Amita Kelly

Updated at 5:42 p.m. ET

An official says the Justice Department has been instructed to keep looking for a way to ask 2020 census responders whether they are citizens of the United States.

The Supreme Court has left in place a lower court's order to block the question for now.

After the Supreme Court declined to allow the question, tweets by President Trump had sowed confusion about whether he planned to continue the legal fight.

Updated at 10:45 p.m. ET

The Trump administration has decided to print the 2020 census forms without a citizenship question, and the printer has been told to start the printing process, Justice Department spokesperson Kelly Laco confirms to NPR.

Updated 7:45 p.m. ET

With Virginia's top two politicians mired in their own controversies, the state's attorney general, Mark Herring, has revealed a racial incident in his own past. In a statement released Wednesday, he said he and friends attended a party in 1980 dressed as rappers they admired, including wearing wigs and "brown makeup."

The partial government shutdown is rippling beyond federal workers and contractors.

In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian museums and National Zoo are closed. Other recreational sites around the country remain closed or lack adequate staff. Some assistance and loan programs that rely on federal funding also could face delays.

Updated at 4:30 p.m. ET

More than 100 people were waiting to be rescued from homes and vehicles Friday morning in New Bern, N.C., after Hurricane Florence brought severe flooding to the area. Officials say more than 100 people have already been rescued in the area overnight.

Six swift water rescue teams have been working since Thursday afternoon to evacuate individuals and families, in some cases, from the roofs of their homes, the New Bern Public Information Officer Colleen Roberts said Friday afternoon.

Updated Sept. 18

Thanks to Tropical Storm Florence, Eastern coastal residents continue to experience widespread flooding, closed roads and large-scale displacement.

NPR and our member stations covering the storm want to hear how it is affecting you.

Fill out the form below or at this link and someone may follow up. Your response may be used on air or online.

(For the latest news on the storm, visit npr.org).

Updated at 6:20 p.m. ET

Stephon Clark, the 22-year-old black man shot and killed by Sacramento police earlier this month, was shot eight times, at least six in the back, an independent autopsy commissioned by Clark's family found.

Last week's shooting in Parkland, Fla., echoed in the state's Capitol on Wednesday, as student survivors lobbied their legislature to pass stricter gun laws. Gun policy had already become a central issue in Florida's current legislative session after the shooting. But the effects of the shooting are reaching beyond the state's borders into legislatures across the country.

L.L. Bean's outdoor gear — including its signature Bean Boots prized by campers and hipsters alike — is no longer guaranteed for life.

In a letter to customers Friday morning, the company said it has updated its return policy to give customers one year to return purchases, with a receipt. The previous lifetime guarantee, which enabled customers to return products years — or even decades — after purchase, has long been a selling point for the company.

Leaders in Washington continue negotiations to end a partial government shutdown, and they're getting their own messages out about how we got here. As NPR's Ron Elving writes, each party is accusing the other of being out of touch with Americans — and they're both probably right.

So we asked you what you want them to know.

Joe Arpaio, the controversial former sheriff from Arizona, announced this week that he will run for the U.S. Senate to help advance President Trump's agenda.

But he is breaking from the president on the future of people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

"Deport them," Arpaio told NPR Morning Edition's Rachel Martin in an interview that aired Thursday morning.

Updated 7:45 a.m. ET Thursday

Baltimore's public schools closed Thursday after parents and educators there complained students were enduring frigid classrooms with plumbing issues — conditions the local teachers union called "inhumane." Four of Baltimore's public schools were closed Wednesday because of facilities problems but the rest had remained open through below freezing temperatures. Some schools hovered around 40 degrees inside.

When a shooter started spraying the inside of a Sutherland Springs, Texas church with bullets on Sunday, 30-year-old Joann Ward "threw her body over the little ones," according to her mother-in-law, Sandy Ward.

The "little ones" who were at church that day were Joann Ward's daughters Rhianna Garcia, 9, Emily Garcia, 7 and Brooke Ward, 5 and stepson Ryland Ward, 5.

Joann Ward, Emily and Brooke died; Ryland was shot several times and remains in critical condition, facing multiple surgeries.