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U.S. NEWS

Georgia High School Shooting

Two 14-year-old students and two teachers were shot and killed Wednesday at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, about an hour outside of Atlanta. Nine others were injured and are expected to recover. 

According to local officials, two school resource officers quickly responded to active shooter reports and confronted the gunman, a 14-year-old student of the school. Authorities said the suspect “gave up, got on the ground, and was taken into custody.” It’s unclear how the weapon—a semi-automatic rifle—made it into the school.

A motive is unknown; however, the suspect was investigated last year for possible connections to online posts threatening a school shooting. The FBI said there wasn’t probable cause to arrest him at the time but alerted schools to monitor the teen. They arrested his father yesterday for “knowingly” letting his high-risk son possess a weapon.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
We often say, "it's easy to feel helpless in times like these," and it is, and we do. Scripture encourages us to mourn, to pray, and to love with action. We're giving $1,000 to support victims' families through these verified fundraisers. If you feel led, give with us.

"The Lord is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.” 
Psalm 34:18 (CSB); also see Romans 12:15; James 5:16; 1 John 3:18

INDUSTRY

Battlegrounds

Presidential hopefuls are camping out in swing states.

With sixty days until Election Day, recent polls show VP Harris has the edge in Michigan and Wisconsin, Arizona leaning towards former President Trump, and the two neck-and-neck in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.

This week, Trump held a town hall on Fox News in the land of cheesesteaks and proposed an Elon Musk-led “Efficiency Commission” to audit government spending. Harris unveiled more economic proposals, including increasing small-business tax credits and raising the capital gains tax rate to 28% for high-income earners (8% higher than today, 12% lower than President Biden’s proposal). 

Apparently, Alexa’s been doing some campaigning, too. Viral videos showed the devices refusing to promote candidates when asked why voters should choose Trump but providing a list of reasons to support Harris. Amazon said the “error” was “quickly fixed.”

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Let Jesus’s voice be the loudest and most influential voice in your life during election season and beyond. Christians are called to be followers of Jesus—not followers of news networks, politicians, or influencers.

“Now great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.’”
Luke 14:25-27 (CSB) (read full passage)

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SPORTS

Pigskins and Gold

The NFL is heating up as the Paralympics cool down. 

The 105th NFL season kicked off last night in Kansas City as the Chiefs began their quest to make history with a Super Bowl three-peat with a 27-20 win over Baltimore. Tonight, the Eagles host a “home” game against the Packers in Sao Paulo––the league’s first-ever game in Brazil––in an effort to drum up international interest (in the real football).

Meanwhile, China holds a commanding lead in the Paralympic medal count, but Americans are working to knock them off the podium.

Jessica Long won her 30th Paralympic medal, a gold in the 400m freestyle S8 swim (an event she also won gold in 20 years ago), and 19-year-old Ezra Frech won gold in the high jump and the 100-meter dash (which he entered as a “warm-up”). The Paralympic Games end Sunday.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Whether we’re a professional athlete, a newsletter writer, a business person, a teacher, a plumber, or anything in between, we have an opportunity every day to honor God in our work with the gifts He’s given us, and to show the love of Christ to those around us as we do.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 (CSB) (read full passage)

Mail some ice to your friends in Arizona. Phoenix notched its 100th-straight day of 100-plus degree temps this week, shattering its previous triple-digit-heat streak of 76 days (set in 1993). It’s not just uncomfortable; public health officials say that there have been 150 confirmed heat-related deaths and another 443 under investigation.
 

Phoenix may not be cooling down, but the labor market is. Job openings slumped more than expected in July, hitting their lowest level since January 2021. While unemployment remains low-ish (4.3%), job seekers are competing for fewer opportunities, and bosses are slower to make new hires. For the last three years, employers have been battling for workers… how the turntables.
 

Boeing’s Starliner is going home alone tonight. The rocket is leaving behind its two-person crew (who’ll orbit the ISS for five more months) due to safety concerns. Still, NASA and Boeing “have confidence” that the spacecraft can land in the New Mexico desert without incident. Watch live coverage of the landing early Saturday morning here. 
 

There’s disagreement over whether a Venezuelan gang has a “stranglehold” on an Aurora, Colorado, apartment complex. A Denver law firm reported that the Tren de Aragua gang has been assaulting, extorting, and prostituting residents in the majority-migrant complex; Aurora’s mayor said reports are “exaggerated.” The city announced a special task force in coordination with the DEA after the situation went viral.
 

Hunter Biden changed his federal tax evasion case plea from not guilty to guilty yesterday. Prosecutors blocked initial attempts to plead guilty without admitting wrongdoing to avoid a public trial. Instead, Biden took an “open plea,” pleading guilty to nine criminal charges related to not paying $1.4M in federal taxes and leaving his December sentencing up to the judge.

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What We're (Finally) Getting Around To
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