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It's the 2023 Tournament of Books, presented by Field Notes! Yay! It’s time to Rooster!

California storm costs may add up to the country's first billion-dollar disaster of 2023. / yahoo! News

The entire community of Planada, a town of about 4,000 people, was evacuated amid rising waters from a breached levee. / The Los Angeles Times

Some notes on military-funded E-girl warfare, where "cosplay commandos post nationalist thirst traps to mobilize the SIMPs." / Dazed

The case of Ana Walshe revives talk about news outlets devoting too much time to covering the disappearances of white women. / Reliable Sources

RIP, politics writer and editor Blake Hounshell, dead at 44. / The New York Times

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission considers a ban on gas stoves, over a link to childhood asthma. / Bloomberg 

See also: "How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves," via NextDraft. / Mother Jones, NextDraft

During the start of the pandemic, traffic deaths between 10 p.m. and 1:59 a.m. were nearly 22 percent higher than expected. / Streetsblog

Sports accounted for 94 of the 100 most-watched telecasts of last year. / Sports Business Journal

The daily habits of happiness experts include a lot of sleep, hobbies, exercise, and time outdoors. / TIME

Why do humans walk funny? A new study suggests it's an energy-saving technique "for a species that has long prioritized endurance over speed." / WIRED

Microsoft's new AI can simulate anyone's voice with three seconds of audio. / Ars Technica

Eight materials and products made from salvaged seashells. / dezeen
A look at which books from the 1990s are widely assigned in today's college-level literature classes. (Yes, Harry Potter's on there.) / The Pudding