Monday morning news: December 26, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Weather » A monster winter storm claimed dozens of lives over the Christmas weekend.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul:

HOCHUL: This one is for the ages. And we’re still in the middle of it. We still have people who need to be rescued. We have people with their power off in their communities and buildings where their pipes are bursting and flooding is occurring, as is occurring, as is happening in my own home right now.

Snow-buried regions around the Great Lakes have seen the worst of it, but Richard Otto with the National Weather Service said Sunday …

OTTO: Cold numbers go all the way down to the Gulf Coast where much of the Deep South is below freezing this morning. Central and northern Florida, they are also below freezing this morning.

About 60% of the U.S. population faced some sort of winter weather advisory or warning over the weekend.

Travel » And, of course, the severe winter weather caused nightmares for holiday travelers.

After tens of thousands of flight cancellations, many found themselves stranded at airports on Christmas Day. One traveler at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport said he was hoping for the best.

AUDIO: I have my fingers crossed that we’re able to kind of pull off something exciting here and get somewhere, other than Atlanta.

Starting Friday and into Saturday, the entire Seattle-Tacoma airport was shut down with all of its runways iced over.

Gas » But for holiday road-trippers in areas where the roads are safe to drive, they’re enjoying lower prices at the pump.

Patrick De Haan with Gasbuddy.com…

DE HAAN: The national average up just slightly overnight to $3.09 per gallon. That’s still 47 cents a gallon less than a month ago. And prices now 20 cents lower than they were last Christmas.

AAA says Texans are paying the lowest per-gallon average in the nation at $2.65.

California still has the most expensive gas in the continental US at $4.36 a gallon.

Omnibus reactions » Many Republicans are blasting the massive spending bill that Congress passed before Christmas. The 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus bill funds the government through September.

Florida Congressman Michael Walz said the omnibus package was the combination of 12 different appropriations bills.

WALZ: We should be voting on every one of those individually. Defense of course, Department of Homeland Security, Labor, and on down the list of federal agencies.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised it as an aggressive investment in America. And some Republicans supported it, including 18 GOP senators. But most said it’s loaded with pork and wasteful spending.

And Texas Congressman Pat Fallon said …

FALLON: There was nearly a half a billion dollars for securing the border in countries like Egypt and Jordan and [SIC] and nothing for our border.

New border numbers » And Homeland Security numbers suggest that even though the Title 42 rule has not yet next expired, the border crisis is already getting worse.

Border authorities last month detained more than 230,000 migrants who crossed illegally. That is a record for the month of November.

The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to let Title 42 expire after Christmas. The rule allows the government to more easily expel some migrants who cross the border.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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