Hot Off The Wire

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 10 at 7:30 a.m. CT:

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A major storm has drenched the Northeast and slammed it with fierce winds, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. That's followed a bout of violent weather ranging from snowstorms to tornado reports in other areas of the country. Parts of Long Island in New York were inundated by coastal flooding on Wednesday. In New Jersey, roads were flooded and rivers were rising. The same weather system already brought heavy rain, hail and at least three reported tornadoes to the South. Meanwhile, many areas of Florida face the threat of flooding. And the snowy Midwest is being warned that temperatures could plunge.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ aircraft has been forced to divert to a Washington-area airport after encountering stormy weather as she returned from a trip to Georgia. Press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a statement Tuesday night that "Air Force 2 was diverted from Joint Base Andrews to Dulles International Airport due to inclement weather.” A person familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss it, said the aircraft encountered wind shear as a powerful storm brought high winds and rain to the nation’s capital. Wind shear is a sudden shift in wind direction or speed that can be hazardous during takeoff and landing.

Federal regulators are extending the grounding of some Boeing jets after an Alaska Airlines plane lost a side panel last week. The Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday that guidelines for inspecting the planes for safety are being revised. That's causing more flight cancellations for Alaska and United Airlines, which can't use their Boeing 737 Max 9 jets. A panel called a door plug blew off an Alaska jetliner over Oregon last week. The investigation is putting pressure on plane maker Boeing and its key supplier, Spirit AeroSystems.

NFL regular-season games averaged 17.9 million viewers, tied for the second-highest since averages were first tracked in 1995. Buoyed by increases of at least 24% in two of the five packages, the first year of the league’s new television contracts saw a total increase of 7% from last season. The highest average on record is 18.1 million from 2015. Four of the five broadcast and streaming networks saw increases in their overall packages.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — CES 2024 kicks off in Las Vegas this week. The multi-day trade event put on by the Consumer Technology Association is set to feature swaths of the latest advances and gadgets across personal tech, transportation, health care, sustainability and more. Burgeoning uses of artificial intelligence almost everywhere you look. The Associated Press will be keeping a running report of everything we find interesting from the floor of CES, from the most interesting developments in vehicle tech, to wearables designed to improve accessibility to the newest smart home gadgets.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doctors say Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has prostate cancer and his recent secretive hospitalization was for surgery and later to treat a urinary tract infection related to that operation. The 70-year-old Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat the cancer. Austin developed the infection a week later. The cancer revelation answers the main question about Austin’s hospitalization, which has now lasted eight days. But it may only add to questions of accountability, since President Joe Biden only learned about the cancer diagnosis on Tuesday, even though it was made about a month ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says a president “has to have immunity.” But federal appeals court judges in Washington are expressing deep skepticism that he is immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Joe Biden. On Tuesday Trump returned to the federal courthouse in Washington for his appeal of charges against him. The three-judge panel also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case, raising the prospect that Trump's appeal could be dismissed. During lengthy arguments, the judges repeatedly pressed Trump’s lawyer to defend claims that Trump was shielded from criminal charges.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge says the notorious 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which Donald Trump was caught on a hot mic speaking disparagingly about women over a decade before he became president can be shown to jurors deciding what he owes a columnist he defamed. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan made the ruling on Tuesday as he narrowed what lawyers can introduce at the trial starting next week. A jury last May awarded columnist E. Jean Carroll $5 million after concluding she was sexually abused by Trump in 1996 and that he in 2022 defamed her with public denials and insistence that Carroll was lying.

Another NFL head coach loses his job, the Steelers will be without a key player on defense for their playoff game on Sunday at Buffalo and also decide to ride the hot hand at quarterback, and the Pacers are dealing with an injury to an all-star guard.

MIAMI (AP) — A person familiar with the deal confirmed an MLB.com report that the Miami Marlins are in agreement with Yankees minor league manager Rachel Balkovec to become their director of player development. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the deal. Balkovec wrapped up her second season as manager at Class A Tampa in September.. She debuted with the team in April 2022 with a win as the first woman to manage the affiliate of a Major League Baseball team.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have fired coach Mike Vrabel after six seasons with the franchise having won only six of the past 24 games. Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement that she told Vrabel of her decision Tuesday morning. She said it was a decision “as difficult as any I’ve made.” The announcement came a day after the Titans cleaned out their lockers with Vrabel not speaking to reporters. It was the first time in the franchise’s 27 seasons in Tennessee the head coach did not talk with reporters since the team moved to the state from Texas. Vrabel was hired in January 2018 and went 56-48 including playoffs.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge in Nevada has set bail at $750,000 for a former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with orchestrating the killing of hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur in 1996. The judge said at a bail hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas that Duane “Keffe D” Davis can serve house arrest ahead of trial. Court-appointed attorneys told The Associated Press they believe he can post that amount. They argue their 60-year-old client is in danger from witnesses and hasn't been getting needed medical care in jail after battling cancer. Prosecutors argue that Davis has never left gang life, is a threat to witnesses and is a danger to the community.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says officials at the Arctic prison colony where he is serving a 19-year term have isolated him in a tiny punishment cell over a minor infraction. Navalny said in a social media statement relayed from behind bars that officials accused him of refusing to “introduce himself in line with protocol.” Navalny has been behind bars since January 2021, when he returned to Russia after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. He has since received three prison terms and spent months in isolation in a penal colony in central Russia for alleged minor infractions. He was transferred last month to the prison above the Arctic Circle.

TOKYO (AP) — The 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit the western coastline of Japan on New Year’s has killed 206 people as of Wednesday. Eight of the deaths were at evacuation centers, where rescued people died from injuries and sickness. Such deaths weren’t directly caused by the damage from the quakes, fires and mudslides. They happened in alleged safety. Rain and snow warnings were issued for the area. Some 26,000 people whose homes were destroyed or deemed unsafe are staying at schools and other makeshift facilities. Deaths on Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture have climbed daily, as rescue teams pull more bodies from the rubble.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. CT:

A sprawling storm has hit the South with strong thunderstorms and tornado warnings that blew roofs off homes and tossed about furniture in the Florida Panhandle and brought cities across the Midwest to a standstill with more than half of foot of snow. The National Weather Service says a storm with 55 mph winds and hail moved through the Florida Panhandle and into parts of Alabama and Georgia by sunrise Tuesday, along with at least several reports of radar-confirmed tornadoes. Up to a foot of snow could blanket a broad area stretching from southeastern Colorado all the way to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The weather has already affected campaigning for Iowa’s Jan. 15 precinct caucuses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith and his prosecution team have entered the courtroom more than a half hour before arguments are to begin for Donald Trump's federal appeal in a Jan. 6 case. Trump is on his way from nearby Virginia. The appeals court is hearing arguments on whether the Republican former president is immune from prosecution on charges he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The outcome of Tuesday's arguments carries enormous ramifications for the landmark criminal case against Trump and for the broader and legally untested question of whether an ex-president can be prosecuted for acts committed in the White House.

MOSCOW (AP) — A U.S. citizen has been arrested on drug charges in Russia, a move that comes amid soaring Russia-U.S. tensions over Ukraine. The arrest of Robert Woodland Romanov was reported Tuesday by the press service of the Moscow courts. It said the Ostankino District Court ruled on Saturday to keep him in custody for two months on charges of illegal drug possession pending an official probe. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The name of the accused matches that of a U.S. citizen, who in 2020 told a Russian newspaper that he was adopted by an American couple when he was two but later traveled to Russia to meet his Russian mother.

Earth shattered global annual heat records last year and it's flirting with the warming threshold that nations wanted to stay within to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. That's according to Copernicus, the European climate agency, which reported Tuesday that 2023 was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That's just a whisker below the 1.5-degree threshold nations agreed to try to stay within at the Paris climate talks in 2015. And Copernicus said this January is on track to be so warm that the world will go past that 1.5-degree threshold for the first time over a 12-month period. Climate scientists say it's imperative that humans continue trying to hold down warming.

The Michigan Wolverines are college football's national champs, Pacers win a thriller without All Star Tyrese Haliburton, rarity for the Rangers, and Tiger Woods parts with Nike. 

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 9 at 6 a.m. CT:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The decision by Alaska Airlines to stop flying one of its planes over the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii due to warnings from a cabin-pressurization system — yet keep flying it over land — is raising questions about whether the jet should have been in the air at all. The nation’s top accident investigator says warnings were triggered on three flights, including each of the two days before the brand-new Boeing 737 Max 9 suffered a terrifying fuselage blowout Friday night. A plug covering a spot left for an emergency door tore off the plane as it flew 16,000 feet above Oregon. The decision to keep flying the plane over land struck some aviation experts as illogical.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS has announced January 29 as the official start date of the 2024 tax season, and expects more than 128.7 million tax returns to be filed by the April 15 tax deadline. The announcement comes as the agency undergoes a massive facelift, attempting to improve its technology and customer service processes with tens of billions of dollars allocated to the agency through Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in August 2022.

VIENNA, Va. (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has announced that 100,000 businesses have signed up for a new database of that collects ownership information intended to help unmask shell company owners. Yellen says the database will send the message that “the United States is not a haven for dirty money.” She also says Treasury is considering boosting rules related to commercial real estate transactions. Treasury says illicit actors laundered at least $2.3 billion through U.S. real estate between 2015 and 2020. Yellen on Monday visited Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in Virginia to discuss the initiative.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — At a Black church, President Joe Biden says white supremacy is a “poison” and has no place in America. In a campaign speech Monday, he underscored what he wants Americans to know he believes is at stake in the November presidential election. He is revisiting some of the nation’s worst traumas to highlight what happens when hate is allowed to fester. Biden traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, on Monday to speak at Mother Emanuel AME Church. That's where nine Black churchgoers were shot to death during Bible study in 2015. Biden's event comes after his blunt speech last Friday condemning political violence on the eve of the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

A sprawling storm that pelted much of the nation ’s midsection under more than a half a foot of snow created whiteout conditions in several cities and closed schools and public offices as officials warned motorists to stay home. The weather affected campaigning for Iowa’s Jan. 15 precinct caucuses, where the snow is expected to be followed by frigid temperatures that could drift below zero degrees.

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Washington Commanders have fired coach Ron Rivera. Controlling owner Josh Harris announced the move Monday. The Commanders lost eight in a row to finish 4-13 after opening with back-to-back victories. Washington made one playoff appearance by winning the NFC East at 7-9 in 2020 during Rivera’s four seasons in charge of the team’s football operations. General manager Martin Mayhew and a majority of the front office and coaching staff are also expected to depart as new ownership begins sweeping changes to put its stamp on the organization.

ATLANTA (AP) — Arthur Smith has been fired by the Atlanta Falcons after completing his third straight losing season. Smith inherited a rebuilding project in his first NFL head coaching job and failed to lift the Falcons from their playoff drought. The 41-year-old son of FedEx founder Fred Smith went 7-10 in each of his three seasons. Atlanta closed the season with an ugly 48-17 loss at New Orleans, its second consecutive lopsided defeat. That sealed Smith’s fate. He was hired by the Falcons in 2021 after a decade-long stint as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans in which he moved up to offensive coordinator.

Tiger Woods is no longer a Nike athlete after 27 years, ending a partnership between the swoosh and golf’s biggest star and raising questions about the future of both in the sport. Woods in a social media post thanked Nike co-founder Phil Knight for his “passion and vision” that brought Nike and the Nike Golf partnership with Woods together. Mark Steinberg, his agent at Excel Sports, confirmed the end of the deal that began in 1996. Nike also posted to social media, saying in a photo, “It was a hell of a round, Tiger.”

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Authorities say an explosion at a historic Texas hotel on Monday injured 21 people and trapped some in the basement before they were found by rescue crews. One person was in critical condition. Fort Worth Fire Department spokesman Craig Trojacek says investigators are confident the blast was “some kind of gas explosion.” He says the blast flung doors and entire sections of wall onto the road in front of the 20-story hotel, where rescue crews found several people trapped in the basement. The Sandman Signature in the heart of downtown Fort Worth was undergoing construction. The hotel is in a busy area of downtown about one block from the Fort Worth Convention Center.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A man who was videotaped leaping over a judicial bench and attacking a Nevada judge is being sentenced to up to four years in prison. Deobra Delone Redden was shackled and closely guarded as he appeared Monday to be sentenced for attempted battery in an attack that happened last year, months before the courthouse attack. The judge attacked by Redden on Jan. 3 says she sentenced him to the same punishment she was about to impose when the defendant launched himself at her last week. Neither Redden nor his lawyer was asked to speak during the brief court appearance Monday. The defense attorney later declined to comment.

In his first interview since his assault and harassment conviction last month, actor Jonathan Majors says he hopes to work in Hollywood again. In the interview that aired Monday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Majors says he believes he deserves a second chance and he hopes others think so too. A Manhattan jury last month found the 34-year-old emerging Hollywood star guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge and one harassment violation for a March altercation with his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari. He faces the possibility of up to a year in jail for the assault conviction at his sentencing Feb. 6. Probation or other non-jail sentences also are possible.

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has resigned following recent political turmoil over a new immigration law. That paves the way for President Emmanuel Macron to seek fresh momentum by appointing a new government in coming days. The shakeup is widely seen as an attempt by the 46-year-old centrist Macron to head off a looming lame-duck status. Macron’s term is to end in 2027, and he won’t be able to run again for president in line with the French Constitution. Borne had been appointed in May 2022 after Macron’s reelection for a second term. She was France’s second female prime minister. Macron’s office says Borne will continue in her duties until new government is appointed.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 8 at 7:15 a.m. CT:

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike has killed an elite Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon. It's the latest in an escalating exchange of strikes along the border that have raised fears of another Mideast war even as the fighting in Gaza exacts a mounting toll on civilians. A Lebanese security official said Monday's strike on an SUV killed a commander in a secretive Hezbollah force that operates along the border. Hezbollah identified the slain fighter as Wissam al-Tawil without providing further details. He is the most senior Hezbollah militant to have been killed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel triggered all-out war in Gaza and lower-intensity fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has escalated since an Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas leader in Beirut last week.

BOSTON (AP) — Winter weather is battering parts of both U.S. coasts. In the West, a Sierra Nevada storm packing heavy snow shut down a stretch of interstate Saturday and briefly knocked out power to tens of thousands in Reno, Nevada. New Englanders are bracing for a potent mix of snow and freezing rain through the weekend as that storm makes its way up the East Coast. Winter storm warnings and watches remain in effect throughout the Northeast. Icy roads have made for hazardous travel as far south as North Carolina. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expects two-thirds of her state to get 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow or more.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal official says the Boeing jetliner that suffered an inflight blowout over Portland, Oregon, was not being used for flights to Hawaii after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three different flights. Alaska Airlines decided to restrict the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane could land quickly if the warning light reappeared. Aviation officials also have found the chunk of the fuselage that was expelled from the aircraft. More than 140 Boeing planes are grounded while the airlines await instructions on how to inspect them. The depressurized jet with 171 passengers and six crew returned safely with no serious injuries Friday night.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is calling for a universal ban on the “despicable” practice of surrogate motherhood. He included what he called the “commercialization” of pregnancy in an annual speech to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. The speech listed the threats to global peace and human dignity, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza war, migration and climate crises and the “immoral” production of nuclear and conventional weapons. But he also listed smaller-scale issues that he said were threats to human dignity, including surrogacy.

"Oppenheimer has dominated the Golden Globe Awards, taking home the night's top honor. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” has won best comedy or musical at the 81st Golden Globes, an upset victory over the category favorite, “Barbie.” Emma Stone also won for her performance in “Poor Things.” On the television side, “Succession” and “The Bear” are took multiple honors. Christopher Nolan’s epic American drama “Oppenheimer” picked up five big awards including best drama film, best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. and for Ludwig Göransson’s score. Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph both won for their performances in “The Holdovers.”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Timothée Chalamet and “Wonka” topped the box office charts for the third time in its four weekends in theaters. Studio estimates Sunday report Warner Bros.’ family-oriented musical added $14.4 million in ticket sales. That brings its total domestic grosses to $164.7 million. But 2024 is getting off to a slower start than last year and is down around 16%. The Universal/Blumhouse horror “Night Swim” is the only major new offering in theaters. Warner Bros. and Universal placed third and fourth on the charts as well with “Aquaman” in third place and “Migration” in fourth. “Anyone But You” rounded out the top five.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Fossil hunters are celebrating the discovery of a mammoth tusk and other bones unearthed at a coal mine in North Dakota. A shovel operator was the first person to spot the collection of bones while shoveling a giant mound of dirt into a dump truck. More digging by paleontologists unearthed more bones, likely the most complete mammoth specimen found in North Dakota. The North American Coal company plans to donate the tusk to the state for educational purposes. The tusk is 7 feet long, weighs 50 pounds and is more than 10,000 years old. It's wrapped in plastic for now at the North Dakota Geologic Survey office in Bismarck.

In sports, the Jets snap a long losing streak to the Patriots, the Eagles get blown out by the Giants to stumble into the postseason, Arthur Smith is out as Falcons head coach, Jarrett Allen's big night helps the Cavaliers hold off the Spurs, the Winnipeg Jets extend their points streak to 12 straight games, and the Dodgers look to add another free agent signing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month. House Speaker Mike Johnson is hailing the agreement in a letter to colleagues as “the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade.” President Joe Biden says the agreement is one step closer "to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.” Lawmakers needed an agreement on overall spending levels so that appropriators could write the bills that set line-by-line money for agencies. Funding is set to lapse Jan. 19 for some agencies and Feb. 2 for others.

In the last week alone, Israel has killed a senior Hamas militant in an airstrike in Beirut, Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets into Israel, the U.S. has killed a militia commander in Baghdad and Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have traded fire with the American Navy. Each strike and counterstrike increases the risk of the already catastrophic war in Gaza spilling across the region. But in the decades-old standoff pitting the U.S. and Israel against Iran and allied militant groups, there are fears that any one party could trigger a wider war if only to avoid appearing weak.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Judith Light of “Poker Face” and Sam Richardson of “Ted Lasso” and cast members from “The Last of Us” were among a wide range of acting winners at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The ceremony is a precursor to the primetime Emmys ceremony on Jan. 15. Light won her first Emmy in a nearly 50-year career for her guest role on “Poker Face.” Richardson won his first for playing a soccer-loving billionaire on “Ted Lasso.” And two cast members from “The Last of Us,” 53-year-old Nick Offerman and 20-year-old Storm Reid, won their first Emmys for guest roles on the HBO show.

LONDON (AP) — The actor who earned fame as the blond half of a crime-fighting duo in the popular 1970s television series “Starsky and Hutch” has died. David Soul was 80. His wife, Helen Snell, said Friday that Soul died on Thursday "after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family.” Soul portrayed detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson alongside dark-haired Paul Michael Glaser as detective David Starsky in “Starsky and Hutch.” It ran on ABC between 1975 and 1979. At the height of his fame, Soul also hit the music charts with the single “Don’t Give Up on Us.” Soul had lived in Britain for many years, where he took on several stage roles.

On this week's AP Religion Roundup, an imam is killed outside a New Jersey mosque, and Native Hawaiians protect a sacred salt-making tradition.

Orthodox Christians packed churches on Saturday night for Christmas Eve services, a holiday overshadowed for many believers by conflict. Patriarch Kirill is the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, the world’s largest Orthodox denomination. He led services at Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. A Kremlin spokesman said Russian President Vladimir Putin was expected to attend Christmas Eve services at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence along with the families of military personnel who have died in the war in Ukraine. Nightime services were canceled in the Russian border city of Belgorod following Ukrainian attacks Dec. 30 that killed 25 people. Celebrations in the Middle East were darkened by another conflict: the Israel-Hamas war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho to enforce its strict abortion ban, even in medical emergencies, while a legal fight continues. The justices on Friday said they would hear arguments in the case in April and put on hold a lower court ruling that had blocked the Idaho law in hospital emergencies, based on a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration. The Democratic administration argued hospitals that receive Medicare funds are required by a federal law to provide emergency care including abortion. The legal fight followed the court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to severely restrict or ban abortion. A district judge in Idaho agreed with the administration. In a separate case in Texas, a judge sided with the state.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the weekly bonus episode of Hot off the Wire, where we look back at some of the top headlines from the week in the world of sports and entertainment. 

I’m Terry Lipshetz, Managing Editor of the National Newsroom at Lee Enterprises and your host. Subscribe to Hot Off The Wire through Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss daily news updates.

As always, be sure to check out our latest episode of Streamed & Screened, a podcast dedicated to movies and television. 

Listen to the latest episode of Streamed & Screened here. 

This week’s top headlines include:

Those stories and more from The Associated Press.

— Compiled and narrated by Terry Lipshetz from Associated Press reports

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 6 at 6 a.m. CT:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury has announced that the nation’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion. The record high comes after Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed to temporarily lift the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit last year after the government ran up against its legal borrowing capacity and needed to implement “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Congress is gearing up for another funding fight.

Most of us struggle with making those New Year’s resolutions stick. This year, add some fuel — or even electricity — to your personal improvement fire with cars that can help you see your goals through to the end. Whether you want to get fit or get out, Edmunds picks five vehicles to keep you motivated. On our list are the Toyota GR Corolla, Ford Bronco, Nissan Versa, Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Mercedes-Benz GLB.

Four years after the last census, almost a dozen small communities in the Midwest are going to be counted again in hopes of getting more state funding. Eleven municipalities in Illinois and Iowa are the only cities in the U.S. so far to have signed agreements with the U.S. Census Bureau to recount their residents in 2024 and 2025 in a repeat of what happened during the 2020 census. The first year in which the special censuses can be conducted is 2024. The cities' populations have grown so fast in three years that they are leaving state funding on the table by not including the extra growth.

Investment guru Warren Buffett topped The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the biggest charitable donations in 2023, with his $541.5 million gift to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife, who died in 2004. The 2023 list of gifts from individuals or their foundations totaled more than $3.5 billion. Four universities received big gifts, along with four scientific research institutes and a health-care system. The other gifts went to a family foundation and a racial justice group. The list has 11 gifts because of ties. Eight of the donors are multibillionaires, and their combined net worth is $305.1 billion.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City has banned vendors from the Brooklyn Bridge. The change ends a bustling market that supplied cheap goods to tourists on the iconic crossing. Police officers were stationed in pairs Wednesday along the mile-long span. The ban is aimed at easing congestion on the bridge's heavily trafficked pedestrian walkway. Sellers acknowledge the bridge has recently been inundated with tabletop businesses selling such items as New York-branded hats and keychains, but the vendors say the city’s total ban went too far. Mayor Eric Adams is defending the prohibition as necessary to ensure pedestrian safety and clamp down on what he described as growing disorder.

NEW YORK (AP) — A new version of the federal student aid application known as the FAFSA is available for the 2024-2025 school year, but only on a limited basis as the U.S. Department of Education works on a redesign meant to make it easier to apply. That means that the application students can usually fill out starting in October isn't yet available to everyone. The redesign brings major changes such as fewer questions, the ability to list more colleges and availability in more languages. However, students will get their financial aid offers later than usual because the form hasn't been available. A soft launch period opened last week.

NEW YORK (AP) — More U.S. hospitals are requiring masks and limiting visitors as health officials face a post-holiday spike in flu and other illnesses. New York City last week instituted a mask mandate for the city’s 11 public hospitals. Similar measures were ordered at some hospitals in Los Angeles and Massachusetts. Flu and COVID-19 infections have been increasing for weeks, with high levels of flu-like illness reported in 31 states just before Christmas. Updated national numbers are to be released Friday, but health officials predict infections will grow in many states well into January.

Crib cameras are offering a clue to a rare but devastating tragedy — when seemingly healthy young children suddenly die in their sleep and autopsies can’t tell why. Similar to SIDS in babies, it’s called sudden unexplained death in childhood, or SUDC, when it happens after age 1. In a small study, researchers analyzed video that captured the deaths of seven toddlers and found seizures sometimes play a role. Now they must figure out why. Researchers from NYU Langone Health reported the findings Thursday in the journal Neurology.

A Connecticut woman who pushed for expanded access to Vermont’s law that allows people who are terminally ill to end their lives has died in Vermont. Lynda Bluestein, who had terminal cancer, ended her life by taking prescribed lethal medication on Thursday. Her husband says her last words were that she was so happy that she didn't have to suffer anymore. The group Compassion & Choices filed a lawsuit against Vermont in 2022 on behalf of Bluestein. She claimed Vermont’s residency requirement in its medically assisted suicide law violated the U.S. Constitution. The state settled the case last year, allowing Bluestein and later anyone else in her circumstances to take advantage of the law.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The falling-block video game Tetris has met its match in 13-year-old Willis Gibson. In late December, he became the first player to officially beat the original Nintendo version of the game — by breaking it. Technically, Willis — aka “blue scuti” in the gaming world — made it to what gamers call a “kill screen,” a point where the Tetris code glitches, crashing the game. That might not sound like much of a victory to most people, but it’s a highly coveted achievement in the world of video games. And it’s a very big deal for Tetris, which has long been described as an “unbeatable” game.

NEW YORK (AP) — A small, rare herding dog called the Lancashire heeler is the latest breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. The organization announced Wednesday that the breed is now eligible for thousands of U.S. dog shows. Lancashire heelers historically were farm helpers that could both drive cattle and rout rats. The dogs are short-legged, long-bodied and active, and owners say contented heelers sometimes pull back their lips in a move that resembles a human smile. The Lancashire heeler is the 201st breed recognized by the AKC. Heelers’ history goes back centuries in the United Kingdom, where they’re now deemed a “vulnerable native breed” at risk of dying out in their homeland.

HANAPEPE, Hawaii (AP) — A salt patch on the island of Kauai is one of the last remaining in all of Hawaii. Salt makers from 22 Native Hawaiian families gather here in the summer months to do the hard work of making paakai or Hawaiian salt. An important part of this cultural and spiritual practice is to give away the salt. It can never be sold. The existence of this salt patch is being threatened by climate change, rising sea levels and pollution. These challenges have shrunk the salt-making season and reduced the quantity of salt produced. But the salt makers are looking for solutions to preserve this unique practice and pass on their knowledge to future generations.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 5 at 6 a.m. CT:

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 17-year-old student with a shotgun and a handgun opened fire at a small-town Iowa high school, killing a sixth-grader and wounding five others. Thursday's shooting had students at Perry High School barricading themselves in offices, ducking into classrooms and fleeing. Authorities say one of the wounded was a school administrator and the suspect was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. investigators are looking at possible motive and reviewing the suspect’s social media posts. Two friends and their mother who spoke with The Associated Press said the suspect was a quiet person who had been bullied for years.

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Officials say South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison on parole after serving nearly nine years in prison for killing his girlfriend. The Department of Corrections gave no more details of Pistorius’ release. The announcement came around 8:30 a.m., indicating that officials released the world-famous double-amputee Olympic runner early in the morning. Pistorius has served nearly nine years of his almost 13-and-a-half-year murder sentence for killing model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. He was approved for parole in November. Serious offenders in South Africa are eligible for parole after serving at least half their sentence.

BERLIN (AP) — Police say four people have died after a fire broke out at a hospital in northern Germany and spread to several patients’ rooms. Emergency workers saw flames on the fourth floor of a wing of the hospital in Uelzen, southeast of Hamburg, when they arrived at the scene late Thursday evening. They could hear calls for help and evacuated several people, and were able to stop the fire spreading any further. Police said Friday that three patients died at the scene and a fourth after being taken to another hospital. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were injured, nor what caused the fire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Labor Department is expected to report that employers added a solid 160,000 jobs last month, according to the data firm FactSet. That would mean that the economy had added 2.7 million jobs in 2023. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of hard times ahead after the Fed began jacking up interest rates in the spring of 2022 to attack high inflation. Economists predicted that the much higher borrowing costs would cause a recession. But that didn't happen and the nation’s labor market is still cranking out enough jobs to keep the unemployment rate near historic lows.

SYDNEY (AP) — The largest male specimen of the world's most venomous spider that boasts fangs powerful enough to pierce a human fingernail has found a new home after being discovered north of Sydney, Australia. The Sydney funnel-web spider, found only in Australia, has been donated to the Australian Reptile Park to help save lives by contributing to the park's antivenom program. The spider, given the moniker “Hercules.” was initially delivered by a member of the public to a local hospital. But park experts retrieved it and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received by the public in Australia. “Hercules” measures 7.9 centimeters (3 inches) from foot to foot, surpassing the park’s previous record-holder from 2018, the male funnel-web named “Colossus”.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump plans to spend the third anniversary of the Capitol riot by campaigning in Iowa as he tries win back the White House. The former Republican president has two events planned for Saturday in the leadoff voting state Iowa as he marks the anniversary of what he has called “a beautiful day.” President Joe Biden will be at a site near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, on Friday where he's expected to press his case that Trump and top supporters of his “Make America Great Again” movement are threats to American democracy. Biden's visit has been moved up from Saturday due to weather concerns. The Capitol riot is increasingly viewed differently along partisan lines.

New York (AP) — New York City is suing more than a dozen charter bus companies for their role in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s operation to send tens of thousands of migrants to urban areas. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, claims the 17 bus companies “knowingly implemented” Abbott’s busing plan in violation of a New York law that limits transferring “needy persons” across state lines. It seeks more than $700 million in damages to recoup the cost of caring for an estimated 33,000 migrants who have arrived in the city on charter buses since April 2022. Abbott said in response that the suit was a violation of the commerce clause, which guarantees the constitutional right to travel.

DALLAS (AP) — The family of former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson says the trailblazing Texas congresswoman died after getting an infection and accused a Dallas rehabilitation facility of neglect. Johnson, the first registered nurse elected to Congress, died on Dec. 31 at the age of 89. Les Weisbrod, her family’s attorney, said at a news conference that her death was caused by an infection in her spine that developed after she was left in her own feces at Baylor Scott & White Institute for Rehabilitation following back surgery. In a statement Thursday, Baylor Scott & White Health said they are committed to working with her family and attorney.

A buzzer beater from Nikola Jokic and a matchup between top European stars in the NBA, two NHL standouts lead their teams to wins among a busy hockey slate, and a decorated running back signs with a contending team before Week 18.

The NBA fined the Brooklyn Nets $100,000 on Thursday, marking the first time a team was sanctioned for violating the league’s player participation policy that went into effect this season. The Nets held out four rotation players — starters Spencer Dinwiddie, Nic Claxton and Cam Johnson, along with key reserve Dorian Finney-Smith — in what became a 144-122 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 27. Three of the players Brooklyn started that night logged 12 minutes or less.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have reworked the contract for newcomer Chris Sale, announcing a $38 million, two-year deal with the left-handed pitcher who was acquired last weekend from the Boston Red Sox. The contract also includes an $18 million club option for 2026. It supersedes his previous deal which called for a $27.5 million salary in 2024, with $10 million of that figure deferred until 2039. In essence, the seven-time All Star gets an additional $10.5 million in guaranteed money without having to wait for a deferred payment, in exchange for committing to at least two seasons with the Braves rather than one.

The NCAA and ESPN have agreed to a $920 million, eight-year deal that will give the network exclusive rights to 40 championships, including the Division I women’s basketball tournament. The women's side of March Madness has been growing in popularity and the association has been accused of undervaluing it in the past. NCAA President Charlie Baker told The Associated Press the deal has an average annual value of $115 million. That's an increase of more than 300% per year on what the previous 14-year deal with ESPN was paying the association. The deal covers 21 women’s and 19 men’s sports.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Fire officials say a child playing with a cigarette lighter started a fire at the $6.9 million home owned by Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill. Davie Fire Marshal Robert Taylor tells The Associated Press that the fire was accidental. He did not provide the age of the child, or the amount of damage caused by the fire. Hill was at Dolphins practice when the fire broke out. He left when he got word about the blaze. Miami television station WSVN showed a large amount of black smoke coming from the roof as firefighters doused the house with water. No one was injured in the fire.

Scandals have led to a membership revamp and CBS to take over as broadcaster for the Jan. 7 Golden Globe Awards show, but a key question remains: Will viewers tune in? Comedian Jo Koy is hosting the ceremony, which will be broadcast live from Beverly Hilton Hotel beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.

NEW YORK (AP) — Glynis Johns, a Tony Award-winning stage and screen star who played the mother opposite Julie Andrews in the classic movie “Mary Poppins” and introduced the world to the bittersweet standard-to-be “Send in the Clowns” by Stephen Sondheim, has died. She was 100. Mitch Clem, her manager, said she died Thursday at an assisted living home in Los Angeles of natural causes. Johns’ greatest triumph was playing Desiree Armfeldt in “A Little Night Music,” for which she won a Tony in 1973. Sondheim wrote the show’s hit song “Send in the Clowns” to suit her distinctive husky voice, but she lost the part in the 1977 film version to Elizabeth Taylor.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An armed unmanned surface vessel launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen got within a “couple of miles” of U.S. Navy and commercial vessels in the Red Sea before detonating. Thursday's attack took place just hours after the White House and a host of partner nations issued a final warning to the Iran-backed militia group to cease the attacks or face potential military action. Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads U.S. Navy operations in the Middle East, said it was the first time the Houthis had used an unmanned surface vessel, or USV, since their harassment of commercial ships in the Red Sea began after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish arms for its war with Ukraine. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that recently declassified intelligence found that North Korea has provided Russia with ballistic missile launchers and several ballistic missiles. Kirby said a Russia-Iran deal had not been completed. But, he said, the U.S. “is concerned that Russia's negotiations to acquire close range ballistic missiles from Iran are actively advancing.”

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations has issued a somber global economic forecast for 2024, pointing to challenges from escalating conflicts, sluggish global trade, persistently high interest rates and increasing climate disasters. In its flagship economic report launched Thursday, the U.N. projected that global economic growth would slow to 2.4% this year from an estimated 2.7% in 2023, which exceeds expectations. But both are still below the 3.0% growth rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it said. The U.N. forecast is lower than those of the International Monetary Fund in October and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in late November.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 4 at 7:30 a.m. CT:

NEW YORK (AP) — A winter weather system moving through the U.S. is expected to wallop the East Coast this weekend with a mix of snow and freezing rain. But forecasters say it's too soon to say which areas will get snow and which will get rain and how much. The Pacific system is moving through Western and Southern states before moving up the East Coast this weekend. Major U.S. cities accustomed to white winters didn't receive much snow last year due to a lack of cold air. The National Weather Service in New York City said this week that 2023 would go down as the city's “least snowiness” year, with just 2.3 inches measured in Central Park.

DENVER (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Colorado ruling that bars him from the state’s ballot over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The Republican presidential candidate on Wednesday appealed the Colorado Supreme Court’s finding that an insurrection clause in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment renders him ineligible. The Colorado court’s December ruling was the first time in history a court disqualified someone from running for the White House for having “engaged in insurrection." Trump's appeal comes a day after his legal team asked the Maine Superior Court to review a ruling by Democratic Secretary of State Shenna Bellows that Trump cannot be on that state’s ballot.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Officials say an airstrike on the logistical support headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in central Baghdad has killed a high-ranking militia commander. Thursday's strike comes amid mounting regional tensions fueled by Israel-Hamas war and fears that it could spill over into surrounding countries. The Popular Mobilization Force - a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military - announced in a statement that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, or “Abu Taqwa,” had been killed “as a result of brutal American aggression.”

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A pilot accused of threatening to shoot a commercial airline captain who wanted to divert a flight to get medical attention for a passenger is set to make his first federal court appearance. Former Delta Air Lines pilot Jonathan J. Dunn was indicted Oct. 18. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday in Salt Lake City. Dunn was charged with interfering with a flight crew and could face up to 20 years in prison. The captain had proposed diverting to Colorado if a passenger’s condition worsened. Prosecutors say Dunn objected and threatened multiple times to shoot the captain. Delta says Dunn no longer works for the airline.

DETROIT (AP) — American consumers bought 15.6 million new vehicles last year. The numbers indicate car buyers were undeterred by high prices, rising interest rates, autoworker strikes and a computer-chip shortage that slowed assembly lines. The tally is 12% more than in 2022, and the biggest increase in more than a decade. Yet sales still haven’t returned to the 17 million rate in the years before the pandemic, and there are signs of a cooling market as supplies grow on dealer lots and prices start to fall. Average auto sales prices peaked in December of 2022 just over $47,300. Data from J.D. Power show that average prices in mid-December were down 2.7% from the peak to around $46,000. Analysts expect more discounts through the year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has coordinated with Israel, Egypt and others in rescuing the mother of a U.S. serviceman and her American brother-in-law who were pinned down during heavy fighting in Gaza City. News of the rescue, in the only known operation of its kind, came Wednesday from a U.S. official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the rescue, which had been kept quiet for security reasons. The official said Zahra Sckak made it out of Gaza on New Year's Eve, along with her brother-in-law. Her husband had been shot earlier as the family fled from a building hit by an airstrike. He died days later. One of her three American sons is an Army infantryman.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s policymakers concluded last month that inflationary pressures were easing and that the job market was cooling. In response, the officials chose to leave their key interest rate unchanged for the third straight time and signaled that they expected to cut rates three times in 2024. According to the minutes of their Dec. 12-13 meeting, Fed officials indicated in their own interest-rate forecasts that a lower benchmark rate “would be appropriate by the end of 2024" given the steady progress toward taming inflation. But they ”stressed the importance″ of remaining vigilant and keeping rates high “until inflation was clearly moving down sustainably″ toward their 2% target.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department is suing Texas over a new law that would allow police in the state to arrest migrants who enter the U.S. illegally. The lawsuit filed Wednesday accuses Texas of violating the U.S. government’s authority over immigration enforcement. Under the Texas law, migrants could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges. The lawsuit asks a court in Austin to declare the Texas law unconstitutional, alleging that it would frustrate immigration operations and interfere with the federal government’s right to regulate foreign commerce. The law is set to take effect in March.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is starting the campaign year by evoking the Revolutionary War to mark the third anniversary of the deadly U.S. Capitol insurrection and visiting the South Carolina church where a white gunman massacred Black parishioners. The Democratic president is seeking to present in the starkest possible terms an election he argues could determine the fate of American democracy. Biden is kicking off 2024 in Pennsylvania by delving into some of the country’s darkest moments rather than an upbeat affirmation of his record. Former President Donald Trump is the heavy favorite to win the Republican nomination. Trump's team argues Biden is threatening democracy because of the indictments brought against the former president.

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has led about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit to the Mexican border. And Johnson is expressing serious doubts about whether he'd support a bipartisan compromise. He's also suggesting he could use a looming government funding deadline as further leverage. Their trip Wednesday to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as they are demanding hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden’s emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. Senate negotiators in Washington are plugging away in hopes of a bipartisan deal. Johnson says he's holding firmly to the policies of a bill passed by House Republicans in May without a single Democratic vote. Biden has threatened a veto

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted 8.8 million job openings in November, down slightly from October and the fewest since March 2021. But demand for workers remains strong by historical standards. The number of job vacancies dipped from 8.9 million in October. And the number of people quitting their jobs — a sign of confidence in the labor market — fell to its lowest level since February 2021. The number of quits is now roughly where it stood before the pandemic erupted. Job openings dropped by 128,000 in transportation, warehousing and utilities and by 78,000 at hotels and restaurants. The federal government reduced job openings by 58,000. By contrast, openings in construction rose by 43,000 and in retail by 42,000.

Officials say a New Jersey imam was shot multiple times and killed outside his mosque Wednesday, and authorities continue to search for the shooter. Essex County Prosecutor Ted Stephens said Imam Hassan Sharif was in his car when he was shot more than once near the Masjid-Muhammad Mosque in Newark. Attorney General Matt Platkin says authorities are still searching for a shooter, but there’s no evidence indicating the shooting was related to anti-Muslim bias. Platkin says law enforcement has stepped up outreach to houses of worship, acknowledging the unfolding tensions amid the Israel-Hamas fighting in Gaza. Newark's public safety director says Sharif had been a resident imam at the mosque for five years.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A father and son in Texas have been charged in the killings of an 18-year-old pregnant woman who disappeared before Christmas and her boyfriend. The arrests announced Wednesday night by San Antonio police come more than a week after the bodies of 18-year-old Savanah Nicole Soto and 22-year-old Matthew Guerra were found in the parking lot of an apartment complex. San Antonio police say the couple was fatally shot over an apparent drug deal before their bodies were moved and left in a car. Police charged a 19-year-old with capital murder and his 53-year-old father with abuse of corpse for allegedly helping his son move the couple’s bodies.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel is suing a police investigator and the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, more than five years after his murder conviction was overturned. Skakel was found guilty in 2002 of the killing of Martha Moxley in their Greenwich neighborhood in 1975 when they were both 15. He served more than 11 years in prison before the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction. Skakel's lawsuit alleges malicious prosecution, civil rights violations and other wrongdoing. Skakel says the police investigator, Frank Garr, withheld key evidence that favored Skakel. The state attorney general's office, which is representing Garr, declined to comment. A lawyer for Greenwich did not return a message seeking comment.

Plenty of offense in the NBA, Auston Matthews becomes the NHL's first 30 goal scorer, nine Niners make the Pro Bowl rosters and two ranked teams play and lose in college basketball. Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes will sit the  regular-season finale, firefighters put out a large fire at the home of Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill and Scottie Scheffler wins player vote as PGA Tour player of the year over Jon Rahm.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is confident Palestinian militant groups used Gaza’s largest hospital to hold hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7, 2023, attack and to house command infrastructure. That's according to an American intelligence assessment declassified Tuesday and shared by a U.S. official. The assessment offers the firmest U.S. support for Israeli claims about the Shifa hospital complex, which was raided by Israeli forces in November in an operation decried by global humanitarian organizations and some members of President Joe Biden’s party. Yet the information released doesn’t fully back some of Israel's most significant allegations the hospital served as the central node for activities by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The chief of Israel’s Mossad has vowed the intelligence agency will hunt down every Hamas member involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, no matter where they are. David Barnea spoke a day after the deputy head of the Palestinian militant group was killed in a suspected Israeli strike in Beirut. Israel has refused to comment on reports it carried out the killing, but Barnea's comments appeared to be the strongest indication yet it was behind the blast. Israel was on high alert Wednesday for an escalation with Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia after the strike in the Lebanese capital killed Saleh Arouri, the most senior Hamas member slain since the war in Gaza erupted nearly three months ago.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Queen Margrethe rode through Denmark’s capital in a gilded, horse-drawn coach as she concluded her last New Year celebrations before her Jan. 14 abdication after 52 years on the throne. Thousands braved the biting cold Thursday to cheer the popular queen in what is to be her last public appearance as monarch. The 83-year-old Margrethe, who is Europe’s longest reigning monarch, will hand over the throne to her oldest son, Crown Prince Frederik in the first such resignation in Europe’s oldest ruling monarchy in nearly 900 years.

Russia and Ukraine have exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war in the biggest single release of captives since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian authorities say that 230 Ukrainian prisoners of war returned home in the first exchange in almost five months. Russia’s Defense Ministry says that 248 Russian servicemen have been freed under the deal sponsored by the United Arab Emirates. The Foreign Ministry in the UAE has attributed the successful swap to the country's friendly ties to both Russia and Ukraine. The UAE has maintained close economic ties with Moscow despite Western sanctions and pressure on Russia after it launched its invasion in 2022.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 3 at 7:15 a.m. CT:

Former President Donald Trump is appealing a decision by Maine’s Democratic secretary of state that he cannot be on the ballot there because he violated a constitutional ban against people who “engaged in insurrection” holding office. The Republican presidential candidate’s appeal to Maine’s Superior Court came Tuesday, and he is expected to soon appeal a similar ruling by Colorado’s Supreme Court to the U.S. Supreme Court.

An apparent Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut has killed Hamas’ No. 2 political leader, marking a potentially significant escalation of Israel’s war against the militant group and heightening the risk of a wider Middle East conflict. Saleh Arouri was the most senior figure in the group killed since the Israel-Hamas war began nearly three months ago.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay has resigned amid plagiarism accusations and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say unequivocally that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy. Gay announced her departure, which came just months into her tenure, in a letter to the Harvard community on Tuesday.

Air Canada, Canada’s largest carrier, had the worst on-time performance among large airlines in North America in 2023. According to a report from Cirium, the aviation analytics company, Canada's flag-carrying airline landed 63% of its 276,451 flights on time last year, placing it last among the continent’s 10 largest airlines. Delta Air Lines led the list for the most on-time airline in North America with its over 1.6 million flights arriving on time 85% of the time.

Other top headlines:

In sports, the Thunder and 76ers get big games from star players in wins Tuesday night, the Hurricanes tightened the race in the NHL's Metropolitan division, the top ranked team in men's college basketball won on the road and a University of North Carolina star forward reached a career milestone. Yamamoto's contract with the Dodgers includes two opt outs, but timing depends on elbow health. Steelers QB Kenny Pickett denies speculation he told coaching staff he wouldn't be No. 2 behind Mason Rudolph. Dalvin Cook is being waived by the Jets with one game left in the season.

The earliest iteration of Mickey Mouse is on a rampage, barely two days in the public domain. Slashed free of Disney’s copyright as of Monday, the iconic character from “Steamboat Willie” is already the focus of two horror films. On Monday, just hours after the 1928 short entered the public domain, a trailer for “Mickey’s Mouse Trap” dropped on YouTube. Another yet-to-be-titled film was announced Tuesday. 

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 2 at 6:45 a.m. CT:

TOKYO (AP) — A plane has caught fire on the runway of Tokyo’s Haneda airport after colliding with a Japanese coast guard aircraft, officials said. Local TV showed a large burst of fire erupt from the side of a Japan Airlines plane as it taxied on a runway. The area around the wing then caught fire. NHK TV reported that all occupants of the passenger plane, believed to total 379 people, got out safely. The coast guard said the pilot of its plane evacuated safely. NHK reported that the other five crewmembers were found dead. Haneda is one of the busiest airports in Japan, and many people travel over the New Year holidays.

WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — A series of powerful earthquakes has hit western Japan, leaving at least 48 people dead and damaging thousands of buildings, vehicles and boats. Officials are warning people in some areas on Tuesday to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes. Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area on Monday afternoon. Officials say at least 48 people are confirmed dead and 16 seriously injured in Ishikawa. Japan is frequently hit by earthquakes because of its location along the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin.

ROCHESTER, New York (AP) — Police are investigating after a fiery two-vehicle collision killed two people and injured five others in Rochester, New York, early on New Year’s Day. Officials say a Ford Expedition struck a Mitsubishi Outlander, sending both vehicles through a group of pedestrians in a crosswalk. Investigators say once the flames were doused, firefighters located at least a dozen gasoline cannisters in and around the Expedition. That prompted police to bring in an arson team and alert the FBI. Investigators ask witnesses or anyone with information to reach out to police.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s two largest cities have come under Russian hypersonic ballistic missile attacks. Officials said the Tuesday morning assaults killed at least four people and injured almost 100, as the war approached its two-year milestone and the Kremlin’s forces stepped up their winter bombardment of urban areas. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said four civilians were killed and 92 injured in the capital Kyiv and in northeastern Kharkiv as hypersonic Kinzhal missiles that can fly at 10 times the speed of sound slammed into city blocks. The barrage extended Russia’s escalated attacks on Ukraine in recent days that began on Friday with its largest single assault on Ukraine since the war started, in which at least 41 civilians were killed.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The family of a mother of eight who was a huge “Star Trek” fan has ensured the final frontier will be her ultimate resting place. Gloria Knowlan died 12 years ago. A small quantity of ashes from her cremated body are to be in one of 250 memorial capsules set to be launched into space later this month. Launch organizers are hoping the rocket carrying the capsules will wind up approximately 330 million kilometers from Earth, roughly past the orbit of Mars. The remains or DNA samples of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, and Original Series stars Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley and James Doohan also are expected to make the trip.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts is turning his focus to the promise and shortcomings of artificial intelligence in the federal courts. His annual report makes no mention of Supreme Court ethics or legal controversies involving Donald Trump. Roberts on Sunday described artificial intelligence as the “latest technological frontier" and discussed the pros and cons of computer-generated content in the legal profession. The year-end report was issued just a few days after the latest instance of AI-generated fake legal citations making their way into official court records. Roberts wrote that AI can make it much easier for people without much money to access the courts, but that any use of AI “requires caution and humility.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — In this time of war overseas, more Americans think foreign policy should be a top U.S. priority for 2024. That's according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which finds international concerns and immigration rising in importance with the public. Those concerns are still overshadowed by long-standing economic worries. But about 4 in 10 U.S. adults named foreign policy topics in an open-ended question that asked people to share up to five issues for the government to work on next year. That’s about twice as many who mentioned the topic in the AP-NORC poll conducted a year ago.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is heading home after months of extra duty at sea providing protection for Israel. The Navy announced Monday the Ford and its accompanying warships will be replaced by the amphibious assault ship the USS Bataan and its two accompanying warships, the USS Mesa Verde and the USS Carter Hall. The three vessels had been in the Red Sea and have been transiting toward the Eastern Mediterranean over the last few days. Since it was extended in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Ford and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier have been part of a two-carrier presence bracketing the Israel-Hamas war, underscoring U.S. concerns the conflict will widen.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John Fetterman acknowledges having “dark conversations” about harming himself before he hit “the emergency brake” and sought treatment for depression. In an interview with NBC's `"Meet the Press," the Pennsylvania Democrat described his thoughts at that time as, “I can’t be a blueprint for my children. I can’t let them be left alone or not to understand why he would have done that." So he checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last February. Fetterman wondered whether he'd survive politically. He said that “when it got released where I was and where it was going, it was a big story. And so, I had assumed that that would be the end of my career.”

LONDON (AP) — A Colorado mother suspected of killing two of her young children and injuring a third has made an initial court appearance in London. Kimberlee Singler was held after her initial appearance in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday. She has a Jan. 29 hearing scheduled on whether she should be extradited to the United States to face two counts of first-degree murder and other charges. The 35-year-old disappeared as Colorado police prepared to arrest her in the deaths of her 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, who were found slain Dec. 19 in what was reported as a burglary. She disappeared last week and was arrested Saturday in London.

RIVERDALE, Utah (AP) — A foreign exchange student from China who was reported missing last week in Utah has been found. Authorities said the student and his family appear to be victims of a “cyber kidnapping” scheme. The 17-year-old student was reported missing Friday, a day after he was last seen at the home where he had been staying. Police in Riverdale initially said that they believed the student was forcefully abducted. But on Sunday they said the boy had been found safe in a tent about 25 miles away. Police say Kai's family paid an $80,000 ransom after receiving a photograph that made it appear the student was abducted.

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey mayor says buses of migrants bound for New York City have been stopping at the town’s train station in an apparent effort to evade New York's efforts to regulate migrant arrivals. Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said Sunday that four buses are believed to have arrived starting Saturday at Secaucus Junction and dropped off migrants who then took trains into New York City. He called it a “loophole” around the order by New York Mayor Eric Adams. A message posted on a Jersey City social media account said about 10 buses from Texas and one from Louisiana had arrived at various transit stations throughout the state.

New Year’s Day arrived to cheers from thousands in New York’s Times Square where a sparkling crystal ball descended to start 2024 with hope for some, even as the world’s ongoing conflicts subdued celebrations and raised security concerns across the globe. The march of midnight across time zones included pyrotechnic displays centered on iconic locations including Sydney’s Opera House, the Acropolis in Athens, the world’s tallest building in Dubai and the bamboo-shaped Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have affected this year’s New Year’s Eve celebrations in a myriad of ways. Many cities deployed extra security and some places canceled events altogether.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s minimum-wage workers have more than just the new year to celebrate. A pay bump kicked in Monday as the clock ticked over to 2024. In the first of a series of annual increases slated for the Empire State, the minimum wage increased to $16 in New York City and some of its suburbs, up from $15. In the rest of the state, the new minimum wage is $15, up from $14.20. New York is one of 22 states getting minimum wage increases in the new year. In California, the minimum wage increased to $16, up from $15.50.

It will be Michgan and Washington in the College Football National title game, the Pistons start a new skid and Pacers end the Bucks' home winning streak. Also: We preview the final week of the NFL season and recap this past Sunday's games.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 2 at 6 a.m. CT:

NEW YORK (AP) — A new study adds to evidence that severe obesity is becoming more common in young U.S. children. There was some hope that children in a government food program might be bucking a trend in obesity rates. Earlier research found rates had dropped a little for those children. But an update published Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows the rate up a bit to 2% by 2020. The increase echoes national data, which suggests around 2.5% of all preschool-aged children are severely obese. The study involved young kids in the Women, Infants and Children program, which provides healthy foods and other services.

A Swedish study has uncovered a paradox about people diagnosed with an excessive fear of serious illness: They tend to die earlier than people who aren’t hypervigilant about health concerns. The study was published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry. Researchers were curious about the condition known as hypochondria. People with it are unable to shake their fears despite normal physical exams and lab tests. The researchers found that people with the diagnosis have an increased risk of death from both natural and unnatural causes, particularly suicide. The researchers say many of these deaths are preventable through appropriate treatment.

Some states that stockpiled millions of masks and other personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic are now throwing the items away. An Associated Press investigation found that at least 15 states have tossed out some of the PPE items because they are expiring or have more than they need. Other states have sold extra materials at bargain prices or have tried to give away surplus masks, gowns and gloves but have had difficulty finding entities willing to take them. Public health experts say the glut of supplies shows that governments need to do a better job of planning for future emergencies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a politically polarized nation, Americans seem to agree on one issue underlying the 2024 elections — a worry over the state of democracy and how the outcome of the presidential contest will affect its future. They just disagree over who poses the threat. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 62% of adults say democracy in the U.S. could be at risk depending on who wins. That view is held by 72% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans, but for different reasons. President Joe Biden has warned about former President Donald Trump's promises to seek retribution against opponents, while Trump says the federal charges against him show Biden has weaponized the government.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Relatively few Americans are excited about a potential rematch of the 2020 election between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. But more Republicans would be happy to have Trump as their nominee than Democrats would be with Biden. That's according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Randy Johnson, a Republican from Monett, Missouri, says, “I find it sad for our country that that's our best choices.” That apathy from voters comes even as both Biden and Trump, at least for now, seem like they'll easily get their parties' nominations next year. To independent Andrew Collins from Windham, Maine, “This is probably the most uniquely horrible choice I’ve had in my life.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says it's going to waive penalty fees for people who failed to pay back taxes that total less than $100,000 a year for tax years 2020 or 2021. The agency says nearly 5 million people, businesses and tax-exempt organizations will be eligible for the relief, which totals about $1 billion. The federal tax collector temporarily suspended mailing automated reminders to pay overdue tax bills during the pandemic. IRS official say the pause in automated reminders is behind the decision to forgive the failure-to-pay penalties.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nineteen-month-old Elijah Jack is unable to walk like most toddlers his age. Special needs children like him often take longer than most to become independently mobile. Elijah was one of the first to get a specially designed rolling chair built by a team of biomedical engineering students at Tulane University. He now has mastered getting around on wheels — turning, stopping and steering all on his own. The chair has allowed Elijah to have a whole new level of independence. His mother now does too. She now has time to get other things done since she no longer has to carry him all day.

TROY, Ohio (AP) — More than five years ago, someone left a kitten with twisted back legs at a Missouri animal shelter. The cat was transferred to specialists in Iowa who amputated her left hind leg. She was soon after adopted by a woman who lost her left leg after a near-fatal car accident. Now the duo has partnered with a nonprofit that registers therapy animal volunteer teams. They visit hospitals, nursing homes and even amputee support groups to aid in therapy and other activities to improve well-being in communities. The duo is one of only an estimated 200 therapy cat teams in the United States.

Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built. Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce realistic and explicit imagery of fake children as well as transform social media photos of fully clothed real teens into nudes, much to the alarm of schools and law enforcement around the world. The Stanford Internet Observatory found more than 3,200 images of suspected child sexual abuse in a database used to train leading AI image-makers.

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — New federal guidelines that dropped an abstinence requirement before gay men in monogamous relationships can give blood are opening a new pool of potential donors. They include Dylan Smith, an employee at Bloodworks Northwest in Vancouver, Washington, who was himself barred from donating blood until this month. Smith says being allowed to donate has made him very happy. The American Red Cross began implementing the new U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidance in August. And about half of the 16 independent blood bank organizations in the U.S. that are members of the Alliance for Community Transfusion Services also have rolled out the guidelines, with more expected next year.

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that a surveillance system it used incorrectly identified potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The deal announced late Tuesday settles Federal Trade Commission charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough to prevent harm to its customers and implement “reasonable procedures,” the government agency said. Rite Aid said it disagrees with the allegations, though the company is pleased to reach an agreement to resolve the issue. It noted that any agreement will have to be approved in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.