Your Must-See News Headlines for Today, July 21

extreme heat

Getty People cool off at the World War II memorial during an excessive heat wave on July 20, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Roughly two-thirds of Americans have been sweltering in the extreme heat for the past five days. Read on to see when forecasters are predicting a drop in temperatures.

A Pennsylvania school district is facing backlash after parents were warned that their kids could be taken away from them over unpaid lunches.

And Marvel Studios has unveiled its next batch of movies and TV series featuring your favorite superheroes.

Here’s what you need to know in the daily roundup.


TOP STORY: Relief From the Extreme Heat is Coming Monday

An estimated 200 million Americans have been gripped by a dangerous heatwave, which today stretched into a fifth day. Excessive heat warnings and advisories remained in effect for Sunday for parts of the Plains, Midwest, and East Coast.

Forecasters said the temperatures combined with the humidity is making it feel as hot as 115 degrees in some areas today. The heat caused concrete roads to buckle, prompted event cancellations, and caused city leaders in places like New York City and Baltimore to issue Code Red weather alerts.

But meteorologists say relief is on the way. According to the Weather Channel, a shift in the jet stream will break the heatwave and usher in more seasonable temperatures by Monday.


WHAT’S BUZZING THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING: The Next Phase of Marvel Movies Was Unveiled at Comic-Con

Marvel Studios has at least eight new projects planned for release over the next two years. The president of the studio, Kevin Feige, unveiled the upcoming movies and TV series during Comic-Con.

Black Widow will be the first new movie to hit the big screen in May of 2020. It will be a prequel to the Avengers movies and will star Scarlett Johansson. The fall of 2020 will bring The Eternals starring Angelina Jolie.

Thor: Love and Thunder will bring back Natalie Portman, this time as Lady Thor. Chris Hemsworth will again star and it’s set for release in November of 2021. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will hit theaters in May of 2021.

The TV series Falcon and the Winter Soldier is scheduled to debut on the new streaming service Disney Plus by the fall of 2020. Tom Hiddleston will also appear on the new Disney Plus platform as Loki in the spring of 2020.


OFF-BEAT: PA School Threatens to Put Kids in Foster Care Over Unpaid Lunches

Pay for your children’s school lunch, or they could be placed into foster care. That was the message sent to around 40 parents in Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley West School District last week. The families owed between $12 and $450 apiece.

The Washington Post obtained a copy of the letter sent to parents. It read in part, “Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without a breakfast and/or lunch. This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child’s right to food. If you are taken to Dependency court, the result may be your child being removed from your home and placed in foster care.”

County officials have chastised the school for issuing such a threat. One of the letter writers, director of federal programs Joseph Muths, has admitted the letter was too harsh. But school solicitor Charles Coslett has defended their wording, arguing that it got the parents’ attention when other efforts had failed.


DAILY NEWS ROUNDUP

  • Mahershala Ali has been cast as vampire hunter Blade in an upcoming reboot of the franchise.
  • Kathy Zhu, a University of Michigan student, says she was stripped of her title and banned from competing in the Miss World America pageant over her conservative political views.
  • Pampers plans to start selling a line of “smart diapers” by this fall.Equifax will reportedly pay a $700 million settlement over a 2017 data breach that exposed the personal data of nearly 150 million people.
  • Manny Pacquiao defeated Keith Thurman over 12 rounds Saturday night to win the WBA title.

CHECK THIS OUT: It’s National Ice Cream Day!

Getty

If the heat hasn’t given you enough of an excuse to indulge in ice cream, then here’s another reason: today is National Ice Cream Day! President Ronald Reagan designated the third Sunday of July for the holiday back in 1984.

Did you know? According to the International Dairy Foods Association, Americans eat on average 23 gallons of ice cream per year. And vanilla remains the most popular flavor, with chocolate right behind.

Some retailers are offering discounts in honor of the holiday. For example, Carvel is offering buy-one-get-one-free deals on cones. At Dairy Queen, you can download their app to get a coupon for a DQ Confection at regular price and a second for 99 cents. Graeter’s has reduced the price of its single dip sugar cones to $1.49 and Baskin-Robbins is selling two ice cream quarts for $7.99

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