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| A decade after the Sandy Hook massacre, a look at what has changed. The Federal Reserve is going slower but aiming higher with its latest interest rate hike. And a massive winter storm continues its crawl across the country. |
| 👋 Hey! Laura Davis here! It's time for Wednesday's news. |
| But first, a story that defies the odds in more ways than one. A doctor performed life-saving CPR during a half-marathon in California. Then he finished the race and did it again. |
| The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here. |
Marking the 10th anniversary of an unthinkable tragedy |
| On Dec. 14, 2012, a gunman took the lives of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary school. On the 10th anniversary of this tragedy, we take a look at the lives and laws impacted. |
| • | "Every day is a day without my son": Scarlett Lewis' son, Jesse, was one of the lives lost 10 years ago. Lewis has since dedicated her life to sharing lessons in compassion, empathy and social and emotional well-being. How she's turning her pain into purpose. | | • | Sandy Hook's psychologist died confronting the gunman. Her husband is calling on Americans to uplift his wife's memory – and to take action in her honor to prevent future shootings. Here's how he's fighting for change. | | • | Congress has proposed dozens of gun control laws. Only one has passed. | | • | The NRA promised school safety after Sandy Hook. A review of its (minimal) impact. | |
 | | As seen from an aerial view, Sandy Hook Elementary stands almost ten years after the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre on November 20, 2022 in Newtown, Connecticut. The new school was opened in 2016, four years after the tragedy. | | John Moore, Getty Images | |
Still fighting inflation, Fed hikes interest rates half a point |
| Dialing back from recent outsize hikes as it draws up an end game in its aggressive campaign to tame soaring inflation, the Federal Reserve agreed to raise its key short-term interest rate by half a percentage point Wednesday. And with their forecast for next year, Fed officials indicate they aren't backing off their hard-nosed battle to subdue inflation – despite growing risks of a recession. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| • | What's happened so far: Since the benchmark rate hovered near zero in March, the Fed has hoisted it by more than 4 points, the fastest pace since the early 1980s, to a restrictive level intended to slow economic growth. | | • | What does it mean for you? The hike is expected to ripple through the economy, driving up rates for credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other loans. But Americans, especially seniors, are finally benefitting from higher bank savings yields after years of paltry returns. | | • | What about next year? The Fed forecast another three-quarter point in rate increases next year, more than it previously estimated, signaling officials believe inflation is still too high. | |
| 👉 Fed interest rate hikes are shrinking. But those in debt still struggle. |
 | | Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference after the Federal Reserve announced that it would raise interest rates by a 0.5 percentage point to 4.5. | | Alex Wong, Getty Images | |
What everyone's talking about |
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Louisiana tornado kills 2 as twisters rake South |
| A deadly winter storm continues its march across the country. More than 30 million Americans across the nation's northern tier were under winter weather advisories or warnings while tornadoes swept the South on Wednesday. A line of tornadoes and severe storms rolling through Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida was blamed for at least two deaths and injuring dozens. Blizzard conditions forced closures of scores of interstates and other roads in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota and North Dakota. Officials in Farmerville, Louisiana, said about 25 people were injured, some critically, after a tornado leveled a neighborhood. Follow our coverage for the latest updates. |
 | | Belinda Penner carries belongings from her cousin's home, destroyed by a tornado on Tuesday in Wayne, Okla. | | Sue Ogrocki, AP | |
American Suedi Murekezi freed by Russians |
| A U.S. national and dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were released in the latest prisoner swap between Kyiv and Moscow, authorities announced Wednesday. Suedi Murekezi, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said he had been subject to electric shocks and had been beaten by his captors before being released from prison in October. Murekezi said the Russians accused him of being a member of the CIA and that while in prison he and other Americans were given only minimal food and water. Though technically free, he had remained trapped in a Russian-controlled area of the embattled Donetsk region of Ukraine until Wednesday's exchange. |
| 👉 Live updates: White House says 'no indication' war will end soon; Pentagon considers sending antimissile systems to Ukraine. Keep reading. |
 | | FILE - Patriot missles are seen at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport, March 25, 2022, in Jasionka, Poland. | | Evan Vucci, AP | |
Real quick |
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Oregon governor commutes sentences of 17 people on death row |
| The death sentences of the 17 people on Oregon's death row were commuted to life sentences without parole on Wednesday by Gov. Kate Brown. No one has been executed in the state since 1997. In 2019, Brown signed a law that restricts the use of the death penalty. Brown, who is set to end her term as governor in January, said her decision to commute the sentences wasn't based on any rehabilitative efforts by the individuals on death row. "Instead," she said, "it reflects the recognition that the death penalty is immoral. It is an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction." Here are the people whose sentences are being commuted. |
 | | Gov. Kate Brown in her office at the Oregon State Capitol on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 in Salem, Ore. | | ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL | |
A break from the news |
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