Daily Briefing: Bitter cold, ice and snow

Millions of students will remain at home Wednesday as severe winter weather shutters school districts across the country. Also in the news: Jurors will determine how much former President Donald Trump owes writer E. Jean Carroll in a defamation lawsuit. Congress is days away from a government shutdown.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Forget adding water. You need these Stanley Cup accessories.

Here is the news to know Wednesday.

Parts of Oregon powerless amid ice storm

Widespread wind chill warnings were in place through Wednesday morning in the Midwest and South, where wind chills are expected to plummet below 0 again.

Western Oregon was expected to get the worst of the severe winter weather. The state's three largest cities are forecast to get up to half an inch of ice through early Wednesday.

• Among the 14 deaths linked to the weather over the last few days, five people in Oregon died of hypothermia and two were killed by falling trees.
• Millions of gleeful students remain out of school, travel stoppages are causing chaos and in some states, the snow and ice won't melt until temperatures warm up later this week.
• Researchers are taking the opportunity to study the future of snow given the effects of climate change. New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., saw an end to snow droughts that lasted almost two years.

Related: Here's how to keep your pet safe in the extreme cold.

Post-Iowa, Nikki Haley is back to work in New Hampshire

With pressure mounting to beat former President Donald Trump in next week's presidential primary, Nikki Haley campaigned in northern New Hampshire on Tuesday, just one day after placing third in the Iowa Caucuses. Haley is appealing to disaffected Republicans and independents who can cast a ballot in either party's primary in New Hampshire. She is also drawing support from Democrats, some of whom switched their party registration to support her in the Jan. 23 primary. Read more

• After Iowa Caucuses, how will Biden deal with Trump's appeal to independents and moderates?
• Take this survey and help us enhance our coverage of the 2024 election. 

More news to know now

• The shooter in a 2022 Colorado LGBTQ+ club massacre intends to plead guilty to federal hate crimes.
• The national debt hit a record high. Does that affect the American wallet?
• Findings in a probe of the Uvalde mass shooting are expected to be released this week.
• The Peregrine lunar lander is set to burn up in the atmosphere in the latest setback to NASA's moon missions.
• For subscribers: 140 years after forced exile, the Tonkawa reclaim a sacred part of Texas.
• On today's The Excerpt podcast, a new bipartisan bill would increase the child tax credit and higher business deductions. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Congress is running out of time to curb a government shutdown

It's not all bad news: Congress is gearingup to vote in the coming days on a bipartisan deal to temporarily avoid a shutdown. The measure – known as a continuing resolution – was unveiled over the weekend and would fund parts of the government until March 1 and the remainder until March 8. A partial government shutdown will set in later this week if Congress fails to act,and a slew of other departments would close their doors for Americans next month. Lawmakers have less than three days to change course.

• Bernie Sanders' push to tie Israel aid to Gaza human rights report fails as war rages.

How much does Trump owe for defamation?

Writer E. Jean Carroll is set to take the stand Wednesday in the second federal civil trial over her claims against former President Donald Trump. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in combined damages after a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the 1990s and a 2022 incident of defamation in a May trial. Now, this trial is focused on what potential damages Trump might have to pay for statements he made in 2019. A jury will be tasked with determining whether his remarks harmed Carroll and, if so, how to quantify that harm in dollars. And, jurors will decide if Trump should be hit with punitive damages to deter him from continuing to defame Carroll. Trump denies all Carroll's claims. Read more

Keep scrolling

• Women's national team striker Mallory Swanson is the highest-paid player in NWSL history.
• Can we really get rid of overdraft fees from the bank?
• Here's the downside of "work from anywhere" policies.
• JetBlue apparently can't buy Spirit Airlines.
• Goodbye, Jason Kelce.
• No more Drizly alcohol delivery.
• Here's our ranking of all eight NFL teams left based on their Super Bowl odds.

Suspect in Gilgo Beach killings faces new charges in connection with fourth murder

The man accused of killing sex workers and dumping their bodies along a coastal parkway on New York’s Long Island was charged Tuesday in the death of a fourth woman. Rex Heuermann, a former architect, was formally charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 25-year-old Maureen Brainard-Barnes – the last of the so-called “Gilgo Four” murders that police have officially tied to Heuermann. Heuermann entered a not guilty plea on the latest charges, according to the Associated Press. Read more

Photo of the day: Australian Open 2023

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka and U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff avoided early Day 4 upsets at the Australian Open to advance to the third round along with 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva. Read more

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at Paste BN, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to Paste BN here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.