UP IN THE AIR: Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun admitted yesterday in a Senate hearing that his company has retaliated against whistleblowers. “I know it happens,” he said, also admitting that he has never personally spoken to any of the employees who have spoken up about safety and manufacturing flaws in Boeing jets.

  “Do you think that would be a good idea?” asked Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

  “Yeah,” Calhoun responded.

  “I’d recommend it,” Johnson said.

  Boeing is under fire for the incident in which a door plug blew out of an Alaska airlines 737 and the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that killed 346 people.  Some senators and families of dead passengers are talking about criminal prosecution of the company. Calhoun stood and faced families in the audience saying, “I apologize for the grief we have caused. We are focused on safety.”

  Some senators engaged in the usual grandstanding. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Calhoun is not meeting the standards needed to justify his $33 million annual salary.

  Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said his staff has spoken to more than two dozen Boeing whistleblowers, some of whom said the company was using substandard parts.

  Blumenthal described the company harassment of whistleblowers. He said that one of them, John Barnett, testified that a supervisor called him about 20 times a day, and when Barnett questioned the calls, he was told by the supervisor “I’m going to push you until you break.”

  Barnett committed suicide.

  Calhoun told Blumenthal that Boeing had disciplined and even fired supervisors who had retaliated against whistleblowers. But he said he couldn’t give an exact number.

GOODFELLAS: Russian President Vladimir Putin was given a red carpet greeting yesterday in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang for a summit with fellow dictator Kim Jong Un. Russia needs weapons for its war in Ukraine and North Korea needs technology from Russia.

  Most immediately, Russia needs artillery shells and missiles that North Korea could provide. North Korea needs food, oil, and nuclear technology.

  The Russian President also announced an agreement between the two countries for “mutual assistance in the event of aggression.”

  Putin is reported to have told the North Korean leader, “We greatly appreciate your consistent and unwavering support for Russian policy, including with regard to Ukraine, in light of our fight against the imperial policy the United States has pursued over decades in relation to the Russian Federation.” 

BABY IT’S HOT: The heat wave continues today just a few degrees cooler than yesterday. The National Weather Service forecasts that it will be in the upper 80s and 90s all the way from Oregon to the tip of Maine where it could hit 96. 

  The heat is feeding early-season wildfires. A state of emergency has been declared for the mountainous area of Ruidoso in New Mexico. As many as 5,000 people evacuated. One woman told the Associated Press that she and her husband only had time to grab their children and two dogs. She said, “As we were leaving, there were flames in front of me and to the side of me, and all the animals were just running — charging — trying to get out.”

THE OBIT PAGE: It’s not “Say hey,” it’s say goodbye. Baseball great Willie Mays, the center fielder considered by many to have been the greatest player of all time, has died at age 93.

  Mays was a threat at the plate, on the bases, and in the field. He had an enthusiasm for baseball that brought life to the game. He was described as “electrifying” in his play, once famously catching a fly ball over his left shoulder while running full speed toward the fence.

 After a one-year stint with the Negro Leagues in 1948, Mays played 22 National League seasons, with the Giants in New York and San Francisco, and briefly with the Mets. He hit 660 career homers, had 3,2832 hits, and a .302 career batting average.

  He broke into national popularity at a time in which there were few Black players in the league and racial segregation was still the law of the South.

  Mays was known as the “Say Hey Kid.” He once explained, “When I broke in, I didn’t know many people by name, so I would just say, ‘Say, hey,’ and the writers picked that up.”

THE SPIN RACK: Students in the Los Angeles School District will no longer be able to use their cellphones during the school day after a vote by the board. The ban goes into effect for the spring 2025 semester, giving the school system time to figure out how to enforce the ban. Nearly three quarters of high school teachers say cellphone distraction is a problem, according to Pew Research. — The computer chip maker Nvidia has topped Microsoft and Apple to become the most valuable public company.  They make a lot of the chips used in artificial intelligence. — Pop star Justin Timberlake was arrested for driving while intoxicated Monday night in Sag Harbor, NY, part of the Hampton’s playground for the rich. — The floating pier installed by the US to import food aid into Gaza has been damaged twice in bad weather and has barely been useful. It might be dismantled. 

BELOW THE FOLD: Former New England Patriot coach Bill Belichick, 72, is reported to be dating a 24-year former cheerleader. The NY Post published a photo of Belichick smiling by her side. It’s shocking. Belichick was smiling. 

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