Some members of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish may have to do their best Michael Jordan impression on Thursday.

The flu is reportedly going around the team, just hours before their College Football Playoff semifinal against Penn State.

On3 Sports reported that "those who have it have it bad, but it sounds like that's mostly backups and special teams players."

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Other reports since indicate that the illness has subsided in recent days, but players are not out of the woods yet.

The Fighting Irish are riding high headed into Thursday's Orange Bowl after taking down the second-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinal last week.

Notre Dame earned the seventh seed in the bracket, which got them to host a home game against No. 10 Indiana. That was a rather easy victory, but Thursday may just be their toughest test yet.

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Penn State held Boise State star running back Ashton Jeanty to just 104 rushing yards last week, his lowest of the season. That is not necessarily great news for the Irish, considering Riley Leonard had just 90 yards passing against the Bulldogs.

The Nittany Lions are the sixth seed in the bracket. 

The Fighting Irish's season seemed to be dead in the water after losing at home to Northern Illinois in the second week of the season, but they have since rattled off a dozen consecutive wins to find themselves just one victory away from their second national title game in the last 15 years.

However, if they can get by what seemed to be a program-altering loss at the time, a bug seems to be just a minor speed bump.

This is the third time the Fighting Irish are in the playoffs, having lost in the semifinals in both 2018 and 2020.

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CONCORD, N.H. - The nation's newest governor is coming out of the starting gate by proposing a new government efficiency commission that seems to be modeled, to a degree, on a similar national effort by President-elect Trump.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte of swing state New Hampshire, in her inaugural address on Thursday as she succeeded longtime GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, pointed to the state's budget challenges ahead due to the drying up of federal COVID relief funding for the states and a downturn in business revenues.

"We are going to have to look to find better ways to do things with fewer dollars," Ayotte said.

The new governor then said, "Because I know nothing is harder than getting politicians to not spend money, today I am announcing the creation of the Commission on Government Efficiency, or as I like to call it – the ‘COGE.’"

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Ayotte argued that "COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her inauguration, Ayotte appeared to tease her proposal by emphasizing that "we look for new, efficient ways to do things better and serve taxpayers."

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The move by New Hampshire's governor comes nearly two months after Trump, days after his presidential election victory, tapped Elon Musk, the world's richest person, and former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to steer what he called the "Department of Government Efficiency," better known by its acronym DOGE.

Ayotte's proposal received plenty of applause from state lawmakers gathered at New Hampshire's Statehouse for the governor's inauguration. Republicans in November's elections made major gains as they strengthened their state House and state Senate majorities.

"I think it's a brilliant approach," Republican Mayor Jay Ruais of Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city, told Fox News. 

Ruais, considered a rising star in his party, emphasized "appointing a commission like this to go after any kind of bloat, I think, is a perfect approach and certainly going to be really beneficial for state government and also certainly helps us downstream at the local level as well."

New Hampshire Democrats obviously disagree.

"Governor Ayotte hasn’t been in office for a full twenty-four hours yet, and she is already laying the groundwork for massive budget cuts to services that people rely on. This is all thanks to years of failed Republican policies she championed," longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley argued.

"Throughout her speech, one thing became clear – Kelly Ayotte is taking a page out of the Donald Trump playbook," Buckley claimed. "Governor Ayotte is following in Trump’s footsteps and setting on a dangerous and costly path for New Hampshire."

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Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, who previously served as a state attorney general, defeated Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig by nearly 10 points in November's election. Her victory kept the governor's office in GOP hands.

In her address, Ayotte praised her predecessor, whose policies she campaigned on continuing.

"New Hampshire is moving in the right direction, and no one deserves more credit for that after four terms at the helm than Governor Chris Sununu. Thank you, Governor," Ayotte said.

Looking ahead, Ayotte told GOP state legislative leaders, "I look forward to working with you … to marshal our Republican majorities over the next two years to deliver on the promises we made to keep our state moving in the right direction."

And Ayotte reiterated a longstanding pledge by New Hampshire Republicans that she is "not going to surprise anyone when I say this: no income tax, no sales tax, not now, not ever."

But Ayotte also extended an olive branch to Democrats and said, "My door is always open. Good government knows no party."

"I am going to be a governor for you, whether you’re a Republican, Democrat, Independent, you name it. Because our state is so much bigger than a party or an ideology," she added.

And Ayotte, who faced a barrage of attacks by Democrats over the issue of abortion during last year's gubernatorial campaign, repeated her vow to state lawmakers that "if you send me legislation that further restricts access to abortion beyond our current law: I will veto it."

Abortions are legal in New Hampshire through 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Ayotte also made headlines by announcing she'll move to ban cell phones in the state's public schools.

Pointing to her husband, Joe, a retired Air Force pilot who flew combat missions over Iraq and nowadays teaches middle school math, the governor said, "Joe and I talk about what he is seeing in the classroom and what his students need all the time. He and the thousands of teachers across our state are on the front lines of our education system. Teachers know uniquely what is working for our students and what isn’t. We need to listen to them.

"That’s why today I am announcing that we will be taking action to ban cell phones in our schools. Screens are negatively impacting our learning environments, drawing students' attention," Ayotte highlighted.

Sununu, in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of Ayotte's inauguration, which was his last full day in office after eight years and four election victories (New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont are the only states in the nation to have two-year terms for governors), praised his successor.

"Kelly's been a great friend for decades. She's going to be a fantastic governor for New Hampshire. She's New Hampshire, born, bred, ready to go, hit the ground running with a great team here in the state," Sununu emphasized.

The outgoing governor added that while he's leaving office, he's always available for advice. "Anything I could possibly add, she knows she can call and text anytime," he said.

The Laken Riley Act defeated the legislative filibuster during a procedural vote on Thursday, amassing more than 60 votes to advance it to a final vote. 

The bill was quickly re-introduced by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., in the Senate and Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., in the House once the new Congress began. 

"Today’s vote on the Laken Riley Act is an important step forward in making our country safer, but there’s still more work to be done to get this commonsense legislation across the finish line," Britt said in a statement. 

"Laken’s horrific murder should never have happened. While we cannot bring Laken back, Congress can and must pass the Laken Riley Act to save American lives and prevent this tragedy from repeating itself. Congress has an obligation to Laken, her family, and to Americans in every corner of our country to get this bill passed and signed into law."

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The bill was named for a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who was found dead on the University of Georgia's campus in February. Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant, was found guilty of 10 total counts, including felony murder. He initially pleaded not guilty but was ultimately sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in November. 

Britt and Collins' bill would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain illegal immigrants that have committed theft, burglary or shoplifting until they are deported. States would also be granted standing under the legislation to take civil action against members of the federal government that do not enforce immigration laws. 

The measure was blessed by new Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., who teed it up to be the first major vote in the upper chamber. 

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With all Senate Republicans on board, it was initially unclear whether they would be able to get enough Democrats to advance the bill and beat the filibuster's 60-vote threshold. However, Democratic support began to snowball after Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the first to say he would vote in favor of it. He and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., both opted to become co-sponsors of the bill. 

Fox News had confirmed as of Thursday morning that at least 13 Democrats said they would vote to advance the bill. 

Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Gallego, Gary Peters, D-Mich., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., Angus King, I-Maine, Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Fetterman, each said they would vote yes on the procedural hurdle. 

On the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., revealed he would also be voting to advance the bill. He explained that he would vote in favor of the cloture motion in order to have the opportunity for debate and for Democrats to offer amendments. The Democrat leader further said he believed there are enough votes for the measure to beat the filibuster. 

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In addition, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he would likely support advancing the bill. 

This isn't a guarantee that the Democrats will all vote on final passage of the bill. However, the final vote only requires a simple majority to pass, whereas the cloture vote needed 60. 

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The successful filibuster defeat effectively ensures that the GOP's priority immigration bill will be sent to President-elect Trump's desk and ultimately become law. 

A handful of the Democrats that helped the measure advance are up for re-election in potentially competitive states come 2026. They include Ossoff, Shaheen, Peters and Hickenlooper. 

• Starbucks is hosting a three-hour meeting for store employees later this month.
• The meeting will focus on ways that employees can make Starbucks "a welcoming coffeehouse" again.
• Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol is trying to turn around results at the coffee chain.

Starbucks store employees in the US will have to attend a three-hour training session later this month, Business Insider has learned, as the coffee chain's new CEO attempts to revitalize it.

Starbucks' role as a place for customers to hang out is expected to be a key topic at the meeting, according to a description from Starbucks' intranet seen by BI.

"We will be talking about an opportunity to refocus on what has always set Starbucks apart — a welcoming coffeehouse where people gather and we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by skilled baristas," the description reads.

The meetings will take place at different times at different stores, four store employees told BI. They'll happen between January 21 and 26 and will be entitled "Welcome Back to Starbucks," according to one sign posted at a store and seen by BI.

Store employees, whom Starbucks calls "partners," have to attend the meeting, even if that means going to another store's version because it fits their schedule better, two partners said. In some cases, partners will fill in shifts at other stores so that employees there can be present, one partner said.

Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Starbucks is in the midst of a turnaround effort after reporting slumping sales in recent quarters.

Brian Niccol, who oversaw major changes at Mexican grill chain Chipotle, became Starbucks' CEO in September. Since then, he's unveiled several changes, from the reintroduction of self-service condiment bars to instituting a goal of four minutes or less for preparing customers' orders.

Niccol has also said that he wants Starbucks stores to be "inviting places to linger" while also serving customers who want quick to-go service.

One partner at a Starbucks store in Florida told BI that he hopes Starbucks will unveil more changes to streamline workflow at his store during the meeting.

He pointed to some adjustments that Starbucks has already made under Niccol's leadership, such as instructing baristas to prepare some drinks with a blender instead of shaking them — a small change that saves each barista valuable seconds when filling orders.

"I would love to see a continuation of that," he said.

Do you work at Starbucks and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• At least five separate wildfires are ravaging Los Angeles and Southern California.
• The Palisades Fire alone has burned through over 17,000 acres of land in two days.
• For context, the entire island of Manhattan is 14,600 acres.

A series of wildfires have battered Los Angeles and other surrounding areas of Southern California since Tuesday, killing at least five people, burning through tends of thousands of acres of land, and destroying at least 1,000 structures.

The damage so far is estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars.

When natural disasters strike, numbers like these — that reach the thousands, millions, and even billions — can become difficult to comprehend.

To put the wildfire destruction in California into perspective, here are seven statistics to help understand the damage they have inflicted.

The Palisades Fire alone has burned through 17,000 acres. That's larger than the entire island of Manhattan.

That makes the fire, which started on Tuesday morning, the most destructive fire in Los Angeles' history, according to multiple reports.

The island of Manhattan in New York is roughly 15,000 acres.

In total, more than 26,978 acres had been burned as of 1:45 a.m. Thursday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported.

Officials ordered 130,000 to evacuate, a number that's greater than the population of Kansas' capital city.

That number is more than the population of Topeka, the capital of Kansas, which has a population of 125,457, according to 2023 population estimates by the US Census.

Los Angeles' total population is just under 4 million people. That means around 3% of the city's population has been displaced.

More than 420,000 people are estimated to be without power. That's roughly the population of Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota.

The number comes from PowerOutage.us, which has been tracking power outages across California.

One estimate puts damage and economic losses at $52 to $57 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in US history.

That preliminary estimate, from forecasting service Accuweather, could increase if the fires spread to further areas.

For comparison, the total GDP of the country of Libya is $48 billion, according to the IMF.

If this was a hurricane, that'd make it the 10th-costliest storm in history, right below 2012's Hurricane Sandy.

More than 7,500 LA firefighters have been deployed, but that's still not enough.

Governor Gavin Newsom is sending in the state's National Guard, and more firefighters are coming from Nothern California. The Los Angeles Times reported Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone requested aid from fire departments in Oregon, New Mexico, Washington, and Utah.

Wind gusts have reached 90 mph. That's equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane.

The powerful winds contributed to the quick spread of the fires and hampered firefighting efforts.

For comparison, Category 1 hurricanes have wind speeds of between 74 and 95 mph, and they can do a lot of damage. Hurricane Florence was a Category 1 storm when it made landfall in North Carolina in September 2018, and was one of the costliest hurricanes in history.

Universal Studios was forced to close for the first time since COVID-19 in 2020.

Universal Studios said in a statement it closed its gates on Wednesday "out of an abundance of caution" due to the high winds and fires, closing for the first time since the park shut down in March 2020, per People. It remained closed on Thursday.

Disneyland, located in Anaheim, has been able to remain open.

• Multiple fires are devastating the Los Angeles area with over 100,000 people told to evacuate.
• Landmarks such as the Hollywood sign and the Getty Center were undamaged but engulfed in smoke.
• The Griffith Observatory will be closed until further notice.

The Los Angeles wildfires have devastated portions of the city and surrounding areas.

The Palisades fire, which started on January 7, has left more than 17,000 acres burning unchecked. In total, wildfires have burned over 27,000 acres.

Over 100,000 residents have been ordered to evacuate, and many more have lost their homes.

Here's how the fires have impacted some of the most famous landmarks in Los Angeles.

The Griffith Observatory offers free public telescopes and sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles.

The structure, which spans 67,000 square feet, includes a planetarium, observatory, and exhibits about the cosmos.

The observatory's telescopes were rendered useless due to thick clouds of smoke.

The Griffith Observatory wrote on Instagram on Wednesday that it will be closed until further notice due to the current weather and fire conditions.

The Hollywood sign, visible from the Griffith Observatory, is the most famous landmark in Los Angeles.

The Hollywood sign has been featured in countless TV shows and movies over the years as the most iconic location in the city.

As fires blazed across the city, the normally blue skies turned gray with smoke and ash.

As of Thursday, the sign was not located in an evacuation warning area, but the site is closed due to damage from surrounding fires.

After false images of the sign burning began to circulate on social media, the Hollywood Sign clarified in a Facebook post that it "continues to stand tall!"

Sunset Boulevard boasts luxury shops, restaurants, and nightlife.

The famous 1.7-mile-long Sunset Strip along Sunset Boulevard is located between Hollywood and West Hollywood.

Part of Sunset Boulevard has been hit hard by the wildfires.

Part of Sunset Boulevard, which spans 25 miles, is located in Pacific Palisades. The Palisades fire caused heavy damage, and many buildings along the famous street have burned down.

The Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena is home to the UCLA Bruins college football team.

The stadium also hosts its namesake Rose Bowl Game annually on New Year's Day.

Aerial views of The Rose Bowl were obscured by smoke.

Some sports games have been postponed due to the wildfires. On Wednesday, the National Hockey League delayed a match between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames that was supposed to take place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The Getty Center, a giant museum complex in the Santa Monica Mountains, spans 110 acres.

Designed by architect Richard Meier, the Getty Center houses collections of paintings, manuscripts, photography, and sculptures from Europe and the US.

The effects of the wildfires could be seen in the distance behind the museum on Wednesday at sunset.

Clouds of smoke billowed around the complex, but the museum was undamaged.

The Getty Villa, situated on a 64-acre estate, houses Greek and Roman antiquities.

The Getty Villa, built by J. Paul Getty, is located about 11 miles from the Getty Museum.

Wildfires scorched the grounds of the Getty Villa, but the building itself remains safe.

Katherine E. Fleming, president and chief executive of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that the organization "had made extensive efforts to clear brush from the surrounding area as part of its fire mitigation efforts throughout the year."

"Some trees and vegetation on-site have burned, but staff and the collection remain safe," she said.

Located near the Getty Villa, the Kauffman Estate has appeared in music videos such as "Paparazzi" by Lady Gaga and "Haunted" by Beyoncé.

Also known as the Villa de Leon, the French Revival estate was built in Malibu in 1927 for wool merchant Leon Kauffman.

The 12,000-square-foot mansion was barely visible in the orange sky.

Winds of up to 90 miles per hour made the California wildfires difficult to control.

The Kauffman Estate, now a private residence, appeared to still be standing as of Tuesday evening, but the extent of the damage is unclear.

Will Rogers State Historic Park in the Santa Monica Mountains was once the luxury residence of one of the highest-paid actors of the 1930s.

In the 1920s, Rogers built a ranch on the 359 acres of land he owned featuring a 31-room house, stables, and a golf course. His widow donated it to the California State Parks system in 1944.

The Palisades Fire destroyed "multiple structures" including Will Rogers' historic home, according to California State Parks.

"California State Parks mourns the loss of these treasured natural and cultural resources, and our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area," California State Parks director Armando Quintero said in a statement.

This is Rumor Replay, a weekly column at 9to5Mac offering a quick rundown of the most recent Apple product rumors, with analysis and commentary. Today: new iPads are on the way, plus a curious iOS Invites app, and more. Here are this week’s Apple rumors.