Top Eight

Your Monday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Top eight stories for today including President-elect Joe Biden accused the Trump administration’s national security team of obstructing the transition; Courts in Nashville continued to experience phone and email outages because of the bomb that tore through a quiet downtown street Christmas morning; The World Health Organization said the coronavirus will likely remain with humans for years to come, and more.

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National

1.) In a speech Monday, President-elect Joe Biden accused the Trump administration’s national security team of obstructing the transition, meaning his team will have to play catch up once he is sworn in as president Jan. 20. 

2.) Just over a week before Congress meets to formalize Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November presidential election, a Republican lawmaker from Texas is asking a federal judge to give Vice President Mike Pence the exclusive power to throw out Electoral College votes.

3.) “Full House” actress Lori Loughlin was released from the big house Monday after serving two months in federal prison for her part in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. 

4.) Finding that Ghislaine Maxwell poses the same flight risk as when she was arrested, a federal judge refused Monday to let the British socialite out of jail before her trial on charges of assisting Jeffrey Epstein recruit girls and young women for sex.  

Regional

5.) Courts in Nashville continued to experience phone and email outages Monday morning because of the bomb that tore through a quiet downtown street lined with restaurants and bars Christmas morning.

6.) The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that nonviolent sex offenders can be considered for early parole under an initiative passed in 2016 that extended parole eligibility to all inmates convicted of nonviolent felonies.

International

7.) Nearly one year since the novel coronavirus first emerged in China, the World Health Organization on Monday said the virus will likely remain with humans for years to come, just like influenza.

Science

8.) Scientists revealed Monday that big bumblebees, able to carry more than their smaller counterparts, are pickier about which flowers to draw nectar from and put in more effort to find them.

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