Colorado wildfires break size records
DENVER -- Wildfires in Colorado have burned the second-most acreage since 2000 and included the state's two largest on record.
Late Wednesday, one of the states's smaller fires exploded from 30 square miles to 196 square miles and closed Rocky Mountain National Park.
The East Troublesome Fire, burning in Grand County and extending now into Rocky Mountain National Park, forced hundreds of people to quickly evacuate from Grand Lake and Granby overnight, with more evacuations likely Thursday and an unknown number of structures reportedly destroyed.
Normally, snow helps tamp down the devastation by this time of year, but drought across Colorado and warming temperatures have dragged out the season, fire scientist Jennifer Balch said.
While the state's season began with limited property destruction, two fires erupted last weekend in Boulder that burned 26 homes.
More than 700 square miles of land has burned in Colorado with losses estimated at more than $215 million, officials said.
Lesser charge dismissed in Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Minnesota judge has dismissed a third-degree murder charge filed against the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd's neck, saying there was not enough probable cause for that count to proceed to trial. However, a more serious second-degree murder charge against Derek Chauvin remains.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill's ruling, dated Wednesday and made public Thursday, found probable cause for Chauvin to be tried on one count of unintentional second-degree murder and one count of second-degree manslaughter. Cahill also found probable cause to move forward with the aiding and abetting counts against three other former officers, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao.
Cahill said a jury will decide whether they are guilty.
Floyd, a Black man in handcuffs, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck as he said he couldn't breathe. Floyd's death sparked protests in Minneapolis and beyond, and led to a nationwide reckoning on race. All four officers were fired. They are scheduled to stand trial in March.
Cahill said prosecutors do not need to show Chauvin's actions were the sole cause of Floyd's death. He also said Chauvin's decision to continue kneeling on Floyd's neck after he went silent and motionless "is strong evidence of Chauvin's intent to inflict bodily harm."
After Cahill's ruling, Gov. Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard in anticipation of protests.
Prosecution of church leader narrowed
LOS ANGELES -- Citing insufficient evidence, a California judge threw out extortion charges against the leader of a Mexican megachurch but left in place accusations of child rape and human trafficking.
The California attorney general's office failed to show that Naason Joaquin García, the self-proclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, extorted sex acts from alleged victims by threatening to disgrace them, Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus ruled Wednesday.
Garcia has pleaded innocent to dozens of felony counts, including rape of a minor. He is the spiritual leader of La Luz del Mundo, which is Spanish for "The Light Of The World," a Guadalajara, Mexico-based evangelical Christian church that claims 5 million followers worldwide.
"Today's decision demonstrates, as we have always said, that the Apostle is innocent and his innocence will be judicially proven through the course of the trial," a church statement said.
Garcia, arrested last year, is jailed on $90 million bail.
Police scrutinize major in fatal drug raid
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville police major who oversaw the unit that sent officers to Breonna Taylor's home the night she was fatally shot is the subject of an internal police investigation.
The department's Professional Standards Unit opened an investigation this week into Maj. Kimberly Burbrink, commander of the Criminal Interdiction Division, the Courier Journal reported. Burbrink has been placed on administrative reassignment.
The department declined to answer questions about the investigation of Burbrink, which was initiated at the request of acting Chief Yvette Gentry.
The newspaper reported that the department's investigative file released this month included a report accusing Burbrink of "pressuring" and "cross-examining" investigators who were probing the shooting.
Brett Hankison, a former Louisville police detective, was fired in June and faces three counts of wanton endangerment for shooting into Taylor's neighbor's apartment the night of the narcotics raid. Taylor was fatally shot March 13 by officers carrying a narcotics warrant based on the suspicion that an ex-boyfriend might have used her apartment to stash drugs or cash. None was found in her home.