Gun background checks hit record high in June

Illegal fireworks lit up the Los Angeles night sky on the Fourth of July, prompting hundreds of complaints to the city's police department and in one case igniting a fire that destroyed eight apartments and injured five tenants. By 10 p.m. Saturday, the Los Angeles Police Department reported receiving more than 1,000 illegal fireworks complaints submitted online. “Thank you to the LAPD officers across the City tonight for doing their best to keep up with the outrageous number of illegal fireworks calls,” the #LAPD Communications Division tweeted early Sunday. “Be safe.” Police said they also had to hold dozens of 911 calls due to the large number of calls. Authorities apologized for the delays throughout the night. “We ask that you please not call 911 for illegal fireworks unless someone is hurt or there is a fire. You are tying up 911 for other life-threatening emergencies,” a tweet from LAPD’s Communications Division said.

Meanwhile, in Mexico ... #WTF

Death of Department Employee due to COVID-19 . #RIP #LAPD

OMG!

VOLO, Ill. - A northern Illinois auto museum has no plan to stop displaying a Dodge Charger from the “Dukes of Hazzard” television show with the Confederate battle flag painted atop the vehicle. Statues of Confederate generals and soldiers are being taken down across the country, NASCAR has banned the flag from its races and the Confederate emblem is being removed from the Mississippi state flag. But the Volo Auto Museum about 50 miles northwest of Chicago says the famed “General Lee” from the first season of the TV show isn’t going anywhere, according to a weekend report in the Crystal Lake-based Northwest Herald. Since the museum acquired in 2005 what it says is the last surviving 1969 Charger from the first season of the television program, Grams said nobody has complained. And the museum has continued to hear from people supporting the decision to keep the car as the push to rid the landscape of what is increasingly viewed as a symbol of racism, Grams said.

Hollywood composer Ennio Morricone who wrote the music for The Good, The Bad And The Ugly dies aged 91 #RIP

Two planes collided over Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho on Sunday and crashed into the water below. The two planes were carrying eight passengers, according to early reports. The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office said the planes have been located by its sonar team and two bodies were pulled from the water. "At this time it is believed there are no survivors," a statement said. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the two planes collide near Powderhorn Bay. National Transportation Safety Board has been notified and will respond to investigate the accident, a sheriff’s statement said. The planes are in 127 feet of water. Eyewitness Patrick Pearce say that he saw two single-engine planes coming towards each other, 800 to 900 feet above the water. Pearce, a pilot himself, said he recognized by the engine sounds that both planes were traveling at a fairly high rate of speed. The planes collided before crashing into the lake, Pearce said.

OH MY! Race leader Denny Hamlin makes hard contact with the SAFER Barrier to bring his shot a first Brickyard win to an end. #NASCAR #losers

The No. 12 team's Zach Price is basically Superman. He's okay after getting hit on pit road Sunday. #NASCAR

Meanwhile, in Brazil ...