Good Thursday. The federal education secretary has confirmed that the student loan payment pause will end this year. The pause has been in place for more than three years. When student loan payments resume, 7.8 million federal borrowers are considered to be “high risk” for missing payments, according to one policy brief.

Here are some other stories I'm reading, watching and listening to today. Take a look at this:

• What A Doll (Collection): A late doll collector from Nitro will have her 2,000+ collection auctioned at a weekend sale, the Charleston Gazette-Mail's Rick Steelhammer reports. Martha Childress, who died in 2020, began collecting the dolls in the late 1970s. At 10 a.m. on Saturday, Mountaineer Auction Gallery near Clendenin will sell her collection of dolls, doll clothing and accessories. "Due to the sheer volume of her collection -- more than 2,000 dolls -- it's hard to put into words all it involves," auctioneer Steve Mullins told the newspaper. I guess that means you'll just have to go see them for yourself. But first, read the article. (Rick Steelhammer, The Charleston Gazette-Mail)
• 'Life Hub' Funding: An Ohio County organization has requested $1.1 million from the city of Wheeling to fund efforts to end homelessness in the county, the Wheeling Intellengencier's Eric Ayers reports. The money would come from the city's allotment of the federal pandemic relief funds. Wheeling was allocated $29.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding in 2021. Currently, $5 million of the city's ARPA funds remain unspent. Melissa Adams, Wheeling's homeless liaison, has requested the money for her Life Hub initiative. (Eric Ayers, The Wheeling Intelligencer)
• Debt Ceiling Doomsday: Ever wonder what would happen if the U.S. were to default on its debt? The Washington Post considered seven possible doomsday scenarios we might face should that ever happen. They even made a nifty post on their Instagram account about it. Let's just say we'd all feel the impact -- and some of us would feel it more than others. CNN reports that the "probability of a U.S. government default over the next 12 months has roughly doubled since late March to 4.3 percent" -- a still relatively low chance, right? RIGHT?!? (Jeff Stein, The Washington Post)
• Cold Living: Ever wonder what it's like to live in the coldest villages on earth? Independent journalist and YouTube vlogger Johnny Harris immerses us in that very thought in his most recent video. (Spoiler: it's as difficult as you probably think.) This video, like most of Harris' videos, requires a commitment of your time (30+ minutes) but the cinematic-like production and fact-filled narration are well worth it, I promise. (Johnny Harris, YouTube)
• More on Migration: Yesterday in this space, I shared a story from Reuters on the changing faces of migrants showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border. Today I want to share another story on the migration journey -- this time from Latin America's Darien Gap. PRI correspondent Manuel Rueda caught up with some of the migrants in Colombia, sharing this audio story on the radio program The World. You'll want to have a listen, and take a look at the photos that accompany the story, too. (Manuel Rueda for PRI's The World)