The Nation in Brief

Activists urge release of Wal-Mart tape

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio -- About 200 people held signs and chanted Saturday outside a Wal-Mart where a young man with an air rifle was fatally shot by police.

The rally was the latest effort by people wanting to shed more light on the Aug. 5 shooting of John Crawford III inside the store in the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek. Police responded after a caller said a man was waving a gun; they say Crawford refused orders to put down an air rifle.

An attorney representing Crawford's family said Wal-Mart surveillance video of the shooting shows it was unjustified. Crawford is black, while the two officers involved are white.

Signs and chants at the rally urged: "Release the tape."

A special grand jury will meet Sept. 22 to consider charges in the case. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said releasing the surveillance video could raise issues of a tainted jury pool if the case results in a trial.

"I think that it is playing with dynamite, frankly, to release that tape at this point," DeWine told the Dayton Daily News.

Another rally is planned for today outside the Wal-Mart by people who say they want to show their support for police.

California OKs ban on single-use bags

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers have approved a measure to make the state the first to impose a ban on single-use plastic bags.

SB270 cleared the Senate on a 22-15 vote Friday and was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown. It was approved by the Assembly a day earlier.

Senators who had previously opposed the bill, including incoming Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat, this time supported the measure after protections were added for plastic bag manufacturers.

The bill by Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of Los Angeles would prohibit single-use plastic bags at grocery stores and large pharmacies in 2015 and at convenience stores in 2016.

It includes $2 million in loans to help manufacturers shift to producing reusable bags and lets grocers charge 10 cents each for paper and reusable bags.

About 100 local jurisdictions in California already have adopted similar bans, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Cruz touts GOP prospects for '14, '16

DALLAS -- Sen. Ted Cruz voiced his optimism about coming elections, telling an influential gathering of conservative activists Saturday that "we are part of a grass-roots fire that is sweeping this country."

"I'm convinced we're going to win in 2014, and 2016 is going to be even better," the Texas Republican said during a meeting of Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the billionaire GOP donors Charles and David Koch. "And in the year 2017, a Republican president in the Rose Garden is going to sign a bill repealing every word of Obamacare."

Cruz joked about inviting President Barack Obama to the border to see where thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children have poured into the U.S. The president declined such an invitation from Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"I figured out the only way there is a chance in heaven he might come: I'm inviting him to come to a golf course," Cruz said.

Cruz didn't answer questions about a presidential campaign when he met with reporters after the speech.

Two other possible 2016 presidential hopefuls, Perry and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, spoke at the gathering Friday.

2 blazes threaten 250 California homes

HAPPY CAMP, Calif. -- The U.S. Forest Service said a pair of wildfires sparked by lightning nearly three weeks ago continues to grow while threatening as many as 250 homes in far Northern California.

Forest Service spokesman Marc Peebles said low humidity and warm weather helped the fires burning in the Klamath National Forest near the gold mining and logging town of Happy Camp to sweep across desiccated trees and steep terrain.

The two fires are the largest among about 20 that broke out in the forest when a thunderstorm moved through the area Aug. 11. Originally a few miles apart, they had merged by Saturday morning and together charred more than 90 square miles, about 21 square miles more than a day earlier.

The threatened buildings, which were put under mandatory evacuation orders Friday, include cabins and other public structures within the forest and private houses in Siskiyou County, he said.

Peebles said nearly 2,000 firefighters are assigned to the blazes, but high winds in the forecast could hamper their efforts to contain them.

A Section on 08/31/2014

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