Betty White Dead at 99  —  EXCLUSIVE  — 1.24M … 3:32 PM PT — Betty's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is drawing a crowd ... and folks are leaving candles, flowers, stuffed animals and other tokens.  —  12:32 PM PT — The beginnings of a makeshift memorial outside Betty's house are underway.

Ron DeSantis accompanied wife to cancer treatment while critics claimed he was ‘missing’  —  DeSantis announced his wife's breast cancer diagnosis in October  —  Florida Democrats blame DeSantis for COVID surge  —  Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis accompanied his wife to her cancer treatment …

China harvests masses of data on Western targets, documents show  —  China is turning a major part of its internal Internet data surveillance network outward, mining Western social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to equip its government agencies, military and police with information on foreign targets …

Omicron Doesn't Infect the Lungs Very Well, Animal Studies Find  —  Compared with earlier variants, Omicron may cause less damage to the lungs, new animal research suggests.  —  A spate of new studies on lab animals and human tissues are providing a possible explanation …

Trump appointee at FDIC to resign after partisan brawl  —  Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Jelena McWilliams on Friday unexpectedly submitted her resignation after the Trump appointee faced partisan strife at the bank regulator, in a move that will give Democrats control of the agency in the coming weeks.

Chief Justice Roberts Reflects on Conflicts, Harassment and Judicial Independence  —  In his year-end report, the chief justice said that the court administrators, not Congress, should address financial conflicts and workplace misconduct in the judicial system.

Bernard Kerik provides batch of documents to Jan. 6 select committee  —  A key adviser to Donald Trump's legal team in their post-election quest to unearth evidence of fraud has delivered a trove of documents to Jan. 6 investigators describing those efforts.

Top-Down Letdown  —  How elites failed us in 2021.  —  Dear Reader (and all the strange voices in my head),  —  I finally got COVID.  I assume it was Omicron, but who knows?  Whatever variant it was, it wasn't fun.  Since odds are good everybody everywhere is going to get it, I'll spare you the detailed reporting from my sickbed.

AOC pictured dining maskless in Miami Beach as Omicron cases soar  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has ditched the Big Apple for sunny south Florida, prompting supporters of the state's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to hope she was “enjoying a taste of freedom.”

Governor Abbott, TDEM, DSHS Request Federally-Supported COVID-19 Testing Sites, Medical Personnel, Increased Monoclonal Antibody Allocations  —  Governor Greg Abbott announced today that the State of Texas, through the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Texas Department …

Biden to speak with Ukraine President Zelenskyy, says he ‘made it clear’ to Putin that Russia cannot invade  — President Joe Biden plans to speak with Ukraine President Zelenskyy on Sunday to express support amid Russia's military buildup on the border, a White House official said.

Louisiana Judge Michelle Odinet Resigns Over Shocking Racial Slur Video  —  QUITTING TIME  —  A Louisiana judge has resigned weeks after footage from her home appeared to show her repeatedly using the N-word and comparing a burglary suspect to a “roach.”  Michelle Odinet was Lafayette City …

Ted Cruz's daughter takes to TikTok to discuss life as senator's kid  —  Answering questions from followers on TikTok, she discusses the pros and cons of being a senator's daughter.  —  Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz found himself in a predicament this week that would make any parent working …

‘Crazy’ omicron surge could peak soon, but the virus is unpredictable as the pandemic enters its third year  —  Columbia University researchers estimate infections could top out during the week of Jan. 9  —  The rapid surge of omicron infections in the United States may be relatively brief …

Retired general warns the U.S. military could lead a coup after the 2024 election  —  As the anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol approaches, three retired U.S. generals have warned that another insurrection could occur after the 2024 presidential election and the military could instigate it.

Gableman subpoenas election officials and city IT departments as GOP election review widens  —  MADISON - Assembly Republicans hit the state Elections Commission and municipal IT departments with subpoenas in recent days as part of their wide-ranging, months-long review of the 2020 election.

Governor Parson Announces COVID-19 Related State of Emergency to Expire on December 31  —  JEFFERSON CITY — Today, Governor Mike Parson announced that Missouri's COVID-19 related State of Emergency will expire and not be renewed on December 31, 2021.  Governor Parson first issued an Executive Order …