1. Skiing Santas back to shredding Maine slopes for charity

More than 230 skiing and snowboarding Kris Kringles took to a western Maine resort on Sunday to raise money for charity. The jolly ol’ St. Nicks took a break last year because of the global pandemic. But they returned to kick off the ski season in full holiday garb, including white beards, red hats and red outfits. (AP)

2. U.S. races to detect and track omicron, hampered by an unwieldy surveillance system

"All of the key questions about the variant are really dependent on us being able to identify the variant here in the U.S. but also tracking how it's spreading and in whom," says Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. (NPR)

3. 3 students have been killed in a shooting at a Michigan high school

A 15-year-old sophomore opened fire at his Michigan high school on Tuesday, November 30 killing three students and wounding eight other people, including at least one teacher, authorities said. Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe said at a news conference that investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the shooting at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, a community of about 22,000 people roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Detroit. (NPR)

4. Interfaith coalition urges Louis Vuitton to shed fur items

A group of Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Jewish leaders is urging luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton to stop using animal fur in its clothing and other products. In a joint statement, Orthodox Christian priest Stephen Karcher, Hindu activist Rajan Zed, Jewish rabbi ElizaBeth Webb Beyer and Buddhist priest Matthew Fisher said selling items trimmed with fur is inconsistent with the ethics and values of parent company Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.(AP)

“Louis Vuitton should explore new boundaries of fur-free creative design and discontinue selling all products made from animal fur,” the clerics said Thursday, calling the trend “cruel, outdated and unnecessary.”

5. The search continues for dozens more feared dead in Mayfield, Ky., after tornado

Dozens of people are confirmed dead after deadly tornadoes roared across the South and Midwest. Rescue crews fear the death toll will rise as they work to get in to some of the hardest hit areas. (NPR)

6. Oakland city council's shift on the police force debate, from 'defund' to 're-fund'

The city council voted last summer to redirect money proposed for Oakland's Police Department to social services. But this week, defund the police became refund to the police. The same city council approved two new police academies and voted to hire a professional recruiter to attract officers to its department after a wave of resignations. This shift comes amid a raging debate in Oakland over how to keep the city safe as homicides have spiked over the last year. (NPR)

7. The video game pioneer behind Nintendo's groundbreaking console has died

The video gaming community is mourning the loss of one of its early pioneers, Masayuki Uemura.
Uemura, whose death on Monday at the age of 78 was just announced, was the lead architect behind the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)and its successor the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). (NPR)

8. After two failed attempts, Canada bans conversion therapy

Canada has formally banned conversion therapy, the widely discredited practice aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Legislation that makes it illegal to provide, promote and profit off conversion therapy was officially approved on Wednesday and will take effect in 30 days, on Jan. 7. (NPR)

It’s official: Our government’s legislation banning the despicable and degrading practice of conversion therapy has received Royal Assent - meaning it is now law. LGBTQ2 Canadians, we’ll always stand up for you and your rights.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) December 8, 2021

9. Bah! Humbug! Italy bishop tells children Santa doesn’t exist

A Roman Catholic diocese in Sicily publicly apologized to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. In a Facebook post and subsequent comments Friday, the diocese of Noto insisted that Bishop Antonio Stagliano didn’t mean to dash the dreams of the youngsters two weeks before Christmas. (AP)

10. Fox anchor Chris Wallace makes his own news with move to CNN

Veteran anchor Chris Wallace has left Fox News after 18 years for CNN, dealing a significant blow to Fox’s news operation at a time that it has been overshadowed by the network’s opinion side. (AP)

11. Anne Rice, who breathed new life into vampires, dies at 80

Anne Rice, the novelist whose lush, best-selling gothic tales, including “Interview With a Vampire,” reinvented the blood-drinking immortals as tragic antiheroes, has died. She was 80. Rice died December 11 due to complications from a stroke, her son Christopher Rice announced on her Facebook page and his Twitter page. (AP)

Earlier tonight, my mother, Anne Rice, passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, her husband Stan, died. Below is a statement I posted to her Facebook page moments ago. pic.twitter.com/g2VAK2XZjc

— Christopher Rice (@chrisricewriter) December 12, 2021

12. Italian dentist presents fake arm for vaccine to get pass

A dentist in Italy faces possible criminal charges after trying to receive a coronavirus vaccine in a fake arm made of silicone. A nurse in the northern city of Biella, Filippa Bua, said she could tell right away that something was off when a man presented the phony limb for a shot on Thursday. (AP)

13. ‘Panther’ the cat rescued after days-long utility pole perch

For at least two days and maybe more, residents of a suburban Denver neighborhood worried about the fate of a black cat called Panther who was perched atop a 36-foot (11-meter) utility pole. Panther stayed put despite efforts by his co-owner, Alexis Soberanis and others to coax him down in Aurora. Neither pleading nor the enticement of food did the trick, Sentinel Colorado reports. (AP)

14. Accidental shooting leads police to home with over 70 cats

An accidental shooting led police in New Hampshire to a house that was overrun with more than 70 cats and was declared uninhabitable because it was covered with feline feces and urine. (AP)

15. California pushes composting to lower food waste emissions

The effort is designed to keep landfills in the most populous U.S. state clear of food waste that damages the atmosphere as it decays. When food scraps and other organic materials break down they emit methane, a greenhouse gas more potent and damaging in the short-term than carbon emissions from fossil fuels. (AP)