On this version of Hot off the Wire (posted Dec. 5 at 7 a.m. CT):

• Two power substations in a North Carolina county were damaged by gunfire in what is being investigated as a criminal act. A spokesman for Duke Energy said at a news conference with local officials on Sunday that the damage caused the night before could take days to repair.
• The Supreme Court is hearing the case of a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the highest court.
• Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock faces off against Republican challenger Herschel Walker in Tuesday's runoff election.
• Police say a private airplane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast Saturday night, with two people confirmed dead as authorities searched for a third person.
• Oxford Dictionaries has announced its 2022 word of the year: “goblin mode.” It defines the term as “a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.”
• China is easing some of the world’s most stringent anti-COVID controls and authorities say new variants are weaker. But they have yet to say when they might end a "zero-COVID“ strategy that confines millions of people to their homes and set off protests and demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making clear he wants to keep the military’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place to protect the health of the troops, as Republican governors and lawmakers press to rescind it.
• The Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case that could dramatically alter voting in 2024 and beyond. A Republican-led challenge is asking the justices for a novel ruling that could significantly increase the power of state lawmakers over elections for Congress and the presidency.
• In sports, the Browns won in the debut of their new quarterback, the Eagles continued their strong start, the Vikings won again, college football has its semifinalists and the Baseball Hall of Fame added Fred McGriff.
• Actor, musician and children’s author widely known for his portrayal of one of the first regular characters on the children’s show “Sesame Street,” Bob McGrath, has died at the age of 90.
• Gladys Knight, George Clooney, Amy Grant, Tania León and U2 were feted during Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors. Every year the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honors a select group of people for their artistic contributions to American culture. The show will be broadcast on Dec. 28 on CBS.
• “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” held the box-office crown for the fourth straight weekend with $17.6 million.

—The Associated Press