WEATHER
*A mix of clouds this morning but showers are possible this afternoon today's high is 86
LOCAL
*If you are headed downtown this weekend, be aware that 13 miles of roads will be closed this weekend for the Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon. More than 6,000 runners from St. Louis and around the world will compete. Tomorrow the 5k run begins at 8 a.m. from 13th and Market streets. On Sunday (Oct. 15), the half marathon and 10k races will begin at 7 a.m. from Market and 10th streets.
NATIONAL
*The death toll from the fires in Northern California went up to 31 on Thursday. Authorities are examining the destruction from the worst series of fires to hit the state in eight decades, as the blazes continue to burn, forcing people from their houses.
According to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, about 190,000 acres have been burned in California as of Thursday afternoon. The area hardest hit is Sonoma County, where 17 were confirmed killed in the blaze and 400 others missing in the area north of San Francisco. In city of Santa Rosa, more than 3,000 houses were burned down.
Combined, the current fires have caused more deaths than the 1991 Oakland Hills fire, which was the last major blaze to hit the area. The death toll has equaled the 1933 Los Angeles fire in the Griffith Park area, but the number is expected to rise from the current blazes once authorities and examine all the destruction.
*Two North Carolina prison employees are dead after inmates started a fire in an attempt to escape.
Inmates at a sewing plant inside the Pasquotank Correctional Institution in Elizabeth City were working Thursday afternoon when the fire broke out. Two officers, 35-year-old Justin Smith and 50-year-old Veronica Darden, were killed although it's not clear how they died. There were reports that at least one officer was attacked with a hammer. Three others were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The prison was immediately placed on lock-down, as were nearby schools. Officials conducted a head-count and found that none of the inmates had successfully escaped.
Trump to give speech on Iran today –
President Donald Trump plans to give a speech today on Iran, where he’s set to argue that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is not good for America’s national security interests. The speech is expected to go into detail about the faults of the deal, and talk about other Iran issues he finds troubling like Tehran’s ballistic missile program, support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and other groups that destabilize the region. He also plans to announce a new strategy for dealing with Iran, although he won't be scrapping the deal altogehter.
Sunday marks the deadline for Trump to tell Congress whether Iran is holding up their end of the accord, and while he’s expected to say that they are, he also plans to argue that the deal is flawed and that Iran’s other non-nuclear behavior needs to be considered.
Insiders say Trump also plans to request that Congress either amend or replace legislation that requires him to certify Iran’s compliance every 90 days, which he hates because it constantly makes him take a position every three months on a deal he dispises, and costs a lot of money that could be spent in other areas.
Source: New York Post
NRA opposes bump stock bill –
While the NRA may have indicated they were interested in an immediate review of federal regulations on bump stocks, a device which allows semiautomatic rifles to function like fully automatic weapons, they are apparently not for congressional legislation that would ban their production.
Following this month’s devastating shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, in which the shooter used bump stocks that allowed him to kill 58 people and hurt over 500 others, many have called for their ban and bills on the issue have been introduced in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
But the NRA now says they are against such legislation and instead want bump stocks just subject to regulation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which would keep a fight over gun control out of Congress. Republican leaders seem to be taking the side of the NRA with Paul Ryan saying such regulation would be the "smartest, quickest fix."
Source: CNN
SPORTS
Blues lost for the first time this season 5 to 2 they have a day off today
Chicago cubs will face the dodgers in this years championship series