(Un)fortunately, the end of summer is near!

Happening in the World: The White House, today, has said that enhanced background checks have blocked thousands of gun sales to people under the age of 21 and those convicted of misdemeanor violence crimes in the last year. The FBI has conducted enhanced background checks on over 300,000 individuals under the age of 21, and these checks have contributed to blocking more than 3,500 of such transactions; in cases of people convicted of domestic violence crimes, enhanced checks have blocked 4,600 thus far. They state that homicides have dropped 17% and mass shootings 20% to date compared to this point last year. Stefanie Feldman, the head of the new office whose work focuses on preventing gun violence, told Reuters that Biden and Harris would announce additional executive action soon. (Reuters)

Happening in the US: The autumnal equinox will mark the end of record-setting summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Nearly one-third of all weather stations in the US reported at least one record-high temperature over the summer, with one Wyoming station seeing more than 30 new highs. Phoenix, Arizona endured its hottest summer in recorded history: the average temperature in Phoenix from June through August was 99 degrees Fahrenheit—two degrees hotter than the average last year. The city has endured 120 days at or above 100 degrees and 61 days at or above 110 degrees. (NBC)

Happening in NYC: Federal agents have served search warrants on several of New York City’s newly named interim police commissioner Thomas Donlon’s residences, and they seized materials—according to him—that were unrelated to his police work. Donlon spent decades with the FBI working on cases of terrorism such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and a 2000 attack on a US Navy destroyer. This search comes as Mayor Eric Adam’s Administration recovers from other federal law enforcement investigations. (NBC)

Happening in Our Community: Kicking off today at The Forum is the dynamic event Climate Justice Summit: People Deliver—a powerful gathering of climate justice leaders from around the world coming together to focus on global collaboration and knowledge exchange. Discussions will feature a wide variety of leaders, and topics will include climate justice implementation strategies, enabling conditions, and the roles of people, policy, pedagogy, and philanthropies in delivering them. More information and the link to RSVP can be found here.

Image via Bwarchives