Today's five.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was taken from her home near Tucson on February 1st, and the case has barely moved since. There have been two ransom notes investigators consider credible — one claiming she'd already died. No suspects. No motive. No arrests. Savannah Guthrie's video, released Monday, skips the usual media pressure tactics and goes straight to pleading: "Tell us where to look for her." BBC focused on the new plea. The Inquirer anchored on the six-month timeline. Both details are doing the same work — reminding everyone this is still unsolved, and the family has nothing left but asking nicely.

A 27-year-old shot his mother in the chest and arm at a family home in Ashburn, Virginia — and that man is Eric Bieniemy's son, which is how a Sunday night domestic call became a national sports story. Mia Bieniemy, 57, is in stable condition. Elijah Zion Bieniemy has been charged with malicious wounding, firearm use in a felony, and discharging a firearm inside a dwelling. He's being held without bond. Eric Bieniemy left Chiefs training camp and missed Monday's practice. The house in Ashburn is a holdover from his time with the Washington Commanders.

A pack of Marlboros costs $19 in New York and under $9 in North Carolina — same cigarettes, same tobacco, completely different math. The gap has nothing to do with supply chains or market forces. It's almost entirely tax policy, layered federal, state, and local, averaging out to nearly half the retail price nationwide. North Carolina, where tobacco basically built the economy, taxes it accordingly. New York, where the goal is partly to make you stop, taxes it accordingly. Two very different theories of government, priced into the same product.

A judge ruled Monday that D4vd — the TikTok-famous indie-pop singer whose real name is David Burke — will stand trial for the murder, sexual abuse, and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Prosecutors say Burke killed her days before his debut album dropped because she threatened to expose their relationship. Her remains were found in a Tesla registered to his address. He's pleaded not guilty. The Guardian and BBC both led with the career-threat motive; NewsNation quietly noted he's eligible for the death penalty. Arraignment is August 31.

A disease America officially eliminated in 2000 has now infected more people this year than in any single year since 1991, which is the kind of statistic that should not be possible. There are 2,318 confirmed cases across 44 states and D.C. — already past all of 2025, with five months left to go. Ninety-three percent of cases involve unvaccinated people, mostly under 20. Time led with the historical context; Vox led with the absurdity of it. The 1991 record was 9,643 cases. That number used to feel like ancient history.