The countdown to the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee is on.

This year, the Bee will welcome 234 spellers from May 31 to June 2 for the national rounds in National Harbor, Maryland.

Spellers will represent four countries in addition to the U.S., including the Bahamas, Canada, Germany and Ghana.

There will be spellers from other U.S. territories, including the Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.

The youngest speller this year is just 7 years old.

The spelling competition will be fully in-person for the first time since 2020. In 2021, it was held mostly in a virtual format with the finals taking place in person.

The champion this year will receive a $50,000 cash prize.

Preliminaries will begin May 31, quarterfinals are scheduled for June 1 and finals will take place June 2.

Actor and educator LeVar Burton will serve as the host during the semifinal and final rounds.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Across the country, mask mandates are going away. Every state, except Hawaii, has either dropped its mandate or announced plans to do so in the future.

On Jan. 20, the U.S. was averaging 735,652 new COVID-19 cases a day.

On Feb. 20, the country was down to 102,385 daily cases..

While those numbers have gone down, another number has gone up.

In January, more Americans called in sick than usual. In fact, the latest numbers from the Department of Labor show the statistics to be around twice as much as they did throughout last year.

The statistics are a reminder that the pandemic is not over.

PUSH BY LAWMAKERS

Some in Congress fear that as the pandemic continues, more people will go to work even if they test positive, especially if they don't have sick leave.

Ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, a group of Democrats is pushing a policy proposal to mandate sick leave to be included in the speech and voted on sometime this year.

Earlier in the pandemic, Congress enacted paid sick leave for those who contracted the virus but that program has expired.

One proposal would give every American worker at least two weeks of sick leave if they catch COVID-19.

Around 33.6 million American workers do not have paid sick leave, according to the latest figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. is one of only 11 countries in the world without mandatory leave for health problems.

A LOOK AT HISTORY

"The 1918 pandemic came in waves just like ours does," John M. Barry is a distinguished scholar at Tulane University.

He isn’t an expert on paid time off but he is an expert on how pandemics end.

He wrote "The Great Influenza" about the pandemic of 1918.

A hundred years ago, he says, even after all the public health restrictions were lifted, people still got sick and couldn’t go to work.

In fact, cities like Detroit, Kansas City and Milwaukee saw some of their worst outbreaks after people stopped wearing masks.

As a result, the government, as well as employers, should still be prepared for employees to call in sick.

“There will be another variant," Barry cautioned.

Whether paid sick leave can pass Congress is still very much unclear.

Democrats in Congress have struggled in recent months to pass similar initiatives.

WASHINGTON — Should disabled, low-income Americans who can't work be entitled to financial help from the federal government?

Since the 1970s, the answer has been yes.

However, for millions of Americans who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the program has often come with more frustration than gratitude.

WHAT IS SSI?

Supplemental Security Income, often referred to as SSI, began in 1972 with a new law passed by Congress.

It was meant to help disabled Americans with little income, many of whom were leaving institutions at the time society began to close more of those facilities.

More than 8 million adults receive the benefit, which is administered by the Social Security Administration.

THOUGHTS FROM RECIPIENTS

Tyeishia Freeman’s life changed 9 years ago.

"In 2012, I was in a car accident that killed a man," Freeman said, choking back tears.

"It changed my life forever," Freeman said.

"I wasn’t myself anymore,” Freeman added.

One of the biggest changes?

Freeman's anxiety and PTSD from the accident meant she could no longer work full time.

“I am a single mother of seven," Freeman said.

Like many Americans, Freeman had no clue SSI existed until a doctor suggested it as a way to provide for her family.

“I had no clue what SSI was,” Freeman added.

HOW MUCH IS GIVEN

The maximum SSI benefit for an individual is $794 a month.

That’s around $9,530 a year, which is below the poverty line of $12,880 a year.

“I am supposed to live, how?” Freeman said.

The amount isn’t what frustrates Freeman the most, however. It’s the rules.

Freeman believes she is capable of working a few hours a week somewhere.

SSI guidelines state, however, that once you earn more than $65 a month in outside income, your monthly benefit gets reduced.

She can’t have more than $2,000 a month in savings either. She says that takes away her drive to work.

“There goes a person like me with anxiety,” Freeman jokes.

FRUSTRATING FOR EXPERTS

Deborah Wagner is with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati.

"It hasn’t kept up with the times,” Wagner said of the program.

She says SSI administers know how much money recipients receive, because to enroll in the program you must grant access.

"Social Security can look at all of your bank accounts,” Wagner said.

Wagner says the complicated rules even impact marriages.

Let's say you have two people on SSI, each receiving $794 a month.

If they decided to get married, the new combined benefit is only $1,191.

That’s less than what they would earn if they stayed single.

“Through the years, I’ve called myself anti-cupid," Wagner said. "I’ve counseled people — don’t get married. You’re going to lose money."

CONGRESSIONAL ACTION

All of this begs the question: Is anything being done to possibly change or update the program?

The answer is yes, and changes could be included in the upcoming Democratic spending bill.

“We are going to get something done on this," Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, told Scripps' Joe St. George in an interview recently.

"We are at least raising the threshold so people can begin to work and make a little more and save a little more," Brown said.

Brown is chairman of the influential Senate Banking Committee. He thinks rules should be relaxed.

For the moment, changes could make their way into the Democratic spending bill being negotiated in Congress.

In the meantime, Freeman has this message for officials in Washington:

"Just give us a little mercy," she said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress is taking action Thursday to avert a government shutdown. However, lawmakers are doing so by not addressing the debt ceiling.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said if Congress doesn't raise it by October 18, America will default on its financial obligations for the first time in history.

WHAT IS THE DEBT CEILING?

The debt ceiling is the amount of money the government can borrow to pay its bills, somewhat like your credit card limit.

Currently, the debt ceiling is $28.4 trillion, which is right around the amount of federal debt the country has accumulated.

If you are wondering if all countries have to deal with the debt ceiling, it is for the most part a uniquely American issue.

The United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Germany, and France don't have debt ceiling votes like this.

Only two countries have debt limit rules, Denmark and Poland. However, economists say it's not really controversial in those countries.

The debt ceiling issue exists in the United States mainly because of our Constitution.

Article 1, Section 8 says “Congress shall have Power {..} to borrow Money on the credit of the United States.”

In 1917, during World War I, Congress gave the Treasury Department more flexibility to borrow money.

The first official debt limit was set at $45 billion in 1939, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

According to the Treasury Department's website, since 1960, Congress has acted 78 separate times to raise the debt limit.

America has never let it lapse, although lawmakers came close during the Obama presidency.

THE DEBATE

Why is the country facing a debate over the debt ceiling? In short, because of disagreements between Republicans and Democrats.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) leads Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

He said on the floor this week about the possibility of default, "Time is short. The danger is real."

The reason the country is facing a possibility of default is Schumer wants Republicans to pass a debt limit increase in a bipartisan fashion.

However, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) has made it clear Republicans aren't interested in raising the debt ceiling while Democrats are in charge and are proposing trillions of dollars in new spending.

"Our Democratic colleagues will have to do it alone," McConnell said this week.

Democrats are capable of raising the debt limit through the reconciliation process, but that has been rejected over concerns it would procedurally take too long.

As a result, everything from social security checks to military pay hangs in the balance.

FALL RIVER, MA — Wildfires aren't just breaking records in the western United States.

Dave Celino, the Chief Fire Warden in Massachusetts, says its happening in the East too.

"This year, through June, we've accounted for almost 850 wildfires that's burned almost 1,600 acres,” Celino says during a walk in Fall River State Forest.

In fact, Celino says Massachusetts had its largest fire in 20 years earlier this year.

If you add up all the fires from Minnesota to Maine, places that you may think fire danger is always low, new records are being set as well.

In the Eastern Region of the U.S., the Forest Service reports 107,000 plus acres have burned this year.

That's 2,500 more than the 10-year average.

Why don’t you hear more about the fires?

“It’s what your perception is of a catastrophic event," Celino said.

Celino says fires in his area of the country tend to be small, they aren’t burning large swaths of land like the ones in the West.

But just because they are small, doesn’t make them any less destructive. More people live on the edges of those forests.

"The fires that concern us in the Northeast are those five, ten-acre fires," Celino said.

"People live on the edge of these wildlands, we cannot instantly call five air tankers in," Celino said.

"I can’t even get one air tanker in."

PUSH FOR RESOURCES

Celino and others would like more resources to prevent fires as opposed to just responding them, fearing forests around the country remain primed for a disaster.

"It’s a complex issue, there is nothing simple about it," Brad Simpkins with the U.S. Forest Service says.

"Prescribed burning is one tool in the tool box," Simpkins added.

Prescribed burning is when fires are intentionally set to an area of land to make it less flammable.

Simpkins says a lack of time and money are preventing more prescribed burns from taking place.

In Massachusetts, around 16,000 acres have been identified as needing a prescribed burn but crews can only get to around 2,000 or so a year.

"It takes specialized training for people to run a prescribed burn and the same people that do a lot of the burning are the same people responding for wildfires," Simpkins said.

CONGRESS CONSIDERING ACTION

This is where Congress comes in and where a debate over forest funding is unfolding.

"We have not invested in forests, and with climate change, conditions are getting drier," Senator Michael Bennet (D-C.O.) said.

Bennet is an influential voice on the subject.

Senator Bennet is Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry's Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources.

He and other Democrats are pushing to include $40 billion in their upcoming multi-trillion spending bill to address forest mitigation, watershed protection and prescribed burning.

In recent days though, it’s become clearer that the spending bill will need to become smaller in order to pass.

Bennett believes fire mitigation will survive the cuts.

"I think it has a very good chance of getting through, Bennet said.

While the country waits on Washington, back in the forests of Massachusetts, Simpkins says thousands of men and women in the country will continue combating fires when called upon, and records will continue to be broken.

"Any one state, California, Montana wherever can’t handle those issues by themselves," he said.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bipartisan infrastructure bill continues to progress in the United States Senate. A final vote could take place this weekend.

For months, you’ve heard politicians and transportation leaders make the case that now is the time to revolutionize train travel.

The bipartisan bill certainly allocates money in the direction of mass transit and Amtrak.

It invests $39 billion over five years into mass transit, like commuter trains and buses. It also allocates $66 billion for passenger rail, mostly Amtrak.

Both represent an unrepresented amount of funds for those transportation sectors.

But just how transformational is this bipartisan infrastructure deal when it comes to train travel? It depends on who you ask.

"If you ask the question, 'Is more needed?' Absolutely more is needed. Public transit has been underfunded for decades," Paul Skoutelas said.

Skoutelas is the President of the American Public Transportation Association. He advocates for more commuter trains and buses in neighborhoods like yours.

He says rough estimates have put the maintenance backlog for mass transit at $105 billion nationwide. This bill provides only $39 billion.

If the bill becomes law, balancing maintenance needs with the desire for new projects to transform commutes will be tricky.

"Is this enough investment? No, it’s not, but we will take it. It’s significantly important to get us in the right direction," Skoutelas said.

Those who lobby on behalf of Amtrak, though, see things a bit differently.

"Before we get to the financial numbers, what’s even more important are the policy changes," John Robert Smith said.

Smith is with Transportation for America and is a past chairman of the board of directors for Amtrak.

He says the infrastructure bill changes the mission of Amtrak dramatically. Instead of being looked at as a business by the government, it’s now considered a service responsible for connecting big cities with small towns.

"It's a fundamental change in what the mission has been over the last 10 years," Smith said.

But what about the Amtrak proposal released earlier this year to create new routes around the country like Las Vegas to Los Angeles or Colorado Springs to Denver?

"I think the funds provided in the Senate bipartisan bill are significant enough to make vast changes," Smith said.

But Smith thinks the Amtrak map proposal will quickly be redrawn if the infrastructure bill becomes law.

That’s because President Joe Biden, under the bill, will have the ability to appoint all new Amtrak board members who will likely reevaluate everything.

While Smith says this bill can create new routes. Don’t expect super-fast bullet trains like the ones in Japan. There just isn’t enough cash for that.

"You aren’t going to accomplish transformational high-speed rail in a five-year bill," Smith said.

The bipartisan bill does include funds to improve Acela speeds in the Northeast corridor.

While some say the bipartisan infrastructure deal could have included more money, many conservatives in Congress are frustrated because they believe the bill has too much government spending in it, raising the risk for inflation.

A recent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found the bill will contribute $256 billion to the deficit over the next decade.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Small businesses in Ohio have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as the state plans to allow businesses to reopen in the coming days, many businesses are still in desperate need of financial aid.

As a result, today I asked Gov. Mike DeWine if he has any plans to address the insurance industry’s reluctance to pay loss of income and business interruption claims.

Ben Asks a Question is a feature we started as a way to help give you a voice during Gov. Mike DeWine's daily press briefings. Since then, Ben has gotten hundreds of questions a day. If you'd like to ask a question, find us on Facebook and feel free to message us there, or send us an email at newsdesk@wcpo.com.

In his response, DeWine said he’s aware of the issue and he has been in touch with Ohio’s insurance department about it.

“I know that from talking to small businesses, that that has been a real concern,” said DeWine. “That business interruption, some of them felt that they had coverage, they should have had coverage, and they do not have coverage, or at least the insurance company is telling them now that they do not have coverage.

"I’ve asked our insurance department to take a look at that, and I’ll report back what they tell me," he continued. "Again, this is a private contract, but we also want to make sure people are being treated fairly."

DeWine noted that insurance agreements are private contracts, so it’s not clear if the state will have much power in the issue. A number of lawsuits have already been filed in the state against insurers refusing to pay for lost profits.