OBAMA'S GRAND IMMIGRATION PLANS GET PUT ON ICE When President Obama leaves office in 2017, he'll no doubt point to Obamacare, ordering the operation that killed Osama bin Laden and opening the door to Cuba as among his most significant achievements. But a question mark remains over the hot-button issue of immigration policy. Everyone agrees the system is broken, but no one can agree on how to fix it. The president sidestepped a gridlocked Congress last November, after the midterm elections, issuing a set of executive orders to protect 5 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. Cue fury from Republicans. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, filed suit in December on behalf of Texas and 26(!) other states opposed to the executive action. Last night, a federal judge issued an injunction, a decision that was hailed by Republicans. (Part of Obama's new policy was to go into effect tomorrow.) The White House, irate, is planning to appeal; predictions are that this one will wind up in front of the Supreme Court.
#FREEAUSTINTICE IS ABOUT TO GO VIRAL — HIS PARENTS HOPE Austin Tice's parents have worked quietly for two years to try and find their missing son — a journalist covering Syria. Now they are going very public to bring awareness to his case. An ad campaign will put #FreeAustinTice on the home pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post , USA TODAY and numerous other publications. They're counting on public pressure to encourage the U.S. administration to do more to find their son, working through Reporters Without Borders. Tice disappeared three months after arriving in Syria. A 2012 video showed Tice blindfolded with captors nearby, but no individual or group has come forward to seek ransom or claim Tice as their hostage.
A-ROD'S HANDWRITTEN APOLOGY MAY BE THE SMARTEST THING HE'S EVER DONE After sitting out the entire 2014 season for violating MLB's performance-enhancing drugs policy, Alex Rodriguez is working on making amends. He apologized to the New York Yankees in an "honest" meeting last week, and today issued a handwritten letter of apology to fans that was posted by MLB. You can read the full letter here. Rodriguez writes that he knows fans may not believe "anything that I say," but that he wants to focus on playing baseball. The apology comes on the same day Anthony Bosch, the former owner of Biogenesis — the South Florida clinic that supplied performance-enhancing substances to A-Rod and other athletes — wassentenced to four years in federal prison . USA TODAY Sports columnist Bob Nightengale writes that skipping the news conference and going straight to fans might be the smartest thing A-Rod has done in years.
A LITTLE TEAM SPIRIT CAN GET YOU TO MARS, BUT NOT BACK TO EARTH Thirty-three Americans are among 100 finalists who may get a one-way ticket to the Red Planet. The candidates must be psychologically capable of handling the isolation of Mars, team players and willing to die up there. Only 24 people will be chosen for the mission. The group will be whittled down reality-TV style. The American finalists range from emergency room doctors to contenders in their 20s, according to their biographies on the Mars One website. Also in far-out space news, NASA says submarines could one day explore a liquid methane lake on one of Saturn's moons.
NISSAN'S BRIGHT IDEA: GLOW-IN-THE-DARK PAINT JOB ON THE LEAF Glow-in-the-dark paint isn't just for raves anymore. Apparently it's for cars, too : Nissan is experimenting with it on the electric Nissan Leaf. The paint absorbs the sun's rays during the day and then glows from eight to 10 hours after the sun goes down. Nissan admits it's not first among automakers when it comes to glowing cars, and alas, what we saw was just a demonstration and isn't yet planned for production. But Nissan says the system it's developing is special. For instance, the company thinks the paint job will last on the car for 25 years. The glowing paint also reminds us that Leaf is an eco-car with low charging costs. We think glow-in-the-dark technology is cool, so we wanted to remind you of these stories: Last February, we wrote about reindeer in Finland getting their antlers sprayed in an effort to prevent car accidents. Some scientists had the bright idea to make bunnies that glow in the dark. And of course, there's the woman who went to court over aglow-in-the-dark toilet seat. |
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| Compiled by Cara Richardson and Emily Brown. Contributing: Gregory Korte, David Jackson, Melanie Eversley, Chris Woodyard, USA TODAY; Emma S Hinchliffe, Special for USA TODAY; Nick Schwartz, USA TODAY Sports; Mary Bowerman, Lori Grisham, USA TODAY Network; Associated Press |
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