PROTESTERS seeking to force the eastern entrance to the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 in Washington, DC. (Wikipedia).

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows now faces possible criminal contempt charges for refusing a subpoena from a committee of the House of Representatives investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

According to USA Today, Meadow originally agreed to testify before the panel, but changed his mind after providing some documents.

So far, almost 400 witnesses have cooperated and provided 30,000 records.

The panel is especially interested in former president Donald Trump’s role in the incident, in which right-wing extremists stormed the seat of Congress seeking to stop certification of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president.

High court lets vaccine mandate stand

Rejecting a claim of religious exemptions, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to block a requirement in New York that health care workers be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.  The court issued an unsigned order with no specifics, but it appears that three members of the court would have overturned the mandate.

Also in the news …

• Elon Musk has been named “Person of the Year” by Time Magazine.
• Twenty-seven people have been dismissed from the U.S. Air Force for refusing vaccination against the coronavirus. Under an earlier Department of Defense order, all members of the federal military, including active duty, reserve and National Guard, are required to be vaccinated.
• The confirmed death toll in Kentucky from the tornado storms is now at 74 people.

Sports: $380M settlement in lawsuit

LARRY NASSAR (Wikipedia)

A settlement of a reported $380 million will be paid to female gymnasts who sued several sports bodies over sexual abuse by former Olympic team doctor Larry Nassar.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the lawsuits were settled by USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee on Monday. Nassar, who is serving long prison sentences for sexual assault and possession of child pornography, abused over 500 gymnasts under the guise of medical treatment.

Additionally, the agreement calls for new policies to protect athletes from abuse and for seats on the organization board for former athletes.

Weather: Get your umbrella out

Tuesday should be a wet day in West Orange County with a forecast of 100 percent chance of rain. It’ll be breezy with a daytime high of 59 (overnight low of 40).  Wednesday will be partly cloudy with a high of 59 (41) and Thursday almost the same.  Sunny weather will return on Friday with a daytime high of 65 (42).

Finance: Wall Street wins sixth straight

For the sixth consecutive business day, the major stock markets all showed gains. The S&P 500 added 8.5 points to close the day at 4,677.25. The Dow rose by 64 points to 35,709 and Nasdaq hopped 21.5 points to 16,103,50.