June 27 top stories
Hello, it is June 27. Here are today’s top stories.
Man warning kids off beach killed by lightning
According to authorities, a man who died over the weekend while trying to get kids off a New Jersey beach during a storm was struck by lightning.
Patrick Dispoto, 59, and his girlfriend, Ruth Fussell, were starting to leave the beach on Sunday in Seaside Park Beach when suddenly Dispoto decided to go back. His girlfriend Ruth told a news outlet he made sure she was safe inside his truck before heading up the dune and onto the sand to get some kids off of the beach. Then the storm hit.
Ruth said she called Dispoto three times but he didn’t respond, and she waited about 15 minutes for his return. She eventually went back to the beach where she found Dispoto unconscious.
Emergency responders performed CPR on Dispoto and he was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
An autopsy confirmed on Tuesday that Dispoto died an accidental death caused by lightning.
Days after Dispoto’s death, Seaside Park installed a lightning warning system.
Bolivian general arrested after failed coup attempt
Bolivia’s former army chief was arrested on Wednesday after deploying soldiers and tanks to government buildings, which President Luis Arce called an attempted coup.
Troops led by Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga – dismissed as commander of the Bolivian army just a day earlier – entered Plaza Murillo in the capital, La Paz, as tanks attempted to breach the presidential palace door and soldiers tried to break into government offices.
Hours later, President Arce – who had called on the public to organize and mobilize in defense of democracy – could be seen confronting Zuniga from a balcony and ordering him to withdraw his soldiers and stand down.
Amid the chaos, Arce announced new military commanders, including Zuniga’s replacement as army chief, Gen. Jose Sánchez. The situation appeared to have been defused when Sánchez ordered the soldiers in the palace to return to their units.
Later, Zuniga was handcuffed and forced into a police car. He addressed reporters saying, “We want to restore democracy.”
Arce raised his clenched fist to the huge crowds that had flocked to the presidential palace, signaling the defeat of the attempted coup.
Indigenous tribes celebrate rare birth of white bison
Multiple sources reported that sage burned on the banks of Hebgen Lake near Yellowstone National Park as Indigenous tribal leaders marched in procession Wednesday morning to honor the birth of a white buffalo calf.
They sang songs and danced in a sacred ceremony as hundreds of onlookers watched in silence.
The rare white calf’s arrival this month in Yellowstone National Park signaled, under tribal lore, both a blessing and a warning to the world.
The tribal leaders named the young buffalo–Wakan Gli or Sacred Return.
Bisons have been integral to tribal culture for generations, providing an important source of food, clothing, fuel, tools, shelter and spirituality.
The birth of the white calf stunned not just tribal communities but also visitors to the national park.
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Walgreens to close ‘significant’ number of underperforming stores
Walgreens is set to close a substantial number of its roughly 8,600 locations across the United States as the company looks to reset the struggling pharmaceutical chain’s business.
The company didn’t announce a specific number of store closures, but it said Thursday that it is planning “significant” closures of underperforming stores across America as part of a multiyear optimization program.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Thursday, CEO Tim Wentworth said the closures would focus on locations that aren’t profitable, too close to each other or stores struggling with theft.
Major drugstore chains, including CVS and Rite Aid, have struggled in recent years because of declining profits from filling prescriptions. They’ve declined because of lower reimbursement rates for prescription drugs and new competition from Amazon.
The front end of drug stores, where they sell snacks and household staples, also face pressure from larger competitors, including Target and dollar stores.
See Alex’s story about NASA tapping SpaceX to bring the International Space Station out of orbit.
NASA awards SpaceX contract to bring ISS out of orbit
Thanks, Callie.
NASA announced it awarded SpaceX a $843 million contract to develop and launch a spacecraft that will pull the International Space Station (ISS) out of orbit when the ISS reaches the end of its operational life in 2030.
SpaceX will need to develop a special spacecraft that can guide the ISS safely back into Earth’s atmosphere and let it crash into the Pacific Ocean.
NASA said it would take ownership of the spacecraft after SpaceX develops it and operate it. NASA said it expects the special spacecraft to also break up and be destroyed along with the ISS.
The ISS first started orbiting Earth in 1998. For Elon Musk’s SpaceX, it will be a rich contract.
Thanks for this story. That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!
Man warning kids off beach killed by lightning
https://people.com/man-killed-by-lightning-at-seaside-park-new-jersey-8669321
Bolivian general arrested after failed coup attempt
Indigenous tribes celebrate rare birth of white bison
https://www.today.com/news/rare-white-buffalo-calf-yellowstone-ceremony-rcna159206
Walgreens to close ‘significant’ number of underperforming stores
https://www.wsj.com/health/walgreens-plans-major-u-s-store-closures-0b04a96e
NASA awards SpaceX contract to bring ISS out of orbit
https://www.axios.com/2024/06/27/nasa-spacex-international-space-station-deorbit-vehicle