Headlines From The Times

It's Groundhog Day, and Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, meaning his prediction is six more weeks of winter weather. Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., the House Rules Committee is meeting on Monday in an effort to fully reopen the government. And Americans are living longer than ever; in 2024, U.S. life expectancy reached 79 years old, the highest mark in country history. In business, the modern day space race is taking over California's Central Coast, raising environmental concerns, and a Palo Alto company is selling flying vehicles that customers can fly within limited airspace and without a pilot's license. Read more at LATimes.com.

Forty years ago today, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after taking off at Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center; New Hampshire Public Radio spoke to people who knew Christa McAuliffe, who was going to be the first teacher in space. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve voted to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, despite heavy pressure from the White House to lower borrowing costs. Also, new data shows median rent in LA dropped to about $2,100 in December, the lowest in four years. And for the first time since the pandemic, California's population has stalled. In business, California Covered enrollees may see higher premiums now that pandemic-era health insurance subsidies have expired, and Amazon says it will layoff 16,000 workers and shut down its brick-and-mortar stores. Read more at LATimes.com.

TikTok agreed to settle a landmark social media addiction case on Tuesday, just before a jury trial against three of the world's biggest tech companies kicked off. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino is expected to leave Minneapolis as early as today, according to the Associated Press. Also, survivors and many others observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Meanwhile, Highway One through Big Sur is fully open for the first time in more than three years, but experts fear climate change could threaten more closures. And, Noma's superstar chef René Redzepi is bringing his food to LA—a tasting menu in Silver Lake that'll go on from March 11th until June 26th—at the cool price of $1,500 for a reservation. In business, Chinese boba giant Mixue opened its first U.S. location in Hollywood. Soon after the opening, it launched more locations in various New York neighborhoods. Read more at LATimes.com.

Hundreds of businesses across Minnesota are expected to close on Friday as part of a general strike against the tactics and actions of ICE. New York Times columnist Lydia Polgreen described what she saw in Minneapolis as a "civil war." And after decades of debate, Metro's board unanimously approved plans for a multibillion-dollar underground rail line through the Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, more than 175 million Americans are facing winter weather warnings with a massive storm barreling across the country. And before Ernest Hemingway was discharged in 1961 from St. Marys Hospital in Minnesota, he gave Sister Immaculata his novella "The Old Man and the Sea," inscribing a personal note in it; that book is now in the hands of the Nobel Prize Museum in Sweden for the world to see. In business, an L.A. startup is using SpaceX rocket-engine technology to cool data centers, and the historic Radford Studio Center defaults on its mortgage due to Hollywood's production slowdown. Read more at LATimes.com.

President Trump signs his Board of Peace charter at Davos on Thursday. Also, two updates about ongoing ICE operations. First, ICE is targeting immigrants in what DHS officials are calling "Operation Catch of the Day" in Maine, though state officials there are pushing back on this plan. Meanwhile, California senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff toured, for a second time, California's most recent ICE facility on the books. The detention center is a former prison, and immigrants in a federal class action lawsuit accused DHS of sewage water in showers and foul drinking water. In business, Kim Kardashian's brand Skims pays $200,000 dollars to settle fraud allegations in New Jersey, and Speedo moves its headquarters from Orange County to Long Beach ahead of the 2028 Olympics. Read more at LATimes.com

President Trump spoke at Davos on Wednesday morning, reaffirming his desire to take over Greenland, which has been an autonomous territory of Denmark for more than 300 years; world leaders, though, are pushing back on Trump's plan. Meanwhile, one of the biggest stories in Hollywood just took another turn. Netflix is amending its $72 billion bid of Warner Brothers Discovery to pay the full amount in cash rather than a mix of cash and stock. And for months, people living in Hancock Park in the Wilshire area of Los Angeles say their neighborhood has been left in the dark after copper thieves stripped wiring from streetlights, leaving them in the dark. Why are people stealing copper? Well, the metal is a hot commodity. In business, a shop on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles is selling thrifted clothes and beauty items from influencers to combat fast fashion, and California Governor Gavin Newsom announces that the state reached its clean air vehicle goals last year, which were set in 2010 by then Governor Jerry Brown. Read more at LATimes.com.

During the first year of his second term, President Trump took unprecedented actions. Meanwhile in Greenland, protests erupted over the weekend as Trump doubled down on his threats to take over the autonomous territory from Denmark. The President says the acquisition is necessary for security reasons, though others have denied that Greenland is under threat from China or Russia. And in California, San Diego’s development boom is shining a spotlight on Los Angeles’s own housing crisis; San Diego is building apartments at nearly twice the rate of LA, where new construction plummeted 33% over the past three years. Read more at LATimes.com.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty to narco-terrorism charges in a New York courtroom Monday, marking his first appearance since U.S. forces seized him and his wife from their bedroom in Caracas late Friday night. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Monday that he is issuing a letter of censure to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly for participating in a video urging U.S. soldiers to uphold the Constitution. And in other Washington news, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Monday he will not run for a third term. In California, record-setting rain continues, though sunny skies are expected by the weekend. In business, California is weighing a one-time 5% tax on billionaires and their trusts, and Tesla has been overtaken as the world’s top electric vehicle seller by China’s BYD. Read more at LATimes.com.

The United States military presence is growing in the Caribbean, with the Southern Command estimating about 15,000 personnel in the region, as tensions continue to build with Venezuela. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., fallout continues after President Trump added his name to the Kennedy Center — jazz supergroup The Cookers are pulling out of their New Year's Eve show there. Also, the National Guard is no longer in Los Angeles, but they’re patrolling New Orleans —  exactly one year after a New Year's Day attack on Bourbon Street that took the lives of 14 people. In California, the New Year is bringing a new round of rain to the southern part of the state, but even bad weather can't stop the 137th Rose Parade from marching through downtown Pasadena. And as people around the world ring in 2026, there will be partying, but also introspection and reflection; at a New Year's event in Sydney, Australia, a moment of silence – representing a nation's path towards healing — took place to remember the victims of a recent anitsemitic terrorist attack. Read more at LATimes.com.

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. “hit” an alleged drug facility along a shoreline as he escalates pressure on Venezuela. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security launched a fraud investigation in Minneapolis, targeting suspects accused of stealing billions in government funds. In California, the DMV rolled out a new pilot program aimed at cracking down on reckless driving, with added penalties for motorists clocked at more than 100 miles per hour. The state also became the first in the nation to require folic acid in most tortilla and corn masa products, a move aimed at reducing birth defects. And in sports, the Rams fell 27–24 to the Falcons on Monday night, sliding to the No. 6 seed in the NFC heading into the playoffs. Read more at LATimes.com.