Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying this short week. Grab a coffee and wake up with these news headlines.
1. No justice
Timothy Loehmann, the Cleveland police officer who killed Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy playing with a toy gun, will not face criminal charges, a grand jury decided on Monday. Timothy J. McGinty, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, said that the police officer believed the boy was much older and was reaching for a gun, and that the officer was reasonable to fear for his life and fire. Tamir Rice’s mother said in a statement that the family no longer trusted local law enforcement, whom they believed to be corrupt. — The New York Times
2. A fool and his money
If you’re craving some breadsticks on New Year’s Eve, make sure you head to any Olive Garden but the one at Times Square. That restaurant is charging $400 a head on Thursday night for a special fete that includes a D.J., a limited view of the ball drop, an open bar and a buffet dinner. Here’s the kicker: Breadsticks are not on the menu. We ask you: What is the point? If we can’t stuff ourselves with carbs and fall asleep at 9, it’s not a party, people. As one commenter said, that’s a lot of bread for no breadsticks. — Market Watch
More: GoFundMe campaign may cost kid with cancer her health insurance
3. They got him
The Texas teen who got off a drunk driving charge that killed four people because his lawyer argued “affluenza” — meaning he was so rich and spoiled that he didn’t know right from wrong — has been located in Mexico after going missing a few weeks ago. Authorities have been searching for Ethan Couch, and his mother, who is believed to have been assisting him, as his disappearance was also a violation of his parole. The teen skipped the country after a video of him playing a drinking game at a party surfaced, again raising questions about whether his sentence of probation rather than jail time was appropriate. Violating parole carries a potential 10-year jail sentence, a consequence only his mother would regret. — CNN
More: Important battles moms won (and lost) in 2015
4. Put your booties on
The storm that crippled the central U.S. in the last week and killed at least 43 people is making its way east. There are flood warnings and flash-flood watches in place over much of the Midwest to the East Coast, and Northeasterners are facing an ugly commute this Tuesday morning. Hundreds of the day’s flights have been affected, so if you’re headed to the airport, maybe take a book. Things should calm down by New Year’s Eve, though, so never fear about that Olive Garden reservation. — NBC News
5. Back and forth and back and forth
Continuing his torrid love affair with the media, Donald Trump called a New Hampshire newspaper a “pile of garbage” on Monday night after the paper ran an editorial stating that the Republican front-runner is an insult to the intelligence of its citizens. Trump hurled invective against the paper’s publisher, Joseph McQuaid, whom Trump calls a “loser.” Trump urged the crowd to get out and vote in the New Hampshire primary, but unfortunately got the date wrong. The intelligent citizens of the Granite State quickly corrected him. — NBC News
More: 7 Social media hoaxes everyone fell for
6. Breeding grounds
Al Qaeda, that old-school enemy of the United States, is reappearing in Afghanistan. Terrorist training camps are once again cropping up in that country, leading to fears that the United States could again be the target of terrorist attacks. Until recently, U.S. strategy has been focused on rooting out senior Al Qaeda operatives hiding in the mountains; the reappearance of the training camps has caught American intelligence by surprise. The U.S. has recently been assisting the Afghan government with what it considered to be more pressing threats — the Taliban, a new offshoot of ISIS, and the Haqqani network. In a word: Yikes. — The New York Times
Leave a Comment