The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Nathalie Graham An early present: CBS News got a sneak peek at the House Ethics Committee report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz that's expected to drop today. The investigation found that Gaetz, who was perilously close to becoming attorney general, paid numerous women for sex, one of whom was a 17-year-old girl. He also bought and used illicit drugs. He got lit on those drugs in his Capitol Hill office, too. In short, the Committee found "substantial evidence" that Gaetz "violated House Rules and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress." Gaetz, meanwhile, filed a federal court lawsuit on Monday to block the report's release.  Some weather for your holiday week: The rain should subside for most of Monday. Wind will remain. By Christmas Eve, the rain will return. It'll likely stay around, hanging out through Christmas to see whether it was naughty or nice this year. The mountains will see snow, but we lowland folk won't be so lucky.  WINDY 💨 INTO CHRISTMAS EVE MORNING!While not as deep nor as close of a pass as November's "bomb cyclone," another deep area of low pressure will pull in easterly Cascadia Winds of 30-65+ mph in the foothills late Monday night-Tuesday morning. #WAwx pic.twitter.com/xbAdLYQmuw — Shannon O'Donnell (@ShannonODKOMO) December 23, 2024   Metro murder suspect apprehended: Before 5 am on Saturday, police arrested a 53-year-old man, who is the lead suspect in the killing of King County Metro bus driver Shawn Yim. Police believe the man stabbed Yim to death in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Yim's fellow bus driver, Timm Nelson, who drives the RapidRide E Line overnight shift, noticed the man sleeping in the back of his bus and flagged down police, who arrested the suspect. The Stranger does not typically name someone as a suspect in a case until after prosecutors have filed charges against them. Goodbye, Shawn Yim: Nelson, the RapidRide E driver, was friends with Yim. He used to hop on Yim's bus to commute to his route. He told the Seattle Times about how Yim used to warm a can of cat food on his dashboard heater toward the end of his shift so he could feed a neighborhood cat when he got off work. Nelson is shattered by Yim's death.  Scenes from the vigil: We love you, bus drivers. Tonight King County Metro operators and supporters held a candlelight vigil for Shawn Yim. The 59-year-old bus driver was stabbed to death early Wednesday morning in the U District. Drivers told me they need more protection - and are fed up asking for it. Story soon for @KUOW pic.twitter.com/s3TDxvKa1u — Casey Martin (@caseyworks) December 22, 2024 Huge turnout for King County metro bus driver Shawn Yim in a vigil tonight. The suspect accused of his murder was arrested on a bus today by Seattle Police. Those here say they want to honor Shawn, but also want safety issues to be fixed they say are long overdue. @komonews pic.twitter.com/g7dP512BxH — Paul Rivera (@PaulRiveraNews) December 22, 2024 Need a lift? The 174 skiers and snowboarders stranded on the slopes in Colorado did. The gondola at the Winter Park Resort cracked on Saturday, stranding ski bunnies for up to five hours until ski patrolers could enter each gondola and lower them down via ropes. This is why I don't ski! Well, it's mostly because I'm bad at it and I have none of the gear, but still.  Luigi pleads not guilty: Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing the United Healthcare CEO, pleaded not guilty to state murder and terror charges.  Biden commutes death row sentences: On his way out the door, President Joe Biden commuted sentences for 37 of 40 people on federal death row. The commutations changed their sentences to life imprisonment without parole. That means there are now just three people in the country that could still face the federal death penalty: Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston in 2015;  Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber; and Robert Bowers, the man who the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history when he shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of life Synagogue in 2018. Trump has repeatedly said that he plans to expand the federal death penalty. Out to pasture: After receiving no response about how a Texas representative would vote on the government shutdown fight, a right-wing Texas site called the Dallas Express did some journalism. Their reporting revealed that 81-year-old Rep. Kay Granger, who is set to retire this year, hadn't voted in D.C. since July. Not only that, but she's been living in a senior living facility, and possibly a memory care center to treat her dementia. Despite her retiring at the end of this year, Granger is still an acting politician. No one—not Granger's staff nor GOP leadership—mentioned anything about Granger's absence or her compromised mental state. It's boring to keep sounding the "our politicians are too old" alarm, but they are really too fucking old. Please, lawmakers, enjoy your golden years in peace and without any sort of power.  What could a deed cost? $10? Journalist Ken Klippenstein uncovered an alarming detail in the Rep. Granger saga: She transferred the deed of her house at the beginning of July (back when her last recorded vote was) for possibly no money in return aside from the $10 transfer fee.  I guess this is what you do when you are rich, bored, and soulless: Kim Kardashian made her own "Santa Baby" cover and made a weird movie to go with it.  Kim Kardashian has released her own cover of ‘Santa Baby’ with a short film. pic.twitter.com/6OeHCvHcYB — Pop Base (@PopBase) December 23, 2024 Nordstrom gets bought: Nordstrom is set to go private in a $6.25 billion deal. The Nordstrom family, in partnership with the Mexican department store chain El Puerto de Liverpool, is purchasing the company. Nordstrom will go from a publicly traded company to a private one; When the sale goes through, each shareholder is set to pocket a little more than $24 per share. Who's getting lucky?  Christmas carnage: On Friday night, a man drove at high speed into a Christmas market in the German town of Magdeburg, killing four women and a 9-year-old boy while injuring 200 other people. Among the injured, 41 are in serious condition. The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who voiced support for Germany's far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. All violence like this is deplorable, but it is particularly unconscionable to turn places of joy and togetherness into venues of tragedy, thus stoking further paranoia about gathering in public places.  Woman lit on fire on NYC subway: Speaking of human depravity, a man allegedly lit a woman on fire while she was on the F train in Brooklyn. Police say he, unprompted, pulled out a lighter and ignited her clothes while she was "motionless" on the train. Her clothes were on fire in a matter of seconds, and when police arrived they saw "a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames." The woman died from her injuries. Police detained the suspect, who hung around on a bench outside the train while police investigated the scene.  Tea time: Oh boy, there's been a lot of gossip recently. Have you read all the juicy pieces? I can't stop thinking about the Vulture piece about FX's "English Teacher" creator and star Brian Jordan Alvarez's alleged history of sexual harassment. It's about bad behavior muddied by the gray areas in a power dynamic fueled by the possibility of making it in Hollywood. Of course, there was also the Cut essay by the woman who lost her husband after he left her, while she was two months postpartum, for his "Wicked" co-star, Ariana Grande. The essay dwells on how her public divorce may jeopardize her career as a psychotherapist.  And the weekend's biggest bombshell: Blake Lively is suing Justin Baldoni, her costar and director of the movie "It Ends with Us," for sexual harassment and for allegedly orchestrating a smear campaign against Lively. "People really want to hate women": The New York Times piece about the lawsuit lays out Lively's very reasonable complaints about Justin Baldoni’s on-set behavior (things like asking him not to talk about his porn addiction with her, or restricting him from improvising sex scenes, or requiring him to stop entering her trailer when she was naked, or, even, to stop talking about her dead father). It also includes text messages from the PR firm Baldoni hired during the movie's press tour to "bury" Lively. In the texts, the woman at the helm of the campaign remarked on how easy the job was because "people really want to hate on women." I hope you are nice and cozy this week: I'm not feeling so holiday-y yet. For the last couple of years, this song can get me in the mood: haunted, a bit sad, and nostalgic. Perfect. I'll be listening on repeat until I feel something.