Important Takeaways:
- America’s first high-impact winter storm of the new year is a coast-to-coast event expected to bring over a 1,500-mile swath of hazardous snow and ice across the central and eastern U.S.
- The storm is roaring ashore on the West Coast Friday, bringing heavy rains and mountain snow to the Pacific Northwest and northern California. From there, it will bring a round of snow to the Intermountain West and northern Rockies on Saturday before emerging in the Plains on Saturday night.
- That’s when the stage becomes set for a significant winter storm. The FOX Forecast Center said north of the storm, a strong arctic high will be supplying cold air, while to the south, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will be flowing north.
- The FOX Forecast Center is expecting “plowable” snow from the north-central Plains through the Ohio Valley.
- Snow amounts will range from a few inches to more than a foot in some spots. This includes cities such as Rapid City, South Dakota, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Charleston, West Virginia, and Washington, DC.
- “Needless to say this will make driving on Sunday and Sunday night extremely hazardous at best, potentially impossible at worst,” the National Weather Service office in St. Louis said in their Friday morning forecast discussion.
- In Kansas, the NWS said snow and sleet accumulations greater than 4 inches are possible, with ice accretions greater than one-tenth of an inch likely. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph, creating blowing and drifting snow, along with near-blizzard conditions at times.
- “With all this said, people should not focus on exact amounts or ranges of snowfall or ice accumulation,” NWS St. Louis said. “Rather, be prepared for a major winter storm.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Meteorologists are raising alarms over worsening polar vortex conditions that could bring extreme cold and widespread disruptions.
- So far, this winter has seen one of the warmest Decembers on record in much of the northern United States. Though many residents experienced snow around the holidays, snow coverage was still at or near 20-year lows.
- However, the polar vortex could bring severe weather conditions, including heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures that could affect travel conditions or prompt school closures.
- Jim Cantore, also a meteorologist, said on X: “Prolonged period of COLD coming across the eastern USA that will only be made worse with whatever snowpack decides to accompany each shot. The Polar Vortex parks itself over eastern Canada for the first couple weeks of 2025 and allows these cold shots to slide southeast and dominate the weather east of the Rockies. The coldest is perhaps around the Jan 9/10th. It’s been a while since we’ve seen this kind of prolonged cold.”
- Meteorologist Mark Margavage said on X: “Woah… now that’s C-O-L-D! Is the South ready for a visit from the Polar Vortex? like I said the other day… PREPARE! This goes for everyone, but particularly if you live in an area that is not used to seeing brutally cold air, put together a winter weather survival kit and keep it in your car… Include things like warm winter clothes, a warm blanket, hand warmers, back-up batteries for your cell phones.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Americans foresee a somewhat challenging year ahead for the country, based on their predictions for various aspects of U.S. affairs and daily life. Majorities of U.S. adults think 2025 will be a year of political conflict, economic difficulty, international discord, increasing power for China and Russia, and a rising federal budget deficit.
- However, there is at least some optimism for 2025, as 66% of U.S. adults expect gains in the stock market, 54% think there will be increasing or full employment, and 52% predict reasonable price growth. Meanwhile, Americans are essentially tied in their projections for what 2025 will hold when it comes to the United States’ power in the world, the number of labor strikes, taxes and crime rates.
- Bottom Line:
- Americans’ forecast for the year ahead is tied to their views of the current domestic and international climates. Recent Gallup polling finds that opinions of the economy, the direction of the country and President Joe Biden’s job performance are all negative, which is likely contributing to their outlook for 2025. The exception is Republicans’ broadly positive predictions for the year ahead as Trump prepares to become president again.
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Important Takeaways:
- New government data shows American consumer debt continuing to grow.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit Wednesday (Nov. 13), showing a slight uptick in total household debt during the third quarter, up 0.8% ($147 billion) to $17.94 trillion.
- According to the report, mortgage balances climbed by $75 billion from the prior quarter, hitting $12.59 trillion at the end of September.
- Credit card balances rose by $24 billion to $1.17 trillion, while auto loan balances ticked up by $18 billion, coming to $1.64 trillion.
- Balances such as retail cards and other consumer loans, were effectively flat, climbing $2 billion, while student loan balances grew by $21 billion, reaching $1.61 trillion.
- “Aggregate delinquency rates edged up from the previous quarter, with 3.5% of outstanding debt in some stage of delinquency,” the report noted.
- And around 126,000 consumers had a bankruptcy notation added to their credit reports during the quarter, down slightly from Q2.
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Important Takeaways:
- An earthquake with magnitude of 4.7 struck Northern California on New Year’s Day, shaking buildings as far away as Sacramento, but causing little damage and no deaths.
- The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake struck 4 kilometers north-northwest of Cobb, CA, about an hour west of Sacramento, the state capital, at 6:34 p.m. on Wednesday.
- Lake County News reported:
- A moderate earthquake that occurred on New Year’s evening shook residents across Lake County and triggered dozens of smaller quakes in the hours afterward.
- Across Lake County, residents reported feeling the powerful main quake, which they variously described as intense and rolling, with items falling off walls and shelves, and furniture moving.
- There were also those who said it was the strongest quake they’ve felt in Lake County.
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Important Takeaways:
- The Associated Press reported approximately 15 people–ages 16 to 20 years–were standing outside Amazura nightclub when armed men approached and began shooting.
- A private event was being hosted at the club at the time of the shooting.
- The gunmen ran to a getaway car after firing approximately 30 rounds into the crowd.
- The New York Post noted there four gunmen and the wounded consist of four males and six females. All the shooting victims are expected to survive.
- AM NY pointed out that the private event at Amazura nightclub was reportedly held “in honor of a known gang member in the community slain last October whose birthday coincided with New Year’s Day.”
- New York is ranked number two in the nation for gun control strength.
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Important Takeaways:
- Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in New York City on New Year’s Day for “intifada,” blocking Sixth Avenue in Manhattan just hours after a terror attack in New Orleans, Louisiana, and an explosion in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- The Times of Israel reported:
- Attendees chanted “Resistance is glorious — we will be victorious,” “We will honor all our martyrs,” and “Gaza, you make us proud.” They carried signs that said “Zionism is cancer,” “No war on Iran,” and “End all US aid to Israel.”
- “There is only one solution — Intifada revolution,” they chanted, using a common refrain at anti-Israel rallies in the US. “Intifada,” Arabic for “uprising,” is associated with the Second Intifada, a period of terror attacks in Israel in the early 2000s marked by suicide bombings.
- A handful of pro-Israel counter-protesters showed up to wave Israeli and American flags on the sidelines of the demonstration, while heckling the anti-Israel activists. A Jewish retiree led chants of “Get a job” directed at the protesters.
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Important Takeaways:
- Authorities are still searching for potential accomplices to Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who drove a truck into a New Orleans crowd before being killed in a shootout with police on Wednesday.
- Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told Fox News that there is evidence that Jabbar worked alongside accomplices to coordinate the attack, although she and other officials have declined to offer specifics. Jabbar’s attack killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens of others.
- “In Louisiana, we have the death penalty, and we will carry it out!” Murrill wrote on X.
- Jabbar had posted videos to social media prior to his attack expressing allegiance to the Islamic State. The FBI’s investigation has now spread across multiple states, though the number of potential accomplices remains unknown.
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Important Takeaways:
- The bomber who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas has been identified as Army service member Matthew Livelsberger.
- Although officers have not publicly named Livelsberger, 37, as the bomber, senior law enforcement sources confirmed his identity to KOAA and KTNV.
- Livelsberger served over 19 years in the Army – 18 of which were spent with Special Forces, according to his LinkedIn profile. His current role was listed as a Remote and Autonomous Systems Manager, which he had been in for just three months.
- A Colorado townhome associated with Livelsberger was raided by the FBI late Wednesday night. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) were brought in to assist.
- He is suspected of renting the Cybertruck in Colorado Springs, via the Turo app, and driving it across the border to Nevada on Wednesday morning
- Law enforcement sources revealed that Livelsberger, who died Wednesday in the explosion outside the hotel, had previously served at the same military base as New Orleans terrorist Shamsud Din Jabbar. Police have not confirmed if the pair were known to each other.
- Jabbar, who had allegedly pledged himself to the Islamic State, rammed a pickup truck – which bore the ISIS flag – into a crowd of New Year revelers, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens.
- The FBI has said it does not think Jabbar, 42, was ‘solely responsible’ for the Bourbon Street attack. Authorities are ‘conducting a number of court-authorized search warrants in New Orleans and other states’ and investigating his ‘potential associations and affiliations’ with terroristic organizations.
- Officials are still exploring how the explosives were detonated…
- Livelsberger was the sole fatality in the attack, and authorities largely credit Musk’s hulking truck with preventing further damage because it was able to contain much of the explosion.
- Hours before the attack in Las Vegas, Jabbar drove an electric vehicle into crowds in New Orleans, killing 15 pedestrians and injuring dozens more.
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Important Takeaways:
- The FBI seized more than 150 homemade explosives from a Virginia man’s home, ABC News reported on Wednesday.
- Federal investigators made this discovery in December while searching the home of Norfolk, Virginia, resident Brad Spafford.
- According to court documents, it is believed to be “the largest seizure by number of finished explosive devices in FBI history,” ABC News reported.
- The court documents added that most of the bombs, material for building explosives, and tools were found in a garage next to Spafford’s home.
- “Several additional apparent pipe bombs were found in a backpack in the home’s bedroom, completely unsecured,” said prosecutors.
- Spafford’s defense attorneys argued in a motion Tuesday that he never planned anything violent.
- The prosecution responded, “While he is not known to have engaged in any apparent violence, he has certainly expressed interest in the same, through his manufacture of pipe bombs marked ‘lethal,’ his possession of riot gear and a vest loaded with pipe bombs, his support for political assassinations and use of the pictures of the President for target practice,” ABC News reported.
- According to the court documents, “this investigation began in early 2023 when the defendant’s neighbor and friend reported that the defendant disfigured his hand in 2021 while working with a homemade explosive device and was stockpiling weapons and homemade ammunition.”
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