United States of America eSeries: 'Nobody is giving up hope here'

Tuesday, June 29

Miami-Dade police officers look at photos of missing residents on a fence in front of Champlain Towers South condo in Surfside, Fla. Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

Search for survivors in Surfside condo collapse stretches into a sixth day. Serena Williams left Wimbledon due to an injury. It's Tuesday's news.

Six days after the condo collapse near Miami, frustrated families are still waiting for answers. Serena Williams left Wimbledon due to a leg injury. And the nasty heat wave baking states and breaking records will start to ease up.

👋 It's Laura. It's Tuesday's news, just for you — yes, you!

But first, nature, you SO wild. 🌄 These guys caught on video a 200-foot rock wall's dramatic crash into Lake Superior. You gotta see the video.

The Short List is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe to the newsletter here or text messages here.

Families cling to hope 6 days after condo collapse

"Nobody is giving up hope here," said Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, six days after a condo building outside Miami collapsed. Workers continue to sift through rubble, searching for signs of life as families of the 150 people still missing grow weary of their desperate wait for answers. Frustrated families have been questioning how long a person could survive under the heaps of rubble, Burkett said, though he remains hopeful survivors will be found. Authorities reiterated that work at the site was a search-and-rescue effort. The death toll remains at 11, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Tuesday.

President Joe Biden is going to Florida on Thursday, showing his concern for the community of Surfside a week after a 12-story oceanside condo building partially collapsed. Biden wants to meet with families and thank first responders and others involved in looking for survivors.

•	'Significantly worse': Letter says Miami condo's concrete deterioration was accelerating in April.
•	Family of missing 92-year-old grandmother finds her photos among the debris.
•	Teen watched condo collapse from her bedroom thinking, 'that's going to happen to our building.'

Serena Williams injured, withdraws from Wimbledon

Seven-time Wimbledon singles champion Serena Williams will not win her record-tying 24th Grand Slam women's title this year after withdrawing from the tournament due to injury. In the first set of Tuesday's first-round match on Centre Court against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, Williams slipped on the wet grass and appeared to injure her right leg. After taking a time out to get her leg treated and wrapped by an athletic trainer, she tried to give it another shot, but wasn't able to move and was forced to retire from the match. Williams has won 23 Grand Slam titles overall, one short of Margaret Court's modern record.

Serena Williams falls to the ground during her first-round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus.

Kirsty Wigglesworth, AP

What everyone's talking about

•	Venomous snake roaming North Carolina suburbs: Experts say one bite or spit may be fatal.
•	'Pray for Gregg': NeNe Leakes reveals her husband was hospitalized, diagnosed with cancer again.
•	First lady Jill Biden covers Vogue, talks 'magical quality' of White House living.
•	Queer valedictorian's silenced LGBTQ identity speech may see federal civil rights review.
•	Arizona wildfires: Bigger, hotter than ever. How will the land recover?

House to vote on Confederate statue bill

The House on Tuesday will vote on a bill that would remove Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol as well as a bust of a former Supreme Court chief justice. The legislation would require states to remove and replace any statues honoring members of the Confederacy in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol by prohibiting "persons who served as an officer or voluntarily with the Confederate States of America or of the military forces or government of a State while the State was in rebellion against the United States" from the collection. The House passed similar legislation last year, but it stalled in the Republican-controlled Senate. It faces a greater chance of passage now that Democrats hold the majority.

•	Which statues would be removed? Here's what you need to know.

FILE - In this June 24, 2015 file photo, a statue of Alexander Hamilton Stephens, the Confederate vice president throughout the American Civil War, is on display in Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill in Washington. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif is calling for the removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol as the contentious debate over the appropriateness of such memorials moves to the halls of Congress. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) ORG XMIT: WX104 [Via MerlinFTP Drop]

Susan Walsh, AP

Walmart launches low-cost insulin

Hoping to "revolutionize the access and affordability" of diabetes treatments, Walmart will launch its own brand of insulin. In a statement Tuesday, Walmart said it will offer analog insulin vials and FlexPens for administering doses through its ReliOn brand. The retailer claims its insulin options will save customers between 58% to 75% compared with branded products. "We know many people with diabetes struggle to manage the financial burden of this condition, and we are focused on helping by providing affordable solutions," said Dr. Cheryl Pegus, executive vice president of Walmart Health & Wellness, in a statement. The ReliOn products will be available this week at Walmart pharmacies and launch in Sam's Club pharmacies next month.

•	COVID-19 can derange the immune system in complex ways, research shows. Here's how.
•	5 facts about diabetes, one of the most common health conditions in America.

Lighted Walmart sign.

Walmart

Real quick

•	Giant comet zooming toward the sun is the largest ever seen.
•	Tyler Skaggs' family sues Angels for negligence over his 2019 drug-related death.
•	US gymnast: Selection process for Olympic team fairer than it used to be.
•	Danny weakens to tropical depression hours after landfall north of Georgia, South Carolina border; expected to dissipate late Tuesday.

Hot-hot-heat wave begins to ease up

On the heels of another historic heat wave less than two weeks ago, the Northeast and Pacific Northwest are both enduring a heatwave this week. An excessive heat warning is in effect in Philadelphia Tuesday, which warns of "dangerously hot conditions with heat index values up to 105 degrees," the National Weather Service said. Fortunately, the stagnant weather pattern with mainly sunny, hot and humid conditions is forecast to break down during the second half of the week, AccuWeather said. On the other side of the country, the weather service in Portland, Oregon, said people will start seeing some relief Tuesday, and weather models are predicting a high in the mid-to high 90s. Seattle and Portland will see high temperatures in the 80s by Wednesday, still above average but far from the incredible heat from recent days, forecasters said.

♨️ Smashing records: Seattle set a new all-time record of 104 degrees on Sunday, and broke that on Monday with 107 degrees, the World Meteorological Organization said. Portland broke the record twice: 108 on Saturday and 112 on Sunday.

•	It's bringing record highs to the Pacific Northwest. What is a heat dome?
•	'Like a sauna in our apartment': Record-breaking heat in Pacific Northwest hits high of 116 degrees.

People are pictured as they workout near Venice Beach on Wednesday. An unusually early and long-lasting heat wave brought more triple-digit temperatures to a large swath of the Western United States, raising concerns that such extreme weather could become the new normal amid a decades-long drought.

Ringo H.W. Chiu, AP Images

A break from the news

•	😴 Staying up late even when you know you shouldn't? (Guilty.) It's more serious than you think.
•	🐕 Puppy love: The 50 most popular dog breeds in America.
•	🏔 Vacay time! Here are 11 tourist attractions that actually live up to the hype.

This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for The Short List newsletter here.