WEATHER
*Sunshine today the high is 84
LOCAL
*The Missouri House has voted to no longer allow inmates to object to the use of videoconferencing for parole hearings. The bill was approved yesterday and it would allow victims or victims’ families to object to video conferencing if the parole board did not want to conduct the hearing in person....
NATIONAL
Arizona Governor Declares State Of Emergency Because Of Wildfire -
Three thousand people are out of their homes as an Arizona wildfire rages.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey made the declaration as people in at least nine communities near the Tinder fire are forced out. High winds and low humidity drive a wildfire that blew up over the weekend. The Tinder Fire started Friday about 40 minutes north of Payson and ran out to eight-thousand acres yesterday.
Fire bosses say it's burned a number of structures and more than 500 firefighters are trying to corral it. A more than 20-mile stretch of State Route 87 was closed northeast of Payson.
Source: CNN
Report Shows Uber Driver Allegations Are High -
A new report says more than 100 Uber drivers have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers.
CNN reported yesterday at least 103 drivers for the ride-sharing app have been arrested, are wanted by police, or named in civil suits over alleged sexual assaults and abuses over the past four years. More than 30 drivers were convicted.
CNN found 18 similar incidents involving drivers for Lyft, Uber's main rival. The news organization says the numbers are drawn from police and court records in 20 cities.
Source: CNN
*Bill Gates says he was offered a job in Donald Trump's administration during a meeting with the president in March. In an interview with science website Stat, the Microsoft co-founder says he had a 40-minute meeting at the White House and President Trump offered him the vacant position of science adviser to help guide him on issues regarding science and technology. Gates says he told Trump, that it was "not a good use of my time." Gates wasn't sure that Trump was even serious saying, "I didn’t put him to the test, whether that was a serious thing or not. He probably himself didn’t know if he was serious. It was a friendly thing. He was being friendly."
Fire In Sao Paulo, Brazil Causes Tall Building Collapse -
A massive blaze and building collapse has caused at least one death in Brazil’s largest city.
A 28-story high rise collapsed from the fire, believed to have started with a gas explosion. The flames spread quickly and have jumped to another building. Authorities are concerned there will be a higher death toll as squatters had taken over the building and some 50 families are said to have been in the long vacated building.
A nearby hotel was evacuated after the tsunami like rush of the flames intensified. 150 firefighters are on scene. It’s not known how much of the second building is engulfed in flames, but an official says it isn’t in jeopardy of collapse yet.
Source: BBC
EPA Whistleblower: Pruitt Lied To Congress -
A former EPA deputy chief of staff is saying the embattled agency head flat out lied to Congress recently.
Kevin Chmielewski said he was "100 percent" forced out after raising concerns about Scott Pruitt's spending on first-class travel. Among the concerns raised about Pruitt his first class flights, a request to spend 100-thousand dollars a month on a private jet, and high raises for certain staffers (later reversed).
Last week, Pruitt told Congress during testimony, "I just want to emphasize very very clearly to you that there's no actions that we have taken that I'm aware of related in any way to the issues you raise as far as reassignment or employment action based upon that.”
Chmielewski met with Congress members about his “resigning.” He never signed any documents stating that. Pruitt is under several investigations for ethics, whistleblower, and spending violations.
Source: ABC News
SPORTS
*The Cards take on the White Sox today at 7:15pm