Catherine O'Hara

Warsh named

to lead Fed

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve could bring about sweeping changes at a central bank that dominates the global economy and markets like no other.

Warsh, if approved by the Senate, will be under close scrutiny from financial markets and Congress given his appointment by a president who has loudly demanded much lower rates than many economists think are justified by economic conditions. Whether he can maintain the Fed’s long time independence from day-to-day politics while also placating Trump will be a tremendous challenge.

Warsh would replace current chair Jerome Powell when his term expires in May. Trump chose Powell to lead the Fed in 2017 but this year has relentlessly assailed him for not cutting interest rates quickly enough.

New storm

hits East

BELZONI, Miss. (AP) — Tens of thousands of people are entering their sixth day with no electricity as the Carolinas and Virginia prepare for a significant winter storm that could bring more snowfall than some parts of North Carolina have seen in years.

The National Weather Service says arctic air moving into the Southeast would cause already frigid temperatures to plummet into the teens Friday night in cities like Nashville, Tennessee. With another wave of dangerous cold heading for the U.S. South, experts say the risk of hypothermia heightens for people in parts of Mississippi and Tennessee trapped at home without power in subfreezing temperatures.

Catherine O’Hara

dies at 71

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Catherine O’Hara has died at 71. The Emmy-winning actor was known for her roles on “SCTV,” “Schitt’s Creek,” and the two “Home Alone” films. Her agency, CAA, announced she died2 Friday at her Los Angeles home after a brief illness. O’Hara was a Canadian-born actor who gained fame through Toronto’s Second City Theatre.

She was also one of the key stars of the sketch comedy show “SCTV.” Her career spanned decades, and she was celebrated for her comedic brilliance in films including “Beetlejuice” and “Best in Show.” She won an Emmy for “Schitt’s Creek” and got Emmy nominations for late-career roles in “The Last of Us” and “The Studio.”

Gold, silver

prices fall

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell on Wall Street, while gold and silver prices plunged as investors tried to gauge what President Donald Trump’s new nominee to lead the Federal Reserve will mean for interest rates. The S&P 500 dropped 0.4% after sinking as much as 1.1% earlier on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.9%. The value of the U.S. dollar rallied but only after swiveling a couple times.

Gold’s price dropped 11%, and silver plummeted more than 30% as tremendous rallies for both metals suddenly halted. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market.