9 ‘sleeps’ before Christmas.  17 days left in 2022. 

5 days till the start of WINTER

Today is ‘Ugly Sweater’ Day

Much of the Northeast is bracing for more winter weather over the weekend.

In the south and mid-west, a strong storm spawned at least 50 tornadoes this week

In parts of several states including Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma.  CNN

For the Triad, sunshine is back with daytime temperatures staying in the 40s. Early morning lows in the low to mid 20s!!

Winter Weather Preparedness – more information on the News Blog at wbfj.fm.

Vehicle: Check your tires. Make sure they are properly inflated.

If your car battery is close to 3 years old, have it checked, even replaced.

Home: Never leave portable heaters unattended.

Keep portable heaters at least 3 feet away from furniture and drapes.

The White House is re-starting it’s ‘free covid tests’ program.

You can order four rapid Covid tests per household through covidtests.gov.

Note: COVID-19 cases have been increasing in parts of the US since the Thanksgiving holiday, and further increases are projected, with the increase of indoor gatherings and travel over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. https://www.covid.gov/tests

The Biden administration is also urging states and local governments to do more to encourage people to get the updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, which scientists say are more effective at protecting against serious illness and death from the currently circulating variants.

Congress: The new defense spending bill also includes a provision that rescinds that Covid-19 vaccine ‘mandate’ for the US military.  Fox News

New this morning: Twitter has suspended a number of journalists from big news outlets including CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.   Elon Musk says the journalists violated Twitter’s doxxing policy. Critics of Musk call it assault on free speech.

Important ‘shipping deadline dates’ if you want it there before Christmas…

Saturday (Dec 17) US Postal Service – Ground and First-Class Mail

https://www.axios.com/2022/12/13/holiday-shipping-deadlines-2022

A&T State University athletics officials confirmed Thursday night that the university and head football coach Sam Washington are “parting ways.”

https://www.wxii12.com/article/nc-aandt-makes-football-coaching-change/42260989

AAA: The average for regular unleaded (in NC) is $2.97 a gallon.

https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=NC