News From Around the Web
#10 Fluoride Removed From Water in Port St. Lucie Following State Surgeon General’s Concerns - Keith Burbank for TC Palm, UncoverDC, Justin Robert, Daniel Horowitz, and Judy Cho/Nutrition with Judy on X
bout three weeks after Stuart temporarily removed fluoride from its drinking water, Port St. Lucie officials have done the same. The announcement was made Wednesday and affects 95,000 water customers in the city. Fluoridation was stopped Dec. 13, and the city says it takes about two days to refresh the system. The St. Lucie West Services District serves 6,800 customers in Port St. Lucie. Officials there could not be reached for comment. “Our top priority is to provide our customers with the safest and highest-quality product possible,” said Kevin Matyjaszek, director of the Port St. Lucie Utility Systems Department, in a statement. “Given recent concerns, we felt it was in our customers’ best interest to temporarily halt adding fluoride to our water until more information is available.”
#9 House GOP Leaders Scramble for Plan B After Trump, Musk Lead Conservative Fury Against Spending Bill - Fox News, Benny Johnson, Elon Musk, Steve Deace, Rep. Nancy Mace, Protocol Pulse, MissBeck71, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Thomas Massie on X
House GOP leaders are working toward a backup plan after an initial bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown on Friday was killed by an avalanche of conservative opposition. The legislation angered conservatives in both the House and Senate, as well as President-elect Trump's pick to co-chair his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk. As Musk called for lawmakers who supported the bill to lose their seats, Trump's presidential transition team released an official joint statement by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance opposing the initial iteration of the deal...
#8 California Declares First Statewide Emergency Over Bird Flu - Emma Anderson for Politico, Libs of TikTok, BNO News, Unusual Whales, and Clandestine/Frank (Ephraim) Zelenko on X
California on Wednesday declared a statewide emergency over bird flu, with Gov. Gavin Newsom warning that “conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property” meant greater efforts were needed to defeat the spread. “Local authority is inadequate to cope with the magnitude of the damage caused by Bird Flu,” Newsom said in his declaration...
#7 ‘A More Perfect Union’: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Calls for Abolition of Electoral College - Victor Morton for The Washington Times, America/Geisterjager, Julia, and Nathan C. Brindle Author on X
Add New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to the chorus of Democrats calling for the abolition of the Electoral College, even though President-elect Donald Trump just won the popular vote. In a speech given as she presided over New York’s presidential electors casting their votes Tuesday for Vice President Kamala Harris, Ms. Hochul called the institution undemocratic. “We, the people, are forming a more perfect union, and I strongly believe that the people of New York state and the United States of America should and must have their votes count equally and that the popular vote should prevail,” the Democratic governor said...
#6 Russia Says Suspect Detained in the Killing of a Senior General in Moscow - PBS News, Alex Jones, Neeraj Rajput, James Boone, and World News Tonight on X
Russia’s security service said Wednesday that it has detained a suspect in the killing of a senior general in Moscow. The suspect was described as an Uzbek citizen recruited by Ukrainian intelligence services. Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed Tuesday by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security service leveled criminal charges against him. His assistant also died in the attack. A Ukrainian official said the service carried out the attack...
#5 Members of Congress Rolled a Pay Raise for Themselves Into Big Must-Do Spending Bill - Jacob Fischler for The Georgia Recorder, Nick Sortor/Dan Crenshaw, Dana Loesch/Thomas Massie, Paul A Szypula, Ann Vandersteel TM,
Members of Congress are in line for their first pay raise since 2009 if they pass a massive stopgap spending measure that would avert a partial government shutdown. A 1989 law created automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments for Congress, but every spending bill since 2009 has included a provision blocking the raises from going into effect, according to a September report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. The 1,500-page bill to fund the government through mid-March, released Tuesday evening, does not include such a provision. Bloomberg Government first reported on the absence of the provision in the most recent spending bill...
#4 US EPA Approves California Plan to Ban Sale of Gas-Only Cars Starting in 2035 - David Shepardson for Reuters, Collin Rugg, James Gallagher, Daniel Turner, Tom Cotton, and Thomas Catenacci on X
#3 Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Alice In Chains Among Those Who Misused Covid Relief Funds - KRock 103.9, UncoverDC, Amy Nelson, Jordan Weissman, and Rolling Stone on X
According to a new report from Business Insider, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Alice in Chains, Marshmello, and other artists apparently spent massive amounts of COVID relief grant money on luxury items, travel, and themselves. Senator Gary Peters called it “an abuse of federal resources.” Brown’s CBE Touring company received $10 million from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program, with nearly $5 million going directly to Brown, which he used to pay for a lavish birthday party and a trip to Mexico. Lil Wayne received an $8.9 million grant, spending $1.4 million on private jets and nearly $500,000 on luxury clothing...#2 Alternatives in Healthcare Treatments - Gina Hulse for UncoverDC, Tracy Beanz, Robyn Wellness Hacker, and Walter Wartenweiler/Holden Culotta, and Channa Prakash on X
Americans have the right to informed, educated choices regarding what healthcare treatments they receive, including alternative treatments that do not include medication. Natural health choices and medical freedom are essential to independent, thinking Americans who value reaching and maintaining good health. So, when we arrive at a roadblock in our health and the care we receive, and our healing cannot be achieved through medication, our doctors should be willing to utilize any alternative medicine or treatment method to heal the individual patient best...#1 RFK Jr. ‘Had Nothing to Do’ With Polio Vaccine Petition: Lawyer - Chris Cuomo for News Nation, Tracy Beanz/Aaron Siri/Chris Cuomo, Sara Rose and Del Bigtree on X
An attorney who has represented Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clarified Tuesday that his former client has never supported a petition to eradicate approval for the polio vaccine. Attorney Aaron Siri alleged the New York Times report titled Kennedy’s Lawyer Has Asked the F.D.A. to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine is misleading. “This petition had nothing to do with him (Kennedy),” Siri said on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.” “And the claim that this petition would have left Americans without a polio vaccine is categorically false.” Siri believes the publication “intended to mislead” Americans and that they’re “desperately trying to derail” Kennedy’s potential confirmation...
And Now for Something Special 
First Ever National Civics Bee Crowns 8th Grade Girl From Alaska for Knowing How Government Works - Andy Corbley for Good News Network, Daniels Fund, and Anchorage Daily News on X
A month ago, an 8th-grader from Alaska won the inaugural National Civics Bee aimed at cultivating the next generation of leaders through competition. Winning the Alaska state civics bee, Emily Brubaker was able to participate in the national competition at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation building in Washington on November 12th. Her victory was rewarded with a $100,000 scholarship for a school of her choice...
