NEWS OF THE DAY
_1 Fatal fire: The bodies of four people have been recovered after a cabin fire near Donnelly, Idaho, authorities said Saturday. The Valley County Sheriff ’s Office said emergency crews responded to the cabin near Tamarack Resort at about 10 p.m. Friday. The names of the victims were not immediately released. William Smith, 46, of Boise, was taken to a hospital in McCall where he was treated and released. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
_2 Promoter arrested: One of the organizers of the disastrous Fyre Festival has been arrested and charged with wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York City. Billy McFarland was arrested Friday in New York and accused of making “false representations to investors” in his company, Fyre Media LLC, and in a “luxury” music festival that had been set to take place in the Bahamas over two weekends in April and May. The festival collapsed in spectacular fashion. When attendees arrived, they discovered that the luxury accommodations were actually disaster-relief tents on the beach, some still not set up. Cheese sandwiches made up the “gourmet meals.” Blink-182, one of the festival’s headliners, pulled out at the last minute.
_3 Jail assaults: The FBI says 14 people have been charged in connection with a series of assaults on Los Angeles County jail inmates, allegedly at the behest of the Mexican Mafia prison gang. The agency said an investigation over the past 12 months found the assaults were directed by Mexican Mafia “facilitators” outside prisons. The facilitators allegedly relayed orders to incarcerated associates to assault or murder other jail inmates perceived to have violated Mexican Mafia rules. The FBI statement cites one case in which an inmate was stabbed because he was believed to be cooperating with law enforcement, and another case in which an inmate owed money.
_4 Orange County bankruptcy: Orange County has paid off the last of $1 billion worth of bonds it raised to haul itself out of bankruptcy. After 22 years, the county delivered the final payment to bondholders Saturday. With interest, the repayment totaled about $1.6 billion. Bad bets on interest rates sent the highly-leveraged county into bankruptcy in 1994. At the time, it was the largest municipal entity to seek such protection. The county now has much more financial transparency and its budget doesn’t rely heavily on investments. Former County Treasurer Robert Citron pleaded guilty to financial fraud. He died in 2013.
_5 Emergency
hoaxes: U.S. Coast Guard stations that watch over the Great Lakes have seen a spike in fake distress calls. The Coast Guard said more than 160 hoax calls have been made across the Great Lakes so far this year. That’s nearly triple the number they had at this time last year. Capt. Joseph McGilley of the Coast Guard’s unit in Cleveland says hoax calls put boaters at risk because they can divert search and rescue responders during real emergencies.