Today is Friday, Jan. 2, the second day of 2026. There are 363 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 2, 1981, British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, aka the “Yorkshire Ripper,” was captured after a series of killings bred fear across northwest England between 1975 and 1980. Subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the killings of 13 women, he died in 2020 at the age of 74.

Also on this date:

In 1890, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Alice Sanger as the first female White House staffer at a time of a growing movement for women’s rights.

Related Articles

Today In History, January 1: Ellis Island opens

Trump vilifies Kennedy family hours after Tatiana Schlossberg’s death

Zohran Mamdani chose a Quran full of symbolism for his mayoral oath

Disney World worker is injured trying to stop runaway boulder at Indiana Jones show

Betty Boop and ‘Blondie’ enter the public domain in 2026, accompanied by a trio of detectives

In 1942, the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II.

In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 1 launched, becoming the first spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity.

In 1971, 66 people were killed in a crush of spectators leaving a soccer match at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland.

In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed legislation requiring states to limit highway speeds to 55 mph as a way of conserving gasoline during an OPEC oil embargo. (The 55 mph limit was effectively phased out in 1987; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995.)

In 2016, a heavily armed group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, beginning a 41-day standoff to protest the imprisonment of two ranchers convicted of setting fires on public land and to demand the federal government turn over public lands to local control.

In 2023, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle during the first quarter of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals, requiring life-saving treatment on the field. The game was canceled; Hamlin would recover fully and return to play the following season.

In 2024, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned amid plagiarism accusations and a backlash over her congressional testimony about antisemitism on campus. She was the Ivy League institution’s first Black president.

Today’s Birthdays:

Filmmaker Todd Haynes is 65.
Baseball Hall of Famer Edgar Martínez is 63.
Actor-singer Tia Carrere is 59.
Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. is 58.
Model Christy Turlington is 57.
Actor Taye Diggs is 55.
Actor Renée Elise Goldsberry is 55.
Actor-comedian Dax Shepard is 51.
Actor Kate Bosworth is 43.
Musician Trombone Shorty is 40.
Singer-rapper Bryson Tiller is 33.

The annual Ice Castles — Minnesota attraction made its earliest-ever opening last week, just in time for News Year’s Day visitors to explore the frozen spectacle at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights.

Promoters have staged the event at various locations in the Twin Cities, including Stillwater, before last year’s debut in Falcon Heights. Work on the illuminated castles, which include ice slides, tunnels, caverns and intricate ice sculptures, began in early December.

For ticketing information, go to icecastles.com/minnesota.

Related Articles

Top 10 new theme park attractions in the U.S. for 2026

‘The past gives comfort’: Finding refuge on analog islands amid deepening digital seas

Recipe: Enjoy this pasta dish on New Year’s Day while watching the parade on TV

Our favorite dishes and drinks from 2025

Cypriot fishermen battle invasive lionfish and turn them into a tavern delicacy

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Fernando Mendoza threw three touchdown passes, Indiana’s defense thoroughly throttled Alabama, and the top-seeded Hoosiers roared into the College Football Playoff semifinals with a 38-3 victory in the 112th Rose Bowl on Thursday.

Mendoza passed for 192 yards in his first game since winning his school’s first Heisman Trophy, but the hard-nosed Hoosiers (14-0, No. 1 CFP seed) won the Rose Bowl for the first time in school history by dominating the Crimson Tide (11-4, No. 9 CFP seed) at the line of scrimmage.

Indiana scored the game’s first 24 points before pouring it on with fourth-quarter rushing TDs from Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby, wrapping up a jubilant win in the 112th edition of the Granddaddy of Them All.

Charlie Becker, Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt caught TD passes, while Black rushed for 99 yards. Indiana outgained Alabama 407-193, steadily delighting a decidedly pro-Indiana crowd that celebrated its long-struggling team’s first Rose Bowl game appearance since 1968 with chants of “Hoosier Daddy?” in the final minutes.

Indiana had not won any bowl game since the Copper Bowl in 1991, but history has been no match for Curt Cignetti and his dominant Hoosiers during the coach’s two transcendent seasons.

The Hoosiers are headed to the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 for a CFP semifinal rematch with fifth-seeded Oregon, which routed Texas Tech 23-0 earlier Thursday in the Orange Bowl. Indiana beat the then-No. 3 Ducks 30-20 in Eugene last October in one of Cignetti’s most impressive Big Ten victories.

Indiana is two wins away from the first national championship in school history after becoming the first team to advance following a first-round bye in the current 12-team playoff format.

The first six bye teams — including the first two this season — couldn’t come back strong from an extra-long layoff, but the Hoosiers took care of business while improving to 25-2 under Cignetti.

The Crimson Tide’s second season under Kalen DeBoer ended in the same venue as their final season under Nick Saban two years ago. Alabama was outclassed one week after an impressive road win over Oklahoma, managing just 151 yards before the meaningless final minutes of this blowout.

Ty Simpson passed for 67 yards before backup Austin Mack replaced him in the third quarter. Mack immediately got the Tide rolling on a 65-yard drive leading to a short field goal, but the Hoosiers responded with two unstoppable TD drives.

Indiana dominated the famous Rose Bowl turf, which stayed pristine despite nearly 24 hours of steady rain before kickoff. The storms dissipated while the Hoosiers took their first-half lead, and blue skies appeared in the second half.

After the first scoreless first quarter in a Rose Bowl in 26 years, Indiana’s second drive stretched 84 yards and 16 plays over nearly nine minutes before Nicolas Radicic’s 31-yard field goal on the first snap of the second quarter.

Indiana’s defense then stopped Alabama on fourth and 1 at the Tide 34, and Mendoza fired a long, high pass to the leaping Becker four plays later for a 21-yard touchdown.

Simpson fumbled in Indiana territory after a courageous first-down scramble late in the first half, and the Hoosiers methodically drove for Mendoza’s 1-yard TD pass with 17 seconds left to Cooper, the hero of Indiana’s dramatic victory over Penn State.

After halftime, Mendoza led a steady 79-yard drive ending in his 24-yard TD pass to the leaping Sarratt.

The victory is the latest step in the monumental two-season turnaround of what was the losingest program in college football when Cignetti took charge. After winning 11 games and reaching the CFP last season, the Hoosiers steamrolled through their schedule this fall before beating defending national champion Ohio State for the Big Ten title and ascending to the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 for the first time.

Takeaways

Alabama: It was remarkable to see the most successful program of the 21st century get dominated up front. The Tide’s inability to run the ball was a season-long problem, but it was particularly painful in Pasadena. Whether through personnel or scheme, DeBoer’s offense must take a step forward next year to reach the standard expected at Bama.

Indiana: The Hoosiers acted like they’ve been here before, even though they haven’t. Cignetti’s group has a businesslike demeanor that wasn’t remotely altered by Alabama’s reputation and history.

Up next

Alabama: Host East Carolina on Sept. 5.

Indiana: A trip to Atlanta to face the powerhouse Ducks, who lost last season’s Rose Bowl to Ohio State as the No. 1 seed.

Related Articles

CFP quarterfinal: Defense carries the day for Oregon in win against Texas Tech

World Junior Championship: Finland has plenty of motivation for quarterfinal vs. U.S.

World Junior Championship quarterfinal previews

Gophers lose running backs coach Jayden Everett to Wisconsin

Will Koi Perich return to Gophers or hit the transfer portal?

Stearns County prosecutors plan to seek an aggravated sentence and an additional offense in a case involving a Catholic priest charged with stalking, criminal sexual conduct and violence against a woman.

Joseph Paul Herzing, 61, of Milaca, is charged with one count of stalking, one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of threats of violence, according to court records.

However Assistant Stearns County Attorney Jamie Reinschmidt filed a Dec. 3 motion to offer an additional third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge at trial, saying that Herzing “engaged in numerous instances of sexual penetration and sexual contact from 2014-18 in Hennepin and Stearns counties while being a member of the clergy.” An intent to seek an aggravated sentence was filed on Nov. 26.

Herzing appeared in court virtually on Monday for a bond hearing. Conditions include not leaving the state nor engaging in pastoral duties. A future court date has not been set.

Herzing is accused of abuse that occurred while providing spiritual advice, aid and comfort while serving as a priest in Little Falls and St. Cloud between May 2018 and October 2022. According to the criminal complaint, there were multiple violent interactions in 2022, including where Herzing choked, physically assaulted and threatened to kill the victim.

The criminal complaint also said that Herzing took the woman to an event in Milaca on his motorcycle in August 2022 and threatened to kill them both by crashing into a tree. The woman told investigators Herzing had made similar threats in the past.

He was ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud in 1999, and later was appointed as pastor of Christ the King in Browerville; St. Joseph in Clarissa; St. Joseph in Grey Eagle; St. Mary of Mount Carmel in Long Prairie, and St. John the Baptist in Swanville in June 2024, according to the Diocese of St. Cloud. Herzing was put on leave following the filing of charges in Stearns County District Court, St. Cloud Bishop Patrick Neary said in a Nov. 27 statement.

Related Articles

Woman assaulted Thursday on park trail in Burnsville, police say

Videos show St. Paul police shooting man who officials say pointed gun at officers

Year after kids rescued from Vadnais Heights fire, mother charged with child endangerment

Grand Marais grocery co-op worker charged with stabbing customer

Chisago City man charged with fatal Christmas Day assault of hospital security guard