Condo Down: A controlled explosion last night brought down the remaining tower of the Champlain condominium complex in Surfside, Florida. Search and rescue operations on the rubble pile of the first tower had been stopped in preparation. 

  Authorities had been worried that the approaching tropical storm Elsa might be powerful enough to topple the building. “We want to make sure that we control which way the building falls, and not a hurricane,” Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said.

  The demolition was carried out by the same company that brought down the Seattle Kingdome stadium 21 years ago.

  Residents were not allowed inside to recover possessions, but Miami Dade Fire Rescue had swept the building three times to search for pet animals left behind and reported that none were left inside.

  The death toll from the original collapse stands at 24, and 121 people are still considered missing.  

Knucklehead Nation: Eleven heavily armed, self-professed militia members were arrested outside Boston Saturday after an overnight standoff that shut down Interstate 95.

  While police negotiated the surrender of some members, others scattered into the woods. All were eventually rounded up. 

The group that identifies itself as the “Rise of the Moors”, claims to be peaceful and not anti-government, but also says they don’t answer to American law. The group told police that they were travelling from Rhode Island to Maine for “training.”

  All 11 are charged with eight counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, use of body armor in commission of a crime, possession of a high capacity magazine, improper storage of firearms in a vehicle, and conspiracy to commit a crime. 

  The incident began about 1 a.m. Saturday when a state trooper saw two cars stopped in the breakdown lane with men armed with rifles and pistols standing around. When asked for their gun licenses, the men said they didn’t have them and were not subject to law.

   “Rise of the Moors” is a sovereign citizen group based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

  The Washington Post quotes Freddy Cruz, of the Southern Poverty Law Center saying, “They have the idea that they have the authority to essentially detach themselves from the United States. So they do things like refusing to pay taxes, get driver’s licenses, or register firearms, and they try to get their members to challenge those federal laws.”

Held for Ransom: Computer doctors and investigators were scrambling over the weekend to deal with what is believed to be the biggest ever ransomware attack affecting thousands of systems in at least 17 countries.

  The hackers breached a breached software company, Kaseya, and through that attacked everything from grocery chains to dental practices, architecture firms and libraries. 

  The Russian hacker group REvil has been demanding payoffs up to $5 million. But late yesterday it offered a universal decryptor key that would unscramble all affected machines in exchange for $70 million in cryptocurrency.

  President Joe Biden has pressed Russian President Vladimir to stop protecting the hackers. He said the U.S. would respond if the Kremlin is at all involved.

Murder on the Greens: Police are hunting the person who shot and killed pro golfer Gene Siller at a country club in Kennesaw, Georgia. Siller approached a pickup truck that had driven onto the golf course at the Pinetree Country Club and was shot by the driver, according to a witness. The suspect ran off and police found the bodies of two other men in the bed of the truck. 

The Spin Rack: Tyson Foods is recalling nearly 8.5 million pounds of frozen chicken that may have been contaminated with listeria, the Agriculture Department said. — At least 45 people died over the weekend in the crash of a Philippine military plane with 99 people on board. — Donald Trump was criticized by Florida political leaders for holding a political rally on the other side of the state while the search continued in the rubble of the collapsed Champlain condominium building. In his speech, Trump acknowledged his company’s tax dodging that let to indictments, but questioned whether it is a crime.  — At least three Olympians from Serbia and Uganda tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving for the games in Japan. — Eighty-four year old Pope Francis had surgery for stenosis, a narrowing the large intestine. They say he’s doing well.

Headline Trophy: From The Washington Post: “Critical race theory’s opponents are sure it’s bad. Whatever it is.”

Dog Days of Summer: Professional eater Joey Chestnut set a record yesterday eating 76 hotdogs in 10 minutes at the annual Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. He beat his own record by one dog.