What's Happening
US News
NY Investigators Piece Together Details After Midtown Shooting
What's going on: Investigators are still trying to understand why Shane Devon Tamura left his home in Las Vegas and traveled to New York City, where he opened fire in a Midtown office building Monday night, killing four people before shooting himself. Police say it's the deadliest gun attack in New York City in 25 years. According to police, a suicide note found inside his pocket expressed grievances with the NFL. Tamura was a competitive football player as a youth, had a “documented mental health history,” and claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease linked to head trauma. “Study my brain please,” the note said, according to The New York Times. NYPD officers are in Las Vegas looking into his background and possible motive. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said investigators believe Tamura was headed for the NFL’s offices, but took the wrong elevator.
Tell me more: Tributes to the victims have spread online, and a makeshift memorial has grown outside the site of the shooting. Off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam was a married father of two with a third on the way. Wesley LePatner, also married with two children, was an executive at Blackstone investment firm and served on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s board. Julia Hyman graduated from Cornell University in 2020 and worked for the real estate firm that owned the building. Beloved family man Aland Etienne was a dedicated security guard who “took his job duties extremely seriously.” At least one NFL employee was “seriously injured” in the shooting, but that victim has not been identified.
Related: Three Dead in Reno Casino Shooting (USA Today)
Climate
EPA: Who's Afraid of a Little Old Air Pollution?
What's going on: The Environmental Protection Agency wants to limit… the Environmental Protection Agency. Huh. On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to revoke the "endangerment finding" — a 2009 declaration that said greenhouse gas emissions cause global warming and pose a threat to public health. That finding gave the government legal authority to regulate major polluters. Zeldin called the shift “the largest deregulatory action” in US history and claimed it would help the economy. But environmental groups and scientists warn it could cause serious harm to people and ecosystems. One expert called the decision an act of "criminal negligence."
What it means: The move, the latest and most significant in a deluge of environmental policy changes, is evidence the Trump administration isn't just denying climate change, it’s rejecting it altogether. The EPA also plans to argue that greenhouse gas emissions from US cars don't significantly harm the environment, a claim that contradicts the agency’s own data. That’s concerning for climate scientists who cite recent deadly weather events as concrete proof that the planet is already in crisis. The EPA’s proposal still faces multiple steps — and likely a wave of legal challenges — before it could take effect, possibly as soon as next year.
Related: How People Walk in Cities Has Changed (Newsweek)
Tech
The Tea Is Hot and Some Men Aren't Happy
What's going on: Picture a space where women can anonymously vent about bad dates, run free background checks, and get real-time dating advice — all without putting their safety at risk. Enter: Tea Dating Advice, an app created by a man (yes, actually) in 2023 to help women navigate the heterosexual dating scene. But as it climbed the App Store charts, it also drew targeted misogynistic attacks by men on sites like 4chan, who called for a hack. Then it happened. Last week, the Tea app confirmed it was hacked, and the breach exposed more than 72,000 images — including 13,000 verification photos and government IDs (which users provide to register). The company is still investigating the hack and who did it, but the data accessed is from users who signed up before February 2024.
What it means: Are women allowed to have anything nice? The app was created to help women stay safe while navigating online dating apps and IRL connections, but some men took its existence as a personal attack (spoiler: it’s not). The backlash spawned a men-only version of the app called Teaborn, where some users went as far as posting revenge porn. It’s since been taken down. Some researchers say dating dynamics have grown more strained in recent years, partly because women continue to make gains in education and work. The reward? A dating pool that, for some, now requires an app to vet suitors. Sigh, love in the digital era.
Related: One Sex Toy Maker Was Accidentally Leaking Its Users’ Emails (TechCrunch)
Highlight Reel
BY SKIMM SPORTS
The week's sports news and culture stories, ranked.
Hang it in the Louvre: Katie Ledecky isn’t done winning. She got another gold medal in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the World Championships this past weekend.
Kickin’ it: The NWSL is back, and this weekend’s matchups (and Trinity Rodman’s return) are feeling like must-sees. Game on.
Groovy: The Timeless Torches are somehow stealing the New York Liberty’s spotlight — celebrating 20 years of making space for dancers aged 40 and up. And yes, those uniforms are everything.
Caught: Lionel Messi looked a little bit more ready for the Coldplay Cam than the other fans.
P.S. Subscribe to our Skimm Sports newsletter for more weekly highlights on and off the field.
Live Smarter
Sign up for the Daily Skimm email newsletter. Delivered to your inbox every morning and prepares you for your day in minutes.