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Gold medals? 👀

Laura L. Davis   | Paste BN
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Gas prices are up. New COVID-19 cases are down. And the Oscar nominees are in.

👋 Hey! Laura here with Tuesday's all-around biggest news.

But first, heads up, word nerds! 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 A Wordle-loving smarty pants figured out what he says is the best word to start your game with. Let me know if it works!

The Short List is a snappy Paste BN news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Team USA stacks silver medals, still hunting for gold

The search for gold continued at the 2022 Beijing Olympics as the disappointments have outnumbered the successes for Team USA. American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins won bronze in the freestyle sprint, becoming the first U.S. woman to win an individual medal in cross-country. In the men's individual figure skating competition, five-time U.S. national champion Nathan Chen turned in a dazzling short program that put him ahead of the field heading into Thursday's free skate. On the slopes, Ryan Cochran-Siegle claimed another silver for the USA in the men's super-G, and Chinese American Eileen Gu thrilled the crowd in her adopted home country with a stellar final run to win the gold medal in the women's Big Air freestyle skiing competition. Olympic action continues Tuesday night, highlighted by snowboarders Chloe Kim and Shaun White, who are competing for the first time in Beijing.

Teen arrested in homicide investigation that led to Amir Locke's death

A 17-year-old was arrested Monday in connection to a homicide investigation that led to the death of Amir Locke, 22, who was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer last week during a predawn "no-knock" raid. The teenager was identified as Locke's cousin in court documents. Prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting Jan. 10 of Otis Rodney Elder, 38. During the homicide investigation, police tracked the teenage suspect and his associates to an apartment building, carrying out search warrants on three apartments. Locke was sleeping on a couch when officers entered the last apartment on a "no-knock warrant," body camera footage shows, and was holding a gun when he was shot and killed by officer Mark Hanneman. The shooting sparked multiple days of protest and reignited criticism of the Minneapolis Police Department. Friday night, Mayor Jacob Frey imposed a moratorium on no-knock warrants.

And the Oscar nominees are...

Oscar voters spread the love between multiple contenders when the Academy Awards nominees were announced Tuesday morning, though director Jane Campion's Western tale "The Power of the Dog" looked close to a front-runner with 12 nominations, including four acting honors. The 94th annual Academy Awards, airing March 27 (ABC, 8 p.m. EDT/5 PDT), will have a host for the first time in four years, plus plenty of intrigue about who will get what honors. "Dog" and sci-fi epic "Dune," which nabbed 10 nominations, are up for the night's top prize – Best Picture – along with coming-of-age dramas "Belfast" and "Licorice Pizza," Japanese film "Drive My Car," musical redo "West Side Story," sports biopic "King Richard," disaster satire "Don't Look Up," inclusive tearjerker "CODA" and noir remake "Nightmare Alley." Go here for more about the nominees.

What everyone's talking about

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New infections dropping fast

The pace of new coronavirus cases in the USA has fallen by more than two-thirds from its peak weeks ago, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Still, the nation reports 1.86 million cases a week, and about 2,500 COVID-19 deaths are reported every day. At least four states expect continued improvement, ending statewide mask mandates in schools within the next two months as indoor masking requirements lift across the country. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is waging a court battle to keep his mask mandate for schools alive. This week, the state attorney general appealed a judge’s ruling that invalidated Pritzker’s mandate. "Absent a stay, students, teachers and other school employees will be further exposed to COVID-19, leading to additional and likely widespread transmission within schools and in the broader community, increased hospitalizations and deaths, and school staff shortages requiring full remote learning or even school closures," the appeal said.

Real quick

⛽️ Pain at the pump

If your Facebook friends are posting more pictures of their gas purchases than usual, it's probably because gas prices continue to surge with no signs of slowing down, according to the American Automobile Association. The national average for gas is $3.46 per gallon as of Tuesday – nearly a dollar more than last year's average of $2.47. That means the average person is spending about $12 more to fill up a tank of gas in a medium-sized car. Ouch. AAA says it's because of a combination of increased demand for heating oil in the winter months and the tension between Russia and Ukraine. Russia is a member of OPEC+, and any sanctions based on its actions toward Ukraine may cause it to withhold crude oil from the global market. The price of crude oil is a determiner for prices at the pump.

A break from the news

This is a compilation of stories from across the Paste BN Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.

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