PHOTOS: A bomb exploded on Nashville's historic Second Avenue in the early morning of Dec. 25, 2020. The blast damaged 65 buildings and displaced dozens of businesses and residents in a city already weary from a year marred by the COVID-19 pandemic and deadly tornadoes. After a year of investigation, painstaking demolition and community collaboration, the shells of the most-damaged buildings stand largely cleared of debris and ready for the 200-year-old street's next evolution.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Tennessean

VIDEO/PHOTOS: Ann Mulkey's son Louis was one of the Charleston 9 firefighters. When Powell Roofing got a call from Mulkey, they decided to team up with some local businesses to give her a free roof. "Oh my gosh. I've never had anything like this happen to me, to this magnitude. And to do it because of Louis, you know, just made it that much more special," said Ann Mulkey.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WCIV-TV ABC 36 Charleston

Firefighting is in the blood of the Fanella family, stretching back four generations in Mount Carmel Township. Robert B. Fanella died at age 88 in 2014. His son Robert "Bob" Joseph Fanella, 63, his grandson Robert "Bobby" James Fanella, 40, and his great-grandson Ethan Robert Fanella, 19, are volunteer firefighters for the Atlas Fire Company and Natalie Fire Company in Mount Carmel Township.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: The Daily Item

In 2020, San Francisco fire stations revived a tradition from grandma and granddad’s day, after a report from the Chronicle sounded the siren to bring back the SF fire station holiday decorations contest. That contest was scuttled in 1951 over some prudish backlash that the fire departments were spending more than their allotted $50 per station on decorations, but the Chronicle’s report mustered up enough holiday cheer that the SF Fire Department decided to pull all the St.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: SFist

The highly transmissible Omicron variant is now dominant in the United States, according to new data released by the CDC on Monday. The variant now makes up more than 73% of new infections, a nearly six-fold increase compared to the week before. Omicron makes up the highest share of new cases in the South, Central Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and the New York area.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CBS News