The Week in Short US

30 Years

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has served more than 30 years in office, has announced that she will not seek reelection in 2024.

285 Years

A Pennsylvania man who posed as his dead father faces a maximum sentence of 285 years in prison and fines of more than $3.7 million after pleading guilty in federal court to hiding his father’s death to steal his retirement benefits.

70%

Egg prices have gone up more than 70 percent in annualized terms, while many food categories were up by double digits, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

26 MILLION

The Biden administration plans to withdraw 26 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve this fiscal year, effectively pushing the reserves to their lowest level in four decades.

6.4 Percent The U.S. annual inflation rate eased to 6.4 percent in January, from 6.5 percent in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, higher than economists’ expectations of 6.2 percent.

Arizona Shelter-in-Place Order Reinstated by Officials After Hazmat Leak

ARIZONA OFFICIALS HAVE CONFIRMED that a shelter-in-place order was reinstated after a crash resulted in a spill of hazardous chemicals— coming days after a train derailed and released toxic materials in Ohio.

“Unified Command has reinstated the shelter-in-place order for a one-mile perimeter around the incident. While crews were attempting to remove the load from the commercial vehicle, gassing occurred. Interstate 10 remains closed in both directions between Kolb & Rita roads in Tucson,” the Arizona Department of Public Safety wrote in an update.

The driver of the vehicle that was transporting the chemicals was killed in the crash, officials said.

Officials say the chemical involved in this incident is nitric acid, which is used to manufacture ammonium nitrate for fertilizers as well as plastics and dyes. Exposure to the substance can cause eye and skin irritation, and more severe exposure can result in pneumonitis, bronchitis, dental erosion, and delayed pulmonary edema, according to the National Library of Medicine.

IRS Issues Long-Awaited Clarification on Taxing Stimulus Checks

THE IRS HAS ISSUED long-awaited guidance about how to handle state stimulus payments after it issued an alert advising millions of taxpayers to delay filing tax returns until it could provide “additional clarification” about the payments’ taxability.

In a statement, the agency said that most relief checks issued by states last year aren’t subject to federal taxes.

All told, taxpayers in 17 states don’t have to report last year’s stimulus checks, while in another four states, many people will be able to avoid paying federal taxes on their relief payments if they meet certain requirements.