Hurricane Idalia Barrels Toward Florida

With sustained winds of near 100 miles per hour, Hurricane Idalia is nearing Florida’s Gulf Coast, where it is expected to deliver dangerous winds and a life-threatening storm surge by the time it makes landfall tomorrow morning. Rain from the storm’s outer bands has already begun to lash Florida’s southwest coast.

Follow our live updates and track the storm’s path.

Idalia (pronounced ee-DAL-ya) is very likely headed for a vulnerable but sparsely populated portion of the Florida coastline known as the Big Bend, which could see a storm surge of up to 15 feet. The latest forecasts showed the storm’s path shifting westward, closer to the state’s capital, Tallahassee, and its impacts could be widespread on the state’s western shore.

Still, our in-house meteorologist Judson Jones told me that officials are especially concerned about the area around Apalachee Bay. “They have never seen a major hurricane,” Judson said. “It’s always a concern in those areas that people will try to stay through it.”

Idalia is currently a Category 2 hurricane, but Judson said that “confidence among forecasters is really high that the storm is going to rapidly intensify and continue to intensify up until landfall.” That could result in damaging winds and flooding along Florida’s Gulf Coast, including in areas like Tampa that are poised to avoid the eye of the storm. More than 20 counties have issued evacuation orders.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida warned that many residents could lose electricity, and said that 25,000 utility workers were on standby, with another 30,000 headed to the state. In Naples, my colleague Patricia Mazzei reported that power was already flickering this afternoon as rain fell thick and sideways.

The U.S. announces the drugs subject to price negotiation

The Biden administration unveiled a long-awaited list of the first 10 medicines that will be subject to price negotiations with Medicare, under a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act aimed at lowering the financial burden of prescription drugs. The medications — which treat diabetes, cancer and other disorders — are taken by millions of older Americans.

The negotiation program, which is being fought by the pharmaceutical industry in court, is projected to save the government an estimated $98.5 billion over a decade. It is also expected to eventually reduce insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs, but, according to a recent survey, only a quarter of Americans were aware of its existence.

China has become a risky investment, U.S. official says

Gina Raimondo, the U.S. commerce secretary, met with Chinese officials and raised a litany of concerns that have prompted American companies to describe China as “uninvestable” and “too risky.”

Raimondo, who is on a four-day trip to China, also asked for Beijing’s cooperation on broader threats like climate change, the opioid fentanyl and artificial intelligence. Chinese officials asked the U.S. to reduce export controls on advanced technology, a request that Raimondo said she had refused.

The U.S. uses groundwater as if there were no tomorrow

A wealth of underground water allowed Americans to create vast cities and cultivate bountiful farmland. But a monthslong investigation by my colleagues has found that we are depleting those invaluable groundwater reserves at a dangerous rate. The rapid declines are threatening the drinking water for millions of people, as well as the nation’s status as a food superpower.

A crisis for nonprofit theaters

Subscriptions have long been the lifeblood of midsize theater companies, providing a reliable income stream and a guarantee that many seats would be filled, even for new or challenging material. That was before the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted many subscribers to cancel their memberships.

A Seattle theater lost more than 30 percent of its members, while one in Skokie, Ill., shed more than 40 percent. Many worry that the decline is permanent: Some subscribers simply fell out of the habit, while others found the recent programming too didactic. “We haven’t missed it,” one former subscriber said, “which is unfortunate, I suppose, for them.”

A guide for first-time campers

The idea of spending a clear night outside in the wilderness — with nothing but yourself, the stars, some friends and some food — might sound idyllic. But problems can pile up for the unprepared.

The first tip in our guide is picking out a camping style: Cars and campgrounds can be a lot more starter-friendly than a tent in the forest. And consider renting gear before you buy.

A totem pole is finally returning home

Nearly a century ago in western Canada, an anthropologist orchestrated the heist of a 36-foot totem pole carved in the 1860s to honor Ts’wawit, a warrior from the Indigenous Nisga’a Nation. He swiped it while the Nisga’a were away on a hunting, fishing and harvesting excursion and sold it to the National Museum of Scotland, where it remained until now.

This week, after a decades-long campaign by members of the Nisga’a Nation, the memorial pole, which they consider not an object but a living being, finally began its long journey home. It will be placed at the Nisga’a museum in British Columbia and welcomed with an arrival ceremony next month.

Have a healing evening.