Brr.

GS undergrad Lipa Schmeltzer (profiled last year by Bwog), called at times the Elvis or Lady Gaga of Hasidic pop music, is facing opposition from leaders in the Orthodox Jewish community, who have even gone so far as to tell their followers to boycott his concerts. (Gothamist)

Inhabitants of the San Carlos Apache reservation are facing the destruction of their ancestral holy lands after Congress authorized a mining company to extract copper in the name of national defense. (Al Jazeera America)

In slightly more heartening federal news, the Obama administration is struggling to block a ruling that suspended the recent executive order to grant protection to young children of illegal immigrants. (NY Times)

Michigan is experiencing record low temperatures, with parts of the state sinking as low as 39 degrees below zero. As one local news outlet points out, this is only a tad warmer than the North Pole. (MLive)

On the bright side, the infuriating cold seems to be driving a downturn in crime in the Northeastern United States. Whether it’s shared misery or just an unwillingness to go outside is unclear.

Would-be criminal via Shutterstock