promoearn: Betting on the booster

Monday, December 20

Coronavirus testing is available in Times Square in New York City. After the discovery of the omicron variant, health officials urge people to get vaccine boosters.

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the United States. It's Monday's news.

NFT auction: USA TODAY and iconic artist Peter Tunney are teaming up to benefit charity – and you can get involved.

As omicron emerges as the dominant COVID-19 variant in the United States, data suggests vaccine boosters are effective in fighting it. Congressional Democrats are pushing forward with the president's social spending bill. And glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at an "exceptional" rate.

👋 It's Laura! I'm back from vacation! It's Monday, and here's all the news you need to know.

But first, why do we smooch under the mistletoe? 🎄 It's literally a parasite, but that's what makes it special. Here's a breakdown of the age-old tradition.

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Omicron variant sweeping across nation

Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week , federal health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron's share of infections in only one week. In much of the country, omicron's prevalence is even higher. It's responsible for an estimated 90% of new infections in the New York area, the Southeast, the industrial Midwest and the Pacific Northwest. Much about the omicron variant remains unknown, including whether it causes more or less severe illness. Early studies suggest the vaccinated will need a booster shot for the best chance at preventing omicron infection but even without the extra dose, vaccination still should offer strong protection against severe illness and death.

•	Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine booster is effective against omicron.
•	This Latina doctor wanted to build trust in COVID-19 vaccines. So she enrolled her babies in a clinical trial.
•	A New Zealand man, 26, died of myocarditis, a rare side effect of the vaccine. What you need to know.

Jury deliberations begin in trial of ex-cop Kim Potter

Jurors heard closing arguments and began deliberating Monday in the manslaughter trial of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter , who fatally shot Daunte Wright while yelling "Taser" this year. Prosecutor Erin Eldridge described Potter as a 26-year veteran police officer who knew the risks of drawing and firing her weapon when she shot the 20-year-old Black motorist in April in a traffic stop-turned-arrest in Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb. Potter, 49, is charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors say she recklessly handled her firearm and caused Wright's death through her "culpable negligence" – a conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk. Defense attorneys say Potter confused her firearm for a Taser but was justified in using deadly force to prevent Wright from injuring another officer.

•	Who's on the jury? 14 people selected in trial of Kim Potter.
•	Was the former officer reckless? What jurors need to decide in Daunte Wright's death.

"Accidents can still be crimes," Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge says in closing arguments in former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter's trial in the death in April of Daunte Wright at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis.

What everyone's talking about

•	I'm not sure I want to know, but in case you do: Why did the raw meat cannibal sandwich become so popular in Wisconsin?
•	The bare-bones holiday 'SNL' episode was an unsettling reminder that the pandemic isn't over.
•	'It was out of my hands': Babies survive Kentucky tornado that carried them away in a bathtub.
•	What's going on in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex abuse trial? What to know about closing arguments.
•	Elementary school students are allegedly traumatized from reenacting scenes from the Holocaust.

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Congressional Democrats plan to push forward with Build Back Better vote

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter to colleagues Monday that the Senate would consider legislation addressing voting rights and the Build Back Better bill at the start of the new year. Though Schumer touted Congress' milestones this session, he acknowledged "this session has also led to moments of deep discontent and frustration." One of those moments came Sunday, when Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he wouldn't vote for the Build Back Better Act, which includes national prekindergarten and actions to address climate change. Biden and Democratic leaders had negotiated with Manchin for months in hopes of passing the measure. Without Manchin's vote, it is unlikely Biden's domestic policy package will pass in an evenly divided Senate.

•	Free pre-K, Medicare expansion: What won't happen with Build Back Better likely dead.
•	Sen. Joe Manchin says he won't support Biden's Build Back Better social spending bill.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans to bring President Biden's social spending package to a vote despite the slim chance of passage.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

COVID-19 disrupts the sports world

As the omicron variant spreads, COVID-19 has once again disrupted the sports world , shutting down teams and postponing games. That is no more evident than in the NFL, where an extra game will be played Monday night, as well as two more Tuesday after COVID-19 postponements. In the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens have been shut down through the league's holiday break because of a number of cases on each team. The NBA adjusted its rules, allowing teams to sign one replacement player for each player that tests positive for the virus until Jan. 19.

•	Opinion: NFL teams better buckle up. COVID-19 outbreaks could bring mayhem to the playoffs.

A provincial mandate in Canada dictates 50% capacity at indoor sporting events in a bid to combat the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant, leaving empty seats at Scotiabank Arena as the Toronto Raptors take on the Golden State Warriors in an NBA basketball game Dec. 18.

Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP

Real quick

•	7 bodies discovered in Minnesota home; officials say cause of death unknown.
•	Minimum wage is about to rise in 21 states, 35 localities as more embrace $15 an hour.
•	Elon Musk tweeted, 'for those wondering,' that he will pay more than $11 billion in taxes this year.
•	Viral TikTok shows ultrasound of baby growing in woman's liver in rare ectopic pregnancy.
•	Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin expected to miss rest of regular season with a knee injury, per a report.

Glaciers melting at an 'exceptional' rate

Glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at an "exceptional" rate because of global warming , a study published Monday said. Ice is being lost from Himalayan glaciers "at a rate that is at least 10 times higher than the average rate over past centuries," said the study's lead author, Jonathan Carrivick. The glaciers are a critical source of water for about 250 million people in the mountains and an additional 1.65 billion who live in the river valleys below, according to a report in 2019. The Himalayan mountain range is home to the world's third-largest amount of glacier ice.

•	Global warming threatens Antarctica: Collapse of Florida-size glacier may happen soon, raising sea levels and threatening coastal cities.

A new study reveals that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world – a rate of loss the researchers describe as "exceptional."

Duncan Quincey, University of Leeds

A break from the news

•	🤷‍♀️ Party drama: Am I wrong for skipping my sister-in-law's gender reveal?
•	🚙 Traveling for the holidays? Here are the worst times to hit the road.
•	📺 The best TV shows of 2021: From 'Ted Lasso' to 'Mare of Easttown' to 'Squid Game.'

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