Welcome to Wednesday, Short Listers. It's Ashley, here to walk you through today’s news.

But first, a golden lobster: A lucky lobster has been saved from the pot thanks to its rare, 1-in-30 million golden color. Its nickname? Goldilobs.

Russia’s doing Russia things again. With missiles.

Vladimir Putin got my attention this morning: The Russian president warned Wednesday that Moscow will target the U.S. with new missiles if the Trump administration scraps an arms control agreement by deploying new intermediate-range missiles in Europe. The U.S. announced this month that it would withdraw from the treaty, claiming Russia violated the Cold War pact. So what kind of missiles are we talking about here? During a state-of-the-nation address, Putin praised the development of Russia's new Zircon missile that he claimed could fly at nine times the speed of sound with a range of 620 miles. Russia's ready for disarmament talks with the U.S., Putin said, "but we won't knock on the closed door anymore.”

Hospital records could save her life. She can't get them.

A 21-year-old college student could die because she can't get copies of her own medical records. The files are locked away in a repossessed electronic-records system while creditors of bankrupt Florence Hospital at Anthem and Gilbert Hospital bicker over who should pay for access to them. Even if she paid for her own medical records, she couldn't get them. More than 300 patients have requested medical records without success since the hospitals shut down in June, court records show. The medical records are the only thing standing between her and a life-saving surgery by a top physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Hate groups hit a record high

Propelled by a rise in extremism, the number of hate groups active in the U.S. rose to its highest level in two decades last year. According to a new Southern Poverty Law Center study, active hate groups climbed to 1,020 last year, up from 784 just four years earlier. Groups range from white supremacists to black nationalists, and neo-Nazis to neo-confederates. The tally, however, is controversial: It gives the same hate label to the Conservative Republicans of Texas that's branded anti-gay as it does to outfits like the Ku Klux Klan. (The Ku Klux Klan appears to be in decline, the report said.)

Real quick

Supreme Court: Curb excessive fines

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that states can't impose excessive fees, fines and forfeitures as criminal penalties. The unanimous decision makes clear that the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "excessive fines" applies to states and localities as well as the federal government. Why that matters: State and local governments increasingly use funds collected in cases to pay for their services. The court's ruling could cut that down. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, back this week from cancer surgery, wrote the majority opinion.

West Virginia teachers walk out. Again.

A year ago, West Virginia teachers went on strike and sparked a national movement. What did they get out of it? The historic strike defied union leaders and inspired walkouts from Oklahoma to Arizona to Los Angeles, but it didn’t accomplish much back home. This month, re-elected West Virginia Republicans tried to restrict teacher unions and tie teachers’ raises to the opening of the state’s inaugural charter schools. So teachers are back where they were at this time last year – on strike.

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