NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Nominee withdrawn: The White House has confirmed plans to withdraw the nomination of a climate change skeptic with ties to the fossil fuel industry to serve as President Trump’s top environmental adviser. Kathleen Hartnett White was announced in October as Trump’s choice to chair the Council on Environmental Quality. The former Texas environmental regulator has said carbon dioxide should be considered the “gas of life” rather than a pollutant. Carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming. Trump himself has called climate change a hoax and has laid the groundwork for withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accords.
2 Murder trial: Two years after a 13-year-old Virginia girl was found stabbed to death, a former Virginia Tech student is going on trial in her killing. David Eisenhauer’s first-degree murder trial in the 2016 death of Nicole Lovell is to begin Monday in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Christiansburg. Prosecutors say Lovell climbed out her bedroom window in January 2016 to meet Eisenhauer, who was then 18 and a freshman engineering student at Virginia Tech. The two met through social media. Three days later, her body was found just over the state line in North Carolina.
3 Federal Reserve: Janet Yellen said Sunday that she was disappointed that President Trump didn’t offer her a second term as Federal Reserve chair. But she says she supports her successor at the central bank, Jerome Powell, and calls him “a very thoughtful policymaker.” Yellen told CBS’ “Sunday Morning” that the stock market — despite the Dow’s 665-point drop Friday — is high, and that the financial system is in better shape to handle a sharp sell-off than it was during the 2008 financial crisis. Yellen, a former UC Berkeley economist, was the first woman to lead the Fed. Her four-year term ended Friday. Powell — a Fed board member — takes over Monday.
4 Frat suspension: Nearly all Ohio State University fraternities whose activities were suspended in November mostly because of hazing and alcohol allegations have been cleared to resume recruitment events and, in many cases, social events. The university in Columbus suspended activities for the Interfraternity Council’s 37 members after 11 chapters came under investigation early in the school year. One fraternity has since been suspended for three years. The university says it’s working with fraternities to address high-risk behaviors.
5 Drug burritos: Los Angeles police say a driver was arrested after officers discovered that 14 packages wrapped in foil to resemble burritos actually contained methamphetamine. The meth burritos were found in the car when officers conducted a traffic stop Saturday evening. The driver appeared nervous, so officers searched the vehicle and found a trash bag and the foil-wrapped packages inside. Police also confiscated a handgun and cash. The driver, who was not identified, was arrested on suspicion of transportation of narcotics.