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.

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