memeorandum: University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel fired by board after investigation (David Jesse/Detroit Free Press)

10:30 AM ET, January 16, 2022

Top Items:

Jessika Harkay / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Residents evacuated as SWAT surrounds Colleyville TX synagogue — Authorities northeast of Fort Worth are negotiating with a man who has apparently taken people hostage at a Colleyville synagogue during services. It is unclear if anyone is injured and how the man may be armed.

ABC News:

Armed man takes hostages at Texas synagogue, source says — Police evacuated the immediate area. — A hostage situation is underway at a synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth area Saturday, a source on the scene told ABC News. — An armed suspect claiming to have bombs in unknown locations took …

Discussion: BBC, RedState, Jihad Watch, Washington Free Beacon, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, HillReporter.com, Twitchy, Raw Story, UPI, The Post Millennial, WFAA-TV, Instapundit, TheBlaze and National Review

Washington Post:

Hostages freed from Texas synagogue, governor says — BREAKING: “All hostages are out alive and safe,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tweeted about 9:30 p.m. local time, after a loud boom and what sounded like gunshots erupted from the area near the synagogue where police had been in a standoff with a hostage-taker for much of Saturday.

Discussion: Rigid Thinking, MyNorthwest.com, Deseret News and Associated Press

NBC News:
Police negotiate with hostage taker at synagogue in Dallas-Fort Worth, 1 hostage released

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Beast, CAIR, KXAN-TV, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Overt Operator, NBC4 Washington, Associated Press, IJR and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

The White House:
Statement by President Biden on the Hostage Situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas

Discussion: FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth

Michael Levenson / New York Times:
Live Updates: Man Takes Rabbi, Others Hostage at Dallas-Fort Worth Area Synagogue

Discussion: The Daily Wire

Telegraph: Texas synagogue: Man with English accent holds congregation hostage

Associated Press:
Hostages safe after Texas synagogue standoff; captor dead

Discussion: Washington Post, WTOP News, Twitchy, Bulletin, Townhall, The Daily Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and The Hill

David Sentendrey / FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth:
Colleyville synagogue hostage situation: Hostages rescued, suspect dead

Discussion: Townhall

Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
All Texas synagogue hostages ‘out alive and safe’ after harrowing 12-hour standoff, suspect is dead

Discussion: ABC7

Andrew Miller / Fox News:
Texas officials react to news of hostage situation in Colleyville synagogue

Discussion: The National, Wall Street Journal, Common Sense and New York Times

CNN:
FBI assisting in hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, CBS News and The Daily Caller

Damien Cave / New York Times:

How the ‘Djokovic Affair’ Finally Came to an End — Novak Djokovic lost to a government with powerful laws, determined to make an example out of him. — SYDNEY, Australia — The day before the Australian Open was set to begin, Novak Djokovic, possibly the greatest tennis player of all time …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:

Novak Djokovic deported, won't compete in Australian Open after bid to play unvaccinated fails — MELBOURNE, Australia — Tennis star Novak Djokovic has left Australia after losing his legal challenge to remain in the country and compete in the Australian Open despite not being vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Discussion: The Guardian, BBC, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, UPI, The Daily Wire, Bloomberg, Variety, One America News Network, TASS, Al Jazeera and ImmigrationProf Blog

Jemele Hill / The Atlantic:
The Selfishness of Novak Djokovic

Discussion: New York Times, Reuters, Sports Illustrated, WTOP News, Associated Press, Al Jazeera, Politico, UPI, CBS News, econlib.org, The Age, The Guardian and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

CBS News:

Biden at year one: Not enough focus on inflation leaves many frustrated — On one level, the story of President Biden's first year is a simple one: Americans feel worse about the pandemic and economy than they did earlier in his term, and his ratings have suffered for it.

Discussion: Insider

Elaine Godfrey / The Atlantic:

Trump Soft-Launches His 2024 Campaign — FLORENCE, Ariz.—Tonight, deep in the Arizona desert, thousands of people chanted for Donald Trump. They had braved the wind for hours—some waited the entire day—just to get a glimpse of the defeated former president.

Discussion: Insider

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Trump Rally Underscores G.O.P. Tension Over How to Win in 2022

Discussion: Insider, RedState, Egberto Off The Record, Washington Examiner and Arizona Democratic Party

David Jesse / Detroit Free Press:

University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel fired by board after investigation — The University of Michigan Board of Regents has unanimously fired school President Mark Schlissel for cause following an investigation into a relationship with a subordinate, the board announced Saturday evening.

Discussion: The Regents of the University …, Bridge Michigan, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Hill and MyNorthwest.com

Paul Rosenberg / Salon:

How the states have become “Laboratories of Autocracy” — and why it's worse than you think — Former Ohio Democratic Party head David Pepper has a dire warning: Rigged state legislatures are destroying America — There's a booming literature on the erosion of democracy in America …

Jason Lemon / Newsweek:

Trump's ‘Crimes Flow Through’ Oath Keepers' Sedition Indictment: Former Prosecutor — Former U.S. Army prosecutor Glenn Kirschner said that former President Donald Trump's “crimes flow through” the seditious conspiracy indictment against members of the far-right Oath Keepers group due …

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Washington Post

Charles Bethea / New Yorker:

Teeing Up with QAnon — What would Groucho say? Would you rather belong to a club that had the proprietor of a porn shop as a member? Or Marjorie Taylor Greene? — In the spring of 2006, Charles T. Craton III, a businessman in northwestern Georgia, best known for his work on Chick-fil-A's …

HuffPost:

Reconstruction-Era Law Could Keep Trump Off Presidential Ballot In 6 Southern States — The language letting them back into the Union required them to enforce the 14th Amendment's ban on insurrectionists in federal or state office. — By S.V. Date — Should former President Donald Trump run …

Discussion: Raw Story

Tia Goldenberg / Associated Press:

Netanyahu negotiating plea deal in corruption trial — TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is negotiating a plea deal in his corruption case, a person involved in the talks said Sunday. — The deal, which could be signed as early as this week …

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

More Mojo, Joe! — WASHINGTON — Poor Joe. — Oh, the tribulations of Job Biden! Kyrsten Sinema humiliated him. Mitch McConnell disrespected him. The Supreme Court blocked him. Vladimir Putin scorned him. Inflation defied him. Covid stalked him. Even Stacey Abrams stiffed him.

Discussion: Wide World of News and Power Line

Glen Owen / Daily Mail:

‘The days of state-run TV are over’: Nadine Dorries clobbers the BBC with a £2billion funding cut as she freezes the licence fee for two years, with a row over ‘Left-wing bias’ threatening to spill out into all-out war with the Corporation — Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries freezes annual £159 fee for the next two years

Discussion: Bloomberg and Variety, more at Mediagazer »

Patrick Wilson / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Miyares fires 30 in AG's office, including lawyer investigating dangerous conditions at Richmond apartments — Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares notified about 30 staff members in the office — 17 of them attorneys — that they won't have jobs in his administration, including the lawyer …

Discussion: 13newsnow.com, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News and Los Angeles Blade

Mark Townsend / The Guardian:

Concern for UK security as anti-vaxxer groups evolve towards US-style militias — Counter-terrorism officials are monitoring movement amid military-style training and lurch towards violent extremism — Counter-terrorism officials and police are increasingly concerned over the trajectory …