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Above the Fold

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• Yesterday, the Department of Justice revealed that “Attorney General William P. Barr announced the launch of Operation Legend, a sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative across all federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement officials to fight the sudden surge of violent crime, beginning in Kansas City, MO. Operation Legend was created as a result of President Trump’s promise to assist America’s cities that are plagued by recent violence.” The attorney general explained, “The Department’s Operation Legend is named in honor of one of Kansas City’s youngest victims, four-year old LeGend Taliferro who was shot in the face while sleeping in his bed. LeGend’s death is a horrifying reminder that violent crime left unchecked is a threat to us all and cannot be allowed to continue.” Kansas City has tallied one hundred homicides this year, which is up 40% from 2019.

• “The White House wants to limit the cost of the fourth coronavirus relief package at $1 trillion or less amid growing concerns among some Republican senators over the nation’s ballooning deficit, according to a senior administration official,” Fox News reports. “Negotiations between Congress and the Trump administration on another round of virus-related stimulus are set to begin in earnest later this month after lawmakers return to Washington from their two-week Fourth of July break. But some administration officials are concerned that if the aid package is worth more than $1 trillion, the White House risks losing pivotal support from fiscally conservative Senate Republicans who are starting to balk at the unprecedented debt and spending levels.” Their concern is warranted.

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Government & Politics

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• Yesterday was a good day for religious liberty at the Supreme Court (The Resurgent)

• Supreme Court says Congress can’t get Trump records, for now (AP)

• Joe Biden and Sanders release leftist “unity platform” for Democrat Party (U.S. News & World Report)

• If Biden follows platform compromises from task forces, he’ll be “most progressive president since FDR,” Sanders says (Breitbart)

• Biden says he would restore pre-Hobby Lobby contraceptive mandate in wake of Little Sisters ruling (Fox News)

• Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, key figure in the impeachment charade, announces his retirement in scathing statement (AP)

• Trump meets Mexican president at White House despite Democratic objections; it’s Trump and Lopez Obrador’s first face-to-face meeting (Fox News)

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Education

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• New York City public schools will reopen with “blended learning” model in the fall (CBS New York)

• School closures threaten kids more than COVID-19, pediatricians say (The Daily Signal)

• Back to school? “No thanks,” say millions of new homeschooling parents (Foundation for Economic Education)

• With no end in sight to the coronavirus, some teachers are retiring rather than going back to school (Time)

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The Latest on COVID-19

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• Surge in virus hospitalizations strains hospitals in several states (The Washington Post)

• CDC weighs early vaccine access for minorities and others at risk (The New York Times)

• Atlanta mayor defies the governor, orders masks to be worn in public spaces (NPR)

• Ivy League rules out playing all sports this fall due to pandemic (ESPN)

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Business & Economy

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• One-third of American families missed their July rent and housing payments and 10% fear they could lose their homes in the next six months (UK Daily Mail)

• New Yorkers look to the suburbs and beyond. Other city dwellers may be next. (NPR)

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Culture & Heartland

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• Of course: Signatories of letter criticizing cancel culture begin to cancel themselves (Hot Air)

• New York City councilwoman freaks out over white man holding black child: “It hurts people” (The Federalist)

• Andrew Jackson statue to be removed from City Hall in namesake Mississippi capital (The Daily Caller)

• Seattle held segregated training session for white staff aimed at “undoing their whiteness” and told them “not to take undeserved promotions” to be better allies for racial justice (UK Daily Mail)

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World

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• Communist China’s leash on Hong Kong tightens, choking an accountability broadcaster (The New York Times)

• China rebrands Confucius Institutes in effort to quell global backlash (Campus Reform)

• UPDATE: Seoul mayor found dead after being reported missing (ABC News)

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Other Notables

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• An environmentalist’s apology: “I was guilty of alarmism” (Michael Shellenberger)

• Trump has 91% chance of winning reelection, political science professor calculates (Mediaite)

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Closing Arguments

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• Policy: How we will ward off 21st-century adversaries (Senator Rick Scott)

• Policy: School-closing costs are crushing children and parents (American Enterprise Institute)

• Humor: Facebook to require masks in all profile pictures (The Babylon Bee)

For more of today’s editors’ choice headlines, visit In Our Sights.

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