Early Winter: Snow and below normal temperatures have hit all the way from the Great Plains to the Adirondacks in upstate New York. They’re getting 8-12 inches in Traverse City, Mich.; 1 inch in Lexington, Ky; 5-8 inches in Buffalo, NY.

  Four people have died in snow-related traffic accidents and 530 airline flights have been cancelled already today. The National Weather Service forecasts that by tomorrow morning temperatures will drop to the teens and 20s along much of the East Coast, the Ohio Valley, and as far south as the upper coast of Texas.

The Hit: Palestinian militants in the Gaza strip immediately fired barrages of rockets after an Israeli fighter jet took out a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. 

  Islamic Jihad said that the commander’s wife was also killed in the attack on the home of Baha Abu al-Ata. 

  Israel is bracing for a bigger conflict. Islamic Jihad released a statement saying, “our response to this crime will have no limits.” The group called the strike “a declaration of war against the Palestinian people.”

Clearly Transparent: The Trump administration is proposing to significantly limit the scientific and medical research the government can use to determine public health regulations, forcing scientists and doctors to reveal information often gathered under the promise of confidentiality.

  The Environmental Protection Agency says what it wants is transparency and verifiability in scientific research, but what it appears to be is an effort to break down the basis of environmental regulation. Many studies lining pollution and disease are based on personal health information gathered under confidentiality. 

  The draft of the Environmental Protection Agency proposal is titled “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” but it’s really a Trojan Horse attack on environmental science.

Impeachment: Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney dropped his effort to join a lawsuit to determine whether he must testify in the impeachment inquiry and is filing his own suit. Notably, former National Security Adviser John Bolton objected to having Mulvaney join him in the suit. Some people called to testify are asking for a court ruling to protect themselves from President Trump’s non-cooperation order so they can testify and that might be Bolton. Mulvaney could be on the other side, looking for a court order that says he can’t talk.

Shrinking Violets: New York Rep. Peter King, who’s served 14 terms, says he will not seek to extend his run in office. King said in a statement his “prime reason” for retiring “was that after 28 years of spending four days a week in Washington, DC, it is time to end the weekly commute and be home in Seaford.”

  He joins four senators and 17 other members of the House who are retiring rather than face the knife fight of the 2020 election.

Lost and Found: A private exploration team has found the wreck of the US submarine Grayback, lost in the Pacific in January,1944. It was one of 52 submarines sunk in the war.

  An American researcher discovered a translation error in the Japanese record that made a 100-mile difference in f where the sub went down with 80 American sailors on board.

The Bulletin Board: Facing what is described as “catastrophic fire danger” in southeast Australia, officials declared a state of emergency for all of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state. — Evo Morales, who resigned as president of Bolivia under pressure from street protests and the military, has accepted asylum in Mexico. — Former President Jimmy Carter had a brain procedure to relieve pressure caused by recent falls. He’s 95. — All 14 fraternities at San Diego State University have been suspended after the drinking death of a freshman pledge.

Bookbeat: Donald Trump Jr. writes in his new book, “Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us,” that a visit to Arlington National Cemetery with his father inspired him to think about the sacrifices his family made for his father to be President. Junior writes, “In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks we’d already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices we’d have to make to help my father succeed — voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were ‘profiting off the office.’”

Footloose: After embarrassing himself in a lime green blouse and a cowboy outfit, former White House Press secretary Sean Spicer was finally eliminated last night on “Dancing with the Stars.”

  Spicer lasted longer than he should have in part because of a campaign by President Trump and his family. Donald Trump Jr. had urged fans to vote for Spicer to anger “Hollywood” and “liberals” and “leftist elites.”

  It only angered people who know good dancing when they see it. 

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