Welcome back! It’s a brand new semester, and I hear winter might actually make an appearance soon. This is your Daily Digest for Tuesday, January 17.

• The remaining five GOP candidates debated in South Carolina last night, leading up to the state’s primary on Saturday. According to polls, Mitt Romney is poised to win the primary, which put his opponents on the offensive Monday night. Candidates attacked Romney’s job-creation record, wealth and character, according to the New York Times. They also hassled over not having released his tax returns. Romney said he’d likely release them in April if he were to receive the nomination, the Washington Post reported. Saturday’s primary could be the other four candidates’ last chance to slow Romney down. He’s won both the Iowa and the New Hampshire primaries so far. South Carolina voters have a record of picking the candidate who will eventually receive the nomination, WaPo reported.

• A Lakeville woman and her sister were reportedly on board the sinking Italian Cruise ship Costa Concordia, but managed to escape safely. However, a White Bear Lake couple is still missing, according to the Star Tribune. The sisters told reporters the ship’s crew had assured them the ship was experiencing only minor difficulties. That was after they had felt a bump like it had hit something. They went back to their rooms, but emerged again when the ship started to tilt. They found passengers trying to load the lifeboats themselves with no help from the crew. Italian authorities suspended the search for survivors last night. Twenty-nine passengers are unaccounted for, including the White Bear Lake couple. On top of the missing persons – and the six lives already claimed – Italian environmentalists say the next issue could be of an environmental catastrophe if any of the 500,000 gallons of fuel leak into the waters. The Tuscany waters are a sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.

• This day in history (according to history.com): 1950 – Eleven men stole more than $&undefined; million from the Brinks Armored Car Depot in Boston. It’s hailed as the nearly perfect crime, as they escaped without leaving any evidence. Because of a squabble among the robbers, they were caught just days before the statute of limitations ran out in January 1956. Eight were given life sentences. Two died before they could go on trial. I assume the ””th guy is the one who cut a deal with the FBI? Not sure. But it does say only a small part of the money was recovered – the rest is “fabled to be hidden in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.” The heist was the basis for the ”97’ film “The Brinks Job.”