need2know-afternoon-edition-010423

let's start with a wraparound of today's news cycle. You think drought stricken California would celebrate days of rain, but the levels of rain are now dangerous. A powerful storm is slamming into the golden state, bringing floods, winds and snow in the mountains. This is the latest in a series of what's called an atmospheric river essentially it's a narrow current of moisture filled when it hits the Sierras that moisture is released and is now poised to drop as much as 10 inches of rain. The whiplash from drought to flood is a dangerous one and much of the west is under flash flood watches even landslide warnings. In other news, the FDA takes a significant step when it comes to women's health care access. The new rule expands where abortion pills can be sold, you still need a prescription, but the number of pharmacies that can offer the drug will increase as long as they follow rules put in place by the FDA. Previously, the medication was only available through mail order pharmacies or by specially certifies doctors or clinics. Now in the wake of that ruling, the doj also announced the U. S. Postal service can deliver that pill as well, huge developments there. The mastermind behind the varsity blues admission scandal has learned his sentence rick Singer led a scheme opening what he called quote side doors into some of the nation's most prestigious universities for a cost, he'll spend 42 months or 3.5 years Behind bars. That's about half of the sentence that prosecutors originally wanted singer pleaded guilty to raking in as much as $25 million dollars from some of the wealthiest families in the country, including stars like Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin. Now for an update on a story we brought you yesterday, we now know what caused a Tesla that was carrying a family of four to plunge off a 250 ft cliff in California. Everyone in the car survived, including the two Children who investigators say were quote unharmed. The driver has now been charged with attempted murder and child abuse officials claim the man intentionally drove off the cliff in an attempt to kill his family in other news. You know how ads on your social media feed seemed to be almost eerily geared right towards you. While european regulators say meta facebook and instagram's parent company broke the law when it required users to agree to personalized targeted ads. Ireland's Data protection commission is finding meta $414 million. All the stems from complaints filed in 2018 claiming the social media giant did not comply with a set of EU rules stopping companies from keeping personal data without your permission. Regulators say metas platforms convinced people to agree to targeted ads using unclear statements, meta plans to appeal the decision and says its platforms are inherently personalized. Now spending too much time on social media could be linked to changes in the brains of teenagers, University of North Carolina. Researchers scanned the brains of middle schoolers over the course of three years, these kids were 12-15 years old. Now during this age our brains developed rapidly. The study was published in the Jama pediatrics. Scientists found habitually checking social media feeds at this age is linked to hypersensitivity to peer feedback. They say the opposite is also true. The less you check, the less you care and if you're looking for a new year's resolution, how about drinking more water? A new study suggests drinking more water could be linked to a longer healthier life. I know we've known this for a while, but now there's scientific data backing it up. The study, published by e biomedicine focused on serum sodium levels for more than 11,000 people. Those levels fluctuate depending on how much fluid you take in the study found people with higher sodium levels were quote more likely to develop chronic conditions and show signs of advanced biological age. Researchers say we still need more research to determine if more hydration can promote healthy aging and of course prevent disease