*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM TUESDAY ***

+ NVN: Investigation Shows City Administrator Likely Engaged in ‘Unwelcome’ Touching, Sexual Comments with Female Employees – Documents the Nisqually Valley News previously obtained from the city of DuPont dating back to Grayum’s time as mayor of the city in 2013 discussed alleged workplace harassment on Grayum’s part.

+ KING-5 TV: Here’s what to expect for western Washington traffic over Christmas weekend – Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, traffic is expected to be above average on western Washington highways for the Christmas weekend.

+ The News-Tribune (Tacoma): A white Christmas might be in Santa’s bag. First the Grinch will bring stormy weather

+ The Olympian: Number of new Thurston County COVID cases increases again

+ The Associated Press: Washington Legislature sues Inslee again over veto power

+ The Seattle Times: Study draws link between melting Arctic ice and Western U.S. fires that flare in the fall

*** VIRUS NEWS FROM TUESDAY ***

NBC News: Biden administration to make 500 million at-home Covid tests available for free – The White House also plans to set up new testing sites nationwide, with the first one opening in New York City before Christmas, a senior administration official said.

The Defender: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has sent letters to two top medical journals [The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine] asking them to preserve and deliver all records of communication regarding two retracted COVID studies, including highly publicized hydroxychloroquine study.

CNBC: U.S. will deploy troops to help hospitals during omicron wave, distribute free Covid tests starting in January

The Defender: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim no deaths can be attributed to the COVID vaccines, but it’s impossible to discount the thousands of deaths reported so far to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System***

*** NATIONAL NEWS FROM TUESDAY ***

The Washington Post: A UAE agency put Pegasus spyware on phone of Jamal Khashoggi’s wife months before his murder, new forensics show – The new analysis challenges NSO claims that the murdered journalist’s wife, Hanan Elatr, ‘was not a target’

The Washington Post: Lead Capitol riot charge is constitutional, judges find

CNBC: Rents for single-family homes are rising three times as fast as they were a year ago

Truthout: January 6 Committee Makes First Request for Testimony From a Member of Congress – he refuses

*** TRUMP NEWS FROM TUESDAY ***

MSNBC’s Maddow Blog: Why Michael Cohen’s new lawsuit is surprisingly important – Michael Cohen is suing Donald Trump, Bill Barr, and the Bureau of Prisons in a civil suit that’s a lot more important than you might think.

Business Insider: Trump says he’s holding a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on January 6, the anniversary of the Capitol riot

Reuters: Special Report: Trump campaign official set up meeting where Georgia election worker was pressured “to falsely admit voting fraud.”

CBS News: Michael Flynn sues January 6 committee over subpoenas