Terminal Meltdown: Southwest airlines cancelled another 2,300 flights again today, leaving travelers stranded for another day heading into the New Year’s weekend. Customers separated from their luggage have been living in the same clothes for days as unclaimed bags cover the terminal floors.

  It’s been a week since a blizzard interrupted travel, but Southwest has not been able to recover. Its computer system has not been able to match available flight crews with planes.

  Ryan Green, a Southwest executive, said in a video that the airline was making “a pledge to do everything we can and to work day and night to repair our relationship with you.” For today though, they are flying only a third of their regular schedule.

The War Zone: A swarm of attack drones and a volley of missiles brought explosions all over Ukraine today as Russia stepped up its attacks on civilian water and power facilities.

  Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Twitter that Russia had been “saving one of the most massive missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion for the last days of the year.”  Ukraine claims to have knocked out a lot of drones and shot down 54 of 69 incoming missiles.

  At least seven or eight explosions rocked the capital Kyiv. The city government said that a house and a car had been damaged by falling debris from a Russian missile. 

  All over the country, Ukrainians are living without power and some without public water. Forty percent of Kyiv has no power.

  In the East, Ukrainians are beginning to leave the recently liberated Kherson as Russians renew their shelling of the city. Some days the Russians bombard the city all day. The Russians are also attempting to take the city of Bakhmut, but seem to have depleted themselves against a stiff Ukrainian defense.

The Spin Rack: Wesley Brownlee, the 43 year old suspect in random serial killings in California’s central Valley has been charged with four more murders, bringing the total to seven. — Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating the finances of Representative-elect George Santos, the Republican who lied his way to a seat in Congress. Santos made up a resume of family history, education, business experience, and charity. — Barry Croft Jr., the  Delaware truck driver described as the “architect” of the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during the height of the pandemic, was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison. Prosecutors had pushed for a life sentence. — Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who was prominent in the January 6th hearings, announced that he has a “serious but curable” form of cancer and will begin outpatient treatment. He said he has “diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.” — The Biden administration announced that travelers from China, which recently relaxed its “zero covid” policy must, present proof of a negative test on entering this country.

Below the Fold: About 1,600 bats that live beneath two bridges in Houston fell to the ground during freezing weather. Wildlife rescuers picked them up administered fluids, and warmed them in incubators.

  The rescue effort was initiated by Mary Warwick, the wildlife director at the Houston Humane Society, who found the first lot of 100 bats on the ground, appearing to be dead. She put them in her car, revealing she’s a true animal lover.

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