Heavy Weather: Torrential summer rains have brought flooding from Maryland all the way to New York City. Ten inches of rain were reported in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 6.3 inches in Baltimore, and 9 inches in southern New Jersey. Streets in some areas are a couple of feet deep in water. Commuters entering New York abandoned their cars in the floodwaters. And in Phoenix, monsoon rains created flash flooding that washed away cars.

Unrest: Police in Ferguson, Mo. shot and severely wounded a man during another night of protest over the police killing of an unarmed teenager last weekend. Last night police responded to a report of shots fired and several men wearing ski masks running in the street. Police said one of the men pointed a handgun and they shot him.

The Sports Biz: Shelley Sterling has passed the ball of ownership of the LA Clippers to former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer, who’s taken possession of the team for $2 billion. Shelley’s husband Donald bought the team for $12 million in 1981. The sale closed after a court ruled that Shelley had the authority to sell without Donald’s permission. On the bright side, he can certainly afford the $2.5 million fine levied by the NBA for making racist remarks to his girlfriend.

Robin Williams: Investigators say actor Robin Williams hanged himself from a doorknob with a belt. An assistant found him. Police said there were superficial cuts on Williams’ wrists and a closed pocketknife on the floor. There was some suggestion that Williams left a note, but the contents were not revealed.

The Obit Page: Lauren Bacall, an actress from the Golden Age of Hollywood who starred and romanced with Humphrey Bogart and uttered one of the sexiest lines in the history of movies, has died at age 89.

Bacall broke out opposite Bogart in the adaptation of Earnest Hemingway’s “To Have and Have Not.” Her beauty and allure were enhanced by her dusky voice. She married Bogart when she was 20 and he was 45.

Bacall’s career on screen and stage was up and down, and she admitted it was not as good as it might have been had she not married so young. But she said the 12 years until Bogart’s early death were the happiest of her life. She later married actor Jason Robards Jr.

The line to Bogart in “To Have”:“You don’t have to say anything, and you don’t have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”

Iraq: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appears to be backing off implied threats to use military force to hold onto office. He issued a statement yesterday saying the military should stay out of power, saying in part, “Leave this issue to the people, politicians and justice.” Iran, which has supported Maliki’s government, said it approved of his nominated replacement, Haider al-Abadi.

> NY Times reporter Alissa Rubin was injured in the crash of an Iraqi helicopter airlifting Yazidi refugees. The pilot was killed and several other people injured as well.

White Flags: Two German artists from Berlin have claimed credit for planting two white flags on the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge earlier this summer. Grim-faced New York police authorities took it as an act akin to blowing up the bridge. Artists Mischa Leinkauf and Matthias Wermke told the NY Times that they did it to celebrate “the beauty of public space” and the bridge whose German-born engineer, John Roebling, died in 1869 on July 22, the day the flags were mounted.

Ms. Spoken: Hillary Clinton called President Obama to say her remarks to The Atlantic magazine were not meant as an attack on Obama or his foreign policy. Clinton had derided the White House motto, “Don’t do stupid shit.” Former staffer David Axelrod explained that what the expression means is don’t do stupid stuff like invade Iraq. Clinton’s staff-issued statement said she looks forward to “hugging it out” with the president at a soiree on Martha’s Vineyard tonight. Imagine Banquo hugging MacBeth.

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