5 things you need to know Wednesday
Senate to hold confirmation hearing for FBI director nominee Wray
Get out of the spotlight, James Comey: Wednesday marks the beginning of Christopher Wray’s path to becoming the new FBI director. The former chief of the Department of Justice’s criminal division will appear before the Senate’s Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. ET. Wray served in the Bush administration’s Corporate Fraud Task Force from 2003 to 2005. More recently, he was a personal attorney to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — a close Trump ally — during the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal.
Loading: Net Neutrality Day of Action
The next round in the “Battle for the Net” starts Wednesday. More than 187 companies including Amazon, Netflix and the ACLU will attempt to show users what the Internet could look like without net neutrality rules to protest the reversal of Obama-era regulations. Current regulations prohibit Internet service providers from slowing down certain websites or giving preferential treatment to others, potentially for profit. On Wednesday, websites and apps will post memes, GIFs, and alerts that show slow loading of content, the blocked symbol, or requests for payment for faster service. Don’t worry, your Internet won’t actually slow down. The goal is to encourage users to send comments to the Federal Communications Commission.
Newark marks 50 years since devastating riots
Fifty years ago in Newark, an unfounded rumor that a black man had died in custody of the majority-white police force touched off five nights of rioting that left more than 26 dead and the core of New Jersey's largest city in ruins. Since then, Newark has partly rebounded, with its downtown boasting the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and other jewels. But in many neighborhoods, poverty, crime, and racial segregation persist. And President Trump’s campaign claim that minority inner city residents are "living in hell" is a further reminder that America hasn't fully healed from the hellish summer of 1967.
Peyton Manning hosts the 2017 ESPY Awards
The retired two-time Superbowl champion quarterback will host the sports awards show Wednesday night honoring the past year’s best athletes and sports moments. Manning, who won 9 ESPYs during his career, will preside over the show for its 25th anniversary broadcast live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET. Nominees include Olympians Simone Biles, Serena Williams and Michael Phelps, plus Manning’s longtime rival and friend Tom Brady. Michelle Obama will honor the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics.
Want to live like Henry David Thoreau? Now is your chance
Just in time for Wednesday's 200th birthday of Henry David Thoreau, a long-awaited video game lets players live out his two-year experiment at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass. Walden, a Game is a sly invitation to read and think about Walden, the book, to absorb its worldview and see for yourself what it’s like to “live deliberately,” as Thoreau suggested. The game’s visionary and main creator, veteran game designer Tracy Fullerton, calls it “my version, my translation, my sort of adaptation.” Like the book, the game holds lessons for those who fear life is speeding up. Actually, Fullerton said, the game could serve as a kind of antidote to fretting about how much time we spend with computers and mobile devices.
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