GENDER REVEAL PARTY SHOOTING: Three men were charged in a shooting that left one person dead and eight wounded at a gender reveal party for a woman who wasn't even pregnant https://abc7.la/2ETLDKC

People describe hearing a boom, feeling a vibration and seeing the sky turn green. Again —we are told it was a transformer explosion at a @ConEdison building in Astoria, Queens. I’m heading in that direction with my @CBSNewYork crew. Will update here.

The power plant by my house in Astoria exploded a little. https://t.co/P26kiTjYdX

If you don’t have a lawyer on retainer, some alternatives: • Need some quick cash this month? http://washington.mid.ru/en/embassy/contacts/ • Looking to for a fast, hassle-free, payday? http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/sgxx/lxwm/ https://twitter.com/USOPM/status/1078309890832166912

This teenager created a sculpture of a phoenix using the ruins of her grandmother's home, which burned down during the Woolsey fire. https://lat.ms/2Ve4kxB

“With a writing system dependent on touch, says Hyland, ‘you must have a different way of being in the world.’” (h/t @LoneberryWang) https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23931972-600-we-thought-the-incas-couldnt-write-these-knots-change-everything/

Happy Christmas from Centrelink – your welfare payments have been stopped | @lukehgomes https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/28/happy-christmas-from-centrelink-our-welfare-payments-have-been-stopped?CMP=share_btn_tw

We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with. Hard to believe there was a Congress & President who would approve!

The shutdown comes to Joshua Tree, where, with no federal employees to keep an eye on things, people are littering, lighting illegal fires, and “stringing Christmas lights from delicate Joshua trees that they are supposed to leave untouched.” https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-canatparkshut-20181226-story.html

President Trump: "Here's the problem we have. We have a problem with the Democrats because Nancy Pelosi is calling the shots. Not Chuck. And Chuck wants to have this done, I really believe that. He wants to have this done. But she's calling the shots." http://hill.cm/XsgsdKw https://t.co/OY6wFwPgoO

In a statement issued on Friday, Syria’s most powerful Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Units, or Y.P.G., called on the Syrian government to send troops to the city of Manbij to ward off a possible attack by Turkey. https://nyti.ms/2RjUwTp?smid=nytcore-ios-share

The cost of border shutdown to California jobs, businesses, communities and familiies would be huge...The shutdown at San Ysidro Port of Entry in November cost local biz more than $5.3 million -- and that was just 5 hours. https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1078667155187482626

Senate Pres Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati says he’ll recommend new Dem Senator Lindsey Williams SHOULD be seated Jan 1. He previously requested Williams prove she met residency requirements. The decision comes as hundreds rally in her favor across PA.

GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowksi to reintroduce bill intended to help solve crimes against Native Americans that received unanimous Senate approval but was blocked by the outgoing chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. https://abcn.ws/2CFhvjX