Millions in Texas are now under a boil-water notice. / NPR

This morning, Texas's energy authority announced all controlled outages have ended, and local utility companies may now begin restoring power as they see fit. / KXAN

Republicans are trying to blame Texas's power grid failure on wind turbines, but the real culprit is natural gas production—which was halved during the freeze. / The Week

The parts of Texas that aren't on the state's power grid appear to have had few outages. / Yahoo! News

"Our leaders thought it more important to prioritize short-term gains than invest in people for a long-term gain." Texas is a failed state. / Discourse Blog

While the reasons for the misery in Texas are government-led, the reasons for the extreme weather are in part due to climate change. / The Guardian

As his state suffers, Ted Cruz departed Texas for a family vacation in Cancun yesterday evening. / The Dallas Morning News

Meanwhile, Beto O'Rourke is organizing a grassroots campaign to help Texans in need. / Twitter

See also: How you can help and get help in Texas right now. / The Texas Tribune

Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo: How to turn your red state blue. / The New York Times

Winter storms are also delaying vaccine distribution and forcing appointment cancellations across the US. / The Guardian

Due to the pandemic, US life expectancy dropped by a year during the first half of 2020, with even greater declines among Black and Hispanic people. / STAT

South Carolina has joined around a dozen other states that have passed legislation to ban nearly all abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned. / Associated Press

DHS rejected a last-minute agreement between the Trump administration and ICE's union that could have hampered Biden's policy changes. / BuzzFeed News

Rush Limbaugh, who spent his life speaking ill of the dead, is dead at 70. / The Daily Beast, the Washington Post

Facebook blocked all news on its Australian platform in response to new laws that would force it to pay for journalism. / The Guardian

Apple changes its syringe emoji to remove the dripping blood, as more people are using it to talk about the Covid vaccine. / BBC

Bookstore sales fell 28.3% in 2020. / Publishers Weekly

Later today, NASA'S Perseverance rover is set to land on Mars. / BBC

The "All Your Base" video is now 20 years old. / Ars Technica