The online editorial staff comprises Betsy Shirley, Jenna Barnett, Josiah R. Daniels, Mitchell Atencio, Heather Brady, Kierra Bennning, and Zachary Lee.
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Verse of the Day: Sharing Possessions
Prayer of the Day: 'Teach Us'
Voice of the Day: Earth Day
Prayer of the Day: Earth Day
Verse of the Day: Earth Day
Verse of the Day: 'Throw the First Stone'
Prayer of the Day: Be Still
Voice of the Day: William Booth
BREAKING: One Boston Marathon Suspect Dead, Boston Virtually Shut Down in Search for Second
The two bombing suspects, identified as brothers. Photo via FBI.gov
Boston residents are waking up this morning to a virtual shutdown of many parts of the city after a contfrontation that left one of the marathon suspects dead, according to reports. An M.I.T. police officer was also killed. From NBC News:
Law enforcement officials said the tumult began just before 11 p.m., when the suspects approached a police officer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and shot him in the head.
The two then stole the officer’s cruiser, robbed a nearby 7-Eleven, carjacked a Mercedes SUV and briefly kidnapped the driver, the sources said. The suspects threw explosives out the window during the chase that followed, they said. A Boston transit police officer was shot and wounded, authorities said.
The dead suspect — the man in the black hat from the FBI photos — had an improvised explosive device strapped to his chest, law enforcement officials said.
The two suspects have been identified as brothers — the one on the run identified as 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
This story is developing.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Prayer of the Day: The Mourning
Voice of the Day: An Aboriginal Activist Sister
Fertilizer Plant Explodes in West, Texas
Smoke rises in the distance about half a mile from the West Fertilizer Company April 18. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A fertilizer plant exploded Wednesday evening, killing at least five and injuring more than 100, according to CNN. From the report:
"Nothing at this point indicates we have had criminal activity, but we are not ruling that out," said Sgt. William Patrick Swanton of the nearby Waco Police Department.
A more immediate question is how high the death toll will rise.
It could be between five and 15, Swanton said. Dr. George Smith, the city's emergency management system director, said it could spike to 60 or 70.
"We have two EMS personnel that are dead for sure, and there may be three firefighters that are dead," Smith said.
Background Checks Proposal Fails (VIDEO)
The U.S. Senate has just failed to get 60 votes on a bipartisan proposal to expand gun sale background checks. Politico reports:
“The vote was 54-46, with only four Republicans crossing the aisle and voting with the Democrats in favor of the bipartisan proposal by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Sixty votes were needed.”
Four months after the Newtown massacre, a compromise measure that would have banned no guns, no magazines, is apparently still too strong. And what is especially outrageous is the continued abuse of the filibuster, requiring 60 votes for anything to pass the Senate. Is there any other legislative body in the world where a proposal can pass by 8 votes and lose?