Madcap, Confetti-Throwing Comedian Rip Taylor Dead At 84

• Fire rips through abandoned house in Chicago Lawn neighborhood

  

• Michigan's maximum unemployment benefits to increase by $84 a week

  

• Miami City Ballet brings holiday magic with The Nutcracker

  

• Actor James Ransone, known for his role in "The Wire," dies at 46

  

• Michigan House advances "Taylor Swift" bill package aimed ticket bots

  

• Man sentenced after throwing Molotov cocktail into Howard County apartment

  

• 76-year-old found dead in Lower East Side apartment; death ruled a homicide

  

• Bowen Yang leaves "SNL" after 8 seasons