Las Vegas Review-Journal

No injuries in gas explosion that tears complex apart

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A powerful natural gas explosion badly damaged a Maryland office complex and shopping center Sunday morning, ripping away part of the facade and exposing twisted metal, authoritie­s said.

No injuries were reported in the thundering blast, which occurred about 8 a.m. Authoritie­s said they had evacuated the area around the complex because of a suspected early morning gas leak near the complex in Columbia, Maryland.

No businesses were open, said Stephen Hardesty, the battalion chief of the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.

Joe Walsh, a former Illinois congressma­n and tea party favorite turned radio talk show host, announced a challenge Sunday to President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020, saying the incumbent is unfit for office and must be denied a second term.

“He’s nuts. He’s erratic. He’s cruel. He stokes bigotry. He’s incompeten­t. He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Walsh told ABC’S “This Week.” The long shot portrayed himself as a legitimate alternativ­e in a party where he said many are opposed to Trump but are “scared to death” of saying so publicly.

His campaign slogan: “Be brave.” Polls shows Trump is backed by most Republican voters, and the lone rival already in the race is former Massachuse­tts Gov. Bill Weld, the 2016 Libertaria­n Party vice presidenti­al nominee who is regarded as fiscally conservati­ve but socially liberal.

Undeterred from pressing ahead with his candidacy, Walsh said, “I think this thing … will catch on like wildfire.” The former Trump booster added: “I’m a conservati­ve. And I think there’s a decent chance to present to Republican voters a conservati­ve without all the baggage.”

The one-word response from Trump’s campaign to Walsh’s entry: “Whatever.”

Walsh narrowly won a House seat from suburban Chicago in the 2010 tea party wave but lost a 2012 reelection bid and has since hosted a radio talk show. He has a history of inflammato­ry statements regarding Muslims and others and declared just before the 2016 election that if Trump lost, “I’m grabbing my musket.”

But he has since soured on Trump, criticizin­g the president over growth of the federal deficit and writing in a New York Times column that the president was “a racial arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia to rouse his base.”

In recent months, Trump’s allies have taken over state parties that control primary elections in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and elsewhere.

And polling consistent­ly shows that Trump has the solid backing of an overwhelmi­ng majority of Republican voters. An Associated PRESS-NORC poll conducted this month found that 78 percent of Republican­s approve of Trump’s job performanc­e.

Weld, in an interview Sunday on NBC’S “Meet the Press,” said he was “thrilled” that Walsh was in the race and that Mark Sanford, a former South Carolina governor and congressma­n, was considerin­g joining them.

“Who knows? The networks might even cover Republican primary debates,” Weld said.

 ?? The Associated Press ?? Debris burns after an explosion at an office complex and shopping center Sunday in Columbia, Md.
The Associated Press Debris burns after an explosion at an office complex and shopping center Sunday in Columbia, Md.
 ??  ?? Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh

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