• L.A.’s National Weather Service thermometer broke yesterday after reaching 113 degrees. The previous all-time high temp for L.A. was recorded on June 26, 1990. Today, the high expected is a comparatively chill 99 degrees. [LAT]
• New York, meanwhile, is embracing fall. Expect rain and 70s-ish temperatures all week. Sweater/umbrella check? [Weather]
• This year’s MacArthur genius grants have been announced. Among them you’ll find a honey-bee breeder, a jellyfish scholar, a sign-language expert, and the creator of The Wire. [WSJ]
• U.S. soldier Specialist Neftaly Platero is in pre-trial confinement after the deaths of two colleagues in Iraq — after a verbal altercation began, Platero “allegedly took his weapon and began shooting the other soldiers,” said spokesman Col. Barry Johnson. Another colleague was wounded. [BBC]
• In depressed Buffalo, there’s a run on Carl Paladino lawn signs. [NYT]
• Nicholas Welch, 25, was arrested in this weekend’s shooting death of Seton Hall student Jessica Moore. After being turned away from a party, he went back inside and opened fire, hitting four others in addition to Moore, who was only critically wounded. [NBC NY]
• Keanu Reeves is filming his upcoming movie generation Um on Ludlow Street today. [Bowery Boogie]
• A man drops an engagement ring off Brooklyn Bridge; a girl says yes anyway. [NYP]
• The new “mobile office” is here. [NYC The Blog]
• Things that exist: Twitter wine. [NYP]