Local- The Rochester Public School Board unanimously voted on Dec. 8, 2015 to not levy the maximum $52.9 allowed by the Minnesota Department of Education’s, instead deciding to under-levy by no longer placing a $164.10 tax on 18,217 students placed there before the Referendum was approved in early November. This means that taxes will not be raised as significantly as was first believed, a $200,000 home will now be taxed an additional $136 instead of an additional $183. (Rochester Public School- BoardDocs- Agenda)

National– The main stage members of CNN’s Republican presidential primary were set and will be broadcast on Dec. 15, 2015 at 7 p.m. CST on CNN. The candidates will be (in order from left to right across the stage) Kasich, Fiorina, Rubio, Carson, Trump (center stage), Cruz, Bush, Christie, and Paul. The first round debate will be Pataki, Huckabee, Santorum, and Graham. The main stage members were placed there by poll rankings indicating Trump, Cruz, and Carson are the frontrunners in the Republican Party now as the Iowa caucus approaches. (CNN)

International– At the Paris Climate Change Conference (the 21st Conference of the Parties held by the United Nations), the Paris Agreement was adopted on Dec. 11, 2015. This agreement ordained that all countries in attendance (almost 200) would cut emissions and keep the global temperature from raising above 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). (BBC) (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)