Here’s this week’s reading list.

Associated Press: Judge pokes holes in Swiss cheesemakers’ legal arguments

Grub Street: The restaurant industry has always treated sick workers with no remorse. Will anything change because of omicron?

The Washington Post: Schools are facing dire staff shortages. Some are asking parents to step in.

The Missoulian: Missoula school board meeting ends quickly after trustee refuses to wear mask

The The New York Times: U.S. hospitalizations break record as omicron surges

The Washington Post: Russia-U.S. talks hit impasse over NATO expansion as Moscow denies plans to invade Ukraine

Foreign Affairs: Russia thinks America is bluffing 

The Washington Post: Russia planning potential sabotage operations in Ukraine, U.S. says

The New Yorker: The great Siberian thaw

The Washington Post: These mass shooting survivors were called journalism heroes. Then the buyouts came.

NPR: Lawmakers are rewriting rules as schools grapple with teacher shortages

Smithsonian Magazine: How the potato chip took over America

Route Fifty: As states and localities embrace cryptocurrency, problems grow

NPR: Magawa, a heroic bomb-sniffing rat who is credited with saving lives, has died

Associated Press: A cyberattack in Albuquerque forces schools to cancel classes

Kaiser Health News: Incidental cases and staff shortages make COVID’s next act tough for hospitals

NPR: Americans are tuning out as omicron rages. Experts call for health messaging to adapt

The Atlantic: COVID-hospitalization numbers are as bad as they look

The New York Times: Supply chain woes prompt a new push to revive U.S. factories

The Washington Post: Four reasons you’re seeing empty grocery store shelves

NPR: The challenges of trying to keep schools open during the omicron surge

Associated Press: U.S. shoppers find some groceries scarce due to virus, weather

NPR: Caroline thought her daughter was doing OK with home learning. Then she got a note

Axios: Restaurants plead for help from Congress

The Washington Post: Omicron will infect ‘just about everybody,’ Fauci says

NPR: NPR hosts’ departures fuel questions over race. The full story is complex

Associated Press: Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in Britain, U.S.

NPR: Classes for Chicago students are in limbo as teachers, mayor wrangle over omicron

Reuters: Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers

NPR: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions jumped in 2021, a threat to climate goals

The New York Times: For retail workers, omicron disruptions aren’t just about health

Politico: USDA sends more dollars for school meals

NPR: Navient reaches a deal to cancel $1.7 billion in student loan debts

The New York Times: Melatonin isn’t a sleeping pill. Here’s how to use it.

NPR: The (not-so) secret second life of your Amazon returns

Decaturish: Most on-street parking will be removed as part of Church Street cycle track project

The Washington Post: Two LAPD officers chased Pokémon instead of responding to a robbery call. A court just upheld their firings.

NPR: United says 3,000 employees have COVID, but its vaccine mandate has saved lives

NPR: Doctors and patients are facing tough choices because of the national blood crisis

The New York Times: A naturalist stumbled on an Ichthyosaur skeleton, the largest in U.K. history

The Washington Post: Former students sue Georgetown, Columbia and other elite universities over financial aid practices

LAist: With sexually transmitted infections off the charts, California pushes at-home tests