NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
_1 FBI director: The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Christopher Wray as the next FBI director on Tuesday to steer the United States’ premier law enforcement agency through a politically fraught period as it investigates whether any of President Trump’s associates colluded with the Russian government during last year’s election. The 92-5 vote to confirm Wray, a former federal prosecutor, is likely to be a relief to many agents at the FBI who want a strong director to stave off any attempts by the White House to meddle in its investigations. Wray replaces fired Director James Comey.
_2 Fourth trial: A former Tulsa police officer is set to go to trial a fourth time in the death of his daughter’s boyfriend after a judge rejected his request to dismiss the case. Shannon Kepler is charged with murder in the 2014 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Jeremey Lake. Juries in three trials so far have deadlocked, leading to mistrials. Prosecutors announced last month that they would move forward with a fourth trial. The Tulsa World reports that Kepler’s attorneys wanted the case dropped, arguing that jurors in his most recent trial “de facto” found him not guilty when each individually said he or she needed more information and evidence to reach a verdict. District Judge Sharon Holmes rejected that request Tuesday and scheduled an Oct. 9 trial date.
_3 Deputies recovering: A gunman was found dead inside a rural home Tuesday after he shot and wounded two California sheriff ’s deputies responding to reports of someone pulling up marijuana plants on a farm that supplies pot to a Rastafarian church, authorities said. It began shortly before 9 a.m. with three deputies responding separately to the Yuba Trees Church in rural Oregon House about 55 miles north of Sacramento. The suspect fled to a house about 100 yards away. Two deputies entered the house and were shot. A SWAT team surrounded the house, lobbing tear gas inside and ordering the gunman to surrender. About 2 p.m. police rushed the house and found the gunman dead. It was unclear if the deputies killed the gunman or if he shot himself. The deputies were expected to recover from their injuries.
_4 Endangered wolves: A federal appeals court Tuesday retained federal protection for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region, ruling that the government acted prematurely when it dropped them from the endangered species list. The court upheld a district judge who in 2014 overruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which had determined that wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin had recovered after being shot, trapped and poisoned nearly out of existence in the previous century. They now total about 3,800. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the service had not adequately considered loss of the wolf ’s historical range and how its removal from the endangered list would affect the predator’s recovery in such areas as New England, North Dakota and South Dakota.
_5 WWII pilot identified: The remains of a World War II pilot from New York City have been identified more than 70 years after he was killed in combat. The Pentagon’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced this week that the remains of Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Charles E. Carlson of Queens have been identified after being found last year by History Flight, a private Florida-based group. Military officials say Carlson was the 24-year-old pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter that was shot down near Bonn, Germany, during a dogfight with German planes Dec. 23, 1944. German officials reported burying Carlson’s remains at the crash site, but postwar efforts to find them were unsuccessful until his case was reopened in 2008. Carlson’s remains will be buried Friday in Lebanon County, Pa.