What we know so far about the five victims of the Waukesha Christmas Parade  —  Bill Glauber Sophie Carson Sarah Volpenhein Talis ShelbourneMilwaukee Journal Sentinel  —  Every parade has an act that draws the eye, that brings a quick smile and a delighted laugh.

Trump poll tests his 2024 comeback map  —  As Donald Trump builds out a presidential-campaign-in-waiting, his team is focusing on an electoral strategy that relies on recapturing the five states that flipped to Joe Biden in 2020.  —  The five states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan …

President Biden Announces Release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve As Part of Ongoing Efforts to Lower Prices and Address Lack of Supply Around the World  —  Announcement is in parallel with other major energy consuming nations, including China, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom

Thomas Jefferson statue removed from City Hall after 187 years  —  MORE ON:  —  Thomas Jefferson is about to no longer be in the room where it happens.  —  Art handlers packed up an 884-pound statue of Jefferson in a wooden crate Monday after a mayoral commission voted to banish the likeness …

Rep. Louie Gohmert announces he's running for Texas AG  —  Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, a staunch Trump ally, made it official on Monday: He's joining the crowded primary to unseat GOP incumbent Ken Paxton for state attorney general.  —  The congressman announced earlier this month …

Our Foghorn Leghorn Republican senator little resembles his former Democratic self, but in Louisiana we know the type  —  Robert Mann, a mass communication professor at Louisiana State University and former press secretary for Democratic senators Russell Long and John Breaux of Louisiana …

The Democratic brand is broken.  The infrastructure bill isn't fixing it.  —  In the days after the Democratic Party's collapse in the Virginia governor's race, party strategists descended on the commonwealth to figure out what went wrong and understand just how bad the national outlook might be next year.

Bannon indictment does little to jumpstart Jan. 6 committee's subpoena talks with top targets  —  Two months after the Jan. 6 select committee subpoenaed them, two of Donald Trump's top White House aides are locked in a standoff with the panel — and the indictment of Trump ally Steve Bannon appears …

Two Fox News contributors resign over former La Jolla resident's documentary  —  Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter.  It's Tuesday, Nov. 23.  I'm Justin Ray.  —  Two longtime Fox News contributors recently resigned over a controversial documentary by a former La Jolla resident.

New York Moves to Allow 800,000 Noncitizens to Vote in Local Elections  —  New York City will become the largest municipality in the country to allow legal residents to vote if the legislation is approved as expected in December.  —  New York City lawmakers are poised to allow more than 800,000 …

Judge orders two lawyers who filed suit challenging 2020 election to pay hefty fees: ‘They need to take responsibility’  —  A federal judge has ordered two Colorado lawyers who filed a lawsuit late last year challenging the 2020 election results to pay nearly $187,000 to defray the legal fees …

D.C. records 200th homicide of the year, a mark not seen since 2004  —  The District on Monday recorded its 200th homicide this year, the first time that symbolic threshold of deadly violence has been reached in the nation's capital since 2004.  —  A man was fatally shot just after 10:15 p.m …

German Lopez Joins The Morning as a Reporter and Writer  —  German will enable The Morning to expand to seven days a week early next year.  Read more in this note from David Leonhardt and Amy Fiscus.  —  German Lopez is one of journalism's clearest writers on a remarkable array of topics …

The Housing Proposal That's Quietly Tearing Apart Atlanta  —  Secession efforts by Buckhead residents are gaining momentum as the city proposes zoning changes to create more apartments and affordable housing.  —  For those leading a campaign to secede from the city of Atlanta …

A Michigan woman tried to hire an assassin online at RentAHitman.com.  Now, she's going to prison.  —  Seething and vengeful, Wendy Wein was on the lookout for the professional killer she meant to hire as she waited inside a southeastern Michigan cafe in July 2020.  —  Wein wanted her ex-husband dead.

RNC agrees to pay some of Trump's legal bills in N.Y. criminal investigation  —  The Republican National Committee is paying some personal legal bills for former president Donald Trump, spending party funds to pay a lawyer representing Trump in investigations into his financial practices in New York, a party spokeswoman said Monday.

Hogan knocks Trump: 'I'd prefer endorsements from people who didn't lose Maryland by 33 points'  —  Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) knocked former President Trump on Monday, pointing to the former president's loss in Old Line State during the 2020 presidential election.

World Cup host Qatar used ex-CIA officer to spy on FIFA  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The tiny Arab nation of Qatar has for years employed a former CIA officer to help spy on soccer officials as part of a no-expense-spared effort to win and hold on to the 2022 World Cup tournament, an investigation by The Associated Press has found.

We All Live in the John Birch Society's World Now … When Lionel Trilling dismissed America's conservative intellectual tradition as a series of “irritable mental gestures,” it's a safe bet that he had people like Robert Welch in mind.  Welch, the irascible candy executive who founded …

Under Trump, ICE aggressively recruited sheriffs as partners to question and detain undocumented immigrants  —  Emails reveal efforts to expand controversial 287(g) program despite longstanding concerns about discriminatory policing  —  Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins had spent years advocating …

Taliban sends hundreds of fighters to eastern Afghanistan to wage war against Islamic State  —  JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The Taliban has expanded its shadowy war against the Islamic State branch in Afghanistan, deploying hundreds more fighters to this eastern province in an increasingly violent fight …

From Zoom to COVID vaccines to Biden and (gulp) Trump, a liberal's Thanksgiving thanks  —  There is much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving week, despite the pain of our troubled times.  What's on your list?  You might be surprised by mine.  —  Jill LawrenceUSA TODAY

Ridley Scott Pins ‘The Last Duel’ Bombing on Apathetic Millennials  —  The film starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck, cratered when it arrived exclusively in theaters in late October.

The QAnon JFK Cult in Dallas Is Tearing Families Apart  —  “My sister may be too far gone, but it's not too late to bring awareness to others.  Do not fall into this trap.”  —  DG  —  Katy Garner and her sister grew up in a small town in Arkansas and were always close.

First look: Targeting foreign cash behind congressional testimony  —  New legislation would force policy experts who testify before Congress to disclose any foreign government funding for nonprofits employing them, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: Existing rules provide a measure of disclosure …

JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon and Tesla's Elon Musk Feud Behind the Scenes  —  Bank's lawsuit against electric-vehicle maker brings the CEOs' long-simmering tensions into open  —  Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon don't get along.  —  Mr. Musk has spurned Mr. Dimon's JPMorgan Chase & Co. for years …

The Democrats' child care proposal is deeply flawed  —  It could actually raise costs for many parents in the first three years.  —  On Friday, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act on a near party-line vote.  Every Republican voted against the bill, while all Democrats but one voted for it.

Father of man killed by Rittenhouse slams Marjorie Taylor Greene for attacking son's character  —  The father of Kyle Rittenhouse victim Anthony Huber slams the Rittenhouse trial verdict, and Marjorie Taylor Greene for attacking his son's character.  John Huber, father of Anthony Huber …