Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The air isn’t supposed to look like this: “The smoke from ferocious Canadian wildfires cast a sickly pall over much of the eastern United States today, worsening air quality for millions of people. About 98 million people in parts of 18 states from New Hampshire to South Carolina were under air quality alerts this morning for both wildfire smoke and ozone.”
* Virginia’s latest mass shooting: “An 18-year-old who had just graduated and his father were killed in a shooting Tuesday after a high school graduation ceremony on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, Richmond police said. Tameeka Jackson-Smith told NBC News her son, Shawn Jackson and her husband, Renzo Smith, 36, were killed in the shooting, which left five others injured, according to police.”
* Speaking of guns: “The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide.”
* Really? “Justice Department prosecutors are planning to bring a significant portion of any charges stemming from the possible mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the home of former president Donald Trump, at a nearby federal court in south Florida, according to people familiar with the matter.”
* Hmm: “Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked for more time to file annual financial disclosures following criticism that he failed to report luxury travel and real estate deals with a Texas billionaire and Republican donor.”
* I guess I won’t look for Jimmy Pesto anytime soon: “A Hollywood actor who appeared on ‘Mr. Show,’ ‘Arrested Development,’ ‘Bob’s Burgers’ and in ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ has been arrested in California and charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Jay Johnston faces charges of felony obstruction of officers during civil disorder as well as several misdemeanor offenses, according to court documents.” * Mark your calendars: “Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro will stand trial in September on contempt of Congress charges filed after he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta set a Sept. 5 trial date during a court appearance on Tuesday in Washington.” * A fascinating and informative report on biofuels: “It takes about 100 acres worth of biofuels to generate as much energy as a single acre of solar panels; worldwide, a land mass larger than California was used to grow under 4 percent of transportation fuel in 2020. That’s a huge waste of precious land the world needs to store carbon that can stabilize our warming climate and grow crops that can help feed the growing population.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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