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| A potentially historic winter storm whips up blizzard conditions and plunging temperatures. American life expectancy has dropped. And the Senate approves a $1.7 trillion spending bill. |
| 👋 It's Abbey Monsour, holding down The Short List for Laura today, and it's time for Thursday's news! |
| But first, why does Santa look the way he looks?🎅🏻 🎅🏿 Yesterday, we shared with you the stories of Black Santas, but I wanted to dig a bit deeper into how the image of Santa was formed. |
| The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here. |
Blizzard conditions and plunging temps |
| A blast of arctic air advanced over much of the U.S. on Thursday, triggering dramatic temperature drops as a storm the National Weather Service called a "once in a generation" blizzard was brewing in the northern part of the country. Forecasters warn the potential bomb cyclone could snarl busy holiday travel and knock out power. |
| • | Western states, including Wyoming, Colorado (keep warm, Laura!) and Montana, have already recorded significant temperature plunges, and more than a dozen others had readings below zero Thursday morning. | | • | Chaos has already ensued for holiday travelers dealing with airline cancellations and delays. Has your flight been canceled? Here's what you need to know. | | • | Minnesota appeared to accumulate the highest reported snowfall amounts Thursday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Snow is predicted to hit many other parts of the country in the coming days, but will it last until Christmas? | |
Americans aren't living as long |
| The average American's life expectancy fell from 77 to 76.4 years last year, bringing U.S. figures back to where they were in 1996, according to federal data released Thursday. According to Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of family medicine and population health, the new data means that gains from all the medical advances over the past quarter century have been erased. Though the rate of decline in life expectancy wasn't as dramatic as in 2020, Woolf said, the fall-off in 2021 was actually worse because it came on top of that year's 17% decline. What does this mean for us going forward? |
| • | Overdose deaths rose 16% last year to 107,000, CDC reports | |
 | | Artist Suzanne Firstenberg walks through her installation "IN AMERICA: How Could This Happen" on the D.C. Armory Parade Ground in Washington, D.C., on May 12, 2022. The project honors each of nearly 225,000 lives lost in the U.S. due to COVID-19 with a white flag. | | Jack Gruber, USA TODAY | |
What everyone's talking about |
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| The Short List is free, but several stories we link to are subscriber-only. Consider supporting our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
One step closer to a funded 2023 (and away from a shutdown) |
| The Senate on Thursday approved a $1.7 trillion spending bill to fund the rest of the 2023 fiscal year, a key step in avoiding partial government shutdown. The bill now heads to the House for an expected Friday vote. The measure includes nearly $45 billion for Ukraine, a pay raise for military troops and a measure designed to prevent a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection. |
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 | | The sun rises behind the Capitol in Washington, early Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. The Senate on Thursday passed a $1.7 trillion spending package. | | J. Scott Applewhite, AP | |
'I have zero bitterness' |
| One day after a New Orleans judge ordered an end to three decades of incarceration advocates say was based on a lie, Sherman Singleton emerged from the Louisiana State Police barracks in Baton Rouge. Singleton, 53, was convicted of second-degree murder in 1991 in connection with the shooting death of a New Orleans man. Correspondence and court papers allege Singleton's arrest was based on false statements from a disgraced former New Orleans cop who is now on federal death row for murder and civil rights violations. Keep reading for Singleton's story. |
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 | | Sherman Singleton (left), freed by a judge's order from a life sentence imposed due to a murder conviction, poses with Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin. | | Submitted | |
Real quick |
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| 🌤 What's the weather doing at your house? Check your local forecast. |
A robot's last words via Tweet |
| It has lived on two planets. It has spent years in the solar system. And now the NASA robot InSight's work on Mars appears to have come to an end . With its power low, InSight on Monday tweeted what may be its last image: a selfie shared by NASA via Twitter. InSight was launched May 5, 2018, and was the first spacecraft to document a "marsquake." NASA reported the lander's power levels have dwindled for months because of dust coating its solar panels. |
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 | | This image released by NASA on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, shows NASA's InSight lander on Mars. | | AP | |
A break from the news |
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| This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Subscribe to the newsletter here. |
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