Good morning and welcome to Fresh Intelligence, our roundup of the stories, ideas, and memes you’ll be talking about today. In this edition two college students are accused of murder, Donald Trump might be sexist, puppies are coming, and so is the Iowa Caucus. Here’s the rundown for Monday, February 1.
WEATHER
Blizzard alerts are in effect in seven states as Winter Storm Kayla sweeps from Southern California, across the Rockies and into the Great Lakes. Severe winds have caused mudslides, damage, and one death in Southern California over the weekend, and now they’re headed for Northern California. In New York, today should be gray and in the 50s, cooling off tomorrow. [Weather]
FRONT PAGE
Virginia Tech Students Arrested in Teen’s Murder
Two Virginia Tech students were arrested over the weekend in connection with the kidnapping and death of 13-year old Nicole Madison Lovell. The child’s remains were discovered on Saturday, four days after she went missing. David Eisenhauer, 18, was arrested on Saturday and charged with abduction and first-degree murder. Natalie Keepers, 19, was arrested on Sunday and charged with helping him dispose the girl’s body. The two students are being held without bail. [WaPo]
EARLY AND OFTEN
Trump Sexism Accusation Considered News
In a move that shocked pretty much nobody, a Donald Trump field organizer accused the campaign of sexism and discrimination. Elizabeth Mae Davidson, who was fired from the campaign last month, claims men were paid more than women for doing the same jobs and denied the same opportunities as male staffers. So just like most jobs all over the country? [The Hill]
Trump Has Problem with Marriages, and Not Just His Own
Donald Trump has come out with his strongest opposition to same-sex marriage yet. The presidential candidate said on Sunday that if elected he would appoint Supreme Court judges who would overturn last year’s historic same-sex marriage decision.
Socialist Surviving on Handouts
January was a big month for Bernie Sanders. The Democratic candidate made a full $20 million over the course of the month, a record for the Vermont senator. According to the campaign, Sanders is expected to beat Clinton’s goal of $50 million in the first quarter of 2016 handily. Nearly all of his money has come in the form of small donations. [HuffPo]
Engaged Citizens Must Pretend to Watch Four More Debates
It looks like the back and fourth between Sanders and Clinton about extra debates has actually borne fruit. MSNBC announced it will host a new debate this Thursday with more to follow.
THE STREET, THE VALLEY
Dark Pool Settlement Less Cool Than It Sounds
New York officials announced yesterday that Barclays and Credit Suisse have reached settlements with both state and federal authorities over dark pools. Barclays will pay $70 million and admit wrongdoing; the total payout from both banks is the largest in history connected to the “trading venues that differ from public exchanges because orders are not visible to other traders until they are executed,” whatever that means. [Reuters]
That’s a Lot of Breakups: Adele Saves Sony
The behind-the-scenes hysterics exposed in the Sony email scandal now seem totally unearned. Sony had a very lucrative quarter, blowing analysts’ estimates out of the water. Its impressive revenue is mostly due to the huge success of the new James Bond movie, the Adele album, and a robust video game market. [Bloomberg]
Uber Will Get Your Children’s Hopes Up This Wednesday
We’re almost positive this isn’t a hoax. Uber is teaming up with animal welfare groups to offer on-demand puppies this Wednesday. Naturally, people are pretty excited about this. [Tech Crunch]
Major Bank’s Total Hiring Freeze Not a Great Sign
Banking giant HSBC is having a hard time. First it announced a plan to cut one in five jobs, then rumors had it possibly relocating to Hong Kong, and now the bank has announced a total pay and hiring freeze for 2016. [Reuters]
MEDIA BUBBLE
A Very Deadly Quarter Century for Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists released a depressing report on Sunday. In the last 25 years 2,297 journalists and media workers have been killed while doing their jobs. The report also said only one in ten killings is every investigated. [ABC]
Ex-Daily News Reporter Dead at 32
Michael Feeney, a one-time reporter for the Daily News and a past president of the Association of Black Journalists died yesterday in Atlanta following complications related to a staff infection. He was 32 and about to start his dream job as an entertainment reporter at CNN. [NYDN]
Do There Seem to Be a Lot of Awards These Days?
The Screen Actors Guild Awards, the third most important annual awards for television and film, took place on Saturday night. This year’s big prizes went to Spotlight — journalism is cool again! — Leonardo DiCaprio, Downton Abbey, Orange is the New Black, Brie Larson, and Idris Alba.
PHOTO OP
Burns Braces for Another Protest
Just when it seemed things were starting to calm down at the Oregon wildlife refuge that became the scene of an armed insurrection, another group is set to descend on Burns. Groups angry about the death of militiaman LaVoy Finicum plan to protest on Monday. [NYT]
MORNING MEME
A bit of heroism on the campaign trail. This is the heckler America deserves, pretend vomiting and all. [Gawker]
OTHER LOCAL NEWS
Prank Call Destroys a Burger King
Employees at a Moro Bay, California Burger King destroyed their own franchise over the weekend when a prank caller allegedly told them to break all of the windows because of a gas leak. Police are reminding local residents not to just destroy everything because a stranger tells you to. [The Tribune]
“Butt Crack Bandit” Still at Large
A robber in — you guessed it — Florida is still on the loose after robbing two people at gunpoint in August. The investigation can’t be going well because police posted surveillance footage of the robbery on YouTube over the weekend. Oh, and the robber’s pants are falling off, thus the name. [HuffPo]
HAPPENING TODAY
Months-Old Election Season Finally Starts
Today is the Iowa Caucus, the first electoral event in the interminable process of picking presidential candidates, before the even worse process of actually electing a president even gets started.
