The Tuesday Flyover Replay : Bracing for Cold, IRS Scams, and… Afraid of the Phone?

The Tuesday Flyover Replay : Bracing for Cold, IRS Scams, and… Afraid of the Phone?

Presented by Russell Sherrard.

Narrated by Artificial Intelligence, Our Hosts are Christopher and Jenny.

THE FLYOVER REPLAY.

Tuesday, February 18, 2025.

Good Morning! On this day in 1930, Clyde Tombaugh, an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, discovered Pluto. For decades afterward, Pluto was considered the ninth planet of our solar system.

Telephobia is a recent phenomenon among young people. According to a story in today’s edition, schools in the UK are now offering courses on how to use the telephone for a generation that has grown up with text-based communication and experiences significant anxiety at the prospect of making phone calls.

We hope you enjoyed reading today’s Flyover. Let us know how we’re doing by replying to Russell Sherrard at russellsherrard@reagan.com.

The sponsors keep the tanks full around here. Be sure to check out today’s sponsors.

TAKEOFF.

Extreme Weather to Strike Again.

The National Weather Service issued an extreme cold warning for 11 states, from the Canadian border to Oklahoma and central Texas, with wind chills expected to bring life-threatening, sub-zero temperatures.

States along the Rockies and Northern Plains were hit by the polar vortex Monday, with ice and snow in Nebraska and Michigan, and temperatures as low as -60°F in North Dakota and -50°F in Montana.

The storm is expected to move into the South and East on Wednesday before heading out to the Atlantic on Thursday. Major snowfall is likely in the Ozarks, North Carolina, and Virginia, with possible ice storms in North Carolina.

Kentucky is also in the storm’s path, with snow expected to reach the Bluegrass State late Tuesday, hindering recovery efforts from recent flooding that killed at least 11 people and left thousands without power.

Europe Pushes for Role in Ukraine Talks.

European leaders gathered in Paris on Monday for emergency talks after the U.S. pushed ahead with unilateral Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations in Saudi Arabia, heightening concerns that Europe would be sidelined.

No concrete outcomes emerged from the Paris meeting, but European leaders reiterated that any lasting peace would require their involvement alongside continued U.S. support.

The U.K. and Sweden signaled a willingness to deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a future peacekeeping force, while Poland ruled out sending troops but urged greater defense spending.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed that European security was at stake and confirmed his visit to Washington next week to meet President Trump.

Avoid IRS Scams This Tax Season.

Scammers are impersonating the IRS this tax season, offering economic recovery funds in exchange for personal and financial information, according to the Better Business Bureau.

Criminals, posing as federal agents via text messages, are offering $1,400 checks to taxpayers who missed the Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns, aiming to steal personal information.

The fraudulent attempt also uses a link that resembles the IRS website, promising quick payments through either checks or electronic deposits.

The BBB also warns people to be cautious of emails with similar claims, stating that the IRS will always contact you by mail first, not by phone or email. When in doubt, the BBB advises contacting the IRS directly.

POLITICS.

Vivek Ramaswamy is expected to launch his 2026 Ohio gubernatorial campaign next Monday after reportedly filing campaign paperwork over the weekend.

Kalob Byers, the 28-year-old American detained in Russia on Feb. 7 on drug smuggling charges, has been released, a Kremlin spokesperson confirmed Monday. He is believed to be on his way back to the U.S.

The Washington Post canceled a planned $115,000 ad campaign purchased by the group Common Cause. The ads, set to run today, would have featured “Fire Elon Musk” on the front and back pages, along with a full-page ad inside.

After a word from one of our sponsors Jenny will be Narrating the last half of the news.

And Now, A word From one of Our Sponsors.

Are you an author or writer with a Blog and wonder if it is being effective?
I have added audio to my blog posts and am getting good comments. I can add voice to your blog posts. You choose Male/Female $10 per post. Direct your inquiries to russellsherrard@reagan.com.

Thanks Christopher.

Now, back to the News.

SPORTS.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry was named the All-Star Game MVP for the second time in his career after scoring 20 points and bringing in 10 rebounds to lead Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team OGs” to two wins in the new tournament format.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout has announced that he will be moving to right field after 12 seasons as the Angels’ primary center fielder in an attempt to preserve his health moving forward. Trout, who is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of this generation, has only played 266 games in the last four years due to multiple injuries.

Seven more women have come forward to accuse Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of sexual misconduct at local spas. All of the allegations are from 2012-2016, Tucker’s first five seasons in the NFL.

The White House Transition.

The State Department removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” from its U.S.-Taiwan relations webpage, prompting backlash from Chinese officials who warn it could harm U.S.-China relations.

The Trump administration fired hundreds of probationary FAA workers over the weekend, notifying radar, landing, and navigational aid maintenance employees by email and barring them from facilities.

Also in the FAA, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has invited SpaceX officials to assess the nation’s current air traffic control system, collecting data to develop improvements for a safer, more modernized system.

FINANCE.

European defense stocks surged on Monday, driven by expectations of increased military spending, with Germany’s Renk up 17% and Sweden’s Saab climbing 16%.

Driver platform Tenstreet, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, acquired Chattanooga, Tennessee-based TextLocate, a driver tracking firm, to enhance supply chain communications and efficiency.

A JPMorgan analyst in Columbus, Ohio, was briefly fired after challenging CEO Jamie Dimon’s strict return-to-office mandate during a town hall but was rehired hours later following internal backlash and management intervention.

SCIENCE AND TECH.

A Chilean space telescope captured images of YR4 2024, the “city-killer” asteroid that scientists predict has a one-in-48 chance of colliding with Earth in seven years.

Florida fossil hunters uncovered over 500 fossils in the Steinhatchee River, which are believed to be remains of armadillo-like mammals, horses, and sloths that perished in a sinkhole 500,000 years ago.

A robot dog and a flying drone, both armed with firework launchers, engaged in a simulated battle, shooting colorful firecrackers at each other prior to a Spring Festival in China.

THE ROTATOR.
TRAVEL TUESDAY.

The city of Venice, Italy, started charging visitors a minimal entry fee last year to combat tourist overcrowding. Now they are doubling the fee—which has raised $2.5 million so far—for late-bookers.

A new study has identified the most affordable spring break destinations for families. Prime spots include Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Cancun, Mexico, along with top deals in familiar U.S. locales, such as Orlando, San Diego, Phoenix, and Keystone, Colorado.

For the first time in 15 years, Royal Caribbean International will homeport one of its ships in San Diego. The 2,143-capacity Serenade of the Seas will begin sailing from California to the Mexican Riviera in October 2026.

ET CETERA.

A Delta Air Lines regional jet from Minneapolis landed upside down during a crash at Toronto Pearson Airport, injuring at least nine people, including three critically, as snowstorm conditions disrupted flights.

Wolfgang Porsche, the billionaire chairman of Porsche AG, has ignited a backlash in Salzburg, Austria, over plans for a 1,640-foot tunnel to his historic villa.

Generation Z students, born between 1997 and 2012, are battling telephobia—fear of phone calls—prompting a college in England to offer classes teaching the lost art of a phone call.

A mildly venomous, 2-foot-long snake from Ecuador was found in a box of bananas at a grocery store in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Daily Quote.

“The Europeans, as we speak, are not coordinated… Are we ready? The answer is no. Can we get ready? The answer is yes.”

— François Heisbourg, veteran French military expert, commenting on the need for Europe to work together to prepare a possible peacekeeping force for Ukraine.

And thats the news for today.

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor, The Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

Go to https:// payhip.com/ Christian NonFiction eBookStore then scroll down and click on The Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon

n publishing the life of the late CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON, the publishers feel a peculiar pleasure and believe themselves especially fortunate in having secured the Rev. Russell H. Conwell, D.D., LL.D., pastor at The Temple, of Philadelphia, to prepare the work. There are many reasons why the popular preacher, who might justly be called the Spurgeon of America, should in this way pay a loving tribute to the memory of his great English ecclesiastical brother, and why such a book must have an absorbing interest for all readers. Foremost among these might be considered his personal acquaintance with the great divine of gigantic efforts and wonderful achievements, and the deep study he has ever given to his popular brother preacher’s life and the measure of its successes.

As a fellow-preacher of the Gospel, he knew better than any layman how to interpret the hidden springs of success to count the cost of Herculean efforts made, and better, understand the great man’s life-work in all its thousands of minute details which he, as an intimate personal friend had the opportunity to observe.

Like Spurgeon, he has the power to earn and raise large sums of money, but he devotes every dollar beyond a reasonable living expense to the cause he has so much at heart. His remarkable line of work, also, in many ways corresponds with that of Spurgeon,

The similarity in the work of the English Spurgeon and the American Conwell has often been commented upon by press and people. Spurgeon made, and Conwell is making, a complete sacrifice of talents, time and health to the one aim in life-the salvation of souls. Each commenced life a poor boy, and had an early life fraught with discouragements and temptations.

The author’s grand work for the Grace Baptist Church, of Philadelphia, has justly distinguished him as the greatest preacher of his denomination in this country. He was a student at Yale College, and graduated in the Law Department of Albany University and was admitted to the New York bar in 1865. His health not permitting the practice of law, he began as traveling correspondent of the Boston Traveler and the New York Tribune, during which his constant companion and warmest friend was Bayard Taylor, with who he traveled all over the world, and obtained distinction as a journalist.

In addition to the pastorate of a church which has one of the most remarkable houses of worship in the world, open every hour of every day and night in the year, and is never untenanted, Dr. Conwell is the head of Temple College, connected with the church fostered by him, which is for the free education of working-men and women in the classic collegiate branches, with fourteen professors, a preparatory department that sends pupils to Yale, Harvard and Amherst, and giving itself decrees equal to those of Princeton. He is the head of the Samaritan Hospital, also an outgrowth of his personal effort and example, which is doing incalculable good in Philadelphia.

In addition. to his church work, Dr. Conwell lectures all over the United States, to large and delighted audiences.

He is also a prolific author, The most important of his works are a ” Life of Garfield,” which he wrote at the home of the martyred President, in Mentor; “Why and How the Chinese Immigrate,” the material for which he gathered in the Chinese Empire Life of Hon. James G. Blaine,” Life of Bayard Taylor,” and “Acres of Diamonds,” each of which has been appreciatively read by thousands of readers in this and other countries.