“Midweek Update – News that Matters” is a weekly feature that offers brief overviews of important news that might have been overlooked at the start of a busy week. Here’s what you may have missed in the period December 9 through December 12, 2024.
Sections today include @BARTLEBY ON LANGUAGE (our language column), @DEADLINE (the latest news at deadline), and @IN DEPTH (an in-depth examination of a topic).
@BARTLEBY
[Editor’s Note: @Bartleby is our newest addition to our “News That Matters” throughout the week. Herman Melville’s short story “Bartleby the Scrivener” is likely one of the greatest practical jokes to make it into print by an American author, and it is in Bartleby’s (and Melville’s) honor that we name this section. If there any comments, please note my policy as relates thereto: “I would prefer not to make any change.”
@IN DEPTH
Avoid Travel in Many Areas of U.S. Winter storm warnings and advisories and have been issued in 11 U.S. states by local offices of the National Weather Service. The agency said that the advisories were issued because of the expected snowfall, freezing rain, and wind as well as resultant hazardous road conditions.
“Colder air is rushing southward from the Plains into the Southeast,” the NWS said. “Heavy lake effect snow will occur with up to a few feet of snow and dangerous traveling conditions. Outside of the lake effect, strong winds will make it feel colder and could impact travel for high profile vehicles.”
Outside of the Midwest and Northeast, the agency said that “West Coast states will experience a couple of strong Pacific systems.” Hawaii, it said, it being closely watched for potential wildfires.
The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden
@DEADLINE
Choo. Choo…. In New York City, the New York Botanical Garden, located in Bronx Park, unveiled the Holiday Train Show, which has returned for its 33rd year. The Holiday Train Show offers a magical wonderland of old New York, one where Penn Station hasn’t yet seen the wrecking ball and trolley cars roam the streets.
Get Out of the Klink Free. President Joe Biden commuted the prison sentences of some 1,500 people and pardoned another 39, the most ever in a single day, the White House announced on Thursday. The number of commutations the president issued was the most ever in a single day. In 2012, President Barack Obama commuted 330 prison sentences, a record figure at the time. Today’s commutations were for people who had been placed in home confinement during the pandemic after being gaoled in prison.
We will uh… Russia said on Wednesday that Ukraine had struck a military airfield on the Azov Sea with six U.S.-made ATACMS ballistic missiles, and the Motherland said it will not go unnoticed. “This attack by Western long-range weapons will not go unanswered and appropriate measures will be taken,” the Russian defense ministry said. Some warfare experts expect Moscow to launch another experimental intermediate-range hypersonic missile at Ukraine in retaliation.
Tick. Tick… The future of social media company TikTok in the United States remains in serious jeopardy on the heels of a federal appeals court decision to reject its appeal to overturn a law that could ban the app come January. The company’s fate rests in the hands of the Supreme Court and, to a lesser extent, the incoming Trump administration, which has offered lukewarm support for the company up to now.
Wildfire in Malibu. Firefighters struggled overnight to gain control over the dangerous Franklin fire that burned homes in Malibu, California, and forced thousands from their homes. Winds in the area eased on Wednesday but fire crews were bracing for a wind shift that could send the fire off in a new direction, through hard-to-access mountainous terrain.
Macy’s Bargain Basement Indeed! A Macy’s employee acting alone found that her mistake – and subsequent coverup – created a series of bookkeeping entries totaling $151 million. The discovery of the accounting errors prompted the retailer in November to postpone reporting its quarterly financial results for two weeks. Despite the $151 million figure, the employee did not abscond with any actual funds. She has since been dismissed.
Conflict of Interest? What Conflict of Interest? A bipartisan bill would make healthcare companies with pharmacy-benefit management subsidiaries divest their pharmacies. Such benefit management companies have faced years-long scrutiny from Congress and the Federal Trade Commission. Were the bill to pass, it would be the most far-reaching intervention yet into the operations of pharmacy-benefit managers, known as PBMs, and their parent companies. The legislation would cut off a major source of revenue for pharmaceutical houses but remove a source of frustration for patients.
Jesse Sokolowk, Timothy Perry, Jonathan Spira, Kurt Stolz, and Paul Riegler contributed to this issue of Midweek Update.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
