New Year's Day, Mega Millions and college bowl games: 5 things to know Tuesday

Editors
Updated

Happy New Year! Are you ready to keep your New Year resolution this year?

2019 is officially here. Like many Americans, you probably woke up this morning thinking about your New Year resolution. Is this the year you finally pay off your credit card? Lose 15 pounds? While many Americans make New Year’s resolutions, only 9 percent actually keep them, according to the Statistic Brain Research Institute. Here's a list of resources to make sure your New Year's resolution goes off without a hitch:

And just in case you're wondering, here's a look at the New Year's resolutions our editorial board would like to see.

More Mega Millions madness in 2019

The jackpot in the first Mega Millions drawing of 2019 was already big. But it jumped to $425 million, making the New Year's Day drawing the eighth largest in Mega Millions history. The drawing will be at 11 p.m. ET on New Year's Day. To win the Mega Millions jackpot, players pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers – five different numbers from 1 to 70 and one number from 1 to 25. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Trump’s new defense secretary Patrick Shanahan takes office

New acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan takes office Tuesday. Shanahan will replace James Mattis, who resigned in protest after Trump announced he planned to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. Shanahan will lead the Pentagon until Trump settles on a permanent replacement. But who is the new secretary of defense? The former Boeing exec has no military experience, and while Sen. John McCain was not a big fan of Shanahan, President Trump is.

New year, new state laws

A slew of new laws take effect with the turn of the calendar — including changes to minimum wage laws in nearly a third of the 50 states. As of Jan. 1, 19 states and 21 cities will increase their minimum wage, according to the National Employment Law Project, with an estimated 17 million people from New York to California receiving pay bumps once additional increases are phased in throughout the year. A few of the other notable new laws:

  • Illinois hunters will have a fashion option. In addition to bright orange, hunters can wear bright pink in 2019 to meet safety requirements during gun deer seasons or while hunting upland game with a firearm.

  • Vermont will begin paying people to move to the state. Remote workers who relocate to the Green Mountain State can apply for up to $10,000 from the state government.

  • Cursive – yes, cursive – will be mandatory in Ohio schools. A law will require students to write legibly in cursive by the end of fifth grade.

  • California will require pet stores to sell only dogs, cats and rabbits from shelters or rescue groups.

Beyond Pluto: Spacecraft to fly by distant space rock 'Ultima Thule'

Talk about far out. NASA's unmanned New Horizon spacecraft, now zooming into outer space beyond Pluto, will fly by a small space rock known as Ultima Thule on Tuesday. The flyby will "provide NASA researchers with valuable images and science data of a world we know practically nothing about," according to CNet. If successful, it will be the most distant flyby in human history, at about 4 billion miles from Earth.

BONUS: New Year's Day college bowl games

It wouldn't be Jan. 1 without college football. Some of the country's top teams will square off in college bowl games across the country on Tuesday. Here's a look at some of the games:

  • Outback Bowl, noon ET: A clash of SEC (Mississppi State) vs. the Big Ten (Iowa).

  • Fiesta Bowl, 1 p.m. ET: Undefeated UCF, overlooked by the playoff committee, can make a major statement if it can beat SEC power LSU.

  • Citrus Bowl, 1 p.m. ET: Another SEC vs. Big Ten matchup, Kentucky and Penn State each take aim at a 10-win season.

  • Rose Bowl, 5 p.m. ET: The "Grandaddy of them all.' Ohio State of the Big Ten aims to send coach Urban Meyer into retirement with a win against Washington.

  • Sugar Bowl, 8:45 p.m.: Georgia, which believes it should have been in the playoff, will try to prove it against Texas.

Perhaps, you're looking ahead to the National Championship? We've got you covered.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Year's Day, Mega Millions and college bowl games: 5 things to know Tuesday