memeorandum: Bush won't attend Steve King summit (Jonathan Easley/The Hill)

8:00 AM ET, January 1, 2015

Top Items:

Jeb Bush severs ties to most firms with eye on 2016 — Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, moving closer to a possible presidential run, has stepped down as a paid adviser to a for-profit education company that sells online courses to public university students in exchange for a share of their tuition payments.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and ABC News

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Bush won't attend Steve King summit — Likely 2016 presidential candidate Jeb Bush has declined an invitation to speak at a conservative summit in Iowa hosted by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa.), a sometimes controversial figure in the GOP. — A Bush aide told The Hill that the former Florida governor appreciated …

Discussion: Washington Post and Prairie Weather

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Jeb Bush quits all private sector, non-profit boards — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has stepped down from all of his private sector and non-profit board memberships as he proceeds with exploring a run for the presidency in 2016, an aide confirmed late Wednesday.

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court, in Big Leap, Plans to Put Filings Online — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will soon join other federal courts in making briefs and other filings available electronically, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. announced Wednesday. — The changes will come “as soon as 2016,” …

Discussion: The Verge

Abigail Frymann Rouch / The Tablet:

Publisher HarperCollins omits Israel from school atlas ‘to meet local preferences’ — The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has accused the publisher HarperCollins of harming peace efforts in the Middle East through its production of atlases that omit Israel from their maps.

Discussion: RT, Raw Story, Power Line and Daily Mail

Jonah Mandel / Agence France-Presse:

Netanyahu re-elected Israeli ruling party leader — 2 hrs ago — Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won another term as leader of the ruling Likud party ahead of a snap election, his group said Thursday, easily defeating his lone hard-right challenger.

Danielle Scruggs / FOX2now.com:

Protesters storm police headquarters in downtown St. Louis; 25 arrests made — ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - In what was slated as a peaceful “March to the Arch” by Ferguson demonstrators, more than two dozen people were arrested and pepper spray was used by police. The melee unfolded as protesters tried …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Daily Mail, The Daily Caller, Slantpoint and TPNN

Jonathon M. Seidl / TheBlaze.com:

Little Hellion Goes on Over Three-Minute Rampage Terrorizing a Store — Until One Person Gets Fed up and Does the Right Thing — It lasted over three minutes and didn't end until a bystander got fed up and decided to step in. — That's the scene that unfolded in a YouTube video going wild …

Discussion: TPNN

Braboco / iBRABO:

New Zealand Jihadist Deletes Tweets after Discovering he left Geotagging On — Author: Jeff R. Weyers, iBRABO — A SHINY NEW PHONE WITH NO WHERE TO GO — It's a rookie social media mistake and one that intelligence and law enforcement agencies pray for when tracking criminals.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and RT

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Hacks for hire? Group markets cyber strikes — Hackers behind Christmas Day attacks on the online gaming networks for Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox systems are offering their wares up for sale to the public. — The group calling itself Lizard Squad on Tuesday launched …

Discussion: RedState

Sophia Tareen / Associated Press:

Illinois governor pardons 1800s abolitionists — CHICAGO (AP) — Three Illinois abolitionists who were convicted for anti-slavery efforts in the 1800s were posthumously pardoned Wednesday by Gov. Pat Quinn, their names among 102 people granted New Year's Eve clemency by the outgoing Chicago Democrat.

Rich Murphy / CCTV America:

35 dead, 43 injured in New Year's stampede in Shanghai — At least 35 people are dead, and 43 are injured during a New Year's celebration on the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai. — Sina News has reported that masses of crowds in Chen Yi Square on the Bund led to the stampede.

Discussion: Reuters and New York Times

WCPO:

Leelah Alcorn suicide note sparks transgender discussion — Editor's note: WCPO does not customarily report suicides. However, we do report on suicides when there are extenuating circumstances. — KINGS MILL, Ohio — While family and friends are grieving the loss of a local teenager …