Sunday News: “Trump attacks whistleblower in tweetstorm full of rants and conspiracies”; “A Gangster in the White House”; “5 people were stabbed at a Hanukkah celebration in a New York suburb”; “Commonwealth’s healthy state”

by Lowell

Here are a few national and Virginia news headlines, political and otherwise, for Sunday, December 29.

• Record hit for most ice to melt in Antarctica in one day, data suggests: “We are in a climate emergency”
• US isolationism leaves Middle East on edge as new decade dawns (“With Trump deciding against protecting allies, old rivalries are converging across the region”)
• Idlib could become the worst humanitarian crisis in Syria’s civil war
• The Global Stories Of 2019 That You Probably Missed
• What we know about the deadly car bombing in Mogadishu (“More than 70 people have been killed, and at least 100 people were wounded.”)
• Science Under Attack: How Trump Is Sidelining Researchers and Their Work (100% unacceptable.)
• Pelosi gets under Trump’s skin on impeachment
• A Gangster in the White House (“The president tweeted the name of the presumed whistle-blower in the Ukraine scandal—demonstrating that he is unrepentant and determined to break the law again.”)
• Trump attacks whistleblower in tweetstorm full of rants and conspiracies (Trump is completely unhinged.)
• ‘Nothing Less Than a Civil War’: These White Voters on the Far Right See Doom Without Trump
• 5 people were stabbed at a Hanukkah celebration in a New York suburb
• That Recession Everyone Was Scared of Got Priced Out By a Record Stock Rally
• The 2010s Were the End of Normal (“How social media, the Great Recession and Donald Trump combined to bring out the ‘indigenous American berserk.’”)
• One Thing About the 2020 Election Is Already Clear
• Federal judge rules to protect fragile deep sea corals in Atlantic Ocean (“A federal appeals court on Friday upheld former President Barack Obama’s designation of a federally protected conservation area in the Atlantic Ocean.”)
• Five Charts Show How Dramatically the Border Changed in 2019 (“Border crossings rose and then plummeted as the Trump administration got its way.”)
• Facing blowback, Biden clarifies stance on impeachment trial testimony
• Fox News Poll: Biden still leads Democratic race as Warren drops (“Running down the Democratic race: Biden leads with 30 percent, followed by Sanders at 20 percent. Warren returns to third with 13 percent, down from a high of 22 percent in October. Next, it’s Buttigieg (7 percent), Bloomberg and Amy Klobuchar (5 percent each), Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang (3 percent apiece), and Cory Booker (2 percent). The remaining candidates garner 1 percent or less.”)
• Democratic rivals call for spending trillions more amid debate on what’s doable (I’m very skeptical of some of these plans. Where’s the money going to come from exactly?)
• Left presses 2020 Democrats to retake the courts from Trump
• To win back young Wisconsin voters Democrats are knocking doors early
• Trump started federal workers’ year with a shutdown. He ended it with their biggest raise in a decade. (“In 2019, 2.1 million civil servants were whipsawed by a president who disparaged career officials who testified in the impeachment inquiry, FBI officials who handled the Russia probe — and even weather forecasters.”)
• Editorial: Commonwealth’s healthy state (“Now is a pivotal time in Virginia to ensure the state is investing in key areas that are vital to building a stronger economic engine, regardless of whether those dollars are spent in the southwest, near the West Virginia border or here, at home, in Hampton Roads.”)
• The Continuing Power of 2009 Candidate Terry McAuliffe’s Long-Term Plan for Virginia’s Energy Future
• How’s Dominion Energy Doing on the “Four Ds?” (Hint: Not Well!)
• Domestic violence victim’s housing struggle inspires bill
• Gordon Morse: Fun and folly in the 2020 legislative session
• In housing-hungry Arlington, officials study whether to allow more duplexes, triplexes
• Where’s Del. Lee Ware (R) Coming From on His Massive (66,809-Word), Sprawling Electricity “Retail Customer Choice” Bill?
• Editorial: How will we remember 2019?
• Virginia’s Economy: Good, But We Can Do Better
• Faces of 2019: Anne Holton: from classroom to president’s office and back
• Bob McNab: Marijuana proposals need frank discussion
• Fewer youth detainees raises questions about future of Northern Virginia detention center (“Some question the need for a youth jail at all, citing falling crime rates and a turn toward alternative sentencing.”)
• Jewell: Tech professionals key to NRV growth
• Joash Schulman, Alisa Crider & Jeremy Taylor: New regional brand presents critical opportunity
• One “bite” of mud and sand at a time, Port of Virginia starts dredging Chesapeake Bay shipping channels
• Cloudy and showery today into Monday; clearing up in time for New Year’s Eve