Tuberville blockade, home explosion, and 100 best songs of 2023.

Adam Rogers
December 06, 2023

Happy Wednesday! Today’s edition is 1,016 words, a 4 minute read.

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Big Stories

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) agreed to partially end his blockage that has held up hundreds of military promotions.

Details: The senator said that he will release all of his holds on military officers at the 3-star level and below. However, holds will continue for roughly ten nominations for 4-star generals and officers.
Background: Tuberville took issue with a Pentagon policy enacted last year that allowed service members to be reimbursed for travel to receive abortion care. His boycott of the program delayed more than 400 military promotions for months and drew bipartisan criticism for jeopardizing military readiness.
The big picture: Because of his tactics, senior roles within most branches of the armed forces were only filled by temporary acting officials, according to the Department of Defense. It was the first time in history that the Marines, Army, and Navy simultaneously operated without leaders confirmed by the Senate.

A home exploded in Arlington, Virginia Monday night with a suspect still inside as police were trying to serve a search warrant.

Catch up: The Arlington County Police Department was dispatched to the home after receiving reports of multiple gunshots. Police then learned that the suspect had fired a flare gun 30 to 40 times from the property into the surrounding neighborhood.
What happened: Once officers obtained a search warrant, they tried to make contact with the suspect via telephone and through loudspeakers. But the suspect never responded and remained barricaded inside the house. When police tried to enter, they were fired upon with several rounds. About three hours after the ACPD arrived, the house exploded, blowing the roof and several walls apart.
The aftermath: The suspect, who has been identified as James Yoo, was still inside the home when it exploded and investigators believe he was alone. Yoo is presumed to be dead. Several nearby homes were evacuated while teams worked to control the fires. Three officers were injured but were not hospitalized. Police are investigating the cause of the blast.

CVS is changing the way it prices prescription drugs to a more “transparent” model that could affect how pharmacies get reimbursed.

The model: The company said its pharmacies will be reimbursed by contracted pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and other payors based on the cost of the drug, a “clearly defined” markup, and a flat fee to cover pharmacy costs. It is expected to launch in 2025.
- Currently, pharmacies are typically reimbursed using a complex system that isn’t based on what they spend to buy the drugs. The process involves multiple parties and leads to vague fees and markups.
Price changes: CVS’ new model could change the cost of prescription drugs for some patients but it won’t necessarily make all medicine cost less — some drugs may cost less, while the prices of others might rise. Executives said the overarching goal is to help customers understand exactly how much drugs cost. They also noted that more prescription prices should decrease than increase for consumers.
Trending: Last year billionaire Mark Cuban launched an online pharmacy called Cost Plus Drugs that has a similar pricing strategy to CVS’ new model. The company negotiates directly with manufacturers to get generic drugs at wholesale prices. It then sells drugs to consumers with prescriptions at a 15% markup, a $3 labor charge and $5 for shipping.

Congress questioned leaders from top U.S. colleges on Tuesday about their handling of antisemitism on their campuses in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. (More)

Vice President Kamala Harris broke the record for the most tie-breaking Senate votes cast by a vice president. She has now made 33 deciding votes during her tenure. (More)

The State Department will impose travel bans on Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. (More)

Nigeria’s president has ordered an investigation after the country’s military mistakenly launched a drone strike at a public gathering this weekend. At least 85 people were killed in the mishap. (More)

Russia rejected an offer from the U.S. to free detained reporter Evan Gershkovich. He was charged with espionage in March and has now spent over 250 days in prison. (More)

Israeli defense forces expanded their ground offensive into Khan Younis, the second largest city in Gaza. This is their first major military offensive in the southern part of the territory. (More)

U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday (S&P -0.06%, Nasdaq +0.31%, Dow -0.22%). (More)

Apple’s market cap closed over $3 trillion for the first time since August. The company’s stock price has risen over 48% this year. (More)

Charter shares closed 8% lower Tuesday after its CFO said the company could lose broadband subscribers in the fourth quarter. (More)

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a high ankle sprain during the teams overtime loss to the Bengals. He is questionable for week 14’s matchup. (More)

University of Oregon female athletes are suing for sexual discrimination, claiming that the school gives males athletes better access to NIL distributions and benefits. (More)

The Cleveland Guardians won the first pick in the 2024 MLB amateur draft next summer. The Cincinnati Reds will pick second followed by the Colorado Rockies. (More)

Hackers who breached 14,000 individual 23andMe accounts gained access to information belonging to 6.9 million users. In some cases, this included family trees, birth years and geographic locations. (More)

Agility Robotics will open a factory in Salem, Oregon that will produce 10,000 two-legged robots per year to assist companies with dangerous tasks like hauling, lifting and moving. (More)

A new study shows that recent wildfires in the western U.S. have undone 20 years of air quality progress and are causing premature deaths. (More)

Why there isn’t any sound in space.

Visualizing $97 trillion of global debt in 2023.

How popular chip flavors differ around the world.

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