Venus Mission + U.S. Department of Justice

Good morning, Rocket City! In today's Daily, let's take a look at what Huntsville is doing on Venus, who contacted the Department of Justice, and Limestone County's water issue.

First, today's weather:

Today will have showers and scattered thunderstorms all day with a high of 81 and a low of 64.

Here are the top five stories in Huntsville today:

1. NASA has decided to have the Marshall Space Flight Center manage two $500 million missions to learn about the evolution of planets and habitability from Venus. The missions will launch between 2028-2030. According to Lee Roop, the missions are called DAVINCI+, which will study why Venus is so much hotter than the Earth, and VERITAS, which plans to map the surface to learn why it developed so differently from Earth. (AL.com)
2. The Rosa Parks Day Committee of Huntsville/Madison County has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. According to Shevaun Bryan, the letter formally requests that the DOJ look into the recent problems with the Huntsville Police. In the letter, the group mentions the issues with William Darby still being employed by the City of Huntsville, the riots downtown last year, and over-policing of minority groups in the area. (WHNT)
3. In Limestone County, some residents received a letter about a lapse in complete water monitoring in May 2020. According to Lauren Harksen, the letter is a formality and there are no concerns about the quality of the water at the time. (WHNT)
4. Drake State is offering Flexfactor Summer Program free to grades six through ten. It is a virtual STEM experience for students all over the state to work in teams to solve problems. (WAFF)
5. Grace Lee McClure Smith, a 94-year-old woman from Madison County received an honorary high school diploma from Hazel Green High School 74 years later. Smith dropped out of school to marry her husband when he was drafted for WWII. She drove a school bus for the county for over 30 years. (Yahoo)

Today in Huntsville

• Winners for the NASA Student Launch will be announced over a livestream today on the Student Launch Facebook page (3:30 p.m.)
• Huntsville Trombone Choir Summer Concert @ Harvest Baptist Church (6:30 p.m.)
• Madison Zoning Board of Adjustments and Appeals (5:30 p.m.)
• Shopping Cart Bingo- A number will be called every hour, and if you have that number shopping cart, you get $2 off your purchase! (9 a.m.)

Huntsville Patch Notebook

• The Dollar General DGX store downtown is now open!
• The Huntsville City Council is in the process of trying to get Magnolia Terrace designated as a historic district! (Details)
• The Trash Pandas game against the Lookout was rained out last night. Tickets can be exchanged for a ticket of equal value for a future game, and tonight’s game was turned into a doubleheader to make up for the missed game. (Details)
• Huntsville and Madison County leaders helped dedicate the Tinker Lab at EarlyWorks Children's Museum. (Details)
• Katie Baldwin, an associate professor at UAH in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to do research in Taipei, Taiwan.
• The first car that will be manufactured at the new Mazda Toyota plant in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County will be the new Corolla Cross SUV. (Details)

That's all for today! Come back tomorrow so I can keep you in the loop!

-Amy