Office holiday parties are in full swing, and with Christmas and Hannukah just over a week away, you’re probably feeling time-pinched this morning. So here are 10 ultra-quick headlines to watch out for this week: Winter is Coming This Saturday marks the official start of winter. And we’ll welcome the new season with a big drop in temperatures. Friday’s high will barely rise above freezing. While we’ll feel an arctic blast this weekend, our local TV weather forecasters are ruling out a “White Christmas.” In fact, it looks like we’ll be experiencing the opposite. The Christmas Day forecast for KC: A dollop of sun and temps at an almost tropical 52 degrees. Last Days of Congress This is the last week for Congress to get anything done before the Trump administration takes over. The U.S. House adjourns for the year on Thursday. The Senate wraps up its work on Friday. The new Congress will be sworn in on January 3. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration will be held on Jan. 20, which this year coincides with Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Electoral College Meets While many of us have already put the November election in our rearview mirrors, the Electoral College officially meets this week to ceremonially end the 2024 presidential election. On Tuesday, the six official electors in Kansas will meet in Topeka to formally cast their six electoral college votes for Trump. Similar ceremonies will take place in state capitals around the country on Tuesday, including Jefferson City. The state’s Electoral College votes will then be shipped to Washington D.C. and read and counted before a joint session of the new Congress on January 6. That’s probably a date that sticks in your memory. In 2021, it was the day rioters stormed the Capitol building, temporarily halting the votes from being counted. COVID Cash Fight Continues In the words of the late baseball great Yogi Berra, “It’s deja vu all over again.” For what seems like the 100th time, Jackson County lawmakers will try to reach agreement this week on how to spend $70 million in leftover federal COVID cash. If it’s not spent by the end of the year, the county must return the money to Uncle Sam. With the holidays just around the corner, the deadline is really this week. The Jackson County Legislature meets this afternoon. Voting for a New Jail This is the last week the Kansas City Council will meet before the new year begins in 2025. On the agenda at City Hall: A plan to ask voters to approve a new jail on the April ballot. The city wants to use an existing public safety sales tax to fund a 250-bed facility next to the Jackson County Detention Center, now under construction a few miles north of the Truman Sports Complex. Kansas City has been without a municipal jail since 2009 and currently relies on other counties to house inmates. Parson Pardon We keep hearing rumors that convicted Kansas City cop Eric DeValkenaere will be home by Christmas. If that’s the case, will Missouri Governor Mike Parson officially pardon him this week? The governor is running out of time. DeValkenaere is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for the shooting death of Cameron Lamb in 2019.  He is the first Kansas City police officer to be convicted of killing a Black man. New Governor-elect Mike Kehoe said one of his first acts in office would be to send DeValkenaere home. Children’s Tax Now in Jeopardy Last month, voters in Platte County approved a new sales tax to fund services for kids. But now county leaders want to axe the children’s tax. Platte County Commissioners say they have the power to override voters’ decisions. A vote on rescinding the measure is scheduled for today at the Platte County Courthouse. Walking back the will of voters has been a big trend this year. Business groups have filed a lawsuit to block Missouri’s new minimum wage law from taking effect. And 11 bills have been filed in Jefferson City to dilute or repeal Missouri’s new abortion rights amendment. Nick Haines tracks the week’s most impactful local news stories on Week in Review, Friday nights at 7:30 pm on Kansas City PBS. This Friday, we pick apart the election results and examine what happens now. The post Nick’s Picks | Winter Arrives, Congress Leaves, Decisions Loom, and More … first appeared on Flatland.