Good afternoon! It’s Monday, and a special shout out to Rundown reader Deb, whom I had the pleasure of running into this weekend. Feel free to say hi if you ever see me out and about! I got my first haircut from a professional during the pandemic, so I don’t look as deranged. Here’s what you need to know today.

(By the way, if you’d like this emailed to your inbox, you can sign up here.)

1. Outbreak of tornadoes in the Midwest and South raise questions about the climate crisis

The recent and potentially historic outbreak of deadly tornadoes — striking Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi — may be the result of global warming, some scientists say.

But the exact link between tornadoes and climate change remains unclear, experts say, and more research is needed to answer a complicated question. But warming temperatures could provide more opportunities for tornadoes to strike, and the U.S. is likely to see more of them in the winter, scientists say. [AP]

Meanwhile, satellite images before and after the tornadoes show the extent of their destruction. [NPR]

In Chicago, a nonprofit organization has already begun shipping relief supplies to Kentucky, which bore the brunt of the disaster. [Chicago Sun-Times]

At least 64 deaths have been confirmed in Kentucky and 105 people remain unaccounted for. [NPR]

Among those who died were workers at a candle factory that collapsed. Two friends, who raced to the factory, are being credited for helping dig out dozens of workers. [Washington Post]

2. The omicron variant could dominate Europe as soon as this week

The situation in Europe could give health officials in the U.S. a glimpse into the future, as the omicron variant has been identified in at least 30 states.

European officials say omicron could surpass delta and become the dominant variant this week. Scientists say omicron may cause milder illness than delta. Preliminary data on 766 confirmed cases of omicron in the region shows all patients either had mild cases or were asymptomatic. [Washington Post]

In the U.K., officials today reported the nation’s first known death of a patient infected with omicron. The Associated Press reports long lines outside of vaccination centers across England as people rush to get booster shots. [AP]

Meanwhile, more attention is shifting to people who develop “long COVID,” which begins with mild illness and can lead to several months of symptoms including fatigue, shortness of breath and other maladies that can prevent people from working. [Washington Post]

In Chicago, a Moderna vaccine trial for children 6 months to 5 years is underway at Lurie Children’s Hospital. [Chicago Tribune]

3. Chicago proposes a $2.9 million settlement to Anjanette Young over wrongful police raid

A City Council committee today advanced the proposed settlement to Anjanette Young after police incorrectly raided her home and forced her to remain naked in front of officers for 40 minutes.

A final vote on the settlement is slated before the full council on Wednesday.

Young was undressed and getting ready for bed when officers entered her Near West Side home on Feb. 21, 2019. Mayor Lori Lightfoot initially said she did not know of the botched raid until CBS-2 aired video of the raid in 2020. But she then admitted an aide brought up the raid in an email in November of 2019.

The city’s Law Department had also gone to extraordinary lengths to keep CBS-2 from airing the video. [Chicago Sun-Times]

4. Pritzker named as a potential “plan B” for Dems worried about Biden’s poll numbers

Gov. JB Pritzker is one of several potential candidates being floated as an alternative to President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, according to The New York Times.

As the newspaper reports: “While allies say that Mr. Pritzker has expressed no specific intention to run for president in 2024 if Mr. Biden bows out, he has talked privately about his interest in seeking the White House at some point should the opportunity arise.”

A Pritzker spokeswoman said the governor “wholeheartedly supports” Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Some Democrats, worried about Biden’s age and his plunging approval rating, are growing nervous that former President Donald Trump could make a comeback if the party doesn’t have a strong candidate, the Times reports. [NYT]

Those concerns come as anti-democratic movement, fueled by Trump’s false claims of voter fraud, has gained momentum in states that could decide the next presidential election. [NYT]

5. The Golden Globes are back. Is anybody watching?

The nominees for the Golden Globe Awards were announced today, but scandals plaguing the group behind the event may mean the whole thing doesn’t carry the same weight as it has in the past.

As Deadline points out, the “nominations may end up being more of a scarlet letter than a badge of honor for those named.”

Investigations into the group, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, found not a single Black person was among its membership, and studios, celebrities and publicists courted members for votes in ways deemed unethical.

As a result of these bombshell revelations, NBC decided to not broadcast the Jan. 9 event. The press association vowed a wave of reforms, including a push to diversify its membership, but the results have been murky. [Deadline]

Here’s what else is happening

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to push for a Texas-like law that empowers private citizens to enforce an assault weapons ban. [AP]
• Chicago Transit Authority workers are calling for more safety measures after a spate of violence against bus drivers. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Many Illinois teens with developmental disabilities, behavior or mental health issues being turned away from residential treatment facilities, experts and state lawmakers say. [WBEZ]
• Elon Musk was named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year.” [Time]

Oh, and one more thing …

Two big cultural icons are being honored after their deaths were announced over the weekend.

Vicente Fernández, known to generations of fans as “El Rey,” is remembered as the king of traditional Mexican music. The cause of death for Fernández, 81, was not given, but he had been hospitalized since August after suffering a fall that led to emergency spinal surgery. [NPR]

Chicago Tribune journalist Laura N. Rodríguez Presa shared this video of Chicago residents remembering Fernández in the Pilsen neighborhood. [Twitter]

And author Anne Rice, praised for reinventing vampires as tragic antiheroes, died at the age of 80 due to complications from a stroke. Rice’s work, most notably Interview with a Vampire, particularly resonated with the LGBTQ community.

“I wrote novels about people who are shut out of life for various reasons,” Rice wrote in her 2008 memoir, Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession. “This became a great theme of my novels — how one suffers as an outcast, how one is shut out of various levels of meaning and, ultimately, out of human life itself.” [NPR]

Tell me something good …

The end of the year is quickly approaching. What’s going to be your resolution for 2022?

Mine is to finish the massive stack of books at my apartment that I haven’t read yet because I keep getting other books to read.

Feel free to email me at therundown@wbez.org or tweet me at @whuntah, and your responses might be shared here this week.

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