1A

The post-holiday omicron wave seems to have crested as case totals in states across the nation are beginning to fall. COVID-related deaths, however, are still high, totaling approximately 2,000 a day.

The Democrats failed in the Senate to pass voting rights reforms and end the filibuster. Now there are questions of what's next for President Joe Biden's agenda.

Reports indicate that in 2021 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko alerted the Department of Defense before the U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan that the Afghan air force would not survive once the military had left.

And the western world is watching the border of Ukraine and Russia as Valdimir Putin continues to threaten invasion. In a press conference this week, President Joe Biden warned Russia against moving against Ukraine, but said the U.S. would not send troops in the event of invasion.

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Nestled near the small town of Institute in West Virginia is the Union Carbide chemical manufacturing plant. And while it's been a source for jobs in the area for decades, many residents of Institute associate the plant with chemical leaks and fires.

Last year, a West Virginia state health department report found that Institute is seeing a spike in cancer related to ethylene oxide, a chemical produced at the plant.

We talk to the reporter behind an investigation into the toxic air pollution in the town and explore how Institute compares to other Black communities in the country that face disproportionate health risks from air pollution.

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Omicron is surging. That means hospitals are filling up again.

That also means it's a pretty bad time to need an ICU bed if you don't have COVID-19. Dozens of hospitals across the country started the year by delaying routine surgeries. Millions of people worldwide have had surgeries delayed or canceled since the pandemic started.

How can hospitals bounce back from omicron? And what do all these delays mean for hospitals and patients?

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According to a recent survey from the Center for Democracy and Technology, around 80 percent of K-12 schools are now using software that tracks students' computer activity.

Companies can monitor students' online activity while on school accounts or devices and will flag warning signs for suicide or violence.

Even so, some privacy advocates are concerned about the growing surveillance and how the data is stored and used.

Colleges also expanded their monitoring capabilities. Proctoring programs meant to prevent cheating use artificial intelligence to try to identify when a student's eyes move away from the screen. They have provoked privacy concerns and proven unreliable.

How should schools monitor students online? How do we keep kids safe while also protecting their privacy?

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Building wealth has never been easy, and the racial wealth gap makes that obvious. As recently as 2016, the median wealth of a white household was $171,000 dollars. That's eight times the median $20,600 of Hispanic households. For Black households? Just $17,000, according to Pew Research Center.

So what needs to change? And what should people keep in mind as they try to build wealth for future generations?

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Omicron continues to spread through the U.S. this winter. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have doubled in more than a dozen states.

The President Joe Biden announced a plan to require health care insurers to reimburse Americans for at-home COVID-19 tests.

Inflation is rising (7 percent over the last year, the highest since 1982), but so are wages. The public's focus on the former rather than the latter has Democrats worried about election season.

Meanwhile, the developing situation at the border between Ukraine and Russia wasn't deescalated following NATO talks with Russian officials. U.S. diplomats are growing frustrated, telling their Russian counterparts to choose diplomacy over conflict.

We cover the most important headlines of the week on the news roundup.

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The advanced child tax credit has ended. Families will have to pay for rent, food, and child care without that help from the federal government.

The credit, however, wasn't meant to be temporary. But since Congress chose not to save it after failing to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Better Act, December was the last month families received that monthly few hundred dollars.

We talk about how the child tax credit could have been the key to ending childhood poverty for millions of Americans.

This show is a part of our listener-suggested series. At the beginning of the year, we ask our listeners what topics they want to learn more about.

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In 2020, the Department of Defense awarded more money in federal contracts than all other government agencies combined. And one study found that nearly half of defense spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan went to private contractors.

Even after America's complicated withdrawal from Afghanistan, Congress approved the biggest defense spending bill in history.

We focus in on why we rely on for-profit defense businesses and how much money the government continues to throw their way.

This show is a part of our listener-suggested series. At the beginning of the year, we ask our listeners what topics they want to learn more about. This idea came to us from Leo in Tucson, Arizona.

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2021 was a challenging year for the auto industry. A chip shortage and supply chain issues meant that we saw an estimated seven million fewer cars on the market.

And fewer cars means consumers are experiencing a lot of sticker shock. Last year saw record high prices for both new and used cars. In December, used cars cost around 35 percent more than they did at the beginning of 2021.

We take a look at the market today and what it all means for consumers and for the industry in 2022.

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New CDC guidance says people who've tested positive for COVID-19 only need to quarantine for five days as long as they wear a mask in public for five more days and are no longer symptomatic.

Even with these caveats, some members of the medical community don't think that's enough.

They aren't the only ones who are concerned. Essential workers will likely bear the brunt of the CDC's decision to shorten the isolation period.

Staffing shortages are hitting hospitals, airlines, and schools. The nation's economy and critical infrastructure are straining under omicron.

Are we putting the health and safety of frontline workers at risk to keep the country running?

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