Grocery prices are up 3% over the last year,the latest Consumer Price Index report shows, representing a quiet rise broadly in line with expectations that could still pinch a lower-income family's budget.
Why it matters: With everyday essentials such as coffee rising 13.4% since last June, American families are feeling the pinch at the supermarket, as climate change and other factors decrease predictability in food costs.
Mount Rainier is rattling with the most powerful earthquake swarm scientists have ever recorded at the volcano.
Why it matters: Rainier's reputation as the Cascades' most dangerous volcano means even minor tremors can fuel both scientific investigation and public anxiety — though experts say there's no immediate cause for concern.
The U.S. has reached an "inflection point" that demands "swift and decisive action" to reverse erosion of industrial capacity and tech leadership, warns a major new report from the nonprofit Securing America's Future Energy.
Why it matters: "The rise of China as a global economic and military competitor presents one of the most existential challenges the United States has faced in its history," it finds.
Much of the eastern U.S. and Midwest was facing the threat of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, while heat alerts were issued Sunday for over 50 million people from Kansas to the Carolinas.
The big picture: NOAA's Weather Prediction Center issued a Level 3 out of 4 risk for excessive rainfall over parts of the Ohio Valley through Monday morning, with storms containing 3-4"/hour rainfall rates developing Sunday evening. Forecasters said parts of Missouri and Illinois could see "locally significant" flash flooding.
The number of people missing in Texas' catastrophic flooding has fallen to three from 160 in the immediate aftermath of the extreme weather event, said Kerr County officials as the search enters a third week.
The big picture: The July 4 flooding killed at least 135 people — with 107 fatalities occurring in Kerr County, including children at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls, along the banks of the Guadalupe River. The last missing persons count six days ago was 97.
