com)
Drugmakers including Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda Pharmaceutical plan to raise prices in the United States on more than 500 unique drugs in early January, according to data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors....
Ohio's Republican governor vetoes trans care restriction and sports ban (www.nbcnews.com)
Gov. Mike DeWine is one of only a few Republican governors to veto a restriction on transition-related care for minors or a ban on trans student-athlete participation....
How the Russian Government Silences Wartime Dissent (www.nytimes.com)
In the past, the government would make examples of a few individuals, some prominent; now it is practicing widespread censorship. This year, with antiwar speech in public largely eliminated, the records show that authorities remained intent on stamping out criticism expressed online and in private. More than 3,000 cases involved...
US poised to see record drop in yearly homicides despite public concern over crime (abcnews.go.com)
Lawsuit Alleges Youth Detention Centers Repeatedly Pepper-Sprayed Children (www.nashvillescene.com)
From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power (www.cnbc.com)
After years of unbridled consumer spending on everything from home improvement to dream vacations, some companies are now finding the limits of their pricing power....
Elon Musk's X Loses Bid to Undo California Content Moderation Law (www.rollingstone.com)
Elon Musk‘s X failed to block a California law that requires social media companies to disclose their content-moderation policies....
