*** REGIONAL NEWS FROM THE WEEKEND ***

+ The Olympian: Arrested Olympia man is prime suspect in Jehovah’s Witness hall arson, shooting attacks

+ The Olympian: Thurston County median home price rises to new high to end 2021 – Home sales, though, were flat on a year-over-year basis.

+ KING-5 TV: Inslee rescinds ban on Affirmative Action in Washington – Will this reignite a fierce and charged debate over the role of government in such matters?

+ McClatchy Newspapers: Washington Supreme Court rejects redistricting lawsuits – If lawmakers want to make changes, they must do so within the first 30 days of the legislative session, which starts today.

*** NATIONAL NEWS FROM THE WEEKEND ***

Sludge: Biden and GOP May Find Bipartisanship by Elevating Big Pharma’s Pick to FDA Head

CNBC: Pelosi says GOP efforts to restrict voting laws is a ‘legislative continuation’ of Jan. 6

Common Dreams: Greenland’s Ice Sheet Has Lost Mass for the 25th Year in a Row – A new report also noted that a rain event was recorded for the first time near the apex of the ice sheet.

NRDC: Giving Birds a Fighting Chance – The Biden administration has officially revoked Trump’s cuts to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act—and more promising actions are on the horizon.

The Washington Post: Ahmaud Arbery’s killers sentenced to life in prison, two with no possibility of parole

CBS News Mornings: Comedy Central’s Jordan Klepper reflects on the inherent satire of the January 6 insurrection

MarketWatch Opinion: Civil war in the United States is far more likely than you think. In fact, it may have already begun.

*** VIRUS NEWS FROM THE WEEKEND ***

MedScape: Health authorities in California, Texas, and Kansas have reported cases of “flurona,” in which people have seasonal flu and COVID-19 at the same time.

The Defender: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will have eight months — not the 75 years it requested — to release all documents related to the licensing of Pfizer’s Comirnaty COVID vaccine, a federal judge ruled Thursday [Jan. 6].

NBC News: Many patients hospitalized for other ailments are also testing positive for Covid

CNBC: Cyprus reportedly discovers a Covid variant that combines omicron and delta, called “deltacron”

*** TRUMP NEWS FROM THE WEEKEND ***

Daily Kos: Jan. 6 committee now investigating Trump’s role in a criminal conspiracy to overturn election

The Washington Post: Cyber Ninjas, the firm hired to conduct an election review in Arizona, ordered to pay $50,000 a day in sanctions until it turns over records from the review sought by the Arizona Republic newspaper.

Salon: Donald Trump should be very afraid: This anniversary was not good news for him

MSNBC’s Cross Connection: New York Attorney General Letitia James subpoenas Donald Trump’s two eldest kids as part of a civil investigation. Their defense? It would complicate the ongoing criminal investigation into Trump Org.

The Washington Post: Trump’s Cable Cabinet: New texts reveal the influence of Fox hosts on previous White House