National News
National News
![A U.S. Capitol Police officer holds a program as Brian Sicknick lays in honor in the Capitol Rotunda on Feb. 3. A medical examiner has determined that Officer Sicknick died of natural causes following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Demetrius Freeman/Pool/AFP via Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gettyimages-1230947505_wide-ec016aa3fd7e9eadb477f53632f73761ae99df93-500x500.jpg)
Medical Examiner Says Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick Died Of Natural Causes
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who engaged with pro-Trump rioters during the Jan. 6 insurrection, died of natural causes the day after the attack, Washington, D.C.’s chief medical examiner announced on Monday.
![Dr. Preetma Kooner, left, and registered nurse Emily Beedle, right, talk on March 13, 2021 as the first patients arrive at the mass vaccination site at Lumen Field Event Center in Seattle. More people will be eligible for the vaccine as of March 31. CREDIT: Megan Farmer/KUOW](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Washington-Mass-Vaccination-site-Seattle-031321-CREDIT-Megan-Farmer-KUOW-500x500.jpg)
More Than Half Of U.S. Adults Have Gotten At Least One COVID-19 Vaccine Dose
After a year of grim milestones, Sunday marked a hopeful statistic in America’s fight against the coronavirus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all American adults have now gotten at least one vaccine dose.
![Reps. Ilhan Omar (from left), Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley, seen here at a news conference last month outside the U.S. Capitol, are among those calling on the Biden administration to lift the cap on refugees. Drew Angerer/Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gettyimages-1231650345_custom-d7532c9c2f0a22902ddddb32404c5bf251c37b2b.jpg)
White House Walks Back Order On Refugee Limits After Backlash
The White House has walked back its announcement that it will keep this year’s historically low refugee ceiling of 15,000 set by the Trump administration, saying its earlier statement Friday, which was panned by fellow Democrats, was meant only to ease restrictions from countries from which refugees are currently banned.
![Pastor Denell Howard leads a prayer Saturday at a vigil at Olivet Missionary Baptist Church in Indianapolis for the victims of the shooting Thursday at a FedEx facility. CREDIT: Michael Conroy/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ap21107665026036-1ee25aba96d7492dd4f9edc5bc90c84c7bba2968-500x500.jpg)
Indianapolis FedEx Shooting Victims Identified; Police Say Suspect Obtained Guns Legally
The victims of the attack have been identified as Matthew R. Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jaswinder Kaur, 64; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Karlie Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74.
![September 28, 2016 - Workers with Zilla Rack install PV modules on two racks just north of the NREL parking garage. The first row modules are part of a project called the Regional Test Centers (RTCs), small demonstration systems for PV industry to help get some initial performance validation and bankability study from the national labs.. The PV modules in the second row are part of a new DOE program called PV Lifetime. The intent is to study with high accuracy the initial degradation of PV modules, and to make all of the data publicly available. (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/40823-86175ad3a28b0b4f5a6ea0b353c1f8598ccb1509.jpg)
How The U.S. Could Halve Climate Emissions By 2030
Next week, President Biden will announce a number that could shape the rest of his presidency: a new goal to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. The announcement marks the country’s renewed commitment to the Paris accord, the international climate change agreement that former President Trump withdrew from.
![Crime scene investigators walk through the parking lot of a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Friday. A gunman killed at least eight people and injured several others. CREDIT: Jeff Dean/AFP via Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gettyimages-1232340012_custom-6c186fd5c231f5a514ef09316549a9d15d25be70-500x500.jpg)
Gunman Kills 8 At FedEx Warehouse In Indianapolis
A man opened fire inside a FedEx warehouse facility late Thursday night in Indianapolis, killing eight people and injuring several others. The suspect is believed to have shot himself and is among the nine dead, according to police.
![Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson (from left), Sen. Ed Markey, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Mondaire Jones announce legislation Thursday to expand the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court outside the high court. CREDIT: J. Scott Applewhite/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ap_21105585758518-3b47cb2f9b1f8913192880747c4632735fd6e905-500x500.jpg)
Democrats Unveil Long-Shot Plan To Expand Size Of Supreme Court From 9 To 13
Liberal congressional Democrats unveiled a proposal Thursday to expand the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 13 — a move Republicans have blasted as “court packing” and which has almost no chance of being voted on after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she has “no plans to bring it to the floor.
![File photo, March 2, 2020: Farmer Ben DuVal with his wife, Erika, and their daughters, Hannah, third from left, and Helena, fourth from left, stand near a canal for collecting run-off water near their property in Tulelake, Calif. Federal officials announced in April 2021 that farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project spanning the Oregon-California border will get 8% of the deliveries they need amid a severe drought. CREDIT: Gillian Flaccus/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Farmers-Klamath-Basin-Oregon-drought-Ben-Duval-Erika-Duval-030220-CREDIT-Gillian-Flaccus-AP-500x500.jpeg)
Epic Drought Means Water Crisis For Parts Of The West Coast, Though Much Of Northwest Is OK
Hundreds of farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project that spans the Oregon-California border learned Wednesday they will get a tiny fraction of the water they need amid the worst drought in decades, as federal regulators attempt to balance the needs of agriculture against federally threatened and endangered fish species that are central to the heritage of several tribes.
![Diners eat lunch at Max's Oyster Bar in West Hartford, Conn., on March 19. Retail sales surged last month as $1,400 relief payments and easing coronavirus restrictions led shoppers to open their wallets. Jessica Hill/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ap_21078689644816-d9dfd00282b2eb0f022f6884c2361678cf7a3356-500x500.jpg)
Signs Of Economic Boom Emerge As Retail Sales Surge, Jobless Claims Hit Pandemic Low
Signs of an economic boom are emerging as Americans open up their wallets to spend freely. Retail sales soared 9.8% in March, according to a report Thursday from the Commerce Department. The increase follows a 2.7% slump in February, which analysts blamed partly on severe winter weather.
![Using fluorescent antibody-based stains and advanced microscopy, researchers are able to visualize cells of different species origins in an early stage chimeric embryo. The red color indicates the cells of human origin. CREDIT: Weizhi Ji/Kunming University of Science and Technology](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/embryoid_slide-db82a201fc38e9f8b10cc0ef4926f7d35403b802-500x500.jpg)
Scientists Create Early Embryos That Are Part Human, Part Monkey For Organ Transplant Research
The embryos, described Thursday in the journal Cell, were created in part to try to find new ways to produce organs for people who need transplants, says the international team of scientists who collaborated in the work. But the research raises a variety of concerns.
![Kim Potter, pictured in 2007, shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop Sunday. She resigned from the Brooklyn Center, Minn., police on Tuesday after 26 years on the force. CREDIT: Bruce Bisping/Minneapolis Star Tribune via Getty Images](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/gettyimages-1155797651_slide-b304e7b6fb7ee83e1baf91093783f3e813d4bd35-500x500.jpg)
Ex-Officer Who Shot Daunte Wright Charged With 2nd-Degree Manslaughter
BY BECKY SULLIVAN Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer who shot Daunte Wright, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, according to Minnesota authorities. The Washington County Attorney’s
![Bernard Madoff, shown here in 2009, died Wednesday in a federal prison facility in North Carolina. CREDIT: Louis Lanzano/AP](https://www.nwpb.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ap_21104491058435-a5325d14e21e682a3c0233ac1583394c40ddcdba-500x500.jpg)
Bernie Madoff, Financier Behind Notorious Ponzi Scheme, Dies At 82
As a money manager, Madoff defrauded thousands of investors out of tens of billions of dollars over the course of nearly two decades. His scheme wiped out the savings of individuals, charities, municipal governments and college endowment funds, and he was so hated at the time of his 2009 trial that he wore a bulletproof vest to and from the courthouse.