When pilot Kenneth Arnold took off from Chehalis, Washington, in his single-engine airplane one afternoon in June 1947, he was looking for a lost military aircraft that had crashed. But what he found was something completely different—something that would set off a cultural obsession in the U.S. that persists today.

While flying around Mount Rainier, Arnold reportedly encountered nine curious, wingless objects speeding through the sky at 1,200 mph, faster than any plane at the time could. Arnold spent years afterward trying to describe what he had seen, reportedly using a term that has been ingrained in the American lexicon ever since: “flying saucer.”

Since then, Americans have been uniquely fixated on the idea that aliens are somewhere in the sky above us—and the number who believe that to be true is growing. In 2019, a Gallup survey found that 33% of Americans believed some UFOs were alien spacecrafts, while 60% felt they could all be explained by human activity or some natural phenomenon. Just two years later, in 2021, 41% of respondents said they believed at least some UFOs were alien-related compared to 50% who were confident any sightings could be explained by human behavior or scientific events.

There are two main reasons that belief in aliens has become so prevalent in the United States: government hearings and pop culture.

America’s film industry has always been one of the most influential in the world, and a wave of science fiction films in the 1950s, like “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” perpetuated the idea that there are other life-forms out there. This continues today with alien-centric sci-fi staples like the “Avatar” franchise and the “Quiet Place” movies dominating the box office.

Rather than leave flying saucers to the domain of Hollywood, the U.S. government has addressed the question of UFOs, only adding further speculation. In April 2020, the Department of Defense released multiple videos filmed by military pilots that were thought to possibly capture UFOs. In July 2023, an Air Force veteran came forward to the House of Representatives claiming that the U.S. military has been keeping important information on “nonhuman” sightings secret since the 1930s.

Just like it did in the 1950s amid Cold War paranoia, the lore of UFOs is also currently experiencing a re

Stacker compiled a ranking of the coldest Julys in California since 1895 using data from the National Centers for Environmental Information. Rankings are based on the lowest average temperature in each month. For each of the coldest months listed below, we’ve included the average state temperature, state-wide highs and lows for the month, and the total precipitation.

#8. July 1963 (tie)
– Average temperature: 72.4°F
– Monthly high temperature: 87.6°F
– Monthly low temperature: 57.2°F
– Total precipitation: 0.02″

#8. July 1944 (tie)
– Average temperature: 72.4°F
– Monthly high temperature: 88°F
– Monthly low temperature: 56.8°F
– Total precipitation: 0.12″

#8. July 1902 (tie)
– Average temperature: 72.4°F
– Monthly high temperature: 87.9°F
– Monthly low temperature: 57°F
– Total precipitation: 0.19″

#8. July 1895 (tie)
– Average temperature: 72.4°F
– Monthly high temperature: 86.4°F
– Monthly low temperature: 58.4°F
– Total precipitation: 0.14″

#7. July 1909
– Average temperature: 72.3°F
– Monthly high temperature: 87.4°F
– Monthly low temperature: 57.2°F
– Total precipitation: 0.12″

#6. July 1993
– Average temperature: 72.2°F
– Monthly high temperature: 86.5°F
– Monthly low temperature: 57.9°F
– Total precipitation: 0.03″

#5. July 1983
– Average temperature: 71.9°F
– Monthly high temperature: 86.4°F
– Monthly low temperature: 57.3°F
– Total precipitation: 0.1″

#4. July 1955
– Average temperature: 71.7°F
– Monthly high temperature: 86.5°F
– Monthly low temperature: 56.9°F
– Total precipitation: 0.26″

#3. July 1912
– Average temperature: 71.6°F
– Monthly high temperature: 86°F
– Monthly low temperature: 57.2°F
– Total precipitation: 0.19″

#2. July 1903
– Average temperature: 71.1°F
– Monthly high temperature: 87.1°F
– Monthly low temperature: 55.1°F
– Total precipitation: 0.04″

#1. July 1987
– Average temperature: 70.9°F
– Monthly high temperature: 85.2°F
– Monthly low temperature: 56.6°F
– Total precipitation: 0.25″

The post Coldest Julys in California since 1895 appeared first on News Channel 3-12

Pharmacies have spent the better part of a decade absorbing pressure that other industries felt only briefly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the people inside each pharmacy responsible for ordering medications and tracking inventory have felt it most. Their daily work of finding the right drug at the right cost has gotten harder as prices move week to week and reimbursement from pharmacy benefit managers keeps tightening.

A January 2025 National Community Pharmacists Association survey found 48.6% of independent pharmacists said the financial health of their business declined significantly during 2024, with 30.3% considering closing their doors in 2025. And the supply side has been every bit as unpredictable, with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists closing out 2025 with 216 active drug shortages still on its tracker.

Here, PrimeRx examines how these pressures have piled up across the daily work of keeping shelves stocked, and how digital pharmaceutical marketplaces have entered as one answer to a buying process that has outgrown what teams handle by hand.

Why Traditional Drug Purchasing Has Become More Challenging

The buying side of an independent pharmacy used to run close to autopilot, with most stores leaning on a single primary wholesaler for the bulk of what passed through the dispensing counter. The setup worked while the market underneath moved at a predictable pace and rebate structures rewarded loyalty to one supplier, but the setup no longer holds.

Independent pharmacies now juggle a primary wholesaler alongside two or three secondary suppliers, where each secondary picks up lower-cost generics or hard-to-find medications that the main account cannot deliver on time.

The juggling runs through a string of separate supplier portals, each one with its own login and its own way of describing the same drug. Comparing prices across them is manual work that adds up over a workday, and inventory shown on one portal often disappears before a buyer finishes opening the next.

The friction lives inside an industry built on generic dispensing, with the 2025 NCPA Digest reporting that 84% of prescriptions filled at independent pharmacies are generics, the same category where prices move fastest, and margins are thinnest.

Backorders pile on top of that workload, sending staff hunting across multiple portals while patients wait at the counter for refills that should have taken minutes. And a poor buying decision now cuts deeper than it once did, with one overpaid order or one missed rebate threshold hitting the bottom line directly.

What Pharmaceutical Marketplaces Actually Are

Unlike the traditional setup, where a pharmacy buyer signs onto one wholesaler’s catalog and orders within that single supply lane, a digital pharmaceutical marketplace brings catalogs from dozens of vetted suppliers into one dashboard.

A buyer enters a drug nam

Car shows are one of the highlights of the summer season and the warm weather that comes with it, allowing enthusiasts to showcase their labor of love to fellow gearheads. While auto shows should be enjoyed by attendees of all ages, demographics, and walks of life, there are certain unspoken rules of etiquette every guest should follow—whether you’re popping in as a viewer or setting up a camp chair behind your immaculately-restored ride. ​

These guidelines are essential for both participants and observers, ensuring these events remain safe, respectful, and enjoyable for all. Whether you’re a veteran of the car show scene or looking to attend your first event, follow along through RealTruck.com’s list of car show etiquette rules that every attendee should know.

What Is a Car Show?

While most people are familiar with the purpose of a car show, new hobbyists may not understand the value these events hold for the automotive community.​

Car shows are gatherings of enthusiasts and their vehicles—typically rare, vintage, or heavily-modified examples—put on display to showcase the love, care, and labor that gearheads put into their rides. From bone-stock, unmodified survivors to ground-up restomod projects and heavily modified off-road rigs, most car shows have a little bit of something to appease everyone. ​

While participating vehicles are generally selected by the event staff, the show itself is typically open to the public, allowing guests of all ages to gander at the four-wheeled works of art on display.

Car Show vs. Car Meet

Car meets and car shows are similar in theory, but often end in wildly different results. Car shows are heavily organized, featuring staff, aftermarket manufacturer booths, and often award ceremonies, where the highest honors are given to select cars.

​Alternatively, car meets are far less organized and, often, illegal. Depending on the location and level of organization, car meets can range from a gathering of gearheads in a fast-food parking lot to well-planned cars-and-coffee meetups. That said, these events often get a negative reputation due to irresponsible attendees who rip burnouts, rev engines, and cause a commotion.

Car Show Etiquette: 6 Rules of Thumb

A car show is like a fine art exhibit. Most of the vehicles on display aren’t just modes of transportation, but are prized possessions that’ve required countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears to reach their current forms. Taking that fact into account, here is a list of six rules of thumb when attending a car show.

Rule 1: Look, Don’t Touch

Would you touch a priceless work of art hanging in a museum? Smear your fingers across a freshly-decorated cake? Rub the detail off a competition-level sand sculpture? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might want to stay away from any and all car shows.​

The number one rule for any event, such as a car show, convention, or exhibit, is to use your eyes, not your hands. There’s no reason you should be touching another enthusiast’s vehicle without prior explicit permission. Many enthusiasts spend years

Maine Democrats have plenty of questions about who will replace Senate nominee Graham Platner on the ballot. But one thing is clear — his successor will start from a severe financial disadvantage, OpenSecrets reports.

Platner’s withdrawal amid a sexual assault allegation has triggered a scramble over who will replace him and exposed a deeper problem — a financial crater left behind in a pivotal race Democrats view as central to their hopes of regaining control of the chamber.

Before his populist campaign unraveled, the 41-year-old combat veteran and oysterman raised $16.3 million through May 20 and held nearly $2.2 million in cash on hand, according to filings his campaign submitted to the Federal Election Commission before the June 9 primary. While that cash total falls well short of the $10 million banked by Republican incumbent Susan Collins — who in 2020 kept her seat even though Democratic challenger Sarah Gideon outraised her by more than $45 million — it nevertheless dwarfs every potential Platner successor.

State party officials said they will hold a nominating convention to select a new nominee, with details on the timeline and mechanics to be announced later. Under state law, Platner faced a July 13 deadline to withdraw, and the party has until July 27 to replace him. The scramble has set off a whirlwind of political drama that University of Maine political scientist Mark Brewer says obscures a deeper issue.

“Everybody’s focusing on who the replacement’s going to be, but … even beyond that, no one’s paying attention to the money yet,” Brewer told OpenSecrets.

Platner, who won the primary despite a series of controversies, faced growing calls to exit the race following a July 6 Politico report that a woman he formerly dated accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner has denied the allegation, and did so again in the 11-minute video posted July 8 in which he announced the suspension of his campaign with the intention of withdrawing from the race. With the deadline looming, he said the accusation weighed on him and his campaign.

From a financial standpoint, most of Platner’s potential replacements will effectively be starting from scratch.

Gov. Janet Mills — whose profile as a quintessential establishment candidate sharply contrasts with the populist appeal Platner previously enjoyed — appears to be in the best financial position of all to challenge Collins, and she hasn’t raised a penny in more than two months. After receiving support from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), sh