- The UAW has strongly endorsed Joe Biden for this fall's elections, which is expected to significantly help him in rust belt states. You can never be sure about these things, of course; the kind of people inclined to vote for Trump aren't easily persuaded by reason.
- The chair of the Republican Party in Arizona has resigned following revelations that he tried to bribe Trump loyalist Kari Lake into abandoning her run for the Senate. Setting aside the crookedness of doing this, one could understand why, given that Arizona is kind of purple and the GOP would have a better chance running someone who isn't insane, but as David Shribman points out, it's essentially Trump's party now; the New Hampshire primary should remove all doubts about that.
- Despite some recent cold weather, the ice road serving Temagami First Nation in northern Ontario, which normally opens before Christmas, is still closed, because the ice is not considered safe for anything larger than a snowmobile.
- BC is considering a ban on the installation of new natural gas furnaces by 2030.
- Following the little misadventure on an Alaska Airlines flight a couple of weeks ago, inspections are revealing "many loose bolts" on Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft like the one involved in the incident. The FAA is also calling for the inspection of another 737 variant with similar "door plugs" to the one that blew out, and a whistleblower is reporting numerous lapses (or, as CEO Dave Calhoun would say, "quality escapes") at one of Boeing's plants.
- The Ford government in Ontario is still taking a beating from the Greenbelt scandal, especially with new revelations that the government was far more involved (not to mention less truthful) than they'd have us believe.
- Part of the Merced River in California has dried up completely as a result of diversion of water for agriculture. The farmers who did so were within their legal rights; the regulation of water in that state definitely leaves something to be desired. Essentially, the onus is on the state to stop them from using the water, something that generally only happens when it's already reached a crisis point.
- Researchers have managed to grow chickpeas in simulated lunar soil, making the idea of a self-sustaining colony on the Moon a bit more plausible.
- Despite some grumbling from the usual suspects, bans on single-use plastic bags have been successful in reducing litter and other related issues.
- Following an ugly incident this past Christmas in which a young woman from a First Nation in northern Manitoba was restrained and bound with zip ties at the Marlborough Hotel in Winnipeg, allegedly after pulling a knife on hotel staff, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has cut business ties with the hotel, and the hotel has been temporarily closed as a result of threats. From an outsider's point of view this might seem to be a questionable hill to die on, especially since the woman has previously been charged with stabbing somebody, but given the decades of mistreatment experienced by the First Nations community in this province it's understandable that the community is skeptical that this situation is different from all the other stuff they've gone through.
- A man found a dead snake in a box of strawberries at a Safeway in Winnipeg's River East neighbourhood.
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