Swifties rejoice, farewell AOL dial-up, and Kennedy Center's class of 2025: Week in review
'It's not the heat, it's the humidity' is not just a time-worn cliche − this summer, it's been the reality. Air masses that have been just 'sitting and festering' have created record-high dew points for tens of millions of Americans in parts of the country, said Owen Shieh of the National Weather Service, pushing up heat indexes and making it harder to cool off, especially at night. Meanwhile, however, the 209th Farmers' Almanac is out, and its editor, Sandi Duncan, tells USA TODAY that before too long we can expect 'an old-fashioned winter' − or, as the almanac predicts: 'Chill, snow, repeat.'
Dry vs. humid: Watch a video to see how both can be dangerous
Trump giving marijuana another look
In the uproar over President Donald Trump sending the National Guard to Washington, DC, to help fight crime in the capital, another law-enforcement-related headline may have fallen under the radar: Trump's announcement that he is considering reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. Despite loosening laws and attitudes over pot, the government still labels cannabis a Schedule 1 drug − dangerous, addictive and lacking any recognized medical application − a classification it has held since 1970. The debate over the drug is complicated, Trump said: 'Some people like it, some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of marijuana.' A decision could come in just a couple of weeks.
After 40 years, AOL's dial-up is going silent
AOL's old signature 'eeeeeeeeyaaah' will soon be no more. More than 40 years after its dial-up modem protocol became the calling card for internet newbies, the company announced it's shutting down the service. It will go the way of Skype on Sept. 30, the company said, after what it called a routine review of its products and services. In AOL's heyday in the '80s and '90s, connecting to the World Wide Web was just starting to click for regular folks, but would-be web surfers needed patience: A dial-up connection back then could handle up to 56 kilobits a second, if you were lucky. Today, we're talking megabits and gigabits.
The man behind 'You've Got Mail': Elwood Edwards, the voice of AOL, dies at 74
Kennedy Center gala will sure look different
This year's Kennedy Center Honors class is in − and the host is making headlines along with the honorees. The artist honorees: Sylvester Stallone, country singer George Strait, British stage actor Michael Crawford, disco star Gloria Gaynor, and glam rockers KISS. And presiding over the ceremony: not a singer, not an actor, not an artist, but President Donald Trump himself, who also happens to be performing arts center's self-appointed new chairman. Trump, who announced the nominees, said he personally rejected 'a couple of wokesters' on the list of prospects. The ceremony will air later this year on CBS.
MLB umpire breaks the grass ceiling
Another sports barrier has bitten the dust. Jen Pawol, 48, made baseball history by becoming the first woman to umpire a Major League game − twice − when she took the field as a first-base umpire and then, the next day, called balls and strikes at Truist Park in Atlanta as the Braves faced the Miami Marlins. And by all accounts, she did fine. Perhaps there'll come a time when a woman behind the plate is no big deal, as Marlins pitcher Cal Quantrill told MLB.com: 'I think she did a quality job. ... But yeah, just another day.' − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol, USA TODAY copy chief
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