Month: October 2020

A wildfire that originated in California has now spread to more than 8,000 acres in less than 24 hours, forcing more than 3,000 evacuations on Sunday. The CalWood Fire began burning in Boulder County on Saturday and quickly grew to 8,788 acres. Boulder County Sheriff’s Office Division Chief Mike Wagner said it is already the largest blaze in the county’s history. Wagner said the causes for both blazes in Boulder County remained under investigation, but the area has experienced “critically dry” conditions for weeks. He added that efforts to combat the fires have been hampered by the weather.

The CalWood Fire is located just 50 miles southeast of the Cameron Peak Fire, the largest in Colorado’s history and the first to burn more than 200,000 acres, which was 62% contained on Sunday. In addition,the East Troublesome Fire north of Hot Sulphur Springs, Colo., grew to 12,655 acres at 5% containment.

The entire state of Colorado is experiencing drought conditions for the first time since 2013, with nearly 60% in extreme drought or worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Wildfires continue to rage through Colorado forests, 2 months after 1st eruption

Via www.yahoo.com

Hundreds of thousands of acres in Colorado continue to go up in flames as firefighters fight…

10/18/2020 5:43 PM

 

Authorities said over the weekend that a police recruit in Lafayette, Indiana, was fired the discovery of his apparent ties to a neo-Nazi internet forum, authorities said Saturday. , Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly said in a statement that the recruit, Joseph Zacharek, is believed to have participated in a forum called “Iron March” four years ago. The department was alerted to Zacharek’s posts on Friday, when a self-described anti-fascist tagged its Twitter account with a link to messages from the forum that were posted on a site called “ironmarch exposed.” The department opened an investigation and determined that the messages were accurate and credible.

Zacharek was hired by the department earlier this year and had “no exposure” to the public, Chief Flannelly said. The statement added that it had conducted a background check on Zacharek but hadn’t found any connections to the forum during that process.

                

Chief: Indiana police recruit fired for ties to neo-Nazis

Via abcnews.go.com

A department investigation found he was involved in a neo-Nazi online chat forum

10/18/2020 1:36 PM

 

Editorial credit: Allison C Bailey / Shutterstock.com

Leaders across Europe are pushing to contain surging coronavirus infections in the region, with governments imposing restrictions and shutdowns in an effort to curb the rate of infections. Within the last 24 hours, France has declared a public health state of emergency, the U.K. is approaching a second national lockdown and Germany has introduced new rules in an effort to lower the infection rate. Europe now has over 7.2 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and hospitalizations are rising.

The French government declared a public health state of emergency on Wednesday as the country saw hospitalizations from Covid-19 jump above the 9,100 threshold for the first time since June 25. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that nine of the country’s largest cities, including Paris, will have to abide by a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. starting on Saturday, which will last for four weeks. This means that residents of those cities will not be allowed out between those hours except in exceptional circumstances. “We have to act. We need to put a brake on the spread of the virus,” Macron said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with regional leaders on Wednesday to discuss infection surges in parts of the country; German states can decide their own strategy to curb rising cases, which has led to variations of the rules from state to state. Infections are rising in Germany to such an extent that daily new infections topped 5,000 earlier this week and there were 6,638 new cases reported on Thursday.

The U.K. introduced a new Covid-19 alert level system earlier this week, with the city of Liverpool and its suburban areas designated as “very high” risk and put under a strict local lockdown. Households in the area are not allowed to mix indoors or outdoors, and gyms, leisure centers, betting shops and casinos are closed. Pubs and bars have to close too, unless they serve food. These measures could now be expanded to other parts of northern England, including Manchester. It is expected that London will move to tier 2, or a “high” risk level, meaning that from Saturday onwards the indoor mixing of households will be banned.

Europe races to combat second wave of coronavirus with new lockdowns

Via news.yahoo.com

As thousands of new cases of COVID-19 emerge across Europe, the World Health Organization is…

10/15/2020 7:07 PM

 

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett faced the final round of Senate confirmation questioning on Wednesday.  Senate Republicans are praising President Donald Trump’s pick, while Democrats are digging deeper into the judge’s views on health care, abortion, racial equity and voting rights

Barrett, an appeals court judge who adheres to an “originalist” constitutional approach, said that the conservative late Justice Antonin Scalia was her mentor, but also said when confronted with his rulings and outspoken comments that she is her own judge. Barrett told the Senate Judiciary Committee: “When I said that Justice Scalia’s philosophy is mine, too, I certainly didn’t mean to say that every sentence that came out of Justice Scalia’s mouth or every sentence that he wrote is one that I would agree with.

The 48-year-old Indiana judge’s nomination to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has stopped other legislative business as Republicans race to confirm her over Democratic objections before Election Day.

Nominee Amy Coney Barrett says Supreme Court can’t enforce rulings

Via www.upi.com

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett testified in the Senate Wednesday that while “no one is…

10/14/2020 6:58 PM

 

Editorial credit: Eli Wilson / Shutterstock.com

First lady Melania Trump wrote in a statement Wednesday that her son with President Trump, 14-year-old Barron, contracted the coronavirus this month at the same time both of his parents were ill. Mrs. Trump said she had experienced a “roller coaster of symptoms,” which she described as “minimal” and added, “Naturally my mind went immediately to our son. To our great relief he tested negative, but again, as so many parents have thought over the past several months, I couldn’t help but think ‘what about tomorrow or the next day?’ My fear came true when he was tested again and it came up positive.”

The First Lady praised the medical care the first family received, saying it made her “even more grateful and in awe of caretakers and first responders everywhere. I was very fortunate as my diagnosis came with minimal symptoms, though they hit me all at once and it seemed to be a roller coaster of symptoms in the days after,” she said. “I experienced body aches, a cough and headaches, and felt extremely tired most of the time. I chose to go a more natural route in terms of medicine, opting more for vitamins and healthy food.”

Mrs. Trump said she has since tested negative and hopes to resume her duties as soon as possible. In addition to the president, his wife, and their teenage son, about 20 people close to the president and three Republican senators tested positive. Many were at a Rose Garden ceremony late last month to announce the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

Barron Trump had COVID-19, has tested negative again: first lady

Via www.upi.com

Barron Trump, the 14-year-old son of President Donald Trump, tested positive for COVID-19, but…

10/14/2020 8:24 PM

 

Editorial credit: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com