Midday Roundup: East, Midwest brace for bone-chilling cold

Extra cold. Dangerously cold temperatures are arriving in the East and Midwest as arctic air moves in. Frigid temperatures and snow already battered some northern states over the weekend with more on the way. Temperatures will fall 10 to 35 degrees below average in much of the Midwest and eastern United States. But “cold” can be relative. Minnesota saw minus 28 degrees on Monday, and fishing guide Kent Peterson said he’s already looking forward to the warmth of February and March: “Believe it or not, when you start seeing those temperatures up in the teens and 20s—I mean, it just feels like a heat wave for us.”

Postponed. SpaceX scrapped an early morning rocket launch today after one of the Dragon capsule’s two motors failed to operate as expected. The capsule is carrying 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station. The last payload headed for space aboard a civilian rocket didn’t make it; a rocket operated by Orbital Sciences Corp. blew up shortly after takeoff in October. The SpaceX flight was scheduled for before Christmas but had to be delayed after the rocket failed an engine test. This launch is especially important for SpaceX not because of its cargo but because of the rocket’s planned landing. The company hopes to bring the booster rocket safely down on a platform in the Atlantic. If successful, it will be a first. Recovering and reusing rockets after they’ve powered capsules past Earth’s atmosphere will help drive down costs and shorten the turnaround time for spaceflights.

Ignore the question. White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Monday deflected questions about the effectiveness of the U.S. airstrikes against ISIS militants. “I am confident that as a general matter that the president will use the opportunity of that national address to talk about the threat that we face from ISIL,” Earnest said, referencing the Jan. 20 State of the Union speech. On Sunday and Monday, U.S. warplanes led 20 coalition air strikes against ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria. The strikes targeted ISIS fighters and crude oil facilities. Earnest said the ongoing war has a multi-front strategy: “It involves combating foreign fighters. It involves counterfinance and it also includes the efforts that we have undertaken to … counter ISIL’s message in the Muslim world.”

Murder conviction. An Israeli military court has sentenced a Hamas terrorist to three life terms for the attack that sparked last year’s 50-day war in Gaza. Hussam Kawasmeh was convicted of planning the abduction of Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gilad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel, both 16. The teens were shot and killed while hitchhiking in the occupied West Bank in June. The men suspected of carrying out the attack died in a firefight with Israeli soldiers in September. After the teens’ abduction, three Isreali men snatched a Palestinian teen in Jerusalem and burned him alive in retaliation. Mohammed Abu Khudair’s murder led to clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police that eventually erupted into the seven-week war.

Remembered. Donna Douglas, the actress who played the critter-loving, blonde tomboy Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies, died on New Year’s Day. She was 82. In addition to playing Elly May between 1962 and 1971, she starred opposite Elvis Presley in the 1966 film Frankie and Johnny and had guest roles on The Twilight Zone and Route 66. Her real name was Doris Smith. She attended a Catholic high school in her native Louisiana. And before Hollywood, she was a beauty contest winner, named both Miss Baton Rouge and Miss New Orleans. Roles became scarcer for her after The Beverly Hillbillies, partly because she refused parts she found morally objectionable. Douglas went into the real estate business, recorded several gospel music albums, and spoke frequently at churches and youth events. And whenever she was asked to sign an autograph, she always included a Scripture reference, usually Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

WORLD radio’s Mary Reichard and Joseph Slife contributed to this report.