Happy Thursday! The Dispatch’s softball season continues …

… because our playoff game was rained out. We’ll give it another go next week.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Consumer prices continued to climb in July, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting a 0.5 percent month-over-month increase in the Consumer Price Index, putting prices 5.4 percent higher than July of last year. Oil and gas, used cars, hotels, and airline fares were the biggest drivers of the inflation.

• After an hours-long amendment “vote-a-rama,” the Senate passed Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget resolution on a 50-49 party-line vote in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. The vote was less a piece of concrete legislation than a measure of intent, authorizing congressional committees to develop specific legislation in the months ahead along the resolution’s broad spending guidelines. Even the sticker price may be subject to change: Sen. Joe Manchin, a crucial swing vote, voted yes on the resolution, but said in a subsequent statement that he had “serious concerns” about passing a $3.5 trillion bill.