NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Washington wildfire: Authorities have ordered evacuations as a wildfire threatens crops and homes in a rural part of Washington. The State Fire Marshal’s Office on Sunday morning said one home and one outbuilding were lost. It estimated the blaze to be nearly 16 square miles. Residents of between 25 and 30 homes in Adams County have been told to leave immediately. A spokesman with the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team says rain has helped knock down the fire but wind and ample grass and brush could help it spring right back. Ben Shearer says crews will be out Sunday to map the fire and get a better handle on the damage. The cause of the fire, which began Saturday afternoon, is under investigation.
2 Newspaper bankruptcy: The Alaska Dispatch News has announced it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in the process of transitioning to new ownership. KTVA reports that the newspaper’s potential buyers might pay as much as $1 million for the paper. Those buyers included Alaska Media LLC, publisher of the Arctic Sounder, the Bristol Bay Times and the Dutch Harbor Fisherman. A statement from Dispatch News publisher Alice Rogoff called the decision bittersweet. But she expressed pride in the paper’s work under her tenure since buying the former Anchorage Daily News in 2014 for $34 million. She renamed the print publication the Alaska Dispatch News.
3 Gas prices rise: The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline jumped 8 cents nationally over the past three weeks, to $2.40. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the spike results from higher crude oil prices. Gas in San Francisco was the most expensive in the contiguous United States at an average of $3.02 a gallon. The cheapest was in Jackson, Miss., at $2.08 a gallon.
4 Charity meters: Providence, R.I., is due to become the latest American city to install giving meters as a way for people to donate to homeless causes without giving to panhandlers. The first one will be in the ground by the first week of September, according to Emily Crowell, a spokeswoman for Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, a Democrat. She said the meters are part of the mayor’s “collaborative and compassionate approach to address homelessness and income inequality citywide.”
5 Embezzlement plea: A retired police officer who once served as president and New Jersey delegate for a police union has admitted embezzling more than $100,000 from the union to buy time shares in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean and make other personal purchases. State authorities say John Campbell recently pleaded guilty to theft. The 48year-old Cape May man now faces a 364-day county jail term when he’s sentenced Nov. 17. He also must pay $105,000 in restitution. The theft was discovered when an audit occurred after a union leadership change.