MONTGOMERY, Ohio —

Strike up the band, and get your marching shoes on. The city of Montgomery is looking for units for the annual Independence Day Parade.

The parade will be held at 10 a.m. on July 4.

Residents, neighborhood associations, and local businesses are invited to be a part of Montgomery’s Independence Day celebration, a day filled with patriotism, community pride, and memories that will last a lifetime.

Applications for parade entries are due no later than Friday, June 10.

Award categories for this year’s parade include:

• Best Patriotic Spirit
• Best Float/Vehicle
• Best Overall
• Best Neighborhood

Winners will receive a large red, white and blue ribbon, a framed certificate, and their names listed in the Montgomery Bulletin.

Parade entry applications are found here. For more information call 513-891-2424.

Everyone knows the Fourth of July is the day Americans celebrate our independence with food, fun and fireworks. But even though America has had quite a few birthdays, there are still some things about the holiday you might find surprising.1. John Adams refused to celebrate it. According to him, America's liberation should have been celebrated on July 2, when Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence. He even wrote to his wife about it: "The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary festival."2. Several presidents died on July 4. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who both signed the declaration, died within hours of each other on the 50th anniversary of Independence Day. If that isn't eerie enough, James Monroe died on the same date five years later.3. America isn't the only country that observes it.Denmark parties hard on the Fourth of July. The country celebrates because thousands of Danes emigrated to the U.S. in 1912. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush were keynote speakers at past celebrations. 4. There's an official Fourth of July City.Seriously, in 1979 an act of Congress dubbed Seward, Nebraska, "America's Official Fourth of July City — Small Town USA." Even though only about 7,000 people live there, over 40,000 come to the town's celebration, which is largely run by high school students.

BOSTON — The Navy's oldest commissioned floating Naval warship is now at the helm of its first female captain.

Captain BJ Farrell is the 77th commanding officer for the ship which is named for America's founding document, the Constitution.

"Today we have over 30 women in command of ships around the world, so I get to highlight that on a daily basis," Captain Farrell said.

A trailblazer in her own right, especially when you consider no other woman has been at the helm of this ship in the 225 years it's been in existence. Her rise and rank is has gained national notoriety this year from across the country.

"I hope it shows [other young girls] they can do whatever they put their mind to," Captain Farrell added.

First launched in 1797, the USS Constitution was crewed by 450 men. This warship is now run by about 80 men and women. They are hand-picked by the Navy for two-year deployments. Their mission is part ship maintenance and part public relations. An estimated 500,000 people visit the historic site in Boston each year.

Visitors also come to the ship to learn about its history inside the USS Constitution Museum. Museum President Anne Grimes Rand sees Captain Farrell rise in the ranks as a role model for other young women.

"I think it's so exciting to take a symbol of our nation and have a woman at the helm, the Navy after 225 years is giving women equal opportunity to serve. It speaks to the progress of our nation," Grimes Rand said.

Over the years there were two times this ship was almost scrapped. Now the Navy grows trees in a protected grove in Indiana to make replacement parts for the vessel.

"This ship is made in America, all our natural ingredients, we looked at the European model and made her a little bit stronger a little bit bigger a little faster a little better," Grimes Rand added.

These days there are no battles for the Constitution. She sails about six times each year including once on the 4th of July to help commemorate America's independence.

Keeping her safe while at sea now requires modern-day protection. Whenever she takes to the water, the Constitution is escorted and flanked by the Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit. Before each sail they dive beneath the boat, just to make sure no one has targeted the ship with explosives.

"It's a national treasure and something that needs to be protected," said Det. Lt. David Twomey who helps coordinate efforts to protect the ship while she's at sea.

The ship is a symbol of American greatness and unity at a time when so much of the country is divided. And for the Constitution's first female captain, it offers a chance to help preserve the past while sailing toward the future.

"I love the Navy and to tell this ship's story is an honor," Captain Farell said.

Funeral services for the seven people killed by a gunman at an Independence Day parade will conclude Monday as family and friends gather in suburban Chicago to remember Kevin McCarthy.

McCarthy’s funeral service is scheduled for Monday afternoon in Skokie, Illinois. In an obituary, he is described as a father, husband, brother, uncle and son who “brought the fun to every situation.”

The 37-year-old father and his wife, Irina, were killed in the Highland Park parade attack. They left behind a 2-year-old son, Aiden, whose story prompted thousands of people to donate money for the orphaned boy.

“Kevin’s irrepressible zest for life and his family and friends will remain with us always,” his family wrote in the obituary. “We love you.”

Irina McCarthy was buried last week.

Services for the five other victims have been held in recent weeks. They have been identified as: 64-year-old Katherine Goldstein, 63-year-old Jacquelyn Sundheim, 88-year-old Stephen Straus and 78-year-old Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza and 69-year-old Eduardo Uvaldo.

Prosecutors have charged 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III with seven counts of murder and said they expect to present attempted murder charges representing the people wounded in the attack.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

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KEY WEST, Fla. —

New York had its hot dog eating contest to celebrate Independence Day. But the Florida Keys had a sweeter alternative on Tuesday.

The Key Lime Pie Eating Championship in Key West, where Key lime pie originated, was won by Joshua Mogle, a 38-year-old Altoona, Iowa, tire manufacturing manager.

Mogle plunged face-first into a 9-inch pie smothered with whipped cream during the challenge, whose rules forbid contestants to use their hands.

The gooey competition has become a subtropical substitute to Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest.

Video above: Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest weigh-in ahead of Fourth of July

Mogle consumed the confection in three minutes and 35 seconds, besting 24 rivals in the culmination of Key West's five-day Key Lime Festival.

"Eat… eat… eat… always have pie in my mouth," said Mogle, when asked about the strategy he employed.

Experts believe Key lime pie was developed in the late 1800s in Key West. Its primary ingredients are condensed milk, egg yolks and the juice of tiny yellow Key limes, typically with a graham cracker crust and whipped cream or meringue topping.

In 2006, the tart, creamy dessert was designated Florida's official pie by the state legislature.

The competition took place less than 24 hours after a Key lime pie measuring 13.14 feet (4 meters) in diameter, to be submitted for certification as the world's largest, was created for the Florida Keys' bicentennial celebration.

July 3 marked the 200th anniversary of the Florida Territorial Legislature's establishment of Monroe County, containing the entire Keys island chain.

WASHINGTON —

Through history, the Fourth of July has been a day for some presidents to declare their independence from the public. They've bailed to the beach, the mountains, the golf course, the farm, the ranch. In the middle of the Depression, Franklin Roosevelt was sailing to Hawaii on a fishing and working vacation.

It's also been a day for some presidents to insert themselves front and center in the fabric of it all.

In the video player above: A look at which president is said to have had an influence on the tradition of fireworks for the Fourth of July

Teddy Roosevelt drew hundreds of thousands for his July Fourth oratory. In 2019, Donald Trump marshaled tanks, bombers and other war machinery for a celebration that typically avoids military muscle.

Richard Nixon enraged the anti-war masses without even showing up. As the anti-Nixon demonstrations of 1970 showed, Independence Day in the capital isn't always just fun and games. It has a tradition of red, white and boo, too.

In modern times, though, presidents have tended to stand back and let the people party.

George W. Bush had a ceremony welcoming immigrants as new citizens. Barack Obama threw a South Lawn barbecue for troops. Bill Clinton went to the shores of Chesapeake Bay to watch a young bald eagle named Freedom be released to the wild.

In 2021, Joe Biden gathered more than 1,000 people on the White House South Lawn to eat burgers and watch fireworks. That event was noteworthy because such gatherings were unthinkable in the first year of the pandemic. Many wished Biden had not thought of doing it even then — the rampage of the omicron COVID-19 variant was still to come.

Still, the burgers were an improvement from July 4, 1850, when Zachary Taylor wolfed down apparently spoiled cherries and milk (and died five days later. )

A look at what some presidents have done on the Fourth of July:

1777: On the first anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with the Revolutionary War underway, a future president, John Adams, describes a day and night of spontaneous celebration in Philadelphia in a letter to his wife, Abigail. After hours of parading troops, fireworks, bonfires and music, he tells her he strolled alone in the dark.

"I was walking about the streets for a little fresh air and exercise," he writes, "and was surprised to find the whole city lighting up their candles at the windows. I walked most of the evening, and I think it was the most splendid illumination I ever saw; a few surly houses were dark; but the lights were very universal. Considering the lateness of the design and the suddenness of the execution, I was amazed at the universal joy and alacrity that was discovered, and at the brilliancy and splendour of every part of this joyful exhibition."

Video below: A historian discusses why July 2 is also a significant date as it relates to America declaring its independence

1791: Two years after becoming the first president, George Washington celebrates in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, "with an address, fine cuisine, and walking about town," says the National Park Service. Philadelphia was the interim capital as the city of Washington was being readied. Lancaster had hosted the Continental Congress for a quick, on-the-run session during the revolution.

1798: Now president, Adams reviews a military parade in Philadelphia as the young nation flexes its muscle.

1801: Thomas Jefferson presides over the first Fourth of July public reception at the White House.

1822: James Monroe hangs out at his farm in Virginia.

1826: Adams, the second president, and Jefferson, the third, both die on this July Fourth.

1831: James Monroe, who was the fifth president, dies on this July Fourth.

1848: James Polk witnesses the laying of the cornerstone of the Washington Monument with Abraham Lincoln, then an Illinois congressman, attending. A military parade follows.

1850: Taylor attends festivities at the grounds of the Washington Monument and falls ill with stomach cramps after eating cherries and drinking iced milk and water. He dies July 9. A theory that someone poisoned him with arsenic was debunked in 1991 when his body was exhumed and tested.

1861: Lincoln sends a message to Congress defending his invocation of war powers, appealing for more troops to fight the South and assailing Virginia for allowing "this giant insurrection to make its nest within her borders." He vows to "go forward without fear."

1868: Postwar, Andrew Johnson executes a proclamation granting amnesty to those who fought for the Confederacy.

1902: Teddy Roosevelt speaks to 200,000 people in Pittsburgh.

1914: "Our country, right or wrong," Woodrow Wilson declares at Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

1928: Calvin Coolidge (born July 4, 1872) goes trout fishing in Wisconsin.

1930: Herbert Hoover vacations by the Rapidan River in Virginia.

1934: Franklin Roosevelt is in or near the Bahamas after leaving Annapolis, Maryland, on a monthlong voyage and visit to Hawaii via the Panama Canal. On July 4, the U.S.S. Houston's log refers to the "fishing party" leaving the ship for part of the day.

1946: With World War II over the year before, Harry Truman relaxes in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains at Roosevelt's Shangri-La retreat, later renamed Camp David.

1951: With the U.S. at war in Korea, Truman addresses a huge crowd at the Washington Monument grounds, on the 175th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

1953 and 1957: Dwight Eisenhower = golf.

1968: Lyndon Johnson, who favored his Texas ranch on the holiday, speaks in San Antonio about the lack of independence for the poor, minorities, the ill, people "who must breathe polluted air" and those who live in fear of crime, "despite our Fourth of July rhetoric."

1970: Nixon, in California, tapes a message that is played to crowds on the National Mall at an "Honor America Day" celebration organized by supporters and hotly protested by anti-war masses and civil rights activists. Tear gas overcomes protesters and celebrants alike, Viet Cong flags mingle with the Stars and Stripes, and demonstrators — some naked — plunge into the Reflecting Pool.

1976: As the United States turns 200, Gerald Ford speaks at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, then Independence Hall, and reviews the armada of tall ships in New York harbor.

1987: Ronald Reagan, at Camp David, makes a straight political statement in his holiday radio address, pitching an economic "bill of rights" and Robert Bork for the Supreme Court. On a Saturday, it served as his weekly radio address, which he and other modern presidents used for their agendas.

2008: Bush, like several presidents before him, hosts a naturalization ceremony. More than 70 people from 30 countries are embraced as new citizens.

2010: Obama brings 1,200 service members to the South Lawn for a barbecue. The father of a July Fourth baby, Malia, he would joke that she always thought the capital fireworks were for her.

2012: Obama combines two Fourth of July traditions — celebrating troops and new citizens — by honoring the naturalization of U.S. military members who came to the country as immigrants.

2017: Trump goes to his golf club, then hosts a White House picnic for military families.

2021: Biden tells a crowd on the South Lawn that "we're closer than ever to declaring our independence from a deadly virus." It was the largest event of his presidency since taking office. COVID-19 cases and deaths had dipped to or near record lows at that point but would rebound as the omicron variant spread.

2023: Biden plans to host a barbecue and holiday celebration at the White House for members of the military, veterans and their families.

___

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON —

Related video above: Pelosi names panel investigating Jan. 6 riot

As it has been for nearly 16 months, longer than any time in the nation’s history, the U.S. Capitol is closed to most public visitors.

The one-two punch of the coronavirus pandemic that shuttered the Capitol’s doors in the spring of 2020 and the deadly insurrection by then-President Donald Trump's supporters on Jan. 6 has left the icon of American democracy unopen to all but a select few.

As the rest of the nation emerges this July Fourth holiday from the pandemic for cookouts and fireworks that President Joe Biden is encouraging from the White House, the people’s house faces new threats of violence, virus variants and a more difficult moment.

“What is heartbreaking about it is that the Capitol has been forever our symbol of democracy — enduring through the Civil War, through world wars, through strife of all kinds," said Jane L. Campbell, president and CEO of the United States Capitol Historical Society.

Congressional leaders are working intensely to try to resume public tours at the Capitol in some form, but any reopening probably will come with new protocols for health and safety for the millions of annual visitors, 535 lawmakers and thousands of staff and crew that work under the dome and its surrounding campus.

In the House, lawmakers have been operating under a proxy voting system that has allowed them to avoid travel to Washington, though most now vote in person. The smaller Senate is mostly back to in-person business. Both chambers conduct some committee operations remotely.

The security fencing surrounding the Capitol is about to come down, a gesture toward normalcy. A $1.9 billion emergency spending package to bolster security for the complex was approved by the House, but the Senate is objecting to the increased money.

The conversations in public and private over how to safely reopen are shifting as dangerous coronavirus strains emerge and federal law enforcement officials issue new warnings about about the potential for violence from right-wing extremist groups and those who believe in conspiracies.

White nationalists and other far-right groups loyal to Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, and were among those trying to overturn Biden’s victory. Authorities have been tracking chatter online about groups of people potentially returning to Washington as part of an unfounded and baseless conspiracy theory that Trump would be reinstated in August, according to two officials familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement information.

“I want people to feel proud that they can come to the Capitol, and they can talk about its rich history,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and now chairman of a new select panel that will investigate the riot.

“We shouldn’t ever think about visiting the Capitol and wondering if it’s safe,” he said.

Lawmakers have struggled over the past year with their own mixed emotions over the shuttered doors, wary of returning to the Capitol when a segment of their colleagues, mainly Republicans, refuse to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Two elected officials have died of COVID-19 complications.

While many lawmakers say they are saddened by the black-metal security fencing, and all it represents, some also view it as a necessary deterrent after having fled to safety from the pro-Trump rioters.

But the quieted hallways now create their own unease, representing all that is being lost. A lawmaker's children played in the empty Rotunda one recent evening, a reminder of the absence of school groups, tourists and other visitors who typically crowd the summer season to see democracy in action or petition their government.

Congress provides the most direct link between Americans, and their federal government, the representative democracy the founders envisioned. Some 2.5 million people used to visit the Capitol each year and 12 million to the surrounding grounds, according to a House aide. Public tours of the White House tours also remain closed.

“I miss the visitors," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who said she had escorted some people to the House gallery last week only to find that it closed to onlookers who used to be able to watch some of the day’s legislative session.

“I always find it inspiring that so many people want to come here," she said.

The Capitol has endured crises before. The public galleries were shut down for about a month during the 1918 pandemic. The grounds were closed for a few months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The public was also unable to visit in 1968 during unrest after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Security was reconsidered at different points, including after shootings on lawmakers and bombings at the building.

But not since the end of the War of 1812, when the British invaded in 1814, has the seat of American democracy seen an attack like the one this year.

Trump’s supporters fought the police, broke through barricades and stormed the halls, threatening to harm former Then-Vice President Mike Pence and other leaders and lawmakers as the mob tried to stop Congress from certifying the states’ election results for Biden.

All told, five people died stemming from the events, including a Trump supporter shot by police, three people who suffered medical emergencies and a police officer who died later. Two police officers later took their own lives. Hundreds of people have been arrested.

Illinois Rep. Rodney Davis, the top Republican on the House Administration Committee, sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a letter signed by some 135 other Republican lawmakers calling for a plan to fully reopen.

“There is no reason for the Capitol to be closed,” Davis said in an interview.

He said those involved in the siege should be prosecuted, but it’s time for the House to end proxy voting and resume regular operations. "We've got to get back to doing what the people sent us here to do,” he said.

A senior Democratic aide, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said tours have not resumed for both pandemic and security reasons. The House and Senate Sergeants-at-Arms are continually reviewing the situation in consultation with Office of Attending Physician, the aide said.

The Capitol complex is open to official business visitors with limits on the numbers allowed. Most are asked to sign in and provide background information.

“The Capitol has now being closed for the longest stretch in its 228 years history,” said Campbell of the historical society.

“What I would say to all of us is that it’s important for Congress to come together around safety,” she said. “People ought to be able to work together around that.”