From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending 12-27-25
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Top Stories
Ashley Buzzard Charged in Death of 9 Year Old daughter
We begin in Utah, where the body of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard was found in a rural area of Wayne County. December 23, just before 8:00 am, her mother, Ashlee Lynn Buzzard was arrested for the murder. Police held a press conference where they said that on October 14, 2025, school administrators reported Melodee’s extended absence from school. The following day, detectives served a search warrant at the family home. The search revealed that Ashlee had recently rented a car. Video showed both mother and daughter wearing wigs while at the rental car office. During their trip, Ashlee swapped the plates on her rental car and made efforts to avoid detection. December 6th, police responded to a call from hikers who had discovered human remains in Wayne County, Utah. They later determined that the body was a female who died by gunshot wounds to the head. Ballistics were able to match the shell casing to one found at the home, and DNA identified the body as that of Melodee Buzzard. Ashlee was booked for first degree murder and is being held without bail.
December 18, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the successful conclusion of Operation Northern Lights. Florida partnered with the US-Marshal led operation to rescue 43 missing children from 14 counties over 7 days. Uthmeier’s press release stated that 300 missing children have been rescued in 2025.
Bernie Sanders Stops Pediatric Cancer Bill from Passing
A bipartisan bill aiming to expand pediatric cancer treatments was slowed down in the Senate by Bernie Sanders. The bill passed the house by a voice vote and was submitted for unanimous consent before the Senate. Unanimous Consent would have allowed the passage of the bill before congress went into winter recess. Bernie Sanders was the lone objection, expressing that he would not support this legislation without a handful of additions.
Seattle Man Steals State Patrol Vehicle
A man is in custody in Seattle after stealing a State Patrol vehicle. The man was attempting to cross a highway on foot when the trooper stopped traffic. While the trooper was stopped, the man approached, opened her door, threw her on the ground and drove away in her car. The ensuing chase ended in a crash without injuries.
Politics
SPARC Project
Switching to politics, December 23, outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke alongside Governor Kathy Hochul to announce Science Park and Research Campus Kips Bay. The project, dubbed SPARC is a first of its kind jobs and education hub. They hope to generate 15,000 jobs and $42B in economic impact over the next 30 years. The site will comprise a full city block in Kips Bay.
CA Group Programs
on December 21, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced $47M in grants to 57 organizations. This is part of a larger effort to reduce juvenile substance abuse and recidivism rates, mentor young leaders, and increase civic engagement. Funded groups include those focused on youth from specific backgrounds and cultures as well as the LGBT community, refugees and immigrants.
Elevate Youth California Official Site
Christmas Day ISIS Strike
Citing the existential threat to Christianity amid ongoing genocide in Nigeria, The White House and The Department of war announced strikes against ISIS targets on Christmas Day. You may recall that last week the United States struck ISIS targets in Syria as well. Trump also stated that he has requested Congress to look into additional actions in Nigeria.
Finance
In Financial news, markets outperformed this week over the rest of December. The Dow gained 1.2%, climbing to 48,710. Nasdaq added 1.25%, closing at 23,593, a gain of 286 points. The S&P added 95 points, a 1.4% gain and closed at 6929. Gold continues to rise. A 4.2% gain has futures trading at $4552 / ounce. If you want more information about market indexes and how we measure, check out the full video on our YouTube channel, What Is A Market Index And How Does The Cold Take Report
Sports
NFL
Moving to sports, Pittsburg Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf will serve a two-game suspension for an altercation with a fan. In Detroit on December 21, Metcalf approached a fan, grabbed him and attempted to throw a punch. The suspension will cost him over $500,000 in salary and the Steelers can void an additional $45M in guaranteed money. Despite accusations online, the fan insists that he did not use any curse words or racial slurs and the stadium investigation supported his assertion.
Staying in the NFL, Christmas Day saw the Lions fall to the Vikings, giving the Packers a playoff guarantee. The Broncos beat the Chiefs 20-13, and Dallas took down Washington 30-23.
College Football
Saturday, December 27, ECU took down Pitt in the Go Bowling Military Bowl in Annapolis. Penn state beat Clemson at Yankee Stadium 22-10. And not to be outdone, Fenway Park hosted the Wasabi Fenway Bowl where Army defeated UConn 41-16. If you’re confused about this one, so was I. THIS Wasabi is a data storage company whose website reads “spicing up the cloud storage industry”. Fresno state won an 18-3 contest against Miami or Ohio at the Snoop Dogg bowl in Tuscan and BYU overcame Georgia Tech to take the Pop Tart Bowl title home. The final of that game was 25-21.
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take