A winter whiteout for Washington. A crooked cop’s comeuppance. A mop up for the mess in Michigan. It’s Friday, and here are the five things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door.
WINTER STORM
Making up for lost time: Winter apparently has a quota to meet. It sure started out tame, but is about to open up a can of you-know-what from Arkansas to New York. Washington and Baltimore will get the worst of it: about two feet of snow. Air travel? Fuhgeddaboudit. More than 4,500 flights are canceled for the weekend. In the storm’s path? 75 million people. Of them, 30 million will go toe to toe with blizzard conditions.It should all be over by Saturday night. And Sunday will be a snow shovel and sled kinda day.
COSBY LAWSUIT
Round one: Score a win for Bill Cosby. A judge sided with the besieged comedian, dismissing a defamation lawsuit against him. He says the facts in Renita Hill’s case don’t support her claims that Cosby sullied her good reputation. Hill is one of more than 50 women who say Coz sexually assaulted them. Cosby may have dodged this one. But there’s a traffic jam of lawsuits lining up against him that will keep his legal team busy for years.
DANIEL HOLTZCLAW
Forgetting the oath: That whole serve and protect thing kind of went out the window with ex-Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw. He targeted poor black women with criminal histories in hopes it would undermine their credibility after he groped or raped them, or forced them to perform oral sex. For that, he now gets to spend the next 263 years in prison. What’s that they say about karma?
CAMPAIGN 2016
When in doubt, blame the big guy: On Wednesday, Sarah Palin said the President is partially to blame for her son’s PTSD. Yesterday, Ted Cruz said Obamacare is the reason he doesn’t have health insurance. It seems Blue Cross Blue Shield canceled all their individual policies at the end of the year. But right now, Cruz needs to insure himself against something more serious: GOP leaders are threatening to revolt if he becomes their nominee.
MICHIGAN CRISIS
You kids stop fighting: Finger pointing is a full time job these days in Flint, Michigan — the nasty water capital of America. City officials point it at the state and state officials return the favor. Yesterday, the feds sent both of them to time out and said, Let the grownups handle this now. The EPA will start doing its own lead testing. And the government will send $80 million to Michigan to fix its water infrastructure.
BREAKFAST BROWSE
People are talking about these. Read up. Join in.
Quote of the day:
“It’s like being shot or poisoned.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, on choosing between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Tell us how you really feel.
Feeling sheepish
Things got wild and woolly in New Zealand when a 90-minute police chase finally ended when the baad guys found the road blocked by a flock of sheep.
Kylo kat
He may look like the most evil man in the galaxy, but a kitty named Kylo Ren sure is cute.
That’s a croc
There are some things that go along with living in the Florida Keys. Sunshine. Fruity drinks. But an 8-foot crocodile DOESN’T belong in the family pool.
Sriracha2go
The hot sauce is now available in handy to-go packets. Keep it spicy, my friends.
AND FINALLY …
Fizz, fizz, fizz
What happens when you mix salt and Coke? Some guy named the CrazyRussianHacker finds out.