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Portland, Oregon, has had 67 homicides so far this year and the city has surpassed its previous full-year record of 66 in 1987. And police are struggling to keep up amid an acute staffing shortage and budget cuts. The liberal Pacific Northwest city is trying new safety solutions, such as adding traffic barrels to prevent drive-by shootings in hot spots. Minor traffic stops are suspended so officers can focus on immediate threats. But critics say the city is flailing. FBI data shows violence worsening nationwide, with homicides up nearly 30% last year. But Portland's killings jumped 83%. That's a faster rate than nearly all major cities.

Federal health officials are rethinking their approach to controlling salmonella in poultry plants in the hope of reducing the number of illnesses linked to the bacteria each year. The USDA says the industry has succeeded in reducing the level of salmonella contamination found in poultry plants in recent years, but that hasn’t translated into a significant reduction in the 1.35 million salmonella illnesses reported each year. So the agency wants to set up pilot projects that focus more on the strains of salmonella that cause the most illnesses and on steps farmers can take to reduce salmonella before chickens and turkeys are slaughtered.

A House committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection is moving swiftly to hold at least one of Donald Trump’s allies in contempt. That's happening as the former president is pushing back on the probe in a new lawsuit. Trump is aggressively trying to block the committee’s work by directing former White House aide Steve Bannon not to answer questions in the probe while also suing the panel to try to prevent Congress from obtaining former White House documents. Lawmakers on the House committee say they will not back down as they gather facts and testimony about the attack of Trump’s supporters.