Rain cools Colo. fires, others grow Rain cools Colo. fires, others grow ADVERTISING DENVER (AP) — Rains cooled Colorado’s wildfires Wednesday, but more than a dozen wildfires elsewhere in the West continued chewing through bone-dry pine and brush as firefighters
Rain cools Colo. fires, others grow
DENVER (AP) — Rains cooled Colorado’s wildfires Wednesday, but more than a dozen wildfires elsewhere in the West continued chewing through bone-dry pine and brush as firefighters working through the holiday kept a nervous eye for fireworks and other hazards.
Wildfires in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado sent haze and smoke across Colorado’s Front Range, prompting air-quality health advisories as firefighters warned of growing fires in sparsely populated areas.
In Colorado Springs, there was good news in the fight against the most destructive fire in state history.
Light rains that fell overnight helped calm the Waldo Canyon Fire, which has scorched 28 square miles, killed two and destroyed almost 350 homes. Firefighters predicted full containment of the fire by Sunday, with more rain, cooler temperatures and higher humidity predicted through the weekend.
The forecast wasn’t as kind in eastern Montana, where a mammoth 380-square-mile fire in Custer National Forest was gobbling up pine, juniper and sage with help from gusty winds. The fire has burned 16 homes.
Firefighters gave the blaze “extreme” growth potential, with wind gusts up to 45 mph predicted. Temperatures were expected to reach the 100s.
As firefighting efforts continued, holiday fireworks were canceled across the region.
Chaplains adjust to gays in military
WRIGHTSTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Col. Timothy Wagoner has been an Air Force chaplain for 20 years, serving a denomination — the Southern Baptists — that rejects same-sex relationships.
Yet here he was at the chapel he oversees, watching supportively as an airman and his male partner celebrated a civil union ceremony.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Wagoner said at the McGuire Air Force Base chapel, days later. “I don’t feel I’m compromising my beliefs … I’m supporting the community.”
Wagoner didn’t officiate at the ceremony — he couldn’t go quite that far. But his very presence at the gathering was a marker of how things have changed for active-duty clergy in the nine months since the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was repealed and gays could serve openly.
Prior to repeal, various conservative groups and individuals — including many conservative retired chaplains — warned that repeal would trigger an exodus of chaplains whose faiths consider homosexual activity to be sinful.
In fact, there’s been no significant exodus — perhaps two or three departures of active-duty chaplains linked to the repeal. Moreover, chaplains or their civilian coordinators from a range of conservative faiths told AP they knew of virtually no serious problems thus far involving infringement of chaplains’ religious freedom or rights of conscience.
2 accidents raise storm toll to 26
BALTIMORE (AP) — The Mid-Atlantic region is struggling to get back to normal after deadly, power-cutting storms and sweltering heat.
And the death toll blamed on storms and the ensuing blackout across the eastern U.S. is now at 26 after two accidents in Virginia.
Utility and municipal crews worked through the July 4 holiday to restore power and remove downed tree limbs.
Pepco said it had restored power to 90 percent of those affected by last week’s storms in D.C. and two Maryland suburbs, beating its own estimate for getting the lights and more importantly, the air conditioning back on. BGE said about 78,000 customers in central Maryland remained without power.
More than 146,000 Virginia homes and businesses remained without power after, down from a peak of about 1.2 million after the storms.
Former commerce secretary cleared
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors declined Tuesday to file criminal charges against former U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, saying a seizure caused a bizarre series of traffic collisions that led to his resignation.
Bryson’s Lexus struck a car on June 9 that was stopped for a train in San Gabriel. He spoke briefly with the three occupants then hit the car again as he departed, police said. Bryson then rammed another vehicle in a neighboring city a few minutes later. He was found unconscious in his vehicle.
The Commerce Department said at the time that Bryson had a “limited recall of the events” and had not suffered any previous seizures. Bryson, 68, was cited by police for felony hit-and run, and tests revealed he didn’t have any alcohol or drugs in his system.
Low amounts of Ambien were found in his bloodstream, but investigators couldn’t determine if the sleep aid was a factor in the collisions.
“Both treating doctors agree that suspect was suffering from confusion following a seizure and crashed as a result,” court documents say. “Based on doctors’ opinions there is insufficient evidence to show knowing failure to provide personal information for hit-and-run.”
Phone messages left for Bryson’s wife, Louise, were not immediately returned.
Police in San Gabriel, a community of about 40,000 people northeast of Los Angeles, presented evidence Monday to county prosecutors, who decided against filing charges.
Police Sgt. Brian Kott declined to comment about the decision and said his department did not make any recommendations about filing charges.
“Our task was a fact-finding mission to complete a thorough investigation,” he said
Bryson resigned as commerce secretary on June 21, saying then he had suffered a seizure and didn’t want his health to be a distraction from his job. He had been in California to deliver the commencement address at Pasadena Polytechnic School, which his four children attended.
He is the former head of Edison International, the holding company that owns Southern California Edison, and has served on the boards of Boeing Co., Walt Disney Co. and major corporations.
