National News

The New Year Brings More Transparency In Hospital Prices With New Federal Health Care Rule

By NPR News
Hospital bill example
The Trump administration's rule, which goes into effect this month, was made possible in part through the efforts of Cynthia Fisher, the founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org. Patients from across the United States have told "stories of being blindsided by outrageous medical bills," Fisher told NPR's Weekend Edition. "This is the win to put affordable into the Read More

‘This Was A Scam’: In Recorded Call, Trump Pushed Georgia Elections Head To Overturn State’s Vote

By NPR News
President Trump walks outside the White House
An angry President Trump pushed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, to overturn the state's presidential results, and appeared to at least partly blame him for what could be lower turnout in Tuesday's runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate, according to a recording of a phone call obtained by Georgia Public Broadcasting Read More

After Decades-Long Push, It’s Not Clear Who Will Bid In Arctic Refuge Oil Lease Sale

By NPR News
A polar bear with cubs in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2014. Barcroft Media/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Just two weeks before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, the Trump administration is trying to lock-in oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with a hastily scheduled and controversial lease sale. But despite the high stakes, uncertainty looms over how much oil is actually trapped under the million acres of tundra up for leasing, and how much Read More

President Trump Signs COVID-19 Relief Deal After His Criticism Threatened To Derail It

By NPR News
President Trump, seen here at the White House on Dec. 12, has signed the coronavirus relief package. CREDIT: Al Drago/Getty Images
President Trump on Sunday night signed a massive coronavirus relief and spending package, relenting on a measure he had called a "disgrace" days earlier. The legislation, which combines $900 billion in COVID-19 aid with government funding through September 2021, was passed by large majorities in both houses of Congress on Dec. 21 — only to see Trump blindside legislators Read More

Explosion In Downtown Nashville, Believed To Be ‘Intentional,’ Injures At Least 3

By NPR News
Emergency personnel work near the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 25. CREDIT: Mark Humphrey/AP
Police responded to reports of shots fired in the area at about 5:30 a.m. CT, when they encountered a recreational vehicle parked in front of the downtown AT&T building. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department says a recording believed to be coming from the RV warned that a potential bomb would be detonated within 15 minutes and that those in the area should evacuate. Read More

In Rural Idaho, Their Young Son Nearly Died From COVID Complications. Now They Urge Masks

By NWPB News
Cooper Wuthrich rests as he lays on a bed at the truck stop his family partly owns Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Montpelier, Idaho. Shortly after Thanksgiving, Wuthrich, 12, became one of hundreds of children in the U.S. diagnosed with a rare COVID-19 complication that landed him in an emergency room three hours away from his tiny hometown in a secluded Idaho valley. The boy's parents say he nearly died and their terrifying experience shows why people should wear masks in a conservative state where pushback can be fierce. CREDIT: Rick Bowmer
Shortly after Thanksgiving, the boy from a secluded valley in Idaho became one of hundreds of children in the U.S. who have been diagnosed with a rare, extreme immune response to COVID-19 called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Cooper Wuthrich’s fever spiked as his joints and organs became inflamed, including his heart, putting his life at risk, his father said.Read More

Shock And Dismay After President Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians

By NPR News
This combination made from file photos shows Blackwater guards, from left, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough. On Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned 15 people, including Heard, Liberty, Slatten and Slough, the four former government contractors convicted in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more a dozen Iraqi civilians dead. CREDIT: AP
Among the pardons made by President Trump this week, the pardon of four former guards for Blackwater was regarded by some as particularly galling. Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted six years ago of killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 17 others. Witnesses described how the American men ambushed the civilians unprovoked, firing Read More
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