5 Things To Know For Your New Day-Wednesday December 27th

via CNN:

Trump hopes for bipartisan infrastructure deal

President Donald Trump, looking ahead to a critical election year where his record will be on the ballot alongside Republican lawmakers, plans a major push on infrastructure in January, aides said this week.

Before decamping to his Florida estate for the holiday, Trump predicted his effort to repair the country’s roads, airports and bridges would garner bipartisan support with ease.

But his plan of winning over Democrats — critical to passing such a spending package — remains a long shot, given the President’s own divisive politics, the details of his proposal and the pending midterm election.

Kennedy Center Honors go on, despite presidential no-show

The latest Kennedy Center Honors should be cause for celebration, marking the event’s 40th anniversary, in the year that coincides with John F. Kennedy’s 100th birthday.

Yet this annual recognition of the arts — lauding luminaries from various fields, as they rub elbows with the Washington elite — comes with a sizable donut hole this year, as President Trump skipped the event, the first time a sitting president hasn’t attended in more than two decades.

The president’s rationale was that by staying away, he would allow the attendees to celebrate without “political distraction.” But his absence from CBS’ telecast — which taped in early December — is itself something of a distraction, underscoring the toxic nature of the relationship between the current occupant of the White House and the arts community.

Iconic White House tree to be cut down

The south facade of the White House will undergo a dramatic change this week: the historic Jackson Magnolia, a tree that has been in place since the 1800s, is scheduled to be cut down and removed.

The enormous magnolia, one of three on the west side of the White House and the oldest on the White House grounds, extends from the ground floor, up past the front of the windows of the State Dining Room on the first floor and beyond the second-level executive residence. The tree has had a long and storied life, yet has now been deemed too damaged and decayed to remain in place.

Chicago police use excessive force, DOJ finds

he Chicago Police Department has unconstitutionally engaged in a pattern of excessive force, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Friday, wrapping up a 13-month federal probe of a department that has been under heavy scrutiny over officer-involved shootings.

The city and the Justice Department have agreed to negotiate a reform plan that would be overseen by a federal judge, Lynch said in Chicago.

The Justice Department, which began its investigation amid public uproar over the 2014 fatal shooting by Chicago police of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reveal official engagement photos

Britain’s Prince Harry and American actor Meghan Markle published a set of official engagement photos Thursday, the latest milestone on the road to their wedding next year.

The couple, who announced their engagement last month, are due to marry on May 19 in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, west of London.

The photos, shot by Alex Lubomirski, were released a day after the pair joined the Queen and the rest of the royal family for Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace.

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5 Things To Know For Your New Day-Wednesday December 27th

Trump hopes for bipartisan infrastructure deal

Kennedy Center Honors go on, despite presidential no-show

Iconic White House tree to be cut down

Chicago police use excessive force, DOJ finds

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reveal official engagement photos

Meet Your 2026 Future History Maker: Rhonda Crowder

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Trump hopes for bipartisan infrastructure deal

Kennedy Center Honors go on, despite presidential no-show

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Iconic White House tree to be cut down

Chicago police use excessive force, DOJ finds

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reveal official engagement photos

Love Praise Cleveland? Get more! Join the Praise Cleveland Newsletter

Praise Cleveland

Quick Links

Legal