"After a decade-long drought, worker productivity might be about to accelerate thanks to pandemic-induced technological adoption, which could lift economic growth and wages in coming years while staving off inflation pressure," The Wall Street Journal reports. Investments in productivity-boosting technology and automation, combined with a shift from bricks-and-mortar retailers to e-commerce and steep losses in lower-paying jobs in less-productive sectors, are "enabling companies to raise productivity, which is defined as output per hour worked," the Journal explains.

U.S. productivity should also be boosted by white-collar workers not having to travel to conferences or even the office, thanks to widespread adoption of teleconferencing and other remote-work software, some experts told the Journal. "Happier workers are more productive people," said Bart van Ark, director of the Productivity Institute in the U.K. "People who have more energy and are less tired are more productive people, as well."

"I'm just so exhausted all the time," writer Susan Orlean tells The New York Times. "I'm doing so much less than I normally do — I'm not traveling, I'm not entertaining, I'm just sitting in front of my computer — but I am accomplishing way less. It's like a whole new math. I have more time and fewer obligations, yet I'm getting so much less done."

Hundreds of workers told the Times that a year of working from home during the pandemic has left them "feeling like burned-out husks, dimwitted approximations of our once-productive selves," Sarah Lyall writes. "Call it a late-pandemic crisis of productivity, of will, of enthusiasm, of purpose."

"Malaise, burnout, depression and stress — all of those are up considerably," Todd Katz, executive vice president and head of group benefits at MetLife, told the Times, citing an Employee Benefit Trends Study with 2,651 employees conducted in December and January. "People are saying they're less productive, less engaged, that they don't feel as successful."

"When people are under a long period of chronic, unpredictable stress, they develop behavioral anhedonia," or the inability to take pleasure in their activities, added Margaret Wehrenberg, an expert on anxiety. "And so they get lethargic, and they show a lack of interest — and obviously that plays a huge role in productivity." Technology, of course, doesn't develop anhedonia. Read more about late-stage pandemic burnout at The New York Times. Peter Weber

Joel Greenberg, 36, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), 38, became friends soon after Greenberg was elected Seminole County tax collector and Gaetz won a seat in Congress in 2016. Both men were "brash politicians who hailed from families of considerable wealth and who themselves rose to power quickly," and "they also enjoyed parties and the company of women," The Washington Post reports, citing people who know both Gaetz and Greenberg. That latter interest — woman and parties — is also why both men are under federal investigation.

Before the feds got involved in late 2019 or early 2020, Greenberg had already been on the radar of local law enforcement — for, among other things, allegedly misusing public funds, handing lucrative and unnecessary contracts and state jobs to friends and allies, and impersonating a police officer, pulling over a woman for speeding using a badge and lights on his private vehicle.

But local police did not start investigating Greenberg until, according the a federal indictment, he tried to derail a GOP primary challenger, prep school music teacher Brian Beute, by sending his school a fraudulent note claiming Beute had carried on an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student. Beute roped in a lawyer acquaintance, David Bear, who convinced the sheriff's office that whoever was behind the smear campaign had committed a crime. Bear also successfully encouraged the sheriff's office to seek help from the feds, the Post reports.

"When authorities arrested Greenberg and sifted through his electronic records and devices — according to documents and people involved in the case — they discovered a medley of other alleged wrongdoing, leading them to open an investigation of possible sex trafficking involving a far more high-profile Florida Republican," Gaetz, the Post reports. Beute thought about dropping the matter after local investigators cleared him of having sex with a student, but "he decided not to," Bear told the Post. "All of these other things mushroomed out of that one decision for him to stand tall."

Greenberg, facing 33 counts including sex trafficking of a child, is reportedly cooperating with prosecutors to earn some leniency. Gaetz denies the alleged focus of his investigation — paying for sex and having sex with a minor across state lines — and has not been charged or formally accused of wrongdoing. Read more about how the case came together at The Washington Post. Peter Weber

Indianapolis police said early Friday that eight people have been confirmed dead after a mass shooting at a FedEx facility on the grounds of the Indianapolis International Airport late Thursday. Along with the eight people shot dead, at least four people have been hospitalized, one of them with critical injuries, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Genae Cook told reporters. Two other people were treated at the scene. Police said the gunman shot and killed himself after officers arrived at the FedEx facility just after 11 p.m. Thursday night.

"We are aware of the tragic shooting at our FedEx Ground facility near the Indianapolis airport," FedEx said in a statement early Friday. "Safety is our top priority, and our thoughts are with all those who are affected. We are working to gather more information and are cooperating with investigating authorities." Peter Weber

President Biden halted construction of his predecessor's U.S.-Mexico border wall right after taking office, giving his administration time to study the contracts the Trump administration had signed and exploring ways to dispatch them. But the federal review was supposed to end March 20, and while border wall construction is still on ice, the legal cases to seize land for the wall are continuing, Politico reports. That's fueling concerns that wall construction could resume, despite Biden's pledge to stop the project.

The Justice Department still has about 140 eminent domain cases active along the Texas border, the Texas Civil Rights Project says. And at least 114 of those cases have progressed since Biden's 60-day study period ended on March 21, according to the group, which represents a handful of families fighting to keep their land, including the Cavazos family. Earlier this week, the U.S. government won the title to six acres of the Cavazos family's 77-acre ranch, Politico reports. The family said Biden broke his promise to end land seizures and they are asking the government to return the title to their land.

Customs and Border Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers "have suspended surveys, negotiations with landowners, and similar real estate acquisition activities, in accordance with the president's proclamation," a CBP spokesperson told Politico. But CBP and the White House referred questions about the eminent domain cases to the Justice Department, which said it has sought to delay the cases rather than end them, pending completion of Biden's review. The White House did not explain why the review has blown past its deadline.

"They can have all the excuses they want but it's real dicey to look at what they're doing right now," a person who consults with the White House on immigration policy and has grown frustrated tells Politico. "It's a lot of stuff Trump was doing." Peter Weber

Several people were shot late Thursday night at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis International Airport.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Genae Cook said when officers responded to a report of shots fired at the facility, they discovered an "active shooter incident." Cook said police believe the shooter fatally shot himself and there is no active threat to the community. Law enforcement has not said how many people were injured in the shooting or if there are any deaths, only revealing that multiple victims have been taken to area hospitals.

The Indianapolis FedEx hub is the second largest in the company's global network, IndyStar reports, with more than 4,500 employees. Catherine Garcia

To take his mom on the vacation of her dreams, Dustin Vitale needed to raise $10,000 in order to fly all 14 of his immediate family members to Egypt, and the Philadelphia middle school teacher came up with an idea that would make his hometown proud.

Last year, Dustin's mother, Gloria, was diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer. Dustin knew how much she wanted to see the pyramids, and figured if he could make cheesesteaks and sell them to friends and family, he'd raise enough money to get his mother and their family to Egypt. His mom provided her tried and true recipe, and Dustin got to work whipping up cheesesteaks and fries.

It wasn't long before word spread about Dustin's delicious cheesesteaks and the reason behind his new venture, and people soon lined up outside his house to pick up an order. When a food truck operator learned that Dustin was doing all of this from his home kitchen, he offered his services. After six weeks, Dustin raised $18,000.

Their trip is planned for later this year, and Gloria told CBS News that the love being shown to her is "overwhelming." For Dustin, it didn't matter where his mother wanted to go — he would take her anywhere. "If she would have asked to go to the moon, I would have made that happen as well," he said. Catherine Garcia

O.G. televangelist Pat Robertson isn't about to take to the streets to protest the police shooting of Daunte Wright at the hands of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter. But like many people, Robertson is baffled that Potter evidently meant to use her Taser on Wright, not her gun.

"If you can't tell the difference in the feel of those things, it's crazy," and Potter "deserves" the consequences, Robertson said on Thursday's 700 Club, holding both a handgun and a Taser. "You know, I am pro-police, folks. I think we need the police, we need their service, and they do a good job, but if they don't stop this onslaught, they cannot do this," he said, pivoting to the other prominent police killing in the Minneapolis area. "And the thing that's going on in Minnesota about that Derek Chauvin — I mean, they ought to put him under the jail, he has caused so much trouble by kneeling on the death of George Floyd, I mean on his neck — it's just terrible what's happening."

"We don't have the finest in the police department," Robertson said. "They're low-paid people, Terri," and we need to hire "a more superior workforce." (The average annual wage for a police officer in the U.S. in 2019, not including overtime, was $67,600, or $71,840 in Minnesota, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.) "We need police! We need them and we need to honor them and I'm all for," Robertson said. "But at the same time, we cannot have a bunch of clowns running around who are underpaid and who really are not the best and brightest." Peter Weber