Classified docs, 'extraordinary circumstances'

Julius Lasin, USA TODAY
·5 min read
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The handling of classified documents found at President Joe Biden's home and former office will be reviewed further by a special counsel. Inflation eased for a third month in December. And scientists have discovered an exoplanet similar to Earth. 

👋 Hi! Julius here! Let's get into Thursday's news. 

But first: A discovery millions of years in the making. 🦈 A 9-year-old from Maryland found a tooth that belonged to the extinct shark megalodon. Have to admit I am thrilled these are extinct.

Special counsel tapped to probe Biden classified records

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel, Robert Hur, on Thursday to further review the handling of classified documents found at a former office space used by President Joe Biden and at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. “The very extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel,” Garland said. Hur is a former U.S. attorney in Maryland who will return to the government from private practice. He also served as a principal associate deputy attorney general during the Trump administration.

Response to the documents: The two batches of documents that came to light this week have drawn comparisons to former President Donald Trump, who kept classified documents at his Florida home and resisted efforts to return them. Read more about the Biden documents and Hur's appointment.

U.S. Attorney Robert Hur, center, of the District of Maryland, speaks during a news conference on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019, outside a federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Md. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Hur on Thursday to further review the handling of classified documents found at a former office space used by President Biden and at his Wilmington, Del., home.

Inflation slowed again in December, consumer price index shows

Inflation eased substantially for a third month in December as tumbling gasoline prices and a moderating rise in grocery bills offset another surge in rent, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index report. The report also showed consumer prices increased 6.5% from a year earlier, down from 7.1% in November and a 40-year high of 9.1% in June. The rise last month marks the slowest annual gain since October 2021 and matches economists' estimates. The consumer price index is a measurement of what people pay for goods and services  See what else the CPI report said.

What everyone's talking about

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Start of tax season is announced

Mark your calendars: January 23 is the official start of tax season. That’s the day the Internal Revenue Service will begin to accept and process tax returns, the agency announced on Thursday. “Many software providers and tax professionals are already accepting tax returns,” the IRS said in a statement. “They will transmit those returns to the IRS when the agency begins accepting tax returns on Jan. 23.” The last day to submit income taxes is April 18, but if you live in parts of California that were impacted by the recent storms you'll have until May 15 to file your federal individual and business taxes. See other important dates for taxes.

New report warns there isn't enough water for new homes in Arizona

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs released a report Monday that shows plans to add homes for more than 800,000 people in the desert west of Phoenix will require other water sources if they are to go forward. Because of an expanding megadrought in the West, states in the region are struggling with a water shortage due to lakes and rivers drying up in addition to communities pumping more groundwater and depleting aquifers at an alarming rate. The groundwater crisis has impacted agriculture and rural communities as many are losing access to groundwater. Now, new homes will need new water sources, according to Arizona's modeling report. Read more.

The Colorado River flows at Horseshoe Bend in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on June 8, 2022, in Page, Ariz. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is expected to publish hydrology projections on Tuesday that will trigger agreed-upon cuts to states that rely on the river.
The Colorado River flows at Horseshoe Bend in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on June 8, 2022, in Page, Ariz. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is expected to publish hydrology projections on Tuesday that will trigger agreed-upon cuts to states that rely on the river.

Real quick

🌤 What's the weather up to at your house? Check your local forecast.

James Webb telescope confirms exoplanet nearly same size as Earth 

The James Webb Space Telescope notched another remarkable achievement by recently discovering its first exoplanet. The planet, named LHS 475 b, is outside of our solar system, but shares similar qualities with Earth, NASA announced. Its discovery first came with the help of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which hinted at the planet's existence before the Webb Telescope confirmed it. Exoplanets are any planets outside of our solar system that orbit a star. NASA says exoplanets are made up of elements similar to planets in our solar system, but their mixes of elements could differ. Learn more about the LHS 475 b. 

If anyone out on LHS 475 b is reading this, tell others on your planet to subscribe to The Short List.

This illustration reflects that exoplanet LHS 475 b is rocky and almost precisely the same size as Earth based on new evidence from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
This illustration reflects that exoplanet LHS 475 b is rocky and almost precisely the same size as Earth based on new evidence from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

A break from the news

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The IRS, CPI report and Robert Hur: The Short List