Daily Briefing: Been in a holiday daze? 3 stories to help you catch up

ALSO: 🏬 Don't you just love a bargain: Remnants of Christmas Tree Shops hit the auction block Advertisement [eNewspaper]( | [Crosswords]( | [Horoscopes]( [Read in browser]( The Daily Briefing YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP Tue Jan 2 2024 Will Richmond | Managing Editor Communities & R.I. [@Will_Richmond]( Good morning, I'm Will Richmond from The Providence Journal and this is the Daily Briefing. Well, ladies and gentlemen that's a wrap on the 2023 holiday season. Welcome to 2024. I hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday. I have to say being off the week between Christmas and New Year's is just like advertised. It's a blur of a week and you've never quite sure what day it is and the multiple days of fog and rain didn't hurt. So it helped to find a little routine as the the holiday came to a close. My family observed a traditional New Year's Day that started with taking all the Christmas decorations down and returning them to the attic followed by a hike at the Cuttyhunk Brook Preserve in Exeter. (Thanks to John Kostrzewa's book "[Walking Rhode Island]( for the suggestion.) But now it's time to catch up on what I've missed. So you're like me, here's a rundown of three stories I have lined up on my must-read list. • What will lawmakers be up to in 2024? The session doesn't start until 4 p.m., leaving time today [to get the rundown from The Journal's Katherine Gregg and Patrick Anderson on the top priorities facing the General Assembly]( before the first gavel is struck. [ONLINE ONLY] The grounds of the Rhode Island State House. David DelPoio/The Providence Journal, file • With 13 state parks, Rhode Island has its share of green space for people looking to get outside and I'm often one of them. The Journal's Katie Landeck reports that according to the Department of Environmental Management, there were more than 7.6 million visits to the state parks. But which are the most popular? [Katie has the answer.]( • One thing I did plenty of the past week was eat, but by the end of the week I needed something that my holiday meals of beef and ham and potatoes and the leftovers that followed was missing. So I made spicy chicken fajita bowls with cauliflower rice. It hit the spot. But what hit the spot with readers in 2023? The Journal's Gail Ciampa rounded up the most-read food stories online. [From pizza and Italian restaurants to high-profile awards and restaurants Gail's got the taste of R.I. down.]( WORTH A READ 🗳️ A fraying coalition: Black, Hispanic, young voters [abandon Biden as election year begins]( 🏬 [Don't you just love a bargain]( Remnants of Christmas Tree Shops hit the auction block 🎄 [Wondering what to do with your Christmas tree?]( Here are three solutions. [Today's Weather]( ☀️ Plenty of sunshine. Highs in the low 40s. TOP STORIES [How did dynamite sandwiches get their name?]( [Dynamites are a local dish in Woonsocket where they have been described as a sloppy Joe sandwich in a torpedo roll. L'il General and New York Lunch will be both feature their dynamites during the weekend launch of the new Blackstone Valley International Food Trail.]( A town in Maine also claims to have invented this spicy Sloppy Joe-style sandwich. [READ MORE]( Advertisement [These German soldiers, probably in a farmhouse behind the trenches, try to make the best of it with their little tree. The inscription reads, “Christmas in Enemy Territory”.]( [A pause in the horror of WWI: The unforeseen Christmas Truce of 1914]( Enemies in the trenches halted fighting, exchanged gifts and sang carols together in an unexpected show of humanity amid conflict. [READ MORE]( [The water temperature was around 47 degrees as participants in the 20th annual A Wish Come True Polar Plunge at braved the conditions at Easton's Beach in Newport on Jan. 1, 2024.]( [Easton's Beach Polar Plunge a cold start to 2024]( Starting the New Year off at Easton's Beach Polar Plunge [READ MORE]( [Exterior view of the RI State House. Scenes from the RI State house on Dec 26, 2023.]( [Political Scene: 2024 resolutions a window to officials' priorities]( From Washington, D.C., to the State House, office-holders tell us what they plan to do differently this year, from policy goals to the personal. [READ MORE]( [Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023, in Toronto.]( [Trading Chris Sale was a bold — and necessary — move for the Red Sox]( This trade and the additional time from now until spring training suggest such reinforcements could eventually arrive. It’s exactly what Boston needs. [READ MORE]( Advertisement Sign up for the news you want Exclusive newsletters are part of your subscription, don’t miss out! We’re always working to add benefits for subscribers like you. [SEE ALL NEWSLETTERS ➔]( SUBSCRIBE TODAY Our Reporting. Your Stories. Full access to subscriber-only content on all devices. Share bonus subscription with a family member or friend. The universal eNewspaper, the digital version of our print paper, plus bonus monthly magazines and hundreds of local papers. Original reporting of our hometown teams, from high school sports to the pros. [Unlock news for $1]( [SUBSCRIBE TODAY]( Follow Us Problem viewing email? [View in browser]( [Unsubscribe]( • [Manage Newsletters]( • [Terms of Service]( • [Privacy Policy/Your California Privacy Rights]( • [Privacy Notice]( • [Do Not Sell My Info/Cookie Policy]( • [Feedback](